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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
FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 2
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 2
Driver’s Impressions of Mid-Ohio:
Randy Pobst (#22-GT Porsche 911 GT3-RS),
has quite a history here at Mid-Ohio. "You can say I enjoy racing
here. The first four times I raced here, I won the pole and won the
race. So yes, this is one of my favorite tracks. I'm glad the American
Le Mans Series was able to put this race together on such short
notice."
Lucas Luhr (#23-GT Porsche 911 GT3-RS),
has never competed here: "I am looking forward to Saturday's
race. With the long straights and high-speed turns, it’s a fun place
to drive. I have seemed to do well on tracks that I have never been to
before, so hopefully that will carry over this weekend. Sascha
(Maassen) and I need a good finish here to stay on top of the points
lead. I like Mid-Ohio. Everyone (with team) told me it was
tricky and a little difficult. It took a couple laps to get used
to it. The esses are really fun but you’ve got to watch out
for the concrete patches in the middle of the road. Turn 1 is
blind, you can’t see the exit and it’s pretty fast. We’re
happy with the lap times but we can improve a little bit. Sascha
will qualify the car. Then we’ll see how it goes (in the
race). It will be tough in the race with traffic and especially
the Prototypes. There’s only one (racing) line like at
Portland and Mosport. We'll have to give them room. But if
you go off-line and get in the marbles, you could lose grip and
possibly position (in class). Mid-Ohio is a very enjoyable track
where you’ll never get bored."
Franz Konrad ((#26-GTS Saleen S7) on his
first appearance at Mid-Ohio: "I like Mid-Ohio. I’m happy with
it. It has up and downs, quick changes in corners. It reminds me of
European circuits -- Spa, Nurburgring. I drove yesterday (open
practice) in the rain. There was so much water, there was some
aquaplaning. The back straight had some big water with cars right in
front of me. But I like wet racing. We were the fastest (in GTS class)
in the wet yesterday, done by myself. I have a bit of a problem with
Turn 1, at the moment, with the right turn-in and the curb there.
It’s difficult to get through there. And coming up the hill going
into the Carousel is quite interesting. It will be a good race with
the many corners, the ups and downs. With the traffic, we will all
have to think ahead and don’t do strange things."
Milka Duno (#57-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd)
(about Mid-Ohio) "I like, very nice. Its a very technical track.
The part thats a little bit more hard are the esses. You go up, and
down (gesturing). If you make a little mistake you can lose a lot of
time. You have to be precise since there are so many corners together.
Here, for the race, there will be more traffic because of so many of
the slower corners (bottle-necking). When you have traffic, you have
to find the correct place (to pass) or you can have a problem. I enjoy
technical courses because they're more challenging. You need to work
more to find good time." (about her road to Mid-Ohio the past
four days) "I flew to France Monday after Mosport, arrived at
Nevers (France) on Tuesday and tested a Formula Nissan at Magny Cours
yesterday for a race there next weekend. (Thursday) I flew from Nevers
to a small airport in London, took a car to Heathrow, flew Heathrow to
Toronto, arriving at 1:00 am this morning. Then Toronto into the
airport here in Mansfield, arriving here at 7:40 am, at the track by
8:00, then actually ran 8 laps of practice, because we split the
session between our two drivers."
Tom Kristensen (#1-P900 Audi R8) (about
his first time here) "I like it, it’s a technical circuit. I
like all of the up and down elevation and its pretty quick on the back
straight as well. When you drive alone its great but I’m sure in
traffic it can be a little bit of a nightmare. I think from turn 5 to
the carousel, there’s not a lot to do (passing). I do like it here
-- I like the atmosphere and everybody looks forward to the
race." His favorite spots are the first corner and the back
straight.
Claudia Huertgen (#11-P675 Lola
B2K/40/Judd) "The track is very difficult, there are some slow
corners, they are also very bumpy. This is a completely different
track than Mosport. I think it’s difficult also to learn here. I
think there are special "inside" (racing) lines here, but I
will try and give it my best and I am looking forward to it. We’ve
worked very hard on the car and hope we do better in qualifying than
in free practice."