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American Le Mans
Series Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio |
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ALMS at Mid-Ohio
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
SATURDAY AUGUST 25, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 12
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
SATURDAY AUGUST 25, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 12
David Brabham (#50-P900 Panoz LMP1
Roadster S) “At the beginning of the season we never we’d be
ending it this way (winning two of the last three races). The (last)
pit stop really won us the race. We got in there and got out in front.
Jan (Magnussen) was in the lead. He did a great job. And Franck
Lagorce helped us out as well. Today was great for the team, everyone
did a fantastic job. We HAVE to beat Audi since they’re such a great
team.” (you were so far behind the Audis at the beginning) “True.
I had zero grip. But from the middle to the end of my stint we were on
equal pace to the #2 according to our data. The team asked if I wanted
new tires on the next stop, and I said ‘no, just fuel’ that the
car was coming back to itself. The car handled well under the clouds
but struggled under the sun.” (on racing at Mid-Ohio) “With Jan
and myself sitting here with a win, I love the track. It was such a
last minute deal (scheduling). We must thank Mid-Ohio and the SCCA,
it’s a great place to race.”
Jan Magnussen (#50-P900 Panoz LMP1
Roadster S) “When the team told me I was in third behind the Dyson
car I could see him so I went (passed) through that straightaway and I
knew I was in second. Then suddenly the team called me and said I was
leading. I really didn’t know until they called me. Things were
going really well then there was another caution. After that I had to
push really hard. The balance of the car wasn’t really great today
at all. It was won (the race) with the team’s strategy today. The
race was won in the pits but that for all the times that Audi won last
year when we should have.”
Ron Fellows (#3-GTS Chevrolet Corvette
C5-R) (about their slow start) “That’s an understatement. We made
some changes to the sway bar before the race that didn’t work. I
tried to make some changes but they were all wrong too. The car was
slippin and slidin. They guys were able in the pit stop, our green
flag stop, make some changes to tire pressures and the sway bar –
its outstanding to do that without losing any time. Then Johnny ran
great. We have a great team. The Goodyear tires were so good, they
were as good at the end as they were at the start.” (about the
crowd) “There wasn’t a lot of lead time (promoting the event). In
the four or five races I’ve run here in sports cars it’s the
biggest crowd I’ve seen. Sports car racing is getting good. Its very
healthy”.
Johnny O’Connell (#3-GTS Chevrolet
Corvette C5-R) “Being part of this Corvette team is just great. They
are so good at working together. We weren’t as fast as we could be
in the corners but under braking it was awesome. But the team just
kept working on the car. The four car was really quick and the Saleen
was laying some laps down. If they (the Saleen) can get their act
together – next year – we all know how fast that car is. We had a
game plan to run hard, but don’t abuse things.”
Didier de Radigues (#5-P675 Reynard
01Q/Judd) (about the spin at the start) “My competitor got around me
into the corner, when she (Huertgen) got in front of me I just spun on
the cold tires. She hit the front of my car, I spun and had to wait
until everyone got past me. Then I got grass in the radiator which
made the temperatures too high and I had to slow down until we could
pit. After that Bruno did most of the work, driving for one hour and
forty minutes. Brilliant work.”
Bruno Lambert (#5-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd)
(on the closed pit penalty which cost them a lap) “Yes, we were
concerned, the tires were getting old. I did both stints on the same
tires and at the end it was getting slippery out there. Had Claudia
been in the car (#11-P675) close to me it would have been a challenge
to keep her behind. But we still worked pretty well, I pushed pretty
hard and we got the win. It was a happy ending.”