The privateer Champion Audi
team set the fastest time of the day Thursday as American Le Mans Series
teams practiced in rainy conditions for Saturday's inaugural ALMS event at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Heavy rain began to fall moments before the start of the two-hour
practice session, soaking the 2.258-mile racing circuit and holding testing
speeds well below those that were expected. Though the sun came out for the
final few minutes of the session, the track was never dry. Official practice
and qualifying will be held Friday for Saturday's two-hour, 45-minute sports
car endurance race.
The Champion Audi, co-driven by Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace of
England, turned a best lap of 1:31.63 (88.707 mph) on the wet track to lead
the session. The Florida-based team was the first non-factory team to
receive one of the Audi R8 Prototypes that have dominated the ALMS in most
of the 2000 and 2001 seasons. The car was rebuilt after Herbert was involved
in a crash while racing for the lead in the closing moments of last Sunday's
event at Canada's Mosport International Raceway.
The two factory Audis were second and third in Thursday's practice,
with the car driven by Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela second at 1:31.97. The
Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen car, which was also crashed in last week's
race, was third at 1:32.23.
The Panoz LMP1-R of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen was fourth at
1:33.71, followed by the Lola B2K/10B-Judd of local drivers Jon, Clint and
Joel Field at 1:34.54.
The wet track conditions made for some unusual mixing of the cars in
the rest of the field, with cars that are normally slower being somewhat
equalized by the conditions. The GT-class BMW M3 GTR of JJ Lehto and Jorg
Muller was seventh overall with a lap of 1:40.89.
Leading the LMP 675 class for smaller Prototypes was the Reynard
01Q-Judd of Didier de Radigues and Bruno Lambert at 1:41.27, while the
Saleen S7R of Terry Borcheller and Franz Konrad led the GTS class with a lap
of 1:41.50.
Twenty-eight cars are on hand to participate in the first-ever ALMS race in
the American Midwest.
1. (38) Johnny Herbert/Andy Wallace, Audi R8,
1:31.63 (88.707).
2. (2) Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8,
1:31.97 (88.381).
3. (1) Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen, Audi R8,
1:32.23 (88.132).
4. (50) David Brabham/Jan Magnussen, Panoz LMP1-R,
1:33.71 (86.739).
5. (37) Jon Field/Joel Field/Clint Field, Lola B2K10B-Judd,
1:34.54 (85.980).
6. (51) Franck Lagorce/Klaus Graf, Panoz LMP1-R,
1:35.23 (85.354).
7. (42) JJ Lehto/Jorg Muller, BMW M3 GTR,
1:40.89 (80.569).
8. (5) Didier de Radigues/Bruno Lambert, Reynard 01Q-Judd,
1:41.27 (80.265).
9. (26) Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller, Saleen S7R,
1:41.50 (80.080).
10. (22) Randy Pobst/Christian Menzel, Porsche 911 GT3 RS,
1:41.69 (79.937).
11. (43) Fredrik Ekblom/Dirk Muller, BMW M3 GTR,
1:42.00 (79.693).
12. (4) Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R,
1:43.00 (78.918).
13. (11) Steven Knight/Claudia Huertgen, Lola B2K-Nissan,
1:43.03 (78.893).
14. (57) John Graham/Milka Duno, Reynard 01Q-Judd,
1:43.82 (78.293).
15. (30) Johnny Mowlem/Mike Fitzgerald, Porsche 911 GT3 RS,
1:45.21 (77.256).
16. (10) Peter Cunningham/Niclas Jonsson, BMW M3 GTR,
1:45.61 (76.968).
17. (23) Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS,
1:45.93 (76.737).
18. (45) Shane Lewis/David Donohue, Dodge Viper GTS-R,
1:46.42 (76.382).
19. (69) Kye Wankum/Joe Foster, Porsche 911 GT3 R,
1:46.75 (76.142).
20. (6) Boris Said/Hans Stuck, BMW M3 GTR,
1:46.78 (76.126).
21. (52) Tony Burgess/Phillip Collin, Porsche 911 GT3 R,
1:47.57 (75.565).
22. (44) Joe Ellis/Tom Weickardt, Dodge Viper GTS-R,
1:57.32 (69.284).
23. (15) Randy Wars/Mark Neuhaus, Porsche 911 GT3 R,
2:03.25 (65.953).
24. (7) Emmanuel Collard/Christophe Tinseau, Cadillac LMP 01,
2:03.75 (65.686).
25. (3) Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R,
2:09.34 (62.848).
26. (16) Butch Leitzinger/James Weaver, Riley & Scott MkIIIC-Lincoln,
no speed.
27. (48) Jimmy Adams/Joe Blacker, Pilbeam MP84-Nissan,
no speed.
28. (8) Wayne Taylor/Max Angelelli, Cadillac LMP 01,
no speed.
Created and Designed by John Favata
