Panoz Secure Thrilling Victory
ROUND FOUR, AMERICAN LE MANS
SERIES
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, OREGON
GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND - Sunday, 5th August 2001
PANOZ SECURE THRILLING VICTORY
David Brabham and Jan Magnussen drove a flawless race at Portland, OR
today to secure victory for the Panoz Motor Sports team - the team's first
since Nurburgring last year.
Between them, all four Panoz drivers led the field during the race and the
two red Panoz LMP-1 Roadsters defied their age and held off the
ever-strong challenge from both factory Audis and the Champion Racing car.
All the Panoz drivers enjoyed good, hard but fair racing with their fellow
competitors from Audi and enjoyed taking part in an event which featured
one of the closest finishes seen in the American Le Mans Series.
The Klaus Graf/Franck Lagorce car, which had also been at the top of the
leaderboard for many laps, just missed out on what looked to be a sure
podium place when fading brakes allowed Andy Wallace's Champion Audi the
opportunity to pass them within the last half hour of the race.
They finished the race in 4th place.
Graf, who had started from the back of the grid because of the team's
decision to replace the tires used for yesterday's qualifying session,
made a storming start and carved his way through the field in less than 2
laps. His excellent first stint brought compliments from all
quarters.
David Brabham: "What an awesome race! Tom got me on the
start and pulled away a bit, as I thought he might, but then I outdid him
in traffic and - once ahead - managed to hold him off well. After
that it was a time issue and the yellows worked really well for us.
Jan did a great job under pressure, and the team has been superb all
weekend. The Michelin tires were fantastic and we definitely made
the right choice on compounds and strategy."
Jan Magnussen: "It wasn't too easy towards the end as I hadn't
had new tires at the start of my stint and the track was very slippery but
they held out well and it saved us time at the pitstop. I gave the
team a bit of a scare right at the end when I locked up all the wheels but
hadn't yet crossed the line - lucky Emmanuele wasn't any closer to
me!"
Klaus Graf: "It's a shame we lost our front brakes at the end
and we had to slow down as everything was looking good for a podium place.
The second time I spun it was either that or get involved in an accident
with some GT cars - not much of a choice really! I really enjoyed
the start, going through the field, as it's quite hard to push on this
circuit."
Franck Lagorce: "Our day will come. We know the car is
good, I am very happy driving with Klaus and for the Panoz team but we
have to be a little more patient. It wasn't so easy to drive today
once the balance of the car had gone but we are looking forward to another
good fight at Mosport."
Chris Gorne, Senior Race and Development Engineer: "Our race
strategy and tire selection worked just right for us today. I have
to say that our fuel economy was eased by the caution periods late in the
race, and that extra bit of luck you sometimes need in racing at last came
our way. "
Results
1 50 Brabham/Magnussen
Panoz Motor Sports
131 laps
2 2 Pirro/Biela
Audi Sport North America
-0.374s
3 38 Herbert/Wallace
Champion Racing
-15.589s
4 51 Graf/Lagorce
Panoz Motor Sports
-21.758s
5 1 Kristensen/Capello
Audi Sport North America
- 4 laps
6 57 de Radigues/Duno/Graham Dick Barbour Racing
- 8 laps
7 3 Fellows/O'Connell
Corvette Racing
- 9 laps
8 4 Pilgrim/Collins
Corvette Racing
- 9 laps
9 6 Stuck/Said
Prototype Technology Gp
- 10 laps
10 23 Luhr/Maassen
Alex Job Racing
- 11 laps
For further information contact Fiona Miller at Panoz Motor Sports on +44
7770 371 332 or email to fiona@panozmotorsports.com