Crocodille on pole

[marcus]

Rinaldo Capello has taken pole for the race of 1000 years.

the top 9 are as follows.

1 R Capello (Audi) 1.23.80
2.E Pirro (Audi) 1.23.97
3.D Brabham (Panoz) 1.24.98
4.J O'Connell (Panoz) 1.25.16
5 J Magnussen (Panoz) 1.26.85
6.E Collard (Dams-Cadillac) 1.27.55
7 M Goossens (Dams-Cadillac) 1.27.75
8 M Schiatarella (Raff-Lola) 1.28.81
9 F Konrad (Lola) 1.32.96

[marcus]

the full grid stands as follows.

all info copied from http://www.speedvison.com


ROAD RACING

ALMS Adelaide – Capello Puts "Croc" on Pole


Rinaldo Capello captured the pole for Sunday's Race of a Thousand Years in Audi's works R8 with the unique "Crocodile" livery. (Photo: Audi Sport)

Adelaide, Australia, Dec. 30 — Saturday’s qualifying sessions for Sunday’s American Le Mans Series season finale, The Race of a Thousand Years at Adelaide, Australia, was a reflection of what had gone before in Friday’s practice sessions.

Rinaldo Capello put the No. 77 "Crocodile" Audi R8 on pole in the headlining Prototype class, while Olivier Beretta claimed GTS honors in the No. 91 Team Oreca Viper and Lucas Luhr was the class of the GT field in the No. 5 Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3R.

Qualifying was split into two 30min sessions, the first for the GTS and GT production-based cars at starting ahead of schedule at 11:15 a.m. local time (7:45 p.m. Friday EST) and the Prototypes taking to the 2.39mi street circuit at 2:10 p.m. local time (10:40 p.m. Friday EST).

About halfway through the session, Beretta clocked in at 1:34.603/89.427mph with the No. 91 Team Oreca Viper, while Jean-Philippe Belloc claimed second in class with a 1:35.597 with about five minutes remaining in the sister No. 92, giving the all-conquering Team Oreca Vipers a 1-2 start in their last appearance in the series, as the team will field new Prototypes in 2001.

"I'm quite happy to have qualified," said Beretta, who has already clinched the GTS championship, "as this is the last race for the Chrysler factory. I'm very happy with the track and with my teammates. It will be a very hard race with the traffic, the heat and then the night. I have never raced under these conditions in Adelaide."

Third in class with a strong performance was Stephen Watson in the No. 61 Chamberlain Motorsport Viper, posting a 1:35.932.

"The car's good," he said afterwards, "and we're very happy with how qualifying went. It's the closest we've been to the Oreca Vipers, and the first hour of the race should be very interesting."

The remaining car in the class, the No. 37 Intersport Racing Porsche 911 Turbo, qualified another 3.5sec further back in the hands of Vic Rice.

In the GT class, all eyes were on the Dick Barbour Racing Porsches, but they waited until the session was halfway over to hit the circuit. Lucas Luhr, driving the No. 5 he shares with Dirk Muller, set the class mark with a lap at 1:36.642/87.540mph, edging the sister No. 51 of Sascha Maassen by .436 sec. It was the first time this weekend that the No. 5 had outrun the No. 51, and sets up the fight for the class championship. Maassen is currently tied for the lead with co-driver Bob Wollek at 196 points, while Muller is third (192), Luhr fourth (184) and Randy Pobst fifth (182).

"Yesterday, I didn't like the car... we had problems," Luhr said. "It was better today, but there's still more work to be done. I can't win the championship, but my team can still win. I really like the track. It has fast and slow corners and everything for a good race."

The best of the rest in the GT class were the three Prototype Technology Group M3s, with the best of them being Boris Said in the No. 7 he shares with Hans Stuck and Johannes van Overbeek. Said posted a 1:37.252 in the first 10min of the session, but that time was disallowed due to an airbox leak. He still wound up third in class with a 1:37.439, nipping the No. 10 of Bill Auberlen (1:37.519) and the No. 6 of team newcomer Terry Borcheller (1:37.785)

"We’ve got a great car," Said enthused. "We're getting better with the more laps that we run. It's the best street circuit I've driven on... the weather's perfect, and I just can't wait for the race to begin."

