Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Wraps Up Sebring Winter Test
Michel Jourdain Jr. Returns to Line-Up
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing continued its preparations for the start of the American Le Mans Series season with its second test of the year at Sebring International Raceway. Participating in the ALMS “Winter Test” which concluded today, team regulars Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz shared the cockpit of the #15 Lowe’s Acura ARX-01b LMP2 prototype with Michel Jourdain Jr., who will join the squad for the Sebring and Petit Le Mans endurance classics.
The team enters its third season of ALMS competition with few changes from its 2008 campaign. In addition to a slightly modified paint scheme on the Michelin-shod Lowe’s machine, adjustments were made to the chassis to conform with new ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) guidelines. The ACO, which administers the technical rules, requires all LMP2 cars to weigh 850 pounds in 2009, up 110 pounds from last year, as well as mandating a 10 percent smaller engine intake restrictor (which is now 40.7mm) and increasing the rear Gurney flap by 5mm making it now 20mm total. Lowe’s Fernandez Racing turned 216 laps over the course of the three-day test on the 3.7-mile road course and is preparing for an additional day of testing on Sebring’s short course tomorrow in preparation for the Long Beach and St. Petersburg events. Fernandez posted the quickest lap for the trio with a 1:46.540 (125.023 mph).
Additional Notes:
- A priority for the test was to give Michel Jourdain Jr. driving time at Sebring. Jourdain last drove at Sebring over 10 years ago, turning a handful of laps in a test with Panoz Motorsports.
- Jourdain’s first appearance with Lowe’s Fernandez Racing was at the 2008 Petit Le Mans.
- The off-season provided time for Fernandez to relocate. He and his family are now residents of Miami, Florida.
Fernandez on testing and the new season:
“I am excited for the start of the season and, obviously, we enter with new expectations in competition and with the new rules. We have tested the car twice now at Sebring and have put up quite a few miles. We feel positive that the things we have learned from last year are going to help us be more reliable and to finish races, which was our number one issue. We are preparing Michel, Luis and myself for our next test here in February which will be the last one before the race weekend, so we are going through all of the necessary and normal things we do in preparation for these long races. So far, everything is going well. We have put some good miles on the car and Michel is getting up to speed after not being in the car since Petit. He and Luis are doing a good job. We are looking forward to a good season and to representing our sponsors and partners Lowe’s, Acura and Michelin with strong results. If we can finish races, I know we can win.”
Fernandez on the new rules:
“The car is 50 kilos heavier plus the intake restrictor is 10 percent smaller than last year which makes the car quite a bit slower. We also have a five millimeter bigger Gurney on the back which makes the car go a little bit slower on the straights. In all, the car feels heavier and slower and it is harder to pass the GT2s than before. For us, we have to focus on our competition which, at the moment, is Dyson Racing with the Mazdas. We are doing our work as always.”
Fernandez on developments to the chassis:
“We feel pretty positive about our season and the performance of the Lowe’s Acura car. It’s a car that has been welldeveloped so there is not much additional development that is going to happen on this car. It’s a car we know pretty well. The only thing we have to consider is the speed which is going to be different with the new rules so there are going to be some changes with gearing and setup, and the car may need to be a bit stiffer in some places because it is heavier. It is like putting both Luis and I in the car at the same time. That’s how much heavier it is and that changes the way the car behaves.”
Diaz on the ALMS Winter Test:
“The test has been very positive. There have been no major problems with the car. We have been looking more for durability than speed. I think durability last year was our weakness. We don’t want to get too confident about the performance of the car because we know conditions will be a lot different for the race here with the weather, but we are showing progress with the changes we are making. We are expecting to lose some overall grip so we are trying to find even more grip than we normally have. I am anticipating a lot of very tough competition from the Mazdas. Even though we are expecting fewer competitors, the quality of the ones that are going to be here is quite high so I am not relaxing at all. Everyone needs to keep working and we will relax after the year is over.”
Jourdain on returning to Sebring and ALMS competition:
“ It is fun to be back here at Sebring. The short course is one I know quite well but it has been about five years since I have been there. The big track is quite difficult, especially the last corner and Turn One. There are a couple of bumps that are hard to miss and it is difficult to get a good line. We have another test before the race and I am just taking it easy. I am in no big rush to be on the limit. Adrian and Luis are doing a good job at that and setting up the car so I am just building up the speed in those two corners. Everywhere else, I feel quite good. There is just so much history at this track. My dad raced here a couple of times in the ‘70s and also my uncle. It is a race that I have always wanted to do and it is even better to be able to do it with two of my best friends.”
