FIA-GT BRNO
BRNO
April 14-April 16
WORLD GT CHAMPIONSHIP
Brno Round
Second Qualifying Practice Session
Sunday 15 April 2001
Weather
With air temperature around 2° and the track at 6° C, the weather deteriorated for the second running of the Superpole session, with rain growing steadily.
Qualifying - an explanation
After the first 45-minute qualifying session, the six fastest GT cars and the six fastest N-GT cars are chosen to take part in the Superpole session. A designated driver for each car completes one timed lap of the track. If a car fails to complete the lap, it will start in 12th position on the grid. If two cars fail to set a time, their times from the morning will determine which starts in 11th and which in 12th., and so on. Therefore, the lap times from the Superpole give the first twelve positions on the grid. The rest of the cars - 21at Brno - have a second 15-minute qualifying session, in which they can try to improve on their morning times. The combined qualifying from the 1st and 2nd sessions determine grid positions 13 onwards.
The Superpole Session
The weather played havoc with the single-lap qualifying session, with the first drivers out on the track having the driest conditions. This meant that Czech driver Tomas Enge, driving the Coca Cola Racing Team Porsche 996 GT3-R, who was sixth in N-GT this morning and therefore first to compete, set the best time in the class. His time of 2:06.564, on his first appearance in the FIA GT Championship, placed him fourth overall. Kaufmann, who took the #57 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R out in second place, was a second slower. Conditions then deteriorated, and Sebastien Dumez, driving the #50 Larbre Competition Chereau Porsche 996 GT3-R set a time of 2:12.846, while his team-mate Bruno Eichmann parked the #51 Larbre car in the gravel. Luca Riccitelli was really pushing, and his time of 2:10.654 placed his #77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R third in the class, as David Terrien's JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena could only manage a time of 2:14.285. It was then the turn of the GT cars to lap the 5.4 km track. Didier Defourny, driving the #10 Paul Belmondo Competition Chrysler Viper, still not able to equal Enge's provisional pole time. Emmanuel Clérico, however, leapt into the lead with a lap of 2:02.739, that proved to be unbeatable. Christophe Bouchut, in the #7 Larbre Competition-Chereau Chrysler Viper GTS-R was two seconds slower, with Vosse slower still, having gone off the track at the first corner. A heavier rain-shower then started at the back of the track, and the two Lister Storms, in slick tyres on an extremely wet track, opted to bring the cars back safely to the pits rather than risk going off. Jamie Campbell Walter lapped in 2:13.133, placing the #1 Lister Storm ninth, while Julian Bailey will start from 11th on the grid with a lap of 2:26.070.
Second Qualifying Practice Session
With steady drizzle falling, there were few improvements in the 15 minutes allocated to the rest of the cars. The best time was set by Michael and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen in the #4 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R, whose morning times were cancelled due to the car being underweight. Naspetti and Schiatarella were second fastest with the #5 Team Rafanelli Ferrari 550 Maranello. Overall, the #3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper will start from 13th on the grid, followed by the two Team Rafanelli Ferraris 550 Maranellos.
Pole for Emmanuel Clerico
French driver Emmanuel Clérico claimed pole position for Paul Belmondo Racing with an excellent lap of 2:02.739 in the #11 Chrysler Viper. "I'm very happy," he said. "The lap was hard because of the conditions, and it was a question of not going too fast, but just fast enough to get a good time. It's my first time in the car since the A1 Ring last year. I think we have a good chance tomorrow, because my team-mate is OK and we've been consistent since the beginning of the weekend. I have a good feeling for tomorrow !"
Front row for Larbre Competition-Chereau
For the second race in a row, Christophe Bouchut and his team-mate Jean-Philippe Belloc will start from the second place on the grid. "The conditions were not really good, but it was better than it was for the Listers," Christophe Bouchut said after his lap of 2:04.126. "The Superpole is a very nice thing for the show, but when the conditions are like this, it can't be the same for everybody. But it's not important. I'm really happy to be on the front row, which is really important for the race. Lister is really strong and it will be really hard to beat them, but we have a very good car for both dry and wet conditions, and I hope it will be possible to get a good result tomorrow." The two N-GT cars will start from 8th and 12th places on the grid.
Vosse takes third place
Paul Belmondo Racing's Vincent Vosse set the third time in today's wet Superpole session, driving the #12 Chrysler Viper GTS-R. "It was freezing out there," Vosse explained. "I tried to get some heat into the tyres, which were brand new, but on my qualifying lap I went off into the first corner. I tried to brake quite late but it was too late." Vosse recovered well to set a time of 2:04.793. "The car is working well, though, and we're in the two front rows, which is good for the team, with three cars in the front three rows." The #10 Paul Belmondo Competition Chrysler Viper GTS-R will start from sixth place on the grid, after a lap of 2:07.765 from Didier Defourny.
Enge on N-GT pole
Czech driver Tomas Enge, on his first appearance in the FIA GT Championship, took pole position in the #65 Coca Cola Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R. Enge arrived at Brno after finishing third in yesterday's F3000 race at Imola. "The car was good today in qualifying in the morning, and the 6th place was good for superpole. I was just concentrating on that one lap, and we were lucky that I was first out there and I didn't have so much rain as the others," Enge said. " I am very happy because I haven't slept too much - only four hours - and I drove the car today for the first time. I enjoyed it quite a lot, and I'm looking forward to the race tomorrow. I last drove at Brno a year ago, and when I saw the weather was freezing I thought it would be difficult, as I didn't know what I could do with the tyres, or how much I could push the car. I did 10 laps in the morning and everything went well, the car was fantastic. Coca Cola Racing did a very good job and it's looking great for tomorrow."
Second for Freisinger Motorsport
"For us, everything is fine," Wolfgang Kaufmann said after placing the #57 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R in second on the N-GT grid. "We had a lot of problems yesterday with overbraking at the rear, and we made a lot of changes for first practice today. This second qualification was fine, but the weather was very difficult because half of the track was a little bit dry and half was rather wet. The Yokohama tyres are new in GT. So everything is OK.
Third grid place for RWS Motorsport
"It was difficult because the weather conditions changed," RWS' Luca Riccitelli said after setting the third N-GT time in the Superpole session. "You have to like these conditions. I did my best, but you don't know exactly where you can break and where you can go on the throttle. Being the only car on the track, you have no reference points either. I was very long on the first corner, and the second too. But the car after me was in a worse condition, so it's OK."
Lister back of the Superpole
Fastest in the morning, Lister Storm Racing had to contend with the worst of the rain during the Superpole session. “It just got worse and worse," Jamie Campbell Walter said after setting a lap of 2:13.133, placing him ninth for tomorrow's race. "I nearly landed in the gravel twice on the first third of the track, and decided it wasn't worth it for a few places on the grid." Julian Bailey was last to compete after setting this morning's fastest lap. "That was one of the scariest laps I've ever done," he said. "After I had trouble at the first corner, and nearly went off. So I took it easy - I couldn't be quickest. I'm glad I've matured - fifteen years ago, I would have gone off."
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