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THE LEATHER CENTER GRAND
PRIX OF TEXAS
Saturday March 3, 2001 - PIT NOTES: Page 4
This is Ron Fellows' (# 3-GTS Chevrolet Corvette C5-R) sixth career pole
and the first at TMS. For Lucas Luhr (#23-GT Porsche 911 GT3-RS ) this
is his third ALMS GT pole in a row.
ALMS Prototype qualifying:
At 4:10, green flag.
At 4:13, #49-P Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S spun and continued at turn 7.
At 4:15, #2-P Audi R8 (Biela) sets the fastest lap in class at 1:20.896.
At 4:17, #2-P Audi R8 (Biela) sets the fastest lap in class at 1:18.310.
At 4:17, #2-P Audi R8 (Biela) sets the fastest lap at 1:17.978.
At 4:19, #50-P Panoz LMP07 (Magnussen) sets the fastest lap at 1:17.394.
At 4:19, #2-P Audi R8 (Biela) sets the fastest lap at 1:17.372.
At 4:20, #50-P Panoz LMP07 (Magnussen) sets the fastest lap at 1:16.752.
At 4:21, #50-P Panoz LMP07 (Magnussen) sets the fastest lap at 1:16.642.
At 4:28, #2-P Audi R8 (Biela) sets the fastest lap at 1:16.416.
At 4:29, #2-P Audi R8 (Biela) sets the fastest lap at 1:15.887.
At 4:30, #50-P Panoz LMP07 (Magnussen) improves his time with a
1:16.634.
At 4:30, #1-P Audi R8 (Capello) sets the second fastest lap at 1:16.350.
At 4:30, checkered flag.
This is the 10th pole in a row for Team Audi and the second pole for
driver Frank Biela (# 1-P Audi R8).
In the P675 class, #11-P675 (Steven Knight) Lola B2K/40 qualified
with a time of 1:27.793.
Steven Knight (#11-P675 Lola B2K/40) "We have a good 3.4 liter ADR
Nissan engine from England, but we're experiencing overheating problems
from what we believe is a bad head gasket. We thought we had it fixed,
but when we went out it overheated within a few laps. We'll start
tomorrow, but we expect to overheat again. (for qualifying) We went out
on slicks expecting a dry line, but it was very, very slick due to
temperature and moisture just barely off line. We were disappointed that
no other LMP 675 teams are here, but we're looking forward to
Sebring."
Frank Biela (# 2-P Audi R8) "It was a very exciting session. Under
the circumstances it was not easy. The big question was 'when we should
go out'. We decided to go out at the beginning and everything worked out
well. Jan (Magnussen) was throwing everything they had at us. We made a
few little changes to the car. It just took a while to get the tire
temperatures up, but after that everything worked fine. Tomorrow we will
see how it works, it should be fine in the dry." (what was the most
difficult part of the track) "For me it was the fast chicane in the
infield. You never knew if there was water from a car that had gone in
front of you."
Jan Magnussen (#50-P Panoz LMP07) "I'm happy with the result
considering it was a damp track, a cold surface, and it was difficult to
get temperature in the tires. We made some small changes. We spent too
much time on the pit lane. When I went back out I didn't have enough
time to do a fast lap. The crew worked really hard the last couple of
months. It was exciting while it lasted (being on pole). The gain in the
new car is in the corners. We have a much stronger engine coming (down
the road). We should become competitive after Sebring." |