About the Drivers:
Adrian Fernandez
...is a veteran of 12 years at the top levels of open-wheel competition, winning in both Champ Car (CART) and IndyCar Series (IRL) competition… debuted in sports car competition in 2006, winning the Mid-Ohio Rolex Sports Car Series race and claiming four additional top-five finishes… began competing in select NASCAR Busch Series events in 2005, driving for Team Lowe’s Racing and Hendrick Motorsports… finished fifth in the IndyCar Series championship in his inaugural season in 2004 with three wins… missed the 2000 Champ Car championship crown by only 10 points, finishing second in the series to Gil de Ferran… has garnered numerous awards over the years including “Athlete of the Year in Mexico”… named one of Mexico’s 300 most influential people by a national magazine in 2006… 45 years old from Mexico City…resides in Miami, Fla., with wife Catalina, daughter Valentina and son Niko.
Luis Diaz
... accomplished sports car talent who entered sports car competition in 2004 and netted eight wins in the Grand-Am series over three years as well as Rolex Sports Car Series Team Championship honors in 2006 and a second-place result in the driver championship co-driving with Scott Pruett… was named “Driver of the Year” in Mexico in 2006… won the Mexico Formula 3 championship in 1998… earned Rookie of the Year honors in the Indy Lights Pan-American Championship, Mexico Formula 3 Championship and Formula Reynard Series Mexico… U.S. open-wheel success includes a fourth-place finish in the 2002 Atlantic championship… began racing go-karts at the age of 12, winning several national championships… 31 years old from Mexico City… resides in Toluca, Mexico, with wife Carolina… nickname is “Chapulín” (Cha-poo-leen) which means grasshopper.
Michel Jourdain Jr.
... veteran of a nine-year open-wheel career in Champ Car with 152 starts, two wins , nine podiums and a career-best third-place ranking in the 2003 championship… became the youngest driver to compete in a Champ Car race in 1996 when he made his U.S. racing debut at Long Beach at age 19… entered NASCAR competition in 2005 making 26 Nationwide Series and seven Craftsman Truck Series starts over the last three years… made his sports car racing debut in 2006 contesting three Grand-Am races with a best finish of seventh at Daytona… contested a full season of FIA World Touring Car competition in 2007 with a career best result of sixth at Valencia, Spain… son of well-known Mexican racer Michel Jourdain and nephew of 1989 Indy 500 Co-Rookie of the Year Bernard Jourdain… began racing Formula Junior in Mexico at the age of 12… 32 years old from Mexico City… resides in Mexico City with wife Nora, sons Michel and Marco, and daughter Silvia.
About the #15 Lowe’s Acura ARX:
- Powered by the 3.4-liter Acura LM-V8 engine
- Chassis is the Acura ARX-01b developed by HPD [Honda Performance Development] through a technical partnership with Wirth Research in England
- Tires are Michelin
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Key Personnel:
- Tom Anderson , co-owner/managing director (founded Fernandez Racing with Fernandez in 2000)
- Steve Miller , general manager (ninth year with the team; reunited with Diaz who he worked with in 2000 in Indy Lights)
- Mike Sales , team manager (as a chief mechanic, has had a decade long relationship with Adrian Fernandez which includes victories in Champ Car, IndyCar Series and Grand-Am competition)
- John Ward , race engineer (is in is 10th year as a race engineer for Fernandez; designer of many Eagle chassis for Dan Gurney’s All American Racers including the Eagle Mk III IMSA GTP car which won the Twelve Hours of Sebring in 1992 and 1993)
- Tony Leith , chief mechanic (ninth season with the team; was a lead and chief mechanic in ALMS in the late ‘90s with Panoz Motorsports)
About Lowe’s Fernandez Racing:
- Lowe’s Fernandez Racing embarks on its third year of competition in the American Le Mans Series in 2009 as an Acura-factory
- LMP2 entry. Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz, both of Mexico City, Mexico, return to campaign the #15 Lowe’s Acura ARX-01b
- prototype in the series’ 10 rounds of competition with Michel Jourdain Jr., also from Mexico City, joining the squad for the Sebring
- and Petit Le Mans endurance classics. Lowe’s, who celebrated its third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship
- title with Jimmie Johnson in 2008, is the second largest home improvement retailer in the world. Fernandez Racing was formed in
- the fall of 2000 by Fernandez and motorsports veteran Tom Anderson. In its eight years of competition, the team has claimed
- victories in the Champ Car (CART), IndyCar (IRL) and Grand-Am Series.