Simon Pagenaud rules the roost in ALMS

Last season he narrowly missed out on the title with Gil de Ferran. But that did not prevent him from asserting himself as one of the very best LMP drivers in the American series, if not the best. The team of its Brazilian teammate and boss having been unable to continue its program in American Le Mans Series, the Frenchman found refuge with his 2009 tormentor, Highcroft Racing, the reigning champion team with David Brabham and Scott Sharp. The latter having set up his own structure in the GT category, Duncan Dayton had to find a new teammate for his favorite Australian driver. Pagenaud without a steering wheel, the solution was ready for the American boss.

This year, the ALMS championship is changing its philosophy. Exit LMP1 and LMP2, make way for a single prototype category now called LMP.
Yes but there you go, the series does not look like it will be the most contested. Indeed, apart from Sebring and Petit Le Mans, cars with Diesel engines (Peugeot et Audi) ne seront pas de la partie. C?est donc face à une concurrence réduite que le Patron team Highcroft défendra son titre. Les Lola engagées par Drayson, Intersport et Dyson ainsi que la Porsche RS Spyder de Klaus Graf et Greg Pickett ont des équipages certainement trop tendres pour venir contester la victoire au duo Pagenaud-Brabham.

Fortunately, last weekend in Long Beach, Aston Martin Racing had made the trip to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a duo composed of Adrian Fernandez and Harold Primat. After taking pole thanks to the first named, the beautiful Englishwoman dominated part of the event before the Mexican made a small error in the last loop, cracking under the pressure of the HPD ARX-01c which was in her wheels. Simon Pagenaud didn't ask for that much, and jumped into the breach. The pressure from the official Peugeot driver paid off.

“I saw that Adrian was having some problems in the last laps, and I thought I would have to settle for second place, affirms the native of Poitiers. But I am a real competitor and knew that the whole team really wanted to win this race, and they deserve this victory. I told myself that I had to keep the pressure on him until the end and that maybe he would make a mistake, and that's what happened during the final lap. I saw the opportunity to get closer to him at turn 5. He went wide and I was able to gain the upper hand. Subsequently I was able to brake late enough to keep him behind me. The last problem was to negotiate the straight before the finish but I kept it at a reasonable distance at the hairpin and kept the advantage. This is a fantastic result. I would like to congratulate David (Brabham, editor's note) who did a great job passing the wheel to me in the lead, and the team who helped us to restore the situation after our penalty. »

Indeed, the HPD ARX-01c received a penalty following contact between David Brabham and Harold Primat. But Simon Pagenaud will work to make up for the delay caused by this small setback. The Frenchman proved once again that he was now clearly one of the best endurance drivers on the planet.