KRISTENSEN LEADS ALMS OPENING PRACTICE AT MID-OHIO
Picking up where he left off two weeks
ago at Le Mans, Tom Kristensen set the fastest lap of the day Friday as
American Le Mans Series teams practiced for Sunday’s event at Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course.
Kristensen, who was part of the winning team for the third straight year in
the 24 Hours of Le Mans, turned the 2.258-mile circuit in 1:15.410 (107.795
mph), fastest of the 30 cars that practiced Friday. The Dane piloted an Audi
R8 Prototype that he will co-drive in the race with Rinaldo Capello of
Italy.
Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela, who co-drove with Kristensen at Le Mans,
were second-fastest in Friday’s practice with a lap of 1:15.656 in the same
Audi that won Le Mans. Last year’s Mid-Ohio race winners, David Brabham and
Jan Magnussen, were third at 1:16.096 in a Paonoz LMP-1.
Kristensen was the pole winner for last year’s inaugural ALMS event at
Mid-Ohio. Qualifying will be held Saturday for Sunday’s two-hour, 45-minute
race.
"I raced here last year for the first time and really like this circuit,"
said Kristensen. "It’s one of my three favorites in America. It has a lot of
challenging areas and elevation changes that make it fun to drive. You are
very busy in the car here."
Jon Field, who lives in nearby Dublin, Ohio, set the fast time in the LMP
675 class for smaller Prototypes with a lap of 1:18.040. He will co-drive
with his 19-year-old son Clint in a Lola EX257-AER MG. Jon Field and two
other drivers won the LMP 675 class with the car in the season-opening 12
Hours of Sebring in March.
The GTS class was led by the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R of Ron Fellows and
Johnny O’Connell with a lap of 1:22.809. Fellows and O’Connell have won the
GTS class in both ALMS races held this season and were also the class
winners at Le Mans.
In a big surprise, the GT class was led by the driving team of David Murry
and Larry Schumacher in a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Schumacher, who lives in
Cincinnati, Ohio, considers Mid-Ohio his home track. The car turned a lap of
1:27.955.
In the only incident of the two-hour test session, driver Shane Lewis
escaped injury when his Dodge Viper GTS-R crashed into the tire barrier in
turn 10 due to a stuck throttle. The car suffered heavy front-end damage.
Friday’s practice times:
1. Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello, Audi R8 (LMP 900), 1:15.410.
2. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8 (LMP 900), 1:15.656.
3. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham, Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900), 1:16.056.
4. Johnny Herbert/Stefan Johansson, Audi R8 (LMP 900), 1:16.826.
5. Bryan Herta/Bill Auberlen, Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900), 1:16.939.
6. Jon Field/Clint Field, Lola EX257-AER MG (LMP 675), 1:18.040.
7. James Weaver/Chris Dyson, Riley & Scott MKIIIA-Lincoln (LMP 900), 1:18.920.
8. Didier de Radigues/John Graham, Panoz LMP07-Mugen (LMP 900), 1:20.223.
9. Milka Duno/Scott Maxwell, Panoz LMP07-Mugen (LMP 900), 1:21.037.
10. Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS), 1:22.809.
11. Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS), 1:22.816.
12. Mark Neuhaus/Joel Field, Lola B2K10-Judd (LMP 900), 1:22.960.
13. Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller, Saleen S7R (GTS), 1:23.365.
14. Emanuele Naspetti/Mimmo Schiatterella, Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS), 1:23.671.
15. Tom Weickardt/Marc Bunting, Dodge Viper GTS-R (GTS), 1:26.417.
16. Chris McMurry/Bryan Willman, Pilbeam MP84-Nissan (LMP 675), 1:27.444.
17. Larry Schumacher/David Murry, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:27.955.
18. Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:28.098.
19. Ben Devlin/Bret Arsenault, Lola B2K40-Ford (LMP 675), 1:28.115.
20. Justin Jackson/Mike Fitzgerald, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:28.296.
21. Joe Blacker/Jimmy Adams, Pilbeam MP84-Nissan (LMP 675), 1:28.320.
22. Randy Pobst/Johnny Mowlem/Michael Petersen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:28.387.
23. Timo Bernhard/Jorg Bergmeister, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:28.573.
24. Leo Hindery/Peter Baron, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:28.795.
25. Shane Lewis/Kevin Allen, Dodge Viper GTS-R (GTS), 1:28.850.
26. Kevin Buckler/B.J. Zacharias, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:29.276.
27. Dennis Spencer/Rich Grupp, Lola B2K42-Mazda (LMP 675), 1:29.557.
28. Adam Merzon/Robert Julien, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:30.078.
29. Gary Schultheis/Tony Kester, Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), no time.
30. Steve Knight/John Fergus, Lola B2K40-Nissan (LMP 675), no time.
Home
Email Comments
Created and Designed by John Favata
