Cadillac and Corvette Aiming to Repeat Canadian Performance

LEXINGTON, August 24, 2001 – On a hot and humid Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Team Cadillac and Corvette Racing qualified their cars for round 6 of the 2001 American Le Mans Series, just five days after a first podium finish for Cadillac and a fourth ALMS GTS win for Corvette in Mosport, Canada.  

Because the Mid-Ohio race is a replacement event for the cancelled Mont-Tremblant race and because the weekend was already booked for the SCCA Championships, track time for the ALMS competitors was limited to just one hour of free practice before going into qualifying. 

GTS Championship leader Ron Fellows qualified 2nd in class but wasn’t quite satisfied with his performance: “We couldn't really get much grip this time. With only one session this morning we were chasing the racetrack. This was the first time we had sunshine on the track and there was a lot of rubber put down. Conditions for us just weren't as good as they were this morning.”

Emmanuel Collard qualified the first Cadillac Northstar LMP in sixth overall. “I’m quite happy with the car,” he said. “There is a bit of understeer, but overall the setup is a lot better than this morning. The Cadillac team has become very enthusiastic the last two races because we know that we can finish well if we have no problems. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.”  

AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES GRAND PRIX AT MID-OHIO – ALMS Rd 6 – Qualifying Results 

1. Kristensen/Capello                   Audi R8                                         1m14s537
2. Brabham/Magnussen                Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S               1m14s910
3. Pirro/Biela                                Audi R8                                        1m15s150
4. Herbert/Wallace                        Audi R8                                        1m15s921
5. Graf/Lagorce                             Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S              1m16s116
6. Collard/Tinseau                       Cadillac Northstar LMP              1m16s419
7. Weaver/Leitzinger                      R&S-Lincoln Mk.IIIC                      1m16s551
8. Field/Field/Field                         Lola-Judd B2K/10B                       1m17s119
9. Angelelli/Taylor                       Cadillac Northstar LMP              1m17s403
10. De Radigues/Lambert               Reynard-Judd 01Q (1^st LMP675)    1m19s403
11. Borcheller/Konrad                     Saleen S7-R (1^st GTS)                  1m21s401
12. Hürtgen/Knight                         Lola-Nissan B2K/40 (2^nd LMP675)  1m21s513
13. Graham/Duno                           Reynard-Judd 01Q (3^rd LMP675)    1m22s146
14. Fellows/O’Connell                  Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (2^nd GTS)   1m22s812
15. Pilgrim/Collins                        Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (3^rd GTS)    1m23s262