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Gran Turismo 3 Grand Prix at Mosport |
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The GT3 Grand Prix of Mosport
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
SUNDAY AUGUST 18, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 11
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
SUNDAY AUGUST 18, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 11
P900 Class: For Team Audi, this is the
first win of 2001 for drivers Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, as well
as their fourth career victory each, and Audi’s fourth win in 5
races this season.
P675 Class: Driver Didier De Radiques has his third straight P675 win of the season, and third ALMS victory of his career. Driver Bruno Lambert also wins his third ALMS race, and the first of 2001, and his first in the P675 class.
GTS Class: Driver Ron Fellows wins his fourth race of five this year, and this is the fifth career victory for Fellows and co-driver Johnny O’Connell.
GT Class: For JJ Lehto, this is his second win of 2001 and eighth career ALMS victory. For co-driver Jörg Müller, this is also the second win of 2001 and his fifth career ALMS victory.
P675 Class: Driver Didier De Radiques has his third straight P675 win of the season, and third ALMS victory of his career. Driver Bruno Lambert also wins his third ALMS race, and the first of 2001, and his first in the P675 class.
GTS Class: Driver Ron Fellows wins his fourth race of five this year, and this is the fifth career victory for Fellows and co-driver Johnny O’Connell.
GT Class: For JJ Lehto, this is his second win of 2001 and eighth career ALMS victory. For co-driver Jörg Müller, this is also the second win of 2001 and his fifth career ALMS victory.
Claudia Huertgen (#11-P675 Lola
B2K/40/Judd) (about the engine) “I have no idea. I couldn’t locate
the problem. It was fine at the start and then it went ‘bang’ and
then the engine was off. I feel bad for the team, but I’m looking
forward to running at Mid-Ohio next week.” (about race strategy)
“We made a few changes to setup for a wet track. The track is nice
and fast, and I like fast. We did not have the right luck today.
Mid-Ohio is a new race, hopefully our luck will be better there.”
David Brabham (#50-P900 Panoz LMP1
Roadster S) “My stint was exciting. The stop under green killed us,
and the car wasn’t perfect, but as the fuel level decreased it got
better. The Viper spun in front of me and I couldn’t stop. I bent a
track rod on the left front, and we change the tire. The steering was
skewed, we’re lucky we finished second.”
John Graham (#57-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd)
“It was a street brawl for us. On the first restart I was sixth, but
I spun in turn 10. Konrad (#26-GTS) and I got together in turn 8 and I
did some 360’s. The alternator belt broke on Milka (Duno) and she
was able to coast back from turn 5. It was a tough day, we ran good,
but just got behind.”
Kelly Collins (#4-GTS Chevrolet Corvette
C5-R) “This race was very much like a little Le Mans. With the
changing weather conditions – rain then dry – there was some
adverse stuff going on. We got that 20-second penalty which equates to
about a half a mile. If it wasn’t for that we could have gotten out
of the pits ahead (of the pace car during a caution). That cost us a
lap. It was disappointing, but Andy (Pilgrim) and the team did great.
I’m happy to be here and driving for GM.”
Butch Leitzinger (#16-P R&S Mk IIIC/Lincoln)
(about his battle with the #8 at the finish) “I admit it was my
fault for the damage to the car, I over-drove into turn 5, so I went
to the marbles, then into the grass, which lead into the tire wall. I
thought it was over once I ate the wall, but, I got I fired up,
surprisingly, by popping the clutch going downhill, then once I got on
the track, the alignment wasn’t too bad, and I thought I could
finish this thing. But things were too good to be true, because going
down the back stretch I couldn’t get over 130 because the front
bodywork was flapping too much and the car was vibrating like a
washing machine that is out of balance.” (about running the ALMS)
“We plan to run at Mid-Ohio and the Petit, but won’t be able to
make Laguna due to issues with our schedule.” (about next year)
“If things go as well as this race, except for my little mistake at
the end, we expect to go after next year’s schedule full stride. We
are very optimistic about it.”
Emanuele Pirro (#2-P900 Audi R8) (about
racing with the #38) “It was a good decision to go earlier with new
(slick) tires because we were able to keep the tires all the way
through the race. This gave us the edge on the Champion car because
its difficult to overtake a car which is very similar on the circuit.
We were hoping to get by him rather with pit stops then overtaking.
Johnny (Herbert) was taking a lot of risks and we were not prepared to
do so. We had good stop strategy.” (was it part of the strategy to
not change tires at the end) “I had a discussion with my engineer
over the radio, otherwise I fall asleep. The car was good, the
engineer gave me the thumbs up after looking at the tires and decided
not to change them.”