Portland ALMS, 5th August 2001

Race

Champion takes 3rd place

Audi Sport UK, 6th August: British duo Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace claimed a magnificent podium finish in their Audi in the latest American Le Mans Series race at Portland on Sunday.

Ex-Grand Prix driver Herbert (37), competing in only his second ALMS sportscar endurance race, and Wallace (40), went one better than their recent Sears Point result when they achieved third place.

"I'm delighted," confirmed Herbert. "Fourth two weeks ago and now on to the rostrum - I'm now aiming for the top step. It was good to make a competitive pass on one of the factory Audis - its shows they're not invincible. We were able to keep pace with the front of the pack and take advantage of their mistakes, while we didn't make any."

David Brabham and Jan Magnussen brought an end to Audi's 13-race winning streak when they snatched a dramatic 0.3secs victory from Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro in the "factory" Audi in the 165-minute race.

Audi team-mates Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen had themselves overhauled early pace-setter Brabham (Panoz) but eventually dropped to an eventual fifth, four laps down, having lost time with a lengthy pit-stop. But with just 10 minutes remaining, a full course yellow safety period brought the top-four cars together for a sprint to the chequered flag.

Wallace finished 15secs behind the winner, commenting:

"The end of the race was exciting. On the restart everyone was banging into each other. I am happy with the progress of the team, we need some more miles in the car to really get it handling and take the next step."

Saturday Qualifying

Johnny 5th on the grid as Brabham's Panoz takes pole

Audi Sport, 5th August: Spectators along Portland International Raceway will find a rather unusual picture on Sunday: for the first time in almost 15 months there is not an Audi at the front of the starting grid.

After a qualifying thriller for the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) round at Portland, Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen had to relinquish pole position to the fastest Panoz. Team mates Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro in the companion Infineon Audi R8 will start the race from third place.

During only 20 minutes of qualifying on the circuit situated in the US state of Oregon, the Audi drivers executed exciting duels with a lot of position changes on the time screen. The Audi Sport North America team not only fought against the two Panoz cars, but also against the 2000-spec Champion Audi R8 of Andy Wallace and Johnny Herbert. At the end, the former Formula 1 driver achieved fifth position on the grid.

The race starts on Sunday at 13 hours local time and runs over a distance of 2:45 hours.

Johnny Herbert (#38):

"We need a little more bite in the front end. We have been working hard on the car since yesterday and it has gotten progressively better. We were attacking the track hard, we have some ideas to try in the warm-up so we can be maybe a little better for the race."

Andy Wallace (#38):

"Johnny put in a good effort, it is the fastest that we have gone all weekend. The Panoz is impressive, they seem to have the right package for this track. The front five cars are separated by a second, so we should be in for a good battle. We still have some work to do on the car for the race, so we hope to be better tomorrow."

Starting grid at Portland:

1. Magnussen/Brabham (Panoz) 1m 04.121s
2. Capello/Kristensen (Infineon Audi R8) 1m 04.255s
3. Biela/Pirro (Infineon Audi R8) 1m 04.300s
4. Graf/Lagorce (Panoz) 1m 04.508s
5. Herbert/Wallace (Audi R8) 1m 05.136s
6. Duno/Graham/de Radigues (Reynard) 1m 07.910s
7. Hawkins/Night (Lola) 1m 11.281s
8. Fellows/O’Connell (Chevrolet) 1m 12.324s
9. Konrad/Borcheller (Saleen) 1m 12.390s
10. Pilgrim/Collins (Chevrolet) 1m 12.682s

Friday Practice

Friday Practice Speeds

American Le Mans, 4th August:

