The2009 Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg was the second round of the2009 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at theStreets of St. Petersburg,Florida on April 4, 2009. TheAcura ARX-02a earned its first overall victory under thePatrónHighcroft Racing team after early leaderde Ferran Motorsports suffered mechanical issues. Acura also won the LMP2 category withLowe'sFernández Racing, while GT2 was won by thePorsche ofFlying Lizard Motorsports.
In qualifying solely for the GT2 category, due to the lack of GT1 class competitors for this event,Jaime Melo in theRisi CompetizioneFerrari led the pack before a red flag stopped the session due to an incident involving eventual fifth place qualifierPatrick Long in theFlying Lizard MotorsportsPorsche. Farnbacher-Loles and the twoBMWs completed the top of the GT2 grid.
In prototype qualifying theAcura ofSimon Pagenaud dominated by earningde Ferran Motorsports apole position by nearly a second over the other Acura ofPatrónHighcroft Racing. Acura also led the LMP2 category as theLowe'sFernández Racing car was piloted byLuis Díaz to third overall, beating the closestDysonLola-Mazda by three tenths of a second.
Pole position winners in each class are marked inbold.[1]
| Pos | Class | Team | Qualifying Driver | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LMP1 | #66de Ferran Motorsports | Simon Pagenaud | 1:03.776 |
| 2 | LMP1 | #9PatrónHighcroft Racing | Scott Sharp | 1:04.722 |
| 3 | LMP2 | #15Lowe'sFernández Racing | Luis Díaz | 1:05.178 |
| 4 | LMP2 | #16Dyson Racing Team | Guy Smith | 1:05.464 |
| 5 | LMP2 | #20Dyson Racing Team | Marino Franchitti | 1:05.666 |
| 6 | LMP1 | #37 Intersport Racing | Chapman Ducote | 1:09.044 |
| 7 | GT2 | #61Risi Competizione | Jaime Melo | 1:12.892 |
| 8 | GT2 | #87 Farnbacher-Loles Racing | Wolf Henzler | 1:13.173 |
| 9 | GT2 | #90BMWRahal Letterman Racing | Joey Hand | 1:13.267 |
| 10 | GT2 | #92BMWRahal Letterman Racing | Dirk Müller | 1:13.458 |
| 11 | GT2 | #45Flying Lizard Motorsports | Patrick Long | 1:13.465 |
| 12 | GT2 | #21Panoz Team PTG | Dominik Farnbacher | 1:14.109 |
| 13 | GT2 | #40 Robertson Racing | David Murry | 1:14.281 |
| 14 | GT2 | #28 LG Motorsports | Eric Curran | 1:14.633 |
| 15 | GT2 | #11 Primetime Race Group | Joel Feinberg | 1:15.938 |
| 16 | GT2 | #22Panoz Team PTG | Tom Sutherland | 1:15.996 |
| 17 | GT2 | #44Flying Lizard Motorsports | Seth Neiman | 1:18.592 |
Class winners inbold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).[2]
| American Le Mans Series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 12 Hours of Sebring | 2009 season | Next race: American Le Mans Series at Long Beach |
