TOOELE VALLEY, UTAH (May 15, 2009) — At the very venue he made his American Le Mans Series debut a year ago, Simon Pagenaud turned in the fastest time in Friday's test for this weekend's Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park. The young Frenchman posted the five fastest times in the No. 66 de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a during the two-hour session.

Pagenaud's best time was a 1:31.687 (119.677 mph), good enough to best Patrón Highcroft Racing's David Brabham and his No. 9 Acura LMP1 entry by an impressive 1.157 seconds (1:32.844). Both Acura LMP1 entries have won races this year – Brabham and Scott Sharp at St. Petersburg, and Pagenaud and Gil de Ferran at Long Beach in the most recent round.

Dyson Racing’s Guy Smith was the fastest LMP2 driver and was third overall in the Mazda-powered No. 16 Lola B09/86 he shares with Chris Dyson. The Englishman nipped Lowe’s Fernandez Racing’s Adrian Fernandez on the final lap of the session, a 1:34.670. Fernandez was 0.541 seconds adrift in the No. 15 Acura ARX-01b he co-drives with Luis Diaz. The pairing won the first three rounds of the season and own a hefty lead in the championship.

The brand-new hybrid-powered No. 48 LMP1 Ginetta-Zytek 09HS from Salt Lake City-based Corsa Motorsports with drivers Johnny Mowlem and Stefan Johansson was seventh overall and fifth in class. Its fastest time was a 1:38.875 in its first on-track outing, just a few days after arriving in the U.S. from a shakedown in England last week.

“It’s honestly a steep learning curve,” Mowlem said. “Normally you would do these types of things in private and behind closed doors. Instead we’re doing it in public. But we are making progress.”

In the GT2 class, Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Jörg Bergmeister went quickest in the No. 45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR that he shares with Patrick Long. Bergmeister’s best lap was a 1:48.215 (101.398 mph) as Porsche held the top two spots. Farnbacher Loles Racing’s Marc Lieb was second in the No. 87 entry that he shares with Wolf Henzler with a time of 1:49.025.

“It’s fast, a real road course, and pretty smooth,” Bergmeister said. “Lots of fast corners, which are fun. The Lizards had a very successful race here last year - the pole, a win for the No. 45 and a double podium. Hopefully we can repeat that success again this year.”

The two Porsches were ahead of Risi Competizione’s No. 62 Ferrari F430 GT of Jaime Melo and Pierre Kaffer, who set the team’s fastest lap of 1:49.232.

Guy Cosmo was the fastest driver in the new Challenge class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entries. Cosmo turned a lap of 1:56.133 (94.485 mph) in the ORBIT Racing entry that he will drive with John Baker.

“It’s a different mindset (going from prototypes to GT cars),” Cosmo said. “At the end of the day, you’re trying to do the best possible program you can.”

Local favorites Martin and Melanie Snow, winners in the GTS class at the first Series race at Sebring in 1999, was second at 1:57.080 in their No. 57 Snow Racing entry.

The first race of the weekend was the first of three races for Formula BMW Americas. The 15-lap contest on the 2.2-mile East Course was won by Giancarlo Vilarinho, leading a 1-2 sweep for the Eurointernational team by 2.994 seconds ahead of teammate Gabby Chaves and Team Autotecnica’s Gianmarco Raimondo.

The fourth annual Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix continues Saturday with another full day of action starting at 8:00 a.m. The day’s schedule includes qualifying for the American Le Mans Series, the Cooper Tires Atlantic Championship and the Volkswagen Jetta TDI Cup, as well as the Star Mazda Championship race, the first of two races for the IMSA Lites presented by Frisby Performance Tire and the Patron GT3 Challenge and the second of three races for Formula BMW Americas.

In addition, lunchtime will see the 30th Anniversary Celebration for the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, with a special presentation by the Miller family for an expected 4,000 employees.

For ticket information, visit www.MMPTix.com.

For more information on Miller Motorsports Park, call the track at (435) 277-RACE (7223) or visit the website at www.millermotorsportspark.com.