1. (2) Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8, 108.118 mph (1:04.729).
2. (1) Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen, Audi R8, 108.103 (1:04.738).
3. (50) Jan Magnussen/David Brabham, Panoz LMP-1, 107.057 (1:05.371).
4. (51) Klaus Graf/Franck Lagorce, Panoz LMP-1, 106.038 (1:05.999).
5. (38) Johnny Herbert/Andy Wallace, Audi R8, 105.681 (1:06.222).
6. (57) Didier de Radigues/Milka Duno/John Graham, Reynard 01Q-Judd, 100.756 (1:09.459).
7. (26) Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller, Saleen S7R, 97.582 (1:11.718).
8. (4) Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 96.690 (1:12.380).
9. (3) Ron Fellows/Andy Pilgrim, Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, 96.329 (1:12.962).
10. (22) Randy Pobst/Christian Menzel, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 94.993 (1:13.673).
11. (23) Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 94.918 (1:13.978).
12. (11) Mel Hawkins/Steven Knight, Lola B2K-Judd, 94.561 (1:14.009).
13. (42) JJ Lehto/Jörg Müller, BMW M3 GTR, 94.393 (1:14.141).
14. (45) Jeff Altenburg/Shane Lewis, Dodge Viper GTS-R, 94.336 (1:14.162).
15. (10) Bill Auberlen/Niclas Jonsson, BMW M3 GTR, 93.912 (1:14.521).
16. (43) Fredrik Ekblom/Dirk Müller, BMW M3 GTR, 93.885 (1:14.542).
17. (6) Hans Stuck/Boris Said, BMW M3 GTR, 93.795 (1:14.614).
18. (30) Johnny Mowlem/Timo Bernhard/Michael Peterson, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 92.138 (1:15.956).
19. (15) Randy Wars/Mark Neuhaus, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 85.247 (1:22.096).
20. (69) Kye Wankum/Joe Foster, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 84.135 (1:23.848).
21. (44) Tom Weickardt/Kevin Allen, Dodge Viper GTS-R, no speed.

Previews

Herbert gunning for US sportscar victory

Audi UK Sport Press Release, 30th July: Johnny Herbert bids for glory along with co-driver Andy Wallace in the latest round of the American Le Mans Series at Portland in Oregon on Sunday (5 Aug). The 37-year-old former Grand Prix ace lines-up for his second consecutive ALMS race having now committed to the North American-based endurance sportscar series for the remainder of the year.

Herbert and Wallace (40) will be bidding to bring a halt to the winning sequence of series leader Rinaldo Capello (37), of Italy, who has won all five ALMS point-scoring races staged to date this year earning him a six-point lead over Danish co-driver Tom Kristensen (34).

Capello and Kristensen earned Audi a record 13th consecutive ALMS victory in the recent Sears Point race (22 Jul), an event that saw the Herbert/Wallace combination take to the track for the first time in a 2000-specification Audi R8 prepared and entered by the Florida-based Champion Racing team.

Monaco-based Herbert commented:

"It is always going to be a difficult proposition to beat them because not only do they have the best car in the R8, and now featuring the very latest 2001 modifications but the two cars are run by the Joest team who are legendary in sportscar racing.

"But Andy and I will be pushing really hard especially after our bad luck at Sears. The Champion guys are all so enthusiastic and dedicated and it would be good to reward them with a rostrum finish.

"I believe that with every ALMS race, the Champion Audi will get stronger. I will personally be getting more familiar with the R8, driving with Andy and with the Champion team itself so I firmly believe we'll be a threat to the Joest team for the remainder of the year - we're not going to make it easy for them!"

"We got along very well together and we both enjoyed ourselves although we were disappointed with the result caused by sheer bad luck due to a safety car period hitting us at just the wrong time," said Wallace.

"Johnny has now confirmed that he'll race with me for the remainder of the season and I'm really looking for to that - I believe we'll form a strong combination.

"Although I've spent recent years racing in the States, I've only previously driven at Portland on one occasion. Johnny and I were robbed of third place at Sears and so we'll both be up for it at Portland.

"The improved aerodynamics will be a big benefit for the Infineon R8s at Portland not to mention the new direct fuel system (FSI) in terms of performance and economy but we have a very good car in the 2000-spec R8 so we'll be challenging I'm sure."

Portland, USA: Qualifying and the 2hr 45mins race are staged on Sunday at 0210-0230 and 2100-2345 BST respectively. Portland is -8hrs BST.

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