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Audi Presents Petit Le Mans

06/10/2001

Wednesday Test

Red, Silver,Yellow, and Blue

© Janos Wimpffen

Sunny and very warm blue skies glisten over the red clay of Georgia for the first day of the fourth annual Petit Le Mans. There is a calm sense of normalcy as the first post September 11 sports car race takes place in America.

The two-hour test session saw the Biela / Pirro Audi fastest, with a chink in the German army noticeable when the no. 1 car of Tom Kristensen backed into the wall on the back section of the course. Damage was mostly superficial, back bodywork, left corner, and 'gearbox—minutes' for the crack Audi crew. One of the Cadillacs also took a minor excursion. More disconcerting was the experience of Gunnar Jeannette. His Porsche 996 broke an upright. While he and the car were quite unscathed, this was supposed to be the new wham-a-daddy-big-bop suspension piece that Porsche produced. It collapsed after only a handful of laps. That’s not happy news for the other teams using the piece and left dad Kevin out $40k. On top of that the works transporter doesn’t have any spares.

More significant body damage occurred to the no. 15 Team Barbour Porsche. Veteran Grady Willingham is being joined by two rookies from the Speedvision Cup, and one of them, Derek Higgins, didn’t quite straighten out the car, although the track was duly straight at that spot.

The several interruptions of the test session kept many teams from turning in representative times, most satisfied with working on setups. The regular Konrad Saleen just edged out the Corvettes for GTS honors, after the yellow cars led for most of the session. The two Ferraris in the field (Prodrive 550 in GTS and MSB 360 in GT) look exceedingly pretty but have not looked quick. Despite having an all-star lineup of drivers from the FIA-GT series, the no. 45 American Viperacing Dodge has not been particularly quick.

Entry Notes:

Mark Neuhaus is joining Jon Field and Rick Sutherland in the new Lola “B” of the Intersport team.

The Archangel car present is carrying number 21, although it is actually the no. 22 Lola from the Grand-Am series.

Rookie drivers in the Team Bucknum Pilbeam are Bryan Willman and Brett Arsenault, both from the same group’s Formula Mazda cars.

Only one of the ROC Reynards will compete. The no. 39 car carried number no. 33 at Le Mans. The other one is present but stationary.

An unfortunate withdrawal is the new turbo Mazda powered Lola of Dennis Spencer.

Dino Steiner has joined the Brookspeed Viper.

Toni Seiler is joining Walter Brun in the second Konrad Saleen. This car had made its debut at Vallelunga.

Kevin Allen is the third driver in the no. 44 American Viperacing Viper.

Three PTG BMWs are entered, but the third one (#9) is only a mule that was used briefly today. It is one of the 6-cylinder cars from 2000. Boris Said and Bill Auberlen took a few laps in it.

Hugh Haden joins Bart in the Sebah Porsche. More on this team later.

Orbit Racing is only running two of its three entries. One is the associated car of Grand-Am regular Gary Schultheis, while the no. 35 car is a paddock-only display. Tony Kester is joining the driving crew on no. 34.

An important driver change has been made with the works BMW. Jörg Müller has moved over to no. 43, joining the unrelated Dirk Müller, while “JJ Lehto” will be joined by Fredrik Ekblom and Karl Wendlinger. This provides an opportunity for JJ Lehto and Müller to race each other for the championship.

A new entry, but a no-show thus far, is the Broadfoot Racing Porsche 996 GT3R for John Warner / Doc Lowman.

Andrew Bagnall has been replaced by Stefano Buttiero in the Seikel Porsche, with Hugh Plumb as third driver.

The Atomic Kitten Corvette has not arrived. They are the only trans-Atlantic withdrawal.

The ageless Doc Bundy is on the Kyser Porsche driving strength.

Seen in the paddock; Several members of the Robinson Racing squad oohing and aahing over the Audis, and Eric van de Poele schmoozing with all his friends.

Times, with drivers according to ALMS information:

1. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8, 1:11.703.
2. Stefan Johansson/Patrick Lemarie, Audi R8, 1:12.316.
3. Andy Wallace/Johnny Herbert, Audi R8, 1:13.029.
4. Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen, Audi R8, 1:13.148.
5. Klaus Graf/Franck Lagorce, Panoz LMP-1, 1:13.171.
6. Wayne Taylor/Max Angelelli/Christophe Tinseau, Cadillac LMP 01, 1:13.822.
7. Eric Bernard/Emmanuel Collard/Marc Goossens, Cadillac LMP 01, 1:14.863.
8. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham, Panoz LMP-1, 1:14.868.
9. James Weaver/Butch Leitzinger/Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Riley & Scott MkIIIC-Lincoln, 1:15.781.
10. Milka Duno/John Graham/Scott Maxwell, Reynard 01Q-Judd, 1:18.181.
11. Didier de Radigues/Bruno Lambert/Earl Goddard, Reynard 01Q-Judd, 1:18.740.
12. Steve Knight/Mel Hawkins/Claudia Huertgen, Lola B2K-Nissan, 1:19.380.
13. Jordi Gene/Yannick Schroeder/Jean-Denis Deletraz, Reynard 2KQ-Volkswagen, 1:19.774.
14. Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller/Charlie Slater, Saleen S7R, 1:19.826.
15. Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell/Scott Pruett, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 1:20.988.
16. Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins/Franck Freon, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 1:21.445.
17. Ben Devlin/Jason Workman/Andrew Davis, Lola B2K-Nissan, 1:22.406.
18. JJ Lehto/Fredrik Ekblom/Karl Wendlinger, BMW M3 GTR, 1:22.701.
19. Chris McMurray/Bryan Willman/Bret Arsenault, Pilbeam MP84-Nissan, 1:22.708.
20. Jorg Muller/Dirk Muller, BMW M3 GTR, 1:23.002.
21. Chris Bingham/Ron Johnson/Oliver Gavin, Saleen S7R, 1:23.349.
22. Boris Said/Hans Stuck/Bill Auberlen, BMW M3 GTR, 1:23.672.
23. Jon Field/Rick Sutherland, Lola B2K 10B-Judd, 1:23.734.
24. Niclas Jonsson/Brian Cunningham/David Murry, BMW M3 GTR, 1:23.873.
25. Rickard Rydell/Peter Kox/Marc Duez, Ferrari 550 Maranello, 1:23.944.
26. Randy Pobst/Christian Menzel, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:24.252.
27. Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:24.849.
28. Shane Lewis/Bob Mazzuoccola/Cort Wagner, Callaway C-12R, 1:25.797.
29. Mike Hezemans/Jeroen Bleekemolen/Anthony Kumpen, Dodge Viper GTS-R, 1:26.543.
30. Michael Petersen/Johnny Mowlem/Jean-Christophe Boullion, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:26.749.
31. Walter Brun, Saleen S7R, 1:27.782.
32. Kye Wankum/Joe Foster, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:29.110.
33. Stephen E. Earle/Bart Hayden, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:29.431.
34. Tony Burgess/Stefano Buttiero/Hugh Plumb, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:30.107.
35. Grady Willingham/Taz Harvey/Derek Higgins, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 1:30.501.
36. Joseph Policastro/Joseph Policastro Jr./Gunnar Jeannette, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:31.549.
37. Leo Hindery/Peter Baron/Tony Kester, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 1:31.581.
38. Ralf Kelleners/Marino Franchitti/Kelvin Burt, Ferrari 360 Modena, 1:33.393.
39. Tom Weickardt/Rick Fairbanks, Dodge Viper GTS-R, 1:47.132.