American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Portland

THE AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES
The Grand Prix of Portland
PIT NOTES: Page 10
SUNDAY AUGUST 5, 2001

David Brabham (#50-P Panoz LMP1 Roadster S) "It was a really great day, a fantastic day. I got blown off at the start, but I backed off because I didn’t want to flat spot the tires. After getting into traffic I got by them (the Audis) and kept in front of them the whole time. Jan did a great job, great for the team, great for the Michelins. In practice I knew we had a competitive car, and we knew we had to preserve the tires." (about the win over the Audis) "It’s not only great for the fans and the team, its great for the series." (is this the same car that won here in 1999) "They’re pretty much exactly the same car. We improved what we had with some geometry changes to the front end." (could the Audi have passed them in the end) "The Audi was NOT going to get by us!"

Jan Magnussen (#50-P Panoz LMP1 Roadster S) "To come back out with the old car and get third at Sears Point, and win here, is just what the team needs. From now on it’s a different team with a different spirit." (about the dash to the finish) "When the pace car came out it was impossible to get the pickup back in the tires." (about the smoke at the end of the race) "I totally misjudged where the start finish line was and I locked up the tires."

John Graham (#57-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd) "Because there were no other competitors, we had to race against a set target time." (about developing a second car) "Dick Barbour is going to announce the other car this week. This is a comeback for the team, the first time the car worked all the way around."

Milka Duno (#57-P675 Reynard 01Q/Judd) (about their sixth place overall finish) "Overall, this is a good place to finish, this is very good. This is my third year driving and this has been a wonderful day."

Ron Fellows (#3-GTS Chevrolet Corvette C5-R) (about the Saleen) "The Saleen was a handful. It was slippery, we were slippin and slidin. They gave us a great race for a while. Fortunately (for us) they had mechanical problems." (about Corvette’s unexpected entry to this race) "With the points lead in driver’s and manufacturer’s, we convinced the GM brass to finish the schedule, since we have a really good shot at winning both. All year long Katech has supplied us an engine we really liked. The pressure was on us from GM to take a run at this. It worked, we got a one-two finish and we’ll try to keep it going." (about PIR) "I enjoy this track. It’s been good to me over the years, going back to my Trans-AM days. There’s a solid turnout of sportscar fans here. We had a great crowd at Sears Point and a great crowd here. Sportscar racing appears to be alive and well."

Johnny O’Connell (#3-GTS Chevrolet Corvette C5-R) "The guys on the team gave me a great car. It was mechanically so strong. We knew the Saleen had trouble early on. When I got in the car it was a battle between the #3 and #4 and we thought the Saleen was going to have to pit. I wanted one hard lap to extend the gap between me and my teammate." (about the spin in front of him near the end) "On the re-start at the end of the race the #69 Porsche turned (in early), and that was a bad decision."

Boris Said (#6-GT BMW M3 GTR) "Hans gave me a great car for the end. I thought any of six cars could win this race. It was very competitive and everyone seemed to take the lead. The track stayed consistent, the traffic was no problem, it couldn’t have been better – it wasn’t raining. It was a big team effort, but I am small part of the puzzle. Hans is my hero, and to be able to be a teammate with him, I couldn’t have a better teammate. " (about the competition from the Porsches) "We knew in practice it would be a tough fight. The Porsches were dead even with us on the straights (and by the race) were dead even in the turns. But the BMW is still the better handling the car, the ultimate driving machine."