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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 12
THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
SUNDAY AUGUST 18, 2001
PIT NOTES: Page 12
Frank Biela (#2-P900 Audi R8) “At the
beginning of the race, it was wet, but not standing water. I saw the
Panoz was having problems, so I wasn’t worried. We kept in touch
(the other Panoz). We figured it was up to pitstop strategy, we
changed drivers and tires at the right time. The stops were good and
the crew worked well together. (Turn five) is always a tough corner. I
saw Dindo (Capello) spinning, and thought ‘what bad luck for him to
be the first one there’.” (about their first pit stop) “I
thought it was a bit of a mistake to not go to slick (they changed to
intermediates), but it turned out ok in the end. After about eight
laps it was obvious we needed the other tires.”
Didier de Radigues (#5-P675 Reynard
01Q/Judd) “Its been a great season. We’ve had a lot of sucess in
Europe. This is a new track for us so it was exciting. It was a great
weekend. We had a problem with the engine on Thursday, but that was
taken care of. (Running in the rain) was very stressful because you
can’t see much. But in the dry the car ran great. Improving is the
most important thing to us.” (about being with the team for the rest
of the season) “I’m to Mid-Ohio and the Petit, but I’m not sure
about Laguna.”
Ron Fellows (#3-GTS Chevrolet Corvette
C5-R) “We knew the car was good. We had clutch problems (during
qualifying). The state of the track was another problem with water and
me starting at the back of the pack. It dried up in a hurry and as it
dried I felt more confident. Goodyear has an aggressive rain tire,
which helped. But as the track dried I fell of two to three seconds
per laps, and we waited a lap or so too long to change the tires. I
fell of the pace after I went off in turn three. When I hit the grass
I thought I was done. The most damage was to the left rear. I was
afraid the deck might come off. But we still had enough speed (to win
the race). Johnny did a great job taking the car over and brining hit
home.” (about this year’s finish) “We had a close second here
last year, so this makes up for it. I’ve never seen so many people
here. Sportscar is on the upswing here and we’re a part of it. The
last time I saw so many people here I was a spectator.”
JJ Lehto (#42-GT BMW M3 GTR) “It was
good race. We knew the weather would be bad so we setup the car for
that. It was difficult to see, but the crew and Jörg did a great
job.”
Jörg Müller (#42-GT BMW M3 GTR) “JJ
(Lehto) and I have both driven prototypes here in the past so we know
how to keep the consistency of our laps. This track is very demanding
and traffic can be a problem. The strategy was great – we went from
last to first.”
Andy Wallace (#38-P900 Audi R8)
“That’s how it goes sometimes with racing. Sometimes you have a
good day and sometimes you don’t. And this was a GOOD day. We had
the leads for a while, Johnny (Herbert) was doing a great job. To run
these cars quick, you have to take chances. He was running as fast as
that car could go. Good job.” (about his accident on the first lap)
“I arrived down at turn 5 and I couldn’t stop! I put the foot on
the brake and it (the car) went around as quick as you like! I saw
Dindo (Capello) was spinning … I didn’t spin in sympathy, but I
thought ‘Oh look – he’s spinning’ Then the #51 Panoz went boff
– straight into the wall and he destroyed the car. Once I got going
I thought we’d be fine and when we put those other tires on we were
fine. I knew when I gave Johnny the car he was going to give it some,
and he was flying!”
David Maraj (owner, #38-P900 Audi R8)
“You don’t race for second! We’ll fix it and try again at
Mid-Ohio.”
Johnny Herbert (#38-P900 Audi R8) (in
reference to Maraj comments) “The good thing about Dave is he want
to go racing and he does want to beat the ‘works’ cars. That’s
not an easy job because, obviously, they do have a better package than
we have. But I have to say, myself and Andy (Wallace) and Brad, the
crew chief, we’ve all worked very well together and obviously we
been knicking away at them since Andy and I joined the team three
races ago.” (about the off at the start of the race) “We had a
problem qualifying that could have made us closer – but
realistically, it wasn’t that big a difference. We had a good warmup
in the wet and we were happy with the balance of the car this morning.
And came back after the spin, which, it wasn’t just Andy that did
it, a lot of people did it.”