American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Mosport

The GT3 Grand Prix of Mosport
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
SATURDAY AUGUST 18, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 5

Jan Magnussen (#50-P900 Panoz LMP1 Roadster S) “Considering we lost a practice session today, I’m reasonably pleased. I managed to get several clean laps near the beginning of the session.”

Claudia Huertgen (#11-P675 Lola B2K/40/Judd) “Its my first time to race at Mosport, we have been working on setup and I’m happy with the time. Mosport is a difficult track, but we have a good race setup for Steve (Knight) and myself.”

JJ Lehto (#42-GT BMW M3 GTR) (at the pole-sitter conference) “Its nice to win the pole but the biggest thing is to win the race. We’ve been working hard on the setups, but our two team cars are going in different directions for the same results.” (about the race) “The pit stops are going to be important. It’ll be up to the tactics and teamwork. Its difficult to pass and there’s only one clean line all the way around. ”

Rinaldo Capello (#1-P900 Audi R8) “This morning I only did about 10 minutes in the car. We made some adjustments in free practice. I set a fast lap time after lunch. When I set my fast lap, I was worried that I couldn’t trust the car in the corners, but I checked the telemetry and saw that everything was OK, and that gave me confidence. I was very close to the limit in turns 1 and three and actually reached it in turn 1, you can feel it in the car. I’m always slowest amongst all my teammates in turn 8, I can never figure it out. But fortunately I’m faster in other places.” (about last year’s closest finish) “I stopped smoking after that and I feel a lot better now.”

Didier de Radigues (#5-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd) (after last year’s accident here) “It was a bad accident, and I was very scared. I’m happy to be walking and just starting to feel good now. (In that accident) I had a problem with the power steering, we changed the steering rack, and something happened in turn 10. I hit the wall very hard, felt the pain in my back and they took me to the hospital where they found I had a broken vertebrae. But I raced a month later, and after a year, the pain is just now going away. That was then, this is now.” (about this year) “I have new teammate (Bruno Lambert), he’s very good for me, clever fellow. We have (the) same feeling. It’s good for me to work with someone like that.” (about the difference between the P675 and P900 classes) “Because we run smaller tires and less downforce, we are slower in the fast corners. But if it rains, it could be different.”

Terry Borcheller (#26-GTS Saleen S7R) (on taking the pole away from Ron Fellows at his own track) “I know it was important for Ron and Corvette, but especially Ron. I felt bad because he didn’t have a chance for the pole (with the ailing car). Our lap wasn’t that great, on my flyer lap I had to lift (due to traffic). So I didn’t get a good (clean) lap down. Ron would have pulled it off. “ (about Ron starting in the back) ”Ron will be up in the front quickly. I’d say he’ll be up to Andy (Pilgrim) and Franz (Konrad) in about 5 to 8 laps. After that, he’ll have to deal with the traffic. That will help us since he’s got to get through the traffic.” (about the race) “Franz (Konrad) will be starting the car. We’ll have to make two pits stops, plus a splash and go. Whether we make the splash early, when Franz is driving, or late when I’m in the car, will depend on how the yellow flags fall.” (what about rain) “With the downforce our car makes I think it would help. People say I race well in the rain, but I don’t like it. It’s hard enough with the other obstacles on the course.” (about the track) “I like this track, its very challenging and technical. I have no problem other than turns one and two, and turn four for the rest of my life, I don’t think I’ll ever get that turn right. There are places here where the track is better than me.”

Correction to page 1: At 10:59, car #50-P900 Panoz LMP1 Roadster S (Brabham) into the tire wall at turn 1 (not the #1-P reported).

(final today)