Lowe's Fernandez Racing made their most concerted effort to secure their maiden LMP2 victory in this season's American Le Mans Series, but were nonetheless pleased with their fourth place finish overall.
Having qualified a strong third, the combination of Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz put the Penske Porsches under the pressure for the first half of the race, even claiming the lead on lap 89 to put the Acura powered Lola into a strong position.
In the end the Mexican outfit found themselves caught out by the call by Porsche to take on fresh tyres and fuel in the latter stages, Fernandez and Diaz slipping back to fourth by the race's conclusion as their rubber waned.
Nonetheless, it is the team's best result since the Sebring season opener and the first time they have finished as the leading Acura runner, much to Fernandez's delight.
"We were strong all weekend and gave our all to get the Porsches but in the end we didn't make it. Luis had a good first stint. I jumped in and had a great battle with [Ryan] Briscoe. I passed him then he passed me. Traffic really was a factor in this race. We decided to not take tyres on our last pit stop to try and win the race and it just didn't play out in our favour.
“We bounced back well from the last race [Lime Rock where the team retired with its first mechanical problem of the season] and I am very proud of the guys. We just have to keep working hard to try to get to the front."
