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Audi Presents Petit Le Mans

06/10/2001

Day Two

(Daylight) Wrap Up

© Tom Kjos

Braselton, Georgia, USA--A day in the press room and we are about to capitulate to those who pine for the days when sports car racing was noticed by only a few officionados. It's only Thursday, and there are more press types here than sports cars used to attract in spectators. Would you believe Circle Track magazine? (for non-US fans, think NASCAR, IRL, and World of Outlaws--don't even ask for an explanation of the last). So we are out of there for today, and after some reflection ready to give you our view of the day's happenings.

Official withdrawals as of this morning's practice were three, none unexpected.
- The Atomic Kitten Corvette C5 (perhaps the girls find Georgia to be a bit "country")
- The second ROC Volkswagen LMP675 (it never had drivers, just a hope of rental)
- The #9 PTG BMW (demonstration for a possible customer, and no rental in sight).

Forty-one of these remaing forty-three made the morning practice, the two exceptions being two Orbit Porsche 911 GT3-RS, numbers 32 and 35.

Clear warm weather in Georgia saw the ALMS field onto the track for two daylight practice sessions (night work covered separately). On balance, they included as usual, the good, the bad, and the ugly. Taking the latter first, in prototype, Klaus Graf lost the #51 Panoz, according to early, pessimistic, reports ending the chassis' racing career - probably not. If you have to stuff a car into the wall, do it in your own backyard. At this home of Panoz Racing, Racing Schools, wineries, and sundry other Panoz endeavors, the chassis was on the road by night practice. The #50 car was in trouble too. "At the end of this afternoon’s practice, the team was alerted to a safety issue on the car which needed attention before the car could be driven again. The length of time it will take to effect this work will prevent the car from running tonight," said a Panoz Motor Sport press release. Eventful day for the team.

Normally, three laps of night practice are required for a driver to be eligible to race, but the Stewards have waived that rule for Jan Magnussen and David Brabham (who hardly are short any practice, day or night, on this track).

A good thing, too, since Magnussen and Brabham dominated both daylight practice sessions by better than a half second over the best of the Audis. In fact, the Graf / Lagorce Panoz was second in the morning session, nearly six-tenths faster than the Champion Racing R8 of Andy Wallace and Johnny Herbert. As for the Audis, it is not clear by any means which of them is to be considered the favorite in that class. Champion was most consistently fast in the two sessions today, and the Johansson Gulf R8 ran dead even with the Audi Sport North America team. Generally, afternoon times were off from the morning session, but some things were consistent.

The Cadillacs are here to test, any chance of a podium being entirely based on attrition at the front - but they're having their good times too.

The Field Intersport Lola is four to five seconds adrift of the front of the grid. And the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mark IIIC is not yet meeting the promise of its previous two outings. The latter is a bit of an enigma, the team expressing their confidence that testing showed the car to be ALMS-competitive, and that validated by outings at Mosport and Mid-Ohio. We weren't able to get to the team for an explanation, but a total of nine laps in the two sessions (6 and 3, respectively) points to a problem. So does an afternoon session time slower than the #5 de Radigues / Lambert / Goddard Barbour Racing Reynard-Judd LMP675.

As long as we are on the LMP675s there is as yet no sign of the expected class battle between the Barbour Racing Judd powered Reynards and the ROC Volkswagen powered Reynard. The Barbour team went 1-2 in both sessions, and the gap increased from morning to afternoon. The ROC LMP675 took the race and the MG mini-proto took the ink at Le Mans while the Barbour cars struggled. Dick's team appears to be intent reversing their fortunes here..

Behind these three, the Roock KnightHawk Racing Lola Nissan turned credible times. No one else in the class could keep up with the GTS leaders; a few not with the best in GT. Lola and AER (chassis and engine builders for the MG LMP675 Le Mans cars) presented the customer car version intended to be sold for the 2002 season--in 1:18 scale, contrary to reports the car would be here. Of note is the fact that the engine is an "integral part of the design." Meaning no engine substitutions invited. According to Lola, "we believe that this design, properly developed and run by an effective team can be competitive for overall wins." Time will tell.

GTS has all the makings of the race of the weekend. The two Corvettes went 1-2 in the morning practice, the only cars in the class to break 1:20. In the afternoon the order changed as Park Place Racing's #05 Saleen S7R of Bingham / Johnson / Gavin led a Saleen, Corvette, Saleen, Corvette placing.

The Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello (how to bury an engine, left) was fifth behind these, but seven-tenths adrift of fourth--an amount equal to the difference between first and fourth ahead of them. Meanwhile, the two sessions saw the American Viperacing Viper GTS-Rs work to within two seconds of the class leader. The work on these cars has continued, along with another driver contingent for the lead #45. This time the Dutch take over (with a little Belgian help), in the persons of Mike Hezemans, Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Belgian Anthony Kumpen. Team owner Tom Weickardt is impressed. "They are all business, and know what they are doing--they brought their own shocks with them," he said, in wonderment. On-track in the morning session the work on both cars showed. Tom was able to keep up with a Saleen on the back straight. Feel good, we asked? "Felt unusual," was the answer. "The #45 car was able to dog a Corvette for four laps. The drivers of the #45 car say it is the most engine power they have had in a Viper. We think the cars can do it. Now it is up to the drivers and the team." With the cars now on Michelins, we are reminded of Tom's caution at Laguna Seca to the effect that the lack of Michelins was still the biggest barrier to success. No more.

With a silver (perhaps at 250,000 Euros it should have been gold) copy of the new GTR road car in the paddock, BMW dominated the first session, with (surprise) Alex Job Racing's Porsche 911 GT3-RS in pursuit. Also as usual, Petersen Motorsports' Porsche trailed the McKenna Porsches. The Callaway C12-R got into eighth place in the morning, while the MSB Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena was pretty much nowhere, over nine seconds adrift of the pace-setting #43 BMW Motorsport M3 of Jörg Müller. By afternoon, the #23 Luhr / Maassen Porsche split the two BMW teams, something we have again come to expect. The next few stayed in the same order, the #22 AJR car followed by Petersen's #30 and the Callaway. The Ferrari stayed mired in the remaining field of Porsches, but now only six seconds back of the pace-setting BMW of Lehto / Ekblom / Wendlinger. The story in the class is the team split-up of the points-leading duo of JJ Lehto and Jörg Müller, each now getting a chance to win the driver's championship out-right.

PTG has put Bill Auberlen with Hans Stuck and Boris Said in the #6 car. Perhaps this will give Bill a chance to end his record ALMS string of most starts without a victory. Auberlen is a GT champion with more than ten wins in the predecessor Professional Sports Car Series, but in two years with the BMW Motorsport's prototype LMRs and nearly a full season with PTG he has yet to notch a victory. His 20 races without a win before the 2001 season is listed as an official ALMS record.