Rewarding his crew for a hard
week of work, Tom Kristensen won the pole Friday for Saturday's American Le
Mans Series sports car endurance race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
The Audi factory team rebuilt the R8 Prototype after it was crashed
twice in last Sunday's race at Canada's Mosport International Raceway.
Series point leader Rinaldo Capello crashed on the first lap of the race,
and then Kristensen crashed it again later after it had been repaired.
"The team has done a fantastic job with the car," said Kristensen,
from Denmark. "Unfortunately, they didn't get to see Niagra Falls on the way
here from Toronto as everyone else did, but we're here with a good pole and
it's very satisfying."
Kristensen and Capello will share the car in Saturday's two-hour,
45-minute event, the first race for the ALMS at Mid-Ohio. Capello has been
on the winning team in three of the five ALMS races run this season, and
Kristensen has won two. The pole was the first of his career on the ALMS.
The Panoz LMP1-RS of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen qualified
second, followed by the second Audi factory car driven by Frank Biela and
Emanuele Pirro. Biela and Pirro won last week's race in Canada, while
Magnussen and Brabham won the previous race at Portland, Ore.
"Sure I was going for the pole," said Brabham, who had been fastest
in morning practice and fell only 4/10ths of a second short of Kristensen's
time. "But the track wasn't as nice as it was this morning. The shift in
temperatures obviously played a big part, but we're feeling pretty confident
for the race. I think the whole team is really tweaked up this weekend to
try and nail another one."
Didier de Radigues won his fourth consecutive pole in the LMP 675
class for smaller Prototypes in a Reynard 01Q-Judd that he will share with
Bruno Lambert. The duo won last weekend at Mosport, and de Radigues had two
other class wins prior to that event.
"I've never raced here before," said de Radigues, who credited NBC
Sports pit reporter Calvin Fish for assisting him in learning the Mid-Ohio
circuit. Fish, a former racer, runs a racing school at the track. "I spent
some time with Calvin on Thursday and he gave me some tips."
Terry Borcheller grabbed his third pole in the last four races in the GTS
class in a Saleen S7R, despite a power steering problem that limited him to
only a few fast laps. "I was sitting in the car while they were fixing the
problem, and I was getting a little nervous because time was running out,"
he said. "But I got the best qualifying lap I've ever had because I didn't
see another car the whole time. For the race, we should do well." He will
co-drive with Franz Konrad.
The biggest surprise in qualifying was in the GT class, where the
Porsche 911 GT3 RS of Sascha Maassen qualified fastest, breaking BMW's
recent grip on the class for production-based cars. He will co-drive with
fellow German Lucas Luhr.
"I didn't expect to be here (winning the pole)," said Maassen, who
is tied with JJ Lehto for the GT class points lead in the series. "Yesterday
(in practice), I crashed the car, and today I'm on the pole. We had great
teamwork today."
Saturday's starting lineup:
1. Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi R8,
109.057 (1:14.537).
2. David Brabham, Australia; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Panoz LMP1-RS,
108.514 (1:14.910).
3. Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi R8,
108.168 (1:15.150).
4. Johnny Herbert, England; Andy Wallace, England; Audi R8,
107.069 (1:15.921).
5. Klaus Graf, Germany; Franck Lagorce, France; Panoz LMP1-RS,
106.795 (1:16.116).
6. Emmanuel Collard, England; Christophe Tinseau, France; Cadillac LMP 01,
106.371 (1:16.419).
7. James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, Penn.; Riley & Scott MkIIIC-Lincoln,
106.188 (1:16.551).
8. Jon Field, Dublin, Ohio; Joel Field, Marion, Ohio; Clint Field, Dublin, Ohio; Lola B2K 10B-Judd,
105.406 (1:17.119).
9. Wayne Taylor, Altamonte Springs, Fla.; Max Angelelli, Italy; Cadillac LMP 01,
105.019 (1:17.403).
10. Didier de Radigues, Belgium; Bruno Lambert, Belgium; Reynard 01Q-Judd,
102.374 (1:19.403).
11. Terry Borcheller, Phoenix; Franz Konrad, Germany; Saleen S7R,
99.861 (1:21.401).
12. Steven Knight, Castle Rock, Col.; Claudia Huertgen, Germany; Lola B2K-Nissan,
99.724 (1:21.513).
13. John Graham, Canada; Milka Duno, Venezuela; Reynard 01Q-Judd,
98.956 (1:22.146).
14. Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, Ga.; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R,
98.160 (1:22.812).
15. Andy Pilgrim, Aventura, Fla.; Kelly Collins, Corona del Mar, Calif.; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R,
97.629 (1:23.262).
16. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RS,
96.255 (1:24.451).
17. JJ Lehto, Finland; Jorg Muller, Germany; BMW M3 GTR,
96.246 (1:24.459).
18. Boris Said, Carlsbad, Calif.; Hans Stuck, Austria; BMW M3 GTR,
96.191 (1:24.507).
19. Shane Lewis, Jupiter, Fla.; David Donohue, Malvern, Penn.; Dodge Viper GTS-R,
95.965 (1:24.706).
20. Fredrik Ekblom, Sweden; Dirk Muller, Germany; BMW M3 GTR,
95.908 (1:24.756).
21. Randy Pobst, Melbourne, Fla.; Christian Menzel, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RS,
95.717 (1:24.925).
22. Niclas Jonsson, Sweden; Peter Cunningham, West Bend, Wis.; BMW M3 GTR,
95.494 (1:25.124).
23. Johnny Mowlem, England; Mike Fitzgerald, Fountain Hills, Az.; Porsche 911 GT3 RS,
94.357 (1:26.149).
24. Jimmy Adams, Suffolk, Va.; Joe Blacker, Ellicott City, Md.; Pilbeam MP84-Nissan,
94.285 (1:26.215).
25. Joe Foster, Atlanta; Kye Wankum, Canada; Porsche 911 GT3 R,
91.805 (1:28.544).
26. Tony Burgess, Canada; Philip Colin, Lincolnshire, Ill.; Porsche 911 GT3 R,
91.513 (1:28.827).
27. Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, Wis.; Joe Ellis, Dayton, Ohio; Dodge Viper GTS-R,
90.357 (1:29.963).
28. Mark Neuhaus, Sun Valley, Id.; Randy Wars, Mexico; Porsche 911 GT3 R,
87.088 (1:33.340).
Created and Designed by John Favata
