Corvette Qualifies on GTS Pole Position; Cadillac Confident for ALMS Finale

BRASELTON, October 5, 2001 – Andy Pilgrim, author of the “Pilgrim Pass” in last year’s Petit Le Mans, qualified his Corvette C5-R on GTS pole position for tomorrow’s 1000-mile race, the last round of the 2001 American Le Mans Series. Teammate and GTS championship leader Ron Fellows was less fortunate when his Corvette lost drive after just one installation lap on a damp Road Atlanta track, leaving him stranded on the side of the track and last on the grid. 

“The crew did an excellent job, calling me in at just the right moment to change tires,” Pilgrim said having secured pole position after a wet-and-dry qualifying session. “I was fortunate to have a clear lap and I have to thank some GT drivers who moved over and realized there were still cars on it till the very end. But there are tons of competition out there, so it won’t be easy tomorrow.” 

Quickest Cadillac was the #7 Northstar LMP of Emmanuel Collard, who qualified seventh. He will share the car with just Marc Goossens as Eric Bernard elected not to drive after his leg, which he fractured in an early July mountain bike accident, still proved to be too painful. Both Cadillacs have been feeling quite at ease at the Road Atlanta track, and ran close to the front for most of the free practice sessions. In fact, the team was that pleased with their work that they elected not to run in Friday morning’s last free practice session. 

The race starts at noon on Saturday and finishes after 1000 miles or 10 hours, whichever comes first. However, with severe thunderstorms expected over Georgia, it is likely that the race won’t but run over its full 1000-miles distance. 

AUDI PRESENTS PETIT LE MANS – ALMS Round 8 – Qualifying Results 

1. Kristensen/Capello            Audi R8                 1m10s917
2. Pirro/Biela                   Audi R8                 1m11s011
3. Brabham/Magnussen             Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S  1m11s061
4. Johansson/Lemarié             Audi R8                 1m11s939
5. Herbert/Wallace               Audi R8                 1m11s948
6. Graf/Lagorce                  Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S  1m12s372
7. Collard/Goossens              Cadillac Northstar LMP  1m13s043
8. Weaver/Leitzinger/Forbes-Robinson  R&S-Lincoln Mk.IIIC     1m13s313
9. Angelelli/Taylor/Tinseau      Cadillac Northstar LMP  1m13s592
10. Field/Sutherland/Neuhaus     Lola-Judd B2K/10B       1m14s244
11. De Radigues/Lambert/Goddard  Reynard-Judd 01Q (1^st LMP675) m14s579
12. Gene/Schroeder/Deletraz      Reynard-VW 2KQ-LM (2^nd LMP675) 1m15s164
13. Graham/Maxwell/Duno          Reynard-Judd 01Q (3^rd LMP675) 1m15s661
14. Hürtgen/Hawkins/Knight       Lola-Nissan B2K/40 (4^th LMP675) 1m18s285
15. Pilgrim/Collins/Freon        Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (1^st GTS) 1m18s954
16. Borcheller/Konrad/Slater     Saleen S7-R (2^nd GTS)   1m19s249
17. Gavin/Johnson/Bingham        Saleen S7-R (3^rd GTS)   1m19s682
18. Devlin/Workman/Davis         Lola-Nissan B2K/40 (5^th LMP675) 1m19s970
19. Hezemans/Bleekemolen/Kumpen  Dodge Viper GTS-R (4^th GTS) 1m21s225
20. Rydell/Kox/Duez              Ferrari 550 Maranello (5^th GTS) 1m21s494
41. Fellows/O’Connell/Pruett     Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (8^th GTS) 1m34s494 

First named driver set the time. 41 cars qualified.