Audi could not get on the pace in qualifying
Audi
Porsche
Acura
Corvette
Click a link to go directly to that story!
Audi
Ingolstadt/Salt Lake City -- Team Audi Sport North America's pair of Audi R10 TDI prototypes will start the fourth round of the American Le Mans Series at Miller Motorsports Park near Salt Lake City (US state of Utah), from rows three and four of the grid. By qualifying sixth overall, Marco Werner captured pole position in the LM P1 class for Audi. Frank Biela set the eighth fastest time.
Under gruelling heat, specators saw one of the most thrilling and closest qualifiyng sessions in the history of the US-based sports car series. The lead changed several times and the fastest nine prototypes were seperated by less than a second. Team Audi Sport North America showed a much stronger performance than in the previous year when the Audi R10 TDI lost almost three seconds in qualifying to the lighter LM P2 cars. This time the gap to pole position was just 0.540 seconds.
Frank Biela set a fastest time of 1m 31.797s right at the start of the session -- the absolutely fastest lap of the weekend until this moment. In order to save the tyres for the race, Biela was called back into the pits after just two flying laps. After this, however, the track allowed improving lap times which eventually saw Biela dropping to eighth position.
Marco Werner began qualifying with less downforce, which did not allow him to match Biela's time. Only after switching to aerodynamics with more downforce, the German was able to improve to 1m 31.590s and sixth place on the starting grid.
In the previous race at Long Beach, Audi also started from rows three and four before taking a 1-2 victory. The race at Salt Lake City begins on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. local time and runs for 2 hours 45 minutes.
Quotes after the qualifying Salt Lake City
Lucas Luhr (Audi R10 TDI #2): "We went a little bit in the wrong direction with our setup. We corrected this in qualifying, however, only after the peak of the tyres had gone. Despite that: We are much closer to the front than last year. This will be an exciting race tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to it."
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #2): "We've been far away from this lap-time before qualifying. This means we've made a good step. Five tenth to the front are not much. I'm a bit angry that I did not insist on the change of the aerodynamcis before qualifying. I wanted to use the second version right from the beginning. Instead we started with the old version, after that the peak of the tyres had gone. Maybe it would have been possible to go five tenth faster on fresh tyres. Sixth place is disappointing. But we have made a good step forward for the race."
Frank Biela (Audi R10 TDI #1): "I had two flying laps, my lap time came on the second lap. I did not expect that the times would keep improving for such a long time -- and obviously our race engineer didn't expect this either. That's why we stopped, certainly a little bit too early. The question is how much more would have been possible. I don't believe it would have been possible to get onto the front row because my lap was good."
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1): "I am optimistic for the race. The car is very good and very fast on full tanks. Everything looks good, just the position is not good enough despite Frank (Biela) did a really good job in qualifying. Last year we were very far away from pole position."
Dave Maraj (Team Director Audi Sport North America): "I was pleased because obviously we went faster the whole weekend. And we are much closer this time than we were last year. I hope for a good race."
Porsche
TOOELE, Utah -- May 17 -- Drama flowed freely during both 20-minute qualifying sessions for tomorrow's Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels, with the Penske Porsche RS Spyder capturing the overall and LMP2 class pole, and the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR winning the top spot in the GT2 class.
Timo Bernhard (Germany) and his #6 Penske Porsche RS Spyder sat third overall behind two Acuras with seven minutes left to go in qualifying when he came into the pits low on fuel.
"My engineer asked me if I wanted to try again for the pole as the Michelins were wearing quite well, and he thought we could afford another two laps. I saw I was not far behind, and gave it another try. I put in a good lap, and then another good lap before the checkered flag. I didn't know until I came into the pits that those laps were good enough for the pole," said Bernhard, who has now captured 12 ALMS class poles and four overall poles.
He and his co-driver Romain Dumas (France) lead the LMP2 championship after three events after winning the 12 Hours of Sebring overall and winning the LMP2 class at St. Petersburg.
The de Farran/Peganaud Acura was second; the Diaz/Fernandez Acura third; and the Brabham/Sharp fourth -- both overall and in class -- followed by the #6 Penske Porsche RS Spyder qualified by Patrick Long (USA). Long will drive tomorrow with veteran ALMS champion Sascha Maassen (Germany).
The RS Spyders of the Dyson Racing team struggled to live up to the promise they displayed in practice where they often sat at the top of the charts. The #20 qualified by Butch Leitzinger (USA) and co-driven by Marino Franchitti (Scotland), was seventh overall and sixth in class, while the #16, driven in the session by Guy Smith (England)and co-driven in the race by Chris Dyson (USA) wound up tenth overall and eighth in class.
The GT2 qualifying session proved to be every bit as exciting, as Wolf Henzler (Germany) turned in a pole-winning time of 1:47.135 in the #45 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Flying Lizards Motorsports. Henzler's time held up despite a last lap flyer by Jaime Melo in the Ferrari F430 GT, whose time wound up being identical to Henzler's.
"In case of a tie, the pole goes to the driver who set the time first," said Henzler. "So now we know we can go fast," he added. "The car is much improved and this track configuration is better for Porsche than last year's longer course set-up," said Henzler.
Henzler's pole was the second of his ALMS career, the first coming at St. Petersburg earlier this year. For the race, Henzler will team with Jorg Bergmeister (Germany), while fellow Flying Lizard team members Patrick Pilet (France) and Johannnes van Overbeek (Germany) will team in the #46 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Henzler and Bergmeister are six points out of the points lead in GT2 after three events.
Other top Porsche qualifiers in GT2 included the Marc Basseng/Dirk Werner Farnbacher Loles 911 Gt3 RSR (fourth); the VICI Racing Porsche of Nicky Pastorelli/Francsico Pastorelli/Ruben Carrapatoso (12th); and the Seth Neiman/Darren Law Flying Lizard Porsche (14th).
The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels, which will start at 3:05 PM EDT, will be carried live nationally on SPEED TV (3:00 PM -- 6:00 PM EDT). All track sessions will be scored live on www.americanlemans.com, and race action will be broadcast on American Le Mans radio, also at www.americanlemans.com. Photos and race stories on the Porsche competitors will be filed at www.porschemotorsport.com (click on motorsports news).
Acura
DE FERRAN JUST MISSES UTAH ALMS POLE WITH PANASONIC ELS ACURA IN FORMER INDY 500 CHAMPION'S ACURA SPORTS-CAR DEBUT
Acura ARX-01b Cars Take 2-3-4 Overall In Utah Grand Prix Qualifying Saturday
TOOELE, UTAH -- After four years out of the cockpit, Gil de Ferran returned to active racing Saturday and the former Indy 500 champion didn't disappoint.
The Brazilian driving legend debuted his new Acura American Le Mans Series sports-car organization this weekend and has already left little doubt that the No. 66 Panasonic ELS Sound Acura ARX-01b prototype will be a car to contend with during the remainder of the 2008 ALMS campaign.
After leading testing and practice rounds Friday and Saturday, de Ferran jumped to the top of the qualifying sheets in the fifth minute of the 20-minute qualifying session on the 3.08-mile, 15-turn Miller Motorsports Park circuit south of Salt Lake City. Teaming with young French star Simon Pagenaud, de Ferran had not been in a racing car in an official race event since he retired following his IndyCar Series win on Oct. 12, 2003 in Texas .
The two-time CART champion continued to better his initial qualifying time Saturday with each circuit. He initially posted a time of 1 minute, 32.104 seconds, followed by a 1:31.311 and a 1:31.189.
De Ferran was positioned to win the overall pole position in his ALMS debut when Timo Bernhard drove his Penske Porsche to a 1:31.050 clocking to take the top spot. Bernhard and de Ferran will make up Sunday's front row for the two-hour and 45-minute Utah Grand Prix, set for 1 p.m. MDT Sunday.
The Acuras of Luis Diaz and David Brabham were close to de Ferran's clocking and will start third and fourth, respectively, in the 30-car field. Diaz, teaming with Adrian Fernandez in the No. 15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura, posted a 1:31.342 reading, followed by No. 9 Patron Highcroft Racing Acura of Brabham at 1:31.352. Brabham, driving with teammate Scott Sharp, will be seeking his second consecutive LMP2 class win after his brilliant come-from-behind win at Long Beach, Calif., last month.
Christian Fittipaldi, making his first Miller Motorsports park start, drove the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b to ninth on the starting grid, with a time of 1:31.903. Fittipaldi, partnering with veteran Bryan Herta Sunday, said his car's chassis settings were not to his liking early in the run.
The fourth stop in the American Le Mans Series will be televised on Sunday, May 18, at 3 p.m. (EDT)
GIL de FERRAN (#66 Panasonic ELS Sound Acura ARX-01b): "I was on a strong lap late in the session and I slid off the track. It was a pole lap. But I have to admit I didn't think I drove that well in qualifying. I made some mistakes. But overall, I am pleased our new team is on the front row. I hope we can help all of the Acura teams move up to challenge for poles and wins. This team has come together quickly and we are very happy to racing again. It's time to battle for race wins."
LUIS DIAZ (#15 Lowe's Fernandez Acura ARX-01b): "It was very competitive out there today in qualifying. We had a mechanical problem on Friday and we lost some track time. But the Lowe's Acura team did a great job getting everything ready for the qualifying run. I felt the car was getting back up to speed and I might have a shot at the pole. We are prepared for the race now."
DAVID BRABHAM (#9 Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01b): "We had electrical issues and I didn't get any of the gear changes right. I felt a little handicapped throughout my run. Unfortunately, with the electrical problems we had, I didn't know where to change gears, so it made it very difficult. It's a shame, because the car was good enough for pole.""
CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI (#26 XM Satellite Radio AGR Acura ARX-01b): "I thought we had a pretty good car in the practice session just before qualifying. We tried to get aggressive with the chassis setup and I think we went too far. I actually spun the car on my second qualifying lap. The car was just too loose, with too much oversteer. We got the car back to the pits and fixed a couple of things. The car felt better then. But we couldn't get the setup like before. We'll get the car better for Sunday's race."
Corvette
SALT LAKE CITY, May 17, 2008 – With Utah's snow-capped mountains as a backdrop, Olivier Beretta turned in a peak performance in qualifying for Sunday's American Le Mans Series Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix. The five-time series champion from Monaco drove his No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R to a fast time of 1:43.869 (105.641 mph) to edge Johnny O'Connell in the No. 3 Compuware Corvette C6.R by .175-second.
Beretta and O'Connell waged a seesaw battle for the GT1 pole as Beretta was quicker on the first flying lap and O'Connell took the point on the second circuit. On the decisive third lap, O'Connell was first across the finish line, but an instant later Beretta's name flashed in the top spot on the scoring screen.
"Mike West, my crew chief, told me on my second lap that I was behind Johnny, so I said to myself, 'OK, this is the last lap, I must do the maximum that I can,'" said Beretta. "My Corvette C6.R was perfect, so the quick lap time came."
A new course configuration that shortened the Miller Motorsports Park circuit to 3.048 miles saw lap times in the GT1 division drop by nearly a minute from last year's pole-winning run.
"It's good to be quick for three qualifying laps, but the car must be quick and comfortable for the whole race," Beretta noted. "This is the last preparation for the big race in Le Mans, so we have been testing and everything is working well. There is always strong competition between the No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette on the track, but we are always working together to find out what can help us for Le Mans. That is the one race we really want to win."
The No. 3 Corvette of O'Connell and Jan Magnussen had set the pace in practice, but the qualifying session was held during the hottest conditions so far, with 88-degree air temperature and 118-degree track temperature. The forecast calls for 90-degree heat in tomorrow's two-hour, 45-minute race.
"I'm disappointed with the way qualifying worked out because I think we have a very fast Corvette race car," said O'Connell. "Qualifying is so important, but this race is really about preparing for Le Mans. We're learning a lot about the Michelin tires and how our car responds.
"Even though the weather is hot, the heat inside the cockpit isn't too bad because the GM air conditioning system is working great. Both Corvettes are working each other really hard, and it will be a good race on Sunday."
The twin Corvette race cars are scheduled to be flown across the Atlantic just days after the Salt Lake City race as they begin their journey to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
"The cars have came through unscathed so far, and that's our main objective this weekend," reported Steve Wesoloski, GM Racing Road Racing Group manager. "We've achieved good top speeds with the cellulosic E85R ethanol at this track so the new fuel is working really well for us. We're also working on muffler development in view of the sound restrictions at Le Mans, and it looks like we'll have good horsepower when we go to France."