When the Prototypes rolled out for their session, the three Panoz entries were the first to hit the top of the timesheets, with Johnny O’Connell’s No. 2 LMP1 Roadster opening up with a 1.26.464, then lowering that to a 1.25.168, only to be displaced by hometown hero David Brabham’s 1.24.989 in the "All-Aussie" LMP1 Roadster he shares with Jason Bright and Greg Murphy.

Those times only flattered to deceive, however. The two-car works Audi juggernaut took their time making it onto the track, and Rinaldo Capello ripped off a 1:23.804/100.950mph on his third lap in the "Crocodile" No. 77 to settle the matter once and for all.

"It was an 80pct perfect lap," Capello allowed. "The perfect lap does not really exist, but it's about 1:22.8; I did [a] 1:23.8. It's very easy to make mistakes on this track, with the tightness of the circuit, and the traffic will be difficult. It's very difficult to drive at night, and it’s hard to see the curbs, especially at the first chicane."

His teammate, Emanuele Pirro, grabbed second in the closing minutes of the session with a 1:23.978 in the sister No. 78 to leave Brabham in third, nearly a second behind.

"I was half-happy with the car," Pirro said, "as I know I could have done better. On my flying laps I made a few mistakes. During the session, I didn't want to do too many laps, as we have to use these tires for racing. The car will be set up very similarly for the race, as we don't have different qualifying and race set-ups."

In contrast to the Audis, which looked smooth and composed in setting their quick laps, the Panoz drivers appeared to have their hands full and to be on the limit of adhesion, an impression underlined by a mid-session spin by Brabham, who was nonetheless satisfied with his effort.

"The car is better than it has been all weekend and we've done the best that we can do," he said. "We are happy to be third-quickest."

O’Connell wound up fourth, and admitted it was all he could do.

"I had to punish the car to get good times out of it," he said. "You have to use the track, but it's good to see two Panoz cars so close together."

Taking fifth in class, and showing steady improvement, was the new Panoz LMP07 in the hands of Jan Magnussen, whose seat time this weekend has been hindered by niggling new-car problems.

"I felt very under-prepared for the qualifier because I've had so little time on the track," Magnussen said, "but I did the best I could."

The two DAMS Motorola Cadillac Northstar LMPs filled in behind the three Panoz entries, with Emmanuel Collard the faster of the two.

"We found a little bit more balance in the car today," he said, "but we are still a little too slow. But tomorrow's a different story."

The two Lola entries qualified at the bottom of the field, the Team Rafanelli Lola/Judd of Mimmo Schiattarella besting the Konrad Motorsport Lola/Ford of Franz Konrad. Both cars missed Friday’s night practice session, the Konrad car being repaired after a big crash in Friday afternoon’s practice and the Rafanelli car with a broken differential.

It was a disappointing result for both teams, which figured to be more competitive on this tight circuit. Konrad had to spend some time in the pit during the session for brake problems, while Schiattarella battled with a wheelspin problem.

"I had severe wheelspin whenever I got on the throttle," he explained. "Of course, it makes the car very difficult to drive. When I accelerate out of the turns, the car wants to go this way... that way... it's very difficult. Even so, the overall balance of the car is very good, so if we can fix the wheelspin, which I am pretty sure we can, we will have a very good car for the race."

Of course, with the race being 1000km or six hours, whichever comes first, and the venue being a rather unforgiving street circuit – the first the series has ever contested – anything can happen.

Aside from qualifying, the big story of the day was Allan McNish’s back injury. After straining his back carrying his luggage and then re-aggravating it while taking off his kilt following a photo shoot yesterday, he was only able to complete four laps on Friday, and did not drive at all in qualifying. Early in the day he was listed as questionable for Sunday’s race, and Audi drafted in Australian Super Touring Series star Brad Jones as a third member of the team if needed. However, at the end of the day Audi listed McNish as the man who will start the No. 77 in Sunday’s race.

McNish is all but crowned as Prototype champion for the season, but he must complete 25 laps to be eligible for the requisite points to cap off his title. He currently has an 11-point lead over his co-driver, and if he is unable to make those 25 laps, Capello can take the title by finishing third or better, or by finishing fourth and leading at least one lap.

McNish, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Friday, is understandably frustrated by this turn of events.

"I've been looking forward so much to this spectacle in Adelaide," he said, "and now hope my back will show some understanding as well. Right now, my only wish is to sit in our Crocodile tomorrow afternoon."

Jones, an Aussie who has driven Audi A4s in the ASTC for the past few years, was scheduled to have his first drive in the R8 in the final Saturday combined practice session.

Following a brief morning warm-up on Sunday, the race will take the green flag at 4:00 p.m. local time (12:30 a.m. Sunday EST). A two-hour highlights show will be broadcast by NBC at 2:00 p.m. EST on Sunday.


Qualifying results:

1) Rinaldo Capello/Allan McNish/Brad Jones, No. 77 Audi Sport North America Audi R8, 1:23.804/100.950mph
2) Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, No. 78 Audi Sport North America Audi R8, 1:23.978
3) David Brabham/Jason Bright/Greg Murphy, No. 12 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP1/Elan, 1:24.989
4) Johnny O’Connell/Hiroki Katoh, No. 2 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP1/Elan, 1:25.168
5) Jan Magnussen/Klaus Graf, No. 1 Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP07, 1:26.860
6) Eric Bernard/Emmanuel Collard, No. 31 DAMS Cadillac Northstar LMP, 1:27.551
7) Christophe Tinseau/Marc Goossens, No. 32 DAMS Cadillac Northstar LMP, 1:27.751
8) Mimmo Schiattarella/Didier de Radigues/Norman Simon, No. 0 Team Rafanelli Lola B2K-10/Judd, 1:28.817
9) Franz Konrad/Charlie Slater/Alan Heath, No. 28 Konrad Motorsport Lola B2K-10/Ford, 1:32.961
10) Olivier Beretta/Karl Wendlinger/Dominique Dupuy, No. 91 GTS Viper Team Oreca Dodge Viper GTS-R, 1:34.603/89.427mph
11) Jean-Philippe Belloc/Ni Amorin, No. 92 GTS Viper Team Oreca Dodge Viper GTS-R, 1:35.597
12) Milka Duno/Stephen Watson/Ray Lintott, No. 61 GTS Chamberlain Motorsport Dodge Viper GTS-R, 1:35.932
13) Dirk Muller/Lucas Luhr, No. 5 GT Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:36.642/87.540mph
14) Sascha Maassen/Bob Wollek, No. 51 GT Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:37.078
15) Boris Said/Hans Stuck/Johannes van Overbeek, No. 7 GT Prototype Technology Group BMW M3, 1:37.439
16) Bill Auberlen/Brian Cunningham/Niclas Jonsson, No. 10 GT Prototype Technology Group BMW M3, 1:37.519
17) Terry Borcheller/Anthony Lazzaro, No. 6 GT Prototype Technology Group BMW M3, 1:37.785
18) Michael Petersen/Mike Fitzgerald/Randy Pobst, No. 30 GT White Lightning Racing/Petersen Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:38.132
19) Randy Wars/John Graham/Christian Menzel, No. 15 GT Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:39.028
20) Vic Rice/Kevin Buckler, No. 37 GTS Intersport Racing Porsche 911 Turbo, 1:39.552
21) Patrick Vuillaume/Manfred Jurasz/Francesc Gutierrez, No. 8 GT Haberthur Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:39.661
22) Johnny Mowlem/Richard Dean, No. 70 GT Skea Racing International Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:39.823
23) Rohan Skea/Doc Bundy/Des Wall, No. 71 GT Skea Racing International Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:40.863
24) Kye ****um/Joe Foster/Jeff Pabst, No. 69 GT Kyser Racing Porsche 911 GT3R, 1:41.411
25) Robert Orcutt/Darren Palmer/Christian D'Agostin, No. 66 GT The Racer’s Group Porsche 911 GT3R,

[Liz]

Way to go Capello! Even though he did beat "my" Panoz boys, who nevertheless have managed quite a good showing so far.

We get only a 2 hour "highlights of" the Race tomorrow on NBC. Keep us posted meanwhile, Marcus and thanks!

[marcus]

Geez Liz..even though the race is here in Australia we dont get to see any of it until next week..thank god for radio le man