ALMS honors its champions

The American Le Mans Series honored its drivers, teams, crews and manufacturers Sunday night at the season-ending banquet in Monterey, Calif,, site of Saturday's Monterey Sports Car Championships presented by Patr¢n. In addition to honoring its champions, the Series also awarded several special awards to deserving recipients.

Doug Fehan and David Brabham were the biggest winners in voting by American Le Mans Series fans. Brabham, Patr¢n Highcroft Racing's star driver, was named Most Popular Driver by both americanlemans.com users and viewers from MotorsTV in Europe. Fehan, Corvette Racing program manager, was the winner of the annual From the Fans award. It goes to the person or group who made the greatest contribution to the Series and sports car racing in the past year, as voted by fans at americanlemans.com.

Intersport Racing's Jon Field won the Founder's Cup as the top gentleman driver in the Series. Scott Sharp, Brabham's teammate, was named Rookie of the Year.

The Mechanic of the Year awards went to Joe Geldert of Autocon Motorsports in LMP1, Patr¢n Highcroft Racing's Joel Svenson in LMP2, Mike West of Corvette Racing in GT1, and Flying Lizard Motorsports' Rogerio Reis in GT2. IMSA's Pit Lane and Technical staff voted for the awards.

There also were two new awards presented. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was honored for playing host to the American Le Mans Series in each of its 10 seasons. Finally, Drayson-Barwell's Paul Drayson was presented with the Promoters' Trophy for his outstanding dedication and promotion of the American Le Mans Series and its platform of alternative fuels throughout the season.

2008 American Le Mans Series Award WinnersMost Popular Driver: David Brabham (American Le Mans Series and MotorsTV)
Founder's Cup: Jon Field
Rookie of the Year: Scott Sharp
From the Fans: Doug Fehan
Crew Chief of the Year: Joe Geldert (LMP1), Joel Svenson (LMP2), Mike West (GT1), Rogerio Reis (GT2)
IMSA Cup: Intersport Racing (LMP1), Patr¢n Highcroft Racing (LMP2), Flying Lizard Motorsports (GT2)

Manufacturer Champions
Tire: Michelin
GT2: Porsche
GT1: General Motors
LMP2: Porsche
LMP1: Audi

Team Champions
GT2: Flying Lizard Motorsports (1st)
Tafel Racing (2nd)
Risi Competizione (3rd)

GT1: Corvette Racing (1st)
Bell Motorsports (2nd)

LMP2: Penske Racing (1st)
Patr¢n Highcroft Racing (2nd)
Dyson Racing (3rd)

LMP1: Audi Sport North America (1st)
Intersport Racing (2nd)
Autocon Motorsports (3rd)

Driver Champions
GT2: Jörg Bergmeister/Wolf Henzler (1st)
Dirk Mueller/Dominik Farnbacher (2nd)
Johannes van Overbeek/Patrick Pilet (3rd)

GT1: Jan Magnussen/Johnny O'Connell (1st)
Olivier Beretta/Oliver Gavin (2nd)
Terry Borcheller/Chapman Ducote (3rd)

LMP2: Romain Dumas/Timo Bernhard (1st)
David Brabham/Scott Sharp (2nd)
Patrick Long (3rd)

LMP1: Lucas Luhr/Marco Werner (1st)
Emanuele Pirro (2nd)
Richard Berry (3rd)