Audi Presents Petit Le Mans - 06/10/2001   Race Morning Red Georgia Mud   © Janos Wimpffen A steady, sometimes heavy, rain had settled into north Georgia over the night. It has let up considerably and there is a prospect for clearing by the race start at noon. The previous three editions of the Petit Le Mans have reached the 1000-mile mark before the ten-hour time limit, but the conditions call this into question today. The IMSA (I’m Soaked Again) Historics were the first to warm-up, but very few actually took to the track. Thirty ALMS cars went out their session, but it came to a quick halt when Ron Johnson pitched into the wall at Turn 5. The Saleen has lots of body damage, some susp., engine and gearbox OK. Patrick Lemarie is the early leader in the session in the Gulf Audi with a 1:28.608, some 18 seconds slower than the pole time of yesterday. The session ended with the two Joest Audis back on top (Capello over Pirro), but Herbert was only fractionally slower in the Champion entry. The rest of the top order in LMP 900 consists of Brabham, Johansson, and Lagorce. Jordi Gene is mostly by himself in LMP 675, although the car was flat towed in after the session (out of fuel). Hezemans was quickest in GTS, but closely chased by Kox in the Ferrari, the Prodrive team’s best showing thus far. There is a large gap back to Ron Fellows’ Corvette. Jörg Müller is atop the GTs with the Porsches of Menzel and Luhr next. Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport