A glance at the Long Beach ALMS grid

Thirty-two of the drivers entered for this week’s Tequila Patr¢n American Le Mans Series at Long Beach competed in the 2007 race. The field is led by last year’s overall and LMP2 winners Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas in their Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder. GT1 winners Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin from Corvette Racing return, as do defending GT2 victors Jaime Melo and Mika Salo with Risi Competizione.

Twenty-eight competitors have competed at Long Beach in other series. Among the highlights are Trans-Am victories by Autocon Motorsports’ Tomy Drissi (2000) and LG Motorsports’ owner/driver Lou Gigliotti (2001). Michael Lewis, Drissi’s teammate and Autocon owner, has scored three podium finishes at Long Beach, and Scott Sharp of Patr¢n Highcroft Racing was second in the 1996 Trans-Am race.

Adrian Fernandez of Lowe’s Fernandez Racing leads the contingent of former Champ Car competitors to have raced at Long Beach. The pilot of the No. 15 Acura ARX-01b placed second in the 2003 race. Andretti Green Racing’s tandem of Bryan Herta (third in 1998 and 1999) and Christian Fittipaldi (fifth in 1999) have seen their share of success at the circuit as well.

Luis Diaz, Fernandez’s teammate in the Lowe’s Fernandez Acura, also won a sports car race at Long Beach in 2006.