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The recent American Le Mans Series (AMLS) qualifying race that took place in Long Beach, California was a success for Acura Motorsports team.

For the first time, Acura earned its pole position during the qualifying race last Friday, thanks to Dario Franchitti who entered the race behind the steering wheel of the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01a with Acura exhaust. Franchitti finished his last lap within one 1 minute and 11.838 seconds. Stefan Johansson, member of Highcroft Racing entered the qualifying race in the LP2M class aboard the Acura ARX-01a finished the race with qualifying time of 1:12.844, allowing him to obtain the fourth spot.

Meanwhile, Adrian Fernandez clocked in at 1:13.148, his best qualifying time in Long Beach. The Mexican driver took his No.15 Lowe’s Fernandez Acura Lola in the race.

Here is what the three Acura drivers said after the ALMS Long Beach qualifying race.

Dario Franchitti (No. 26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01a): “I am getting used to the track with each run. It has been five years since I have run here. Trying to get a lap together is difficult with all of the traffic. But at the end I was able to get a pretty clean lap. Actually, I almost had to stop coming down for the final lap. So I was a little surprised by the time of the lap. But I knew I had a shot at the pole if I got a clear lap. It is very exciting to win Acura’s first pole. Bryan [Herta] has been waiting to come back here. When I jumped in the car this morning, Bryan tapped me on the helmet and said, `Hey, it’s Long Beach. Have fun!’ It is always great to race here. I hope we can put together a solid race and win here. Bryan and I have been trying to win here for many years. It would be a tre- mendous thrill to win at Long Beach. “

Adrian Fernandez (No. 15 Lowe’s Fernandez Acura Lola 06/40) “I hit a slower car that was coming out of the pits. I think it was the Mazda. But that car was going very slow. I clipped it and we had to come in and change the front nose. The new nose was dragging a little too much after we changed to it. I don’t think our car is too far off for the race. Luis [Diaz] and I have raced here previously, so I think we’ll have a competitive car for Saturday. It is great to race the Acura in the company’s backyard here in Southern California. We are very excited to be here.”

Stefan Johansson (No. 9 Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01a, equipped with Acura exhaust system): “We are getting closer with the new Acura chassis. The engine feels good. I thought we had a chance to run a little quicker but we ran out of time. I really like being back and racing at Long Beach. It has been ten years or so for me. It took a little time to learn the new sections of the track and it is a little different with the ALMS car than the Champ Car. We had a couple of problems in practice this morning and, with the limited time here, that hurt us a bit. But we feel good about the race.”

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