Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud Go flag-to-flag to win the Acura Sports Car Challenge

Click on image to view event slide presentation.Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud went flag-to-flag Saturday to win the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, their fourth consecutive overall victory in the American Le Mans Series. Team owner de Ferran qualified on the overall pole position, and the pairing won at Mid-Ohio for the first time in their careers.

The victorious team boss crossed the finish line in the de Ferran XM Acura ARX-02a 8.358 seconds ahead of Patrón Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and the Acura that he drove with LMP1 championship co-leader Scott Sharp.

The emotions of the weekend were just as challenging for de Ferran as the race itself. Team fueler Keith Jones was badly injured in a pitlane fire at Mid-Ohio last year. Winning for the first time at the circuit and on the weekend where he announced he will retire as a driver at the end of the season were tough to overcome.

Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz won their fifth LMP2 race of the year and were third overall in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b. The class championship leaders won the race with a short-fill for fuel on the race’s final caution period while running second to Dyson Racing’s Marino Franchitti.

Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister tied a Series record with their fifth straight GT2 victory and spoiled Corvette Racing’s GT2 debut in the process. Long and his Porsche 911 GT3 RSR beat Corvette’s Johnny O’Connell by 21 seconds. O’Connell drove the new Corvette C6.R with Jan Magnussen.

Martin and Melanie Snow won their second Challenge class race of the year in their Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup race. Martin Snow beat ORBIT Racing’s Guy Cosmo to the finish by two laps. The Snows won at Utah and are the only husband-wife team to win a race in Series history.

There is little time to rest with the Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase set for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday, August 16 at Road America. The race will air live on SPEED.