It was another amazing race weekend for Miller Motorsports Park’s Utah Grand Prix American LeMans Series.  First, newcomer to the series and long time racer DE FERRAN comes into free practice with the fastest lap of the day.  He then put down a 2nd place overall qualifying run behind the P2 Penske Porsches.  The Qualifying was the closest grid EVER in the series ten-year history.  The race was jam packed with excitement throughout the entire two and a half hour race.  Utah's own Corsa Motorsport sadly finished back in 9th after having an incident-filled race day. Hit the jump for news, Forum talk, and race video links. 

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What an amazing job Utah's own Corsa Motorsports has donw again!!!  This time they really had to work for this one.  Maybe Corsa will finally make it to a podium at its upcoming home event at MMP.  Here is the news arcitcle from the ALMS home site: 

For the second straight race Johnny Mowlem and his Corsa Motorsports teammates finished a fine fourth in the GT2 class in the Tequila Patron ALMS race here in Long Beach.

Driving the Alabama Motorsports Park-sponsored Corsa Motorsports Ferrari, Mowlem and co-driver Gunnar Jeannette proved the team is consistently moving in the right direction as this time Mowlem was able to run at the pace of the frontrunners, keeping in touch with the leaders, and in fact when Johnny pitted during the yellow at the one hour mark to hand over to his teammate; Gunnar Jeanette, he was running nose to tail with the leaders and right behind the Ferrari that went on to win the race.

"Today's finish was much more competitive than the fourth-place we earned at St. Petersburg," said Mowlem. "The result today was earned; we weren't so much the benefactors of others' misfortunes. We were really close to the pace of the fastest Ferraris. It was a solid effort by everyone with Corsa Motorsports and I'm delighted for Steve Pruitt and the whole crew who have worked so hard and long to get us here."

Mowlem had started seventh in the GT2 order. He got up to sixth after a few laps, overtaking the #61 Risi Competizione Ferrari, but all his hard work was negated when there was an early yellow and he got held up at the hairpin at the re-start and slipped back to seventh. He fought his way back up to fifth before pitting during a caution period 59 minutes into the race. The team did not change tires when Jeannette took over from Mowlem and the time saved in the pits figured into the team's strong finish.

As ever, the GT2 class was the largest in the field, making it one of the toughest and most competitive classes in the race.

"Considering we still haven't done a proper test session on these Dunlop tires, and the fact that they're not even the latest evolution of tire that Dunlop has to offer, makes our performance all the more pleasing" Mowlem said. "Of course I am satisfied with the result, but I am more pleased with the constant progress we are making in terms of lap time. At the last race our best race lap was 1.5 seconds behind the leading Ferrari. In Long Beach we managed to halve that. Given the fact that we are arguably up against the strongest and fastest GT2 teams in the world, that is very positive. A solid indicator that we can compete with the best teams in our class."

The race was part of the 34th Long Beach Grand Prix and it was Mowlem's first chance to drive in the famed American race.

"I was happy to hear that the ALMS has a deal to continue as part of this event," Mowlem said. "It means I'll have a chance to come back next year! I loved the track and the whole atmosphere of the event."

Steve Pruitt, the personable owner of Corsa Motorsports, is one of the original stakeholders in the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Utah's own Corsa Motorsports finishes 4th in the GT2 class in there GT2 F430.  This is Corsa's first outting in the ALMS this season due to tire porblems back at Sebring.  Here is the article from the Americna LeMans Series official site on Corsa's outting in the second round of the series: 

CORSA MOTORSPORTS TAKES FOURTH IN GT2 AT ST. PETERSBURG

Corsa Motorsports made its 2008 racing debut Saturday at the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg in stunning fashion, finishing just shy of the GT2 podium in fourth place in the American Le Mans Series. The No. 48 was the second-finishing Ferrari and the first of the GT2 class not racing a Michelin tire.

"We came into this weekend with a lot of anticipation and we are leaving with momentum; it's a great feeling," commented Steve Pruitt, team owner and principal. "There has been anticipation and anxiety, but today there was reward, and it's extremely pleasing to see how well our team came together on race day and how hard the drivers worked to take care of the equipment. Fourth place is fantastic and it gives us something to build from heading to Long Beach in two weeks. We're especially thankful to Dunlop for its help in making this happen."

Johnny Mowlem qualified and started the car in the eighth position of the class, quickly made up two spots, then took a third about 18 minutes into the run. Mowlem raced hard under green-flag conditions for 40 minutes before signaling that the scorching heat in the cockpit of the Ferrari was becoming too much. Caution fell a minute later giving the team an opportunity to put second driver Gunnar Jeannette behind the wheel.

Getting into the car after an exhausted Mowlem exited, Jeannette understood a daunting task was ahead. "I knew the car was hot and Johnny was worn out by the heat. This course demands so much of a driver," he said. "As a competitor, you want to get into the car and attack, but I knew I faced over and hour and ten minutes in the car, so I just had to settle in, race smart and save myself."

Jeannette restarted in position six of the GT2 field. Engineer and strategist Rob Taylor immediately instructed Jeannette to save fuel because the timing of the stop would allow for a one-stop race. Incidents and attrition, in addition to smart driving allowed Jeannette to move up the field to fourth place by the end of the race.

"There was some fortune involved, but that's racing and it goes both ways as we have well learned," explained Pruitt. "We had two hours of practice on this tire. We earned points today; we are taking a clean car home to Salt Lake City; the drivers did a fabulous job taking care of the equipment and overall, we're very, very excited. We're glad we were able to race for sponsor Alabama Motorsports Park in a market that is closest to its future home around the Gulf in Mobile."

Mowlem shared Pruitt's excitement. "Fantastic! It was an excellent result given that we only had Friday's practice sessions to test the car on the tire Dunlop provided," Mowlem said. "The car performed well and I couldn't be happier for Steve Pruitt and all of Corsa Motorsports that we were able to come to St. Petersburg and come so close to the podium. It's really pleasing and simply fantastic."

Corsa Motorsports finished 14th overall in the four-class field.