CORVETTE IS ALMS MANUFACTURERS AND
TEAMS CHAMPION-ELECT;
BOTH CADILLACS IN TOP FIVE
MONTEREY, September 9, 2001 – Chevrolet and Corvette Racing are the American Le Mans Series GTS Champions-elect in the manufacturers and teams classes, finishing second and third in today’s penultimate round of the 2001 series. Since there was no clarification on whether the Saleen could count a European score from either Donington, UK or Jarama, Spain to replace the zero-score form the Texas race they missed, some confusion still reigned at the end of the Californian weekend. The only title still to be decided in the GTS category in Petit Le Mans early October should be for the drivers championship, where Corvette drivers Ron Fellows and Johnny O’Connell still hold a commanding lead.
In the prototype class both Cadillacs ran yet another near-faultless race to score a fourth and a fifth place, the second time this year both cars finish inside the top five. Both Cadillacs were handed out penalties en route to their top five positions: the Collard/Tinseau Northstar LMP was docked a lap for working on the car in a closed pit, while the Taylor/Angelelli sister car was given a stop-and-go-penalty for an avoidable contact with a GT car.
”Well, we lost a few points today,” GTS championship leader Ron Fellows said. “Nothing drastic for our team but it will make the last race, the Petit Le Mans a pressure packer, that's for sure.”
”That was real work out there today,” teammate Johnny O’Connell added. “We didn't have a very good brake pedal from the very start of the race. We ran very hard all day but we didn't seem to have the performance we needed. We didn't have enough for the Saleen but considering we've got five wins to go with them is not too bad.”
”We've really have a mixture of weather here at Laguna Seca this weekend,” said Andy Pilgrim. “When we started the race it was chilly and overcast and our handling was off. About two hours into the race the sun came out and the track came to us. We were able to run very quick laps and picked up a lot. They put me back in the car for the last thirty or forty minutes and really got with it. This is a great team and we're looking forward to the longer race at Petit Le Mans in a couple of weeks.”
”The Northstar LMP was good today but I lost some time with slower cars,” Cadillac driver Emmanuel Collard explained. “I had a problem when I was attempting to overtake a GT car at the entrance to the Corkscrew. I had overtaken a slower car and attempted to pass. I lost the grip at the rear and spun the car. I was in reverse and came to rest on the curb with the rear wheels off the ground so I could not move. At that point in time our race was over for today, so all we could do was to try and finish as high as possible.”
Italian Max Angelelli, sharing the #8 car with Wayne Taylor, was equally happy after the race: “The car was very good to day and for the second time I am happy with both cars achieving a good finish - fourth and fifth. We could not challenge the front cars but we had a smooth race and the good finish.”
MONTEREY SPORTS CAR
CHAMPIONSHIPS PRESENTED BY MAZDA – ALMS Rd 7 – Race Results
1.
Pirro/Biela
Audi R8
120 laps in 2h46m54s
2.
Wallace/Herbert
Audi R8
+ 0m01s602
3. Johansson/Lemarié Audi
R8
+ 1 lap
4.
Taylor/Angelelli
Cadillac Northstar LMP
+ 3 laps
5. Collard/Tinseau
Cadillac Northstar LMP
+ 4 laps
6.
Konrad/Borcheller Saleen
ST-R (1st GTS)
+ 8 laps
7. Fellows/O’Connell Chevrolet
Corvette C5-R (2nd GTS)
+ 9 laps
8. Pilgrim/Collins
Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (3rd GTS)
+ 9 laps
9. Müller/Lehto BMW
M3 GTR (1st GT)
+ 10 laps
10. Müller/Ekblom
BMW M3 GTR (2nd GT) +
10 laps
11. Luhr/Maassen
Porsche 911 GT3 RS (3rd GT)
+ 10 laps
12. Auberlen/Jönsson BMW
M3 GTR +
11 laps
13. Mowlem/Petersen/Bernhard
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
+ 11 laps
14. Pobst/Menzel
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
+ 12 laps
15. McQuarrie/Buckler
Porsche 911 GT3 RS
+ 15 laps