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Laguna Seca

09/09/2001

Friday

First Report

© Tom Kjos

Monterey, California, USA—Stefan Johansson’s #18 Gulf Audi topped testing times today. After the Joest Audi Sport North America R8s had led most of the hour and a half session, they were dropped to third as both the ELMS import and the Jan Magnussen / David Brabham #50 Panoz Roadster S went significantly quicker. Fastest time was 1:15.967, compared to Rinaldo Capello’s much faster 1:15.028 track record. The track was reported to be quite slick today, a number of spins seeming to validate that report.

The Saleen S7R went fastest in GTS, but was still over a second slower than Ron Fellow’s Corvette record.

GT was the one class that did obliterate the standing record, at least unofficially. Three of the BMWs, with the same 31.4 mm restrictors with which they have run 'all' season, obliterated Sascha Maassen’s record, set last year in a Porsche GT3-R. Fastest was Bill Auberlen, now paired with Boris Said, in an attempt to put Boris in third place in the driver’s championship at the least, if not win it. PTG can no longer overtake BMW Motorsport for the team championship.

Meanwhile, the meetings between the ACO and BMW Motorsport (I meant in my earlier item to say NOT the teams, but rather the manufacturer, sorry), in regard to a new restrictor size continue. Frenchmen and Germans negotiating in a small room. Hmmm. What has that often led to, since Bonaparte, anyway? We have been told by an unnamed source not to expect a resolution any time soon.

1. Stefan Johansson/Patrick LeMarie, Audi R8, 106.057 mph (1:15.967).
2. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham, Panoz LMP-1, 105.742 (1:16.193).
3. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8, 104.986 (1:16.750).
4. Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen, Audi R8, 104.415 (1:17.161).
5. Klaus Graf/Franck Lagorce, Panoz LMP-1, 104.341 (1:17.216).
6. Johnny Herbert/Andy Wallace, Audi R8, 103.668 (1:17.717).
7. Wayne Taylor/Max Angelelli, Cadillac LMP 01, 103.412 (1:17.910).
8. Emmanuel Collard/Christophe Tinseau, Cadillac LMP 01, 103.128 (1:18.124).
9. Jon Field/Rick Southerland, Lola B2K 10B-Judd, 99.164 (1:21.247).
10. Didier de Radigues/Milka Duno, Reynard 01Q-Judd, 98.785 (1:21.559).
11. Claudia Huertgen/Steven Knight/Mel Hawkins, Lola B2K-Nissan, 96.196 (1:23.754).
12. Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller, Saleen S7R, 95.604 (1:24.273).
13. John Graham/Scott Maxwell, Reynard 01Q-Judd, 95.497 (1:24.367).
14. Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 94.582 (1:25.183).
15. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 92.920 (1:26.707).
16. Boris Said/Bill Auberlen, BMW M3 GTR, 92.768 (1:26.849).
17. JJ Lehto/Jorg Muller, BMW M3 GTR, 92.645 (1:26.964).
18. Fredrik Ekblom/Dirk Muller, BMW M3 GTR, 92.534 (1:27.069).
19. Timo Bernhard/Johnny Mowlem/Michael Peterson, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 92.118 (1:27.462).
20. Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 92.092 (1:27.486).
21. Hans Stuck/Niclas Jonsson, BMW M3 GTR, 92.036 (1:27.540).
22. Randy Pobst/Christian Menzel, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 91.743 (1:27.819).
23. Kevin Buckler/Tyler McQuarrie, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 90.213 (1:29.309).
24. Tony Burgess/Andrew Bagnall, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 87.398 (1:32.185).
25. Kye Wankum/Joe Foster, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 87.190 (1:32.405).
26. Robert Orcutt/Tony Colicchio, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 85.925 (1:33.765).
27. Randy Wars/Mark Neuhaus, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 82.811 (1:37.292).
28. Shane Lewis/Darren Law, Dodge Viper GTS-R, did not practice.
29. Tom Weickardt/Mike Silcox, Dodge Viper GTS-R, did not practice.

More Saturday morning, BST.