Adelaide ALMS 31/12/2000   Thursday & Friday Pitlane Ramblings   Michael Olsson Thursday Since this is my first report for Sportscar World (TotalMotorSport), I thought I would try to turn ignorance into a virtue, and try to convey some first impressions of the Adelaide pitlane as seen through the eyes of an ALMS neophyte. First garage on pitlane was Audi. I know it's a cliché, but the phrase that sprang instantly to mind was 'Teutonic Efficiency'. Everything about this team tells you that Joest didn't win all those Le Mans trophies by accident. The silver livery of the team's #78 car seems to convey a message of cool professionalism. This makes the new 'Croc' paintwork of McNish & Capello's R8 seem all the more surreal - imagine a 200 mph Olympic closing ceremony float. Who said Germans don't have a sense of humour? Audi is obviously pretty confident of a win here - Audi banners are everywhere around the circuit and TTs and A4s are prominent as course vehicles. Next up is Panoz, who with Brabham, Bright and Murphy (yes all right, he's a Kiwi but he lives here) on board are likely to be the crowd favourite. The new car was generally being kept behind closed doors but I did get a glimpse and heard it fired up. The new engine, which seems incredibly small, has a purposeful rasp of its own but lacks the "I love the smell of napalm in the morning" rumble of this year's car. I spoke briefly to Jason Bright, another incredibly talented young Australian driver who can't get backing for an overseas campaign. He paid the Panoz the ultimate complement in the vocabulary of up-and-coming young drivers "It handles like an open-wheeler" and was hopeful that their V8 would get the power down out of slow corners better than the Audi turbo. This correspondent is unashamedly hoping for an Anzac victory - as I suspect is most of Adelaide. The DAMS Cadillac looks long, low and lethal, seemingly only in need of Darth Vader on the driving strength to complete its image - will this car ever produce the results to match its killer. Rafanelli, by contrast, bring a whiff of Italian brio to the pits with their tricolour livery and might just give the big boys a run for their money - even if the Lola is, as my father put it, "seriously ugly". Looking in the ORECA pit, it is clear that here we have the GTS ‘Audi’. Despite the European accents, this looks very much like racing the American way - big, brash and loud (although somehow the Viper V10's noise lacks the sexy basso rumble of the traditional V8). As the red and white machines sit gleaming in the sun, I get the feeling it would take an artillery barrage to stop this team taking out GTS honours here. Hopefully next year will see the Corvettes turn up to make a race of it. The Chamberlain Viper is also immaculately turned out, but it is hard to see them upsetting the resources and driving talent of the factory team (although the other 'talents' of Milka Duno are attracting plenty of attention from both the media and the other drivers). One team looking to cause a major upset is the Cirtek equipe running the Roock Porsche GT2. It is great to see this car here (dare one call it a real GT car?). Coming off the back of its Barcelona success, the team is hoping that the potentially high temperatures predicted for Sunday, and the unforgiving concrete walls of this street circuit might play into their hands. Their Thursday was a little more 'interesting' than they would have liked with assembly problems with the car's gearbox necessitating a 'box change. Nonetheless, I will be surprised if this car is not there at the chequered flag. Of course Porsche has always been the backbone of sports car/GT racing and the GT3Rs are here in force. The three Barbour cars look particularly formidable. BMW, however, is certainly hoping to rain on Porsche's GT parade. Certainly the depth of driver talent in the M3s (including Auberlen, Said and Stuck) is immensely impressive, but I got the impression that the pitlane consensus is that the car is not yet quite on a par with the GT3R. Perhaps next year with the V8? The Pilbeam Nissan is certainly a fascinating novelty to Australian eyes. A pity it is the only LMP675 to make the long trip out here. A greater pity that it didn’t seem worth the trip. Friday Adelaide has gone Le Mans crazy! Brabham, Murphy and Bright graced the entire front page of the morning paper - a horrifying start to his birthday according to Allan McNish! 150,00 tickets have already been sold and even today the stands are almost half full. The morning started unseasonably mild, but had started to get hot by the time the ALMS competitors took to the track. Thanks to my lily-white ancestry I am already seriously sun-burned! The Le Mans action well and truly arrived in Adelaide with the first practice session for the prototypes. The excitement built as the prototypes sat gleaming in the sun waiting for the session to commence. Whatever you may think of the McNish / Capello's car's paint-scheme, it is certainly dramatic! Interestingly, it was 'Dindo' Capello (perhaps McNish was too busy celebrating his birthday?!) at the wheel throughout the session. The paint scheme might be comic, but the #77 car proved all business setting the fastest time of 1:26.5521. Less fortunate was Pirro, who managed to find the wall while trying to find the limits of the circuit. The damage, however, was not extensive, and Biela was able to return to the track before the end of the session. Audi's dominance in the series may perhaps be judged by the fact that the 78 car nonetheless set 2nd fastest time. The sound of the Audis (for those like me obsessed with the sound of racing engines) is purposeful but rather muffled by its turbos - a case of Ingolstadt understatement? Next fastest (as expected) were the the 12 & 2 Panoz. These blood & thunder V8 Roadsters are already clearly crowd favourites. David Brabham, in particular, is ready to dispute McNish's claim to the 'Best Sports Car Driver in the World' title. It remains to be seen, however, whether his local co-drivers have the experience to take the challenge to the Audi uberwagens. The new Panoz was slowest in the session. However it was clear that Magnussen was taking it pretty easily, with frequent trips to the pits and only 5 full laps completed. The new engine has a distinctive notes of its own - more Cosworth DFV than trad. V8. The car looks sensational and will clearly be a major weapon in 2001. If there was an award for 'Best Noise' however, it would have to go to the Rafanelli Lola. This V10's scream was painfully beautiful. Interestingly Schiattarella did not drive in the first session, so perhaps the 0 car can improve on 6th tomorrow. The Konrad Lola was more understated both in noise and performance. DAMS had a consistent opening session (managing 20 & 23 laps). Like the Audi, the Cadillac's V8 is muffled by its turbos. The cars look the business, but were 1.7 & 3.9 seconds off the lead Audi's pace. Both ORECA Vipers managed to spin in the same place - and I somehow managed to miss both! Despite only completing 4 laps, Wendlinger in the 91 car still set fastest time. Sensation of the session was without doubt Bob Wollek, who managed to set 2nd fastest time! Its official, the man is a GT racing God! Despite having Watson at the wheel, the Chamberlain Viper seemed to struggle for pace. I will have to wonder down to their pit and see what the story is here! In the end then, it was business as usual in terms of relative performances - but what a business for those of us new to the Le Mans series! Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport