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THE LEATHER CENTER GRAND
PRIX OF TEXAS
Sunday March 4, 2001 - PIT NOTES: Page 6
At approximately 7 p.m. Saturday night, officials announced that the
qualifying time of apparent pole winner Frank Biela was being disallowed
due to a technical infraction. Biela's car was moved to the rear of the
starting lineup for the Leather Center Grand Prix of Texas and apparent
second-place qualifier Rinaldo Capello inherited the pole position.
Officials of Professional Sports Car Racing, the sanctioning body for
the American Le Mans Series, inspected Biela's Audi R8 after qualifying.
During the inspection, officials discovered that the diffuser on the car
exceeded the maximum height allowed by rules. The violation was of
Article 3.6.3-D of the rules of the ACO. No part of the diffuser is
permitted more than 150 mm above the plane generated by the flat bottom
of the race car. The diffuser is an inclined panel that forms a tunnel
at the rear of the car. It creates
a low pressure area at the back of the car and generates additional rear
downforce.
Frank Biela (# 2-P Audi R8) "The decision of the officials is
disappointing because pole position would have been a very good start to
the season. However, those are the rules. It definitely gives the team
extra motivation to get us back to the front."
Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich (Head of Audi Sport) -- "We respect the ruling
of the SPORTS CAR officials on the #2 car. We look forward to watching
Frank fight his way through the field in the race tomorrow."
Reinhold Joest (Team Director, Audi Sport North America) -- "I'm
content with our performance today although I'm disappointed by the
result of the scrutineering. But of course we honor their decision.
Anyway, to be on the pole position at the season opener is a great
feeling. Now the race is going to be very exciting: Frank and Emanuele
(Pirro) now have an extra challenge to prove that they have the fastest
car on the track."
The pole is the fifth of Capello's career on the ALMS, and his second
straight. He was the fastest qualifier for the 2000 season finale in
Australia. Capello was co-driver in 2000 with ALMS champion Allan McNish
and is driving this year with Tom Kristensen.
Today's weather calls for a high of 64 degrees and partly sunny. At 9:00
the current temperature is 48 degrees with mostly sunny skies, with
winds out of the northwest at 8 mph.
ALMS Combined Morning Warmup:
At 9:05, green flag.
At 9:10, # 1-P Audi R8 slows on course and returns to the pits
with a flat right rear tire.
At 9:35, checkered flag.
Unofficial Practice times:
1 1-P Capello/Kristensen 1:14.948; 2 2-P Biela/Pirro 1:15.699; 3 38-P
Schroeder/Wallace 1:15.903; 4 51-P Graf/Salles 1:16.407; 5 49-P
Cochran/Dean 1:19.079; 6 3-GTS Fellows/O'Connell 1:22.128; 7 4-GTS
Pilgrim/Collins 1:22.806; 8 45-GTS Messley/Borcheller 1:23.143; 9 23-GT
Luhr/Maassen 1:24.185; 10 22-GT Pobst/Menzel 1:25.398; 11 30-GT
Petersen/Wolleck/Mowlem 1:25.560; 12 42-GT Lehto/Müller 1:25.645; 13
44-GTS Weikardt/Ellis 1:26.260; 14 6-GT Said/Stuck 1:26.266; 15 99-GT
Bouchut/Lazzaro 1:26.290; 16 10-GT Auberlen/Jönsson 1:26.351; 17 12-GT
Lewis/Rice 1:26.679; 18 98-GT Polk/Wagner 1:27.901; 19 17-GT Trinkler/Altenburg
1:27.953; 20 11-P675 Hawkins/Knight 1:27.961; 21 52-GT Burgess/Buttiero
1:29.541; 22 50-P Magnussen/Brabham 1:39.360 |
