Cadillac Scores Historic First Ever Podium Finish; Corvette Wins Fourth Consecutive Race

MOSPORT PARK, August 19, 2001 – Team Cadillac scored a historic first in today’s Mosport ALMS race by finishing third overall. Only the 2000 and 1999 ALMS Champions preceded Emmanuel Collard and Christophe Tinseau at the finish of an eventful race. The team’s second car, driven by Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli, finished fourth overall, just a few seconds behind the #7 Cadillac Northstar LMP. In the GTS class, Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R scored their fourth consecutive GTS victory and thus increase their lead in the ALMS drivers, teams and manufacturers championships. Andy Pilgrim and Kelly Collins finished third in the GTS class. 

As so often in Mosport, torrential rain turned the race into a difficult event. After just one lap the pace car was sent out when three cars went off. “When we saw the weather had changed dramatically overnight, we knew we had only one mission for today: stay out of trouble, finish the race and no heroics,” Collard said afterwards. “It wasn’t easy in the beginning of the race because there were lots of puddles on the track and the car oversteered a bit. I ruined the first set of rear tires pretty quickly, but at least I kept it on the track.” 

“After Emmanuel’s double stint we decided not to change tires when I took over,” Christophe Tinseau said. “We had never done this kind of distance on the softer tires, so it was a bit of a gamble, but it worked out fine.” 

After about an hour the rain stopped and the track quickly dried at which point the Cadillacs were in fourth and fifth overall. “The car was a bit of a handful in the wet,” Max Angelelli said, “but in the dry it was absolutely perfect.” To prove his point he had an epic 10-lap battle for fourth with James Weaver, the two cars never separated by more than a second. “I had the faster car in the corners, but there was no way I was going to risk something on a track as dirty as this one was. On the straights we were equally fast so I couldn’t overtake him there either. At the end he lifted on the back straight to let me by.”

To emphasize the competitiveness of the Cadillac Northstar LMP, Angelelli’s teammate, Wayne Taylor, had a similar battle with Weaver’s teammate, Butch Leitzinger, both cars going over the ultra-fast track separated by just inches. In the end Leitzinger managed to pass, only go off at the next corner. “It was too risky trying to keep him behind me any longer,” Taylor said, “so I gave him some room. But by overtaking me on the dirty part of the track, his tires picked up dirt and he lost grip at the front and went off.”

In GTS, it looked for a moment as if local hero Ron Fellows would not score a home victory for Corvette. Trying to avoid a spinning car, Fellows went off himself and hit the tire barriers, shedding the better part of the rear bodywork.  

“I saw the GT car go off, but I didn’t think he would come straight back on the track right were I was,” he said. “In hindsight I should maybe have lifted, but I didn’t and went off myself and hit the tires. Fortunately, the Corvette is a very strong car so I could continue the race, but minus the left rear corner of the bodywork. We decided not to change the bodywork, as we would lose too much time in doing so. The car felt a little loose after that but otherwise it worked just fine. It was funny to see how my lap times changed whenever the sun came out. When the sun was out, my lap times were slower, but as soon as there were clouds I was quicker again.”  

Teammate Johnny O’Connell took over after Fellows’ double stint and brought the damaged car home first in GTS. After the wins in Daytona, Texas, Le Mans, Sears Point and Portland, this was victory number six for America’s legendary sportscar this year. 

Back at Cadillac, the smiles on the faces told the story. This was the first ever podium finish in a sportscar race for the 99-year old brand; the best finish ever for the Cadillac Northstar LMP in the second year of the program. “Everybody put a lot of hard work in the program this year,” Tinseau said, “so this podium finish is a big reward and an enormous motivation for everybody involved with this project.” 

“We had absolutely no problems this race,” Cadillac Program Manager Jeff Kettman said, “so the result shows the car is good, despite being an interim car. Obviously we profited from some of the other teams’ problems, but that is what endurance racing is all about: to have a reliable car, stay on the track, stay out of trouble and last the distance.” 

The next round of the 2001 ALMS Championship takes place in just six days time on the “Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course” in Lexington, Ohio.

GRAN TURISMO 3 GRAND PRIX AT MOSPORT – ALMS Round 6 – Race Results 

1. Capello/Biela                   Audi R8                                         115 laps in 2h46m03s805
2. Magnussen/Brabham       Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S                + 2 laps
3. Collard/Tinseau             Cadillac Northstar LMP                 + 3 laps
4. Angelelli/Taylor             Cadillac Northstar LMP                 + 3 laps
5. Weaver/Leitzinger            R&S-Lincoln Mk.IIIC                         + 3 laps 
6. De Radigues/Lambert       Reynard-Judd 01Q (1^st LMP675)       + 4 laps   
7. Fellows/O’Connell         Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (1^st GTS) + 6 laps
8. Konrad/Borcheller            Saleen S7-R (2^nd GTS)                     + 7 laps
9. Pilgrim/Collins               Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (3^rd GTS) + 8 laps
10. Lehto/Müller                   BMW M3 GTR (1^st GT)                     + 8 laps
11. Ekblom/Müller                BMW M3 GTR (2^nd GT)                    + 8 laps
12. Stuck/Said                     BMW M3 GTR (3^rd GT)                    + 8 laps
13. Luhr/Maassen                 Porsche 911 GT3-RS                       + 9 laps
14. Lewis/Donohue                Dodge Viper GTS-R                         + 12 laps
15. Burgess/Wallinder            Porsche 911 GT3-RS                      + 13 laps