David Brabham ALMS Detroit Preview

David Brabham delivered another stunning performance to take his second consecutive American Le Mans Series class win and fourth victory of the season for Patrón Highcroft Racing at Mosport last weekend. As the premier series heads to Belle Isle and the Detroit Sportscar Challenge presented by Bosch this weekend, 29&30 August, the LMP2 championship battle is set to ignite with Brabham and team mate Scott Sharp now just 10points behind the class leaders.

In what was another characteristic Brabham charge to the chequered flag at Mosport, the 42 year-old battled back from sixth overall and fourth in LMP2 to scythe past Romain Dumas and Adrian Fernandez to lie fourth and second in class with four minutes remaining. But with LMP2 class leader Gil de Ferran running out of fuel on the last lap, the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura took the class win and third overall.

With arch-rivals Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas finishing sixth in class after also running out of fuel, Brabham and Sharp have sliced what was a 24 point deficit to just 10 points. Brabham’s latest win was made all the more sweater by clinching it at the Canadian circuit of Mosport 41 years after his father, Sir Jack Brabham, won the first Canadian Grand Prix.

Brabham has long been clear about the sole objective for the remainder of the season and as the final three American Le Mans Series rounds approach the gentle-mannered Australian, who lives in Henley on Thames (UK), is ready to take the title fight to the last lap of the final race.

"After another really great result at Mosport, we are really looking forward to the next round at Detroit," said Brabs. "We finished third there last year and the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura is really strong on the street circuits so I’m confident that we can keep doing what we have been doing so well. The competition is sure to be fierce, as it has been all season, and the fact that the Penske Porsche made a mistake with fuel at Mosport means that they will be under pressure heading to the next round.

But they are bound to have had a bit of a shake up and will come back fighting. We approach each round with the same mentality to win the race, and not concentrate too much on the championship, so we will keep on doing that and see what happens at the end of the day."

For the latest American Le Mans Series news visit www.americanlemans.com  and for the provisional Detroit Sportscar Challenge presented by Bosch event schedule visit www.detroitgp.com  

For further information on David Brabham, including his career history and biography, visit www.davidbrabham.com  

- Emma Spearing-  photo ALMS