American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio

American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course / Lexington, Ohio
August 23 - 25, 2001

Pit Notes - Page 5

ALMS at Mid-Ohio
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 5

ALMS at Mid-Ohio PIT NOTES: Page 5
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES FRIDAY AUGUST 24, 2001

Ron Fellows (#3-GTS Chevrolet Corvette C5-R) (on their second in class qualification run) "The track is greasy. You are constantly chasing the car setup hour by hour. The track conditions are constantly changing at this track. It never stops. The sun just heats up the concrete and asphalt though out the day and the grip levels can really change. Then as the car transitions from the asphalt to the concrete and back you will experience different grip depending on the time of day."

Sascha Maassen (#23-GT Porsche 911 GT3-RS) (about the fast lap at the end of the session) "No I didn’t expect to be here either (as the pole sitter). Qualifying isn’t the important thing for our team thought. We had great teamwork today and Randy (Pobst) helped me out (on how to run the course) and I learned a lot. The engineer came on the radio and said I had to a 24.4, and I said ‘I can’t do that’. So yesterday I crashed the car, and today I’m on the pole." (about race strategy) "That’s a different story. We hope to be more competitive (than the last races). We have an advantage over the BMW’s with better grip in the rear end. The ups and downs could give the BMWs a lot of trouble. BMW works hard. We thank them for the gift, we will work not to give it away tomorrow. This is what GT racing is all about (closeness)."

Didier de Radigues (#5-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd) "The team did a good job. The conditions changed a lot from practice this morning to qualifying. The car can be improved, but its good enough (for the pole). " (about his first time) " I’ve never raced here before. I spent some time with Calvin Fish (pit reporter for NBC, former driver and Mid-Ohio driving instructor) on Thursday and he gave me some tips. This is not a difficult track to learn."

Terry Borcheller (#26-GTS Saleen S7R) "The car is really good at this track. I have a lot of confidence here. I’ve had a lot of track since I’ve raced here in the early eighties in go-carts." (on their delayed start) "I went down into pit lane and was waiting for a good shot (clean lap). I pulled out of the pit box and the power steering locked up. The crew changed it in the pit box. That certainly wasn’t our strategy but it’s the best qualifying run I’ve ever had. I saw not one car the entire lap. I was afraid we waited too late in the session, but my engineer said ‘there’s time’." (about the race) "For the race we should do well. We’re a little behind because we switched tires (manufacturers, Goodyear to Dunlops) and weren’t able to do a lot of testing. We want to try some setup changes for the race, but that might be a gamble."

Tom Kristensen (#1-P900 Audi R8) (about his first career pole) "I didn’t know that. This is a great racing track. I’m very happy to come here. Every track I go to is a new track. For me, personally, to take the pole where it’s a level playing field is very satisfying. This is a turn around for us. At Portland, Dindo (Capello) was put out of contention and at Mosport we made ourselves unhappy (spinning on the first lap). The team has done a fantastic job with the cars. Here we are with a good pole, by a good margin. Traffic in the race will be a nightmare, from the esses all the way through last turn."

David Brabham (#50-P900 Panoz LMP1 Roadster S) "Sure I was going for the pole, the wasn’t as nice as it was this morning. The shift in temperatures did obviously play a big part, but we’re feeling pretty confident for the race. On full tanks it feels pretty good and I’ve split the Audis which was also good – starting up front – so I’m looking forward to the race. I think the whole team is really tweaked up this weekend to try and nail another one."

James Weaver (#16-P900 R&S Mk IIIC/Lincoln) "We’re pleased, just straight out of the box, we’ve never been here before with this car. We had to go straight into qualifying (missing morning practice) and it wasn’t too bad, really. So we’re not discouraged at all."