While Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz claimed their best result of the season to date with a fourth-place class and fifth-place overall result in the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix on Saturday, they also saw a potential podium finish slip from their grasp.
Diaz started the race in fifth position and, while encountering understeer in the opening stages, was turning laps quicker than the leaders toward the end of his one-hour stint.
He turned the #15 Lowe's Acura ARX over to Fernandez on lap 69 in fourth place overall and third in class.
Following several lengthy caution periods and a pit stop for fuel and tyres, Fernandez was the fifth of only five cars on the lead lap.
He managed to work through the traffic separating him from the fourth-place LMP2 of Sascha Maassen to mount a charge on the #6 Porsche with just over 30 minutes remaining.
That was when misfortune struck and Fernandez encountered an electrical problem which caused the engine to lose power. Able to finish but unable to challenge, the team ended the day fourth in class.
"It was a tough day for us," Fernandez reflected. "We were looking good for a top-three finish but, towards the end, we had an electrical problem that affected the engine. Even the GT's at top speed were faster than us after that. Then I had an off.
"I thought the Corvette saw me when I was beside him but he started to accelerate better than me. We went into a braking zone and I thought he was going to give me room. To avoid him, I spun. We really didn't lose anything there in the end because the engine was running poorly with the problem.
"It's a shame but we will come back. The car wasn't the greatest today in terms of setup but I think we could have made it into the top three. We never gave up but, like I said, it was a tough day."
"Like Adrian said, it was a tough day for us,” added Diaz. “We had good pit stops and a good strategy but, unfortunately, we had the electrical problem. That took us out of contention here."
