Trois-Rivières
ALMS, 3rd August 2002
Race
3rd after an ealy altercation
Audi
Sport Press, 3rd August: Despite Johnny Herbert being hit
at the start by a competitor, the Champion team had to change
the rear bodywork and Herbert dropped to the back of the field,
the Briton had moved into the top three again in the 2001-spec
R8 after one third of the race.
Herbert
and teammate Stefan Johansson had the chance to take the first
victory of an Audi customer team in the ALMS. However, a stop-and-go-penalty
cost Johansson a lap and sealed third position for the Champion
team.
More
from Autosport:
The final results masked an extremely strong run for the
Champion Audi R8 driven by Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson,
which emerged as an improbable contender for the win in the
middle stages of the race. Improbable, because Herbert had dropped
to the back of the field at the start of the race when he was
tapped into a spin by a fast-starting Steve Knight in the MG
Lola/AER 675.
The
British driver fought his way back into second place behind
Pirro by mid-race, and took the lead when Pirro made his final
pit stop. However, confusion over when the pits were declared
open during the subsequent caution resulted in the Champion
Audi going past pit road twice, losing the opportunity to gain
track position. So, Johansson (who had taken over from Herbert
for the first time at the second stop) was back in third place
behind Capello and Biela on the restart.
To
make matters worse, Johansson was called in for a stop-and-go
penalty by IMSA officials for passing lapped traffic before
the green flag. The team therefore settled for a distant third,
two laps down to the winners.
Audi
Sport Press drivers' quotes:
Johnny
Herbert (ADT Champion Audi R8 #38):
“It
was a good race, just a shame that another car ran into me
at the start. I managed to get back into second position and
led briefly. In the end Stefan was unfortunate, we lost a
possible victory. We still finished third which is a good
result. However, it was not so good for me that Tom and Dindo
were the winners which gave them points for the championship
I needed.”
Stefan
Johansson (ADT Champion Audi R8 #38):
“It's
a shame. When I took over from Johnny there must have been
a form of miscommunication with my pit crew which put me right
to the back of the field. When the race went green there was
another one, when I was told a lap too early that the race
would restart, so I passed about three cars. I let them pass
again but they still gave me a stop-and-go.”
Top
10 finishers:
1.
(20) Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 166,
3:00:18.561, 17.802 seconds.
2. (1) Emanuele Pirro, Frank Biela; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 166.
3. (2) Johnny Herbert, Stefan Johansson; Audi R8 (LMP 900),
165.
4. (3) Bryan Herta, Bill Auberlen; Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900), 162.
5. (10) Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
(GTS), 155.
6. (7) Jan Magnussen, David Brabham; Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900),
154.
7. (8) Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
(GTS), 153.
8. (13) Emanuele Naspetti, Mimmo Schiattarella; Ferrari 550
Maranello (GTS), 152.
9. (15) Lucas Luhr, Sascha Maassen; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT),
151.
10. (16) Timo Bernhard, Jorg Bergmeister; Porsche 911 GT3 RS
(GT), 151.
Qualifying
On the front row of the grid
Audi
Sport UK Press Release, 3rd August: Britain's Johnny Herbert
starts his ADT Champion Audi from the front row of the grid
in today's (SAT) sixth round of the American Le Mans Series
at Trois Rivieres in Canada.
The
38-year-old former Grand Prix ace stopped the clock at 59.62secs
around the tight and twisting 1.52 temporary street circuit
near Quebec yesterday (FRI). The Brentwood-born, Monaco-based
driver who starts the three-hour sportscar endurance race lying
fourth in the 10-race series, was a second slower than pole-sitter
and reigning ALMS champion Emanuele Pirro driving for the "factory"
Audi team.
Herbert
commented: "We are at the front of the grid and importantly
found a good set-up for the warm weather expected for the
race. Overtaking the slower cars during the race will be the
key to success - passing them as quickly and as cleanly as
possible."
Current series leader Tom Kristensen starts his Audi from 20th
position after an accident near the end of the session, resulting
in the 20-minute qualifying session being halted, coincided
with the Dane attempting to set his fastest time.
Preview
"Must do better"
Audi
Sport UK Press Release, 15th July: Britain’s Johnny Herbert
starts the second half of the American Le Mans Series on Saturday
(3 Aug) having posted a half term report of “started year well
but must do better”.
The
three-time Formula One Grand Prix winner began the 10-race ALMS
season with a win and finished second for the Champion Audi
team in the next race to take a clear lead in the sportscar
endurance championship. But cruel luck has blighted Johnny and
co-driver Stefan Johansson’s recent races which has seen Monaco-based,
Brentwood-born Herbert slip to fourth place in the standings
behind the “factory” Audi drivers Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello
and Emanuele Pirro.
Johnny
confirmed: “I must score well on Saturday after the recent
disappointment in Washington. I´m only fourth in the standings
now and it´s vital to score well in Trois-Rivières so as to
narrow the gap on Tom. Stefan and I have suffered some bad
luck in the last three races and it´s about time we have some
good fortune and the others inherited our bad luck.”
Two
weeks after the spectacularly close ALMS race in Washington
D.C., the series moves to Trois-Rivières in Canada, about 90
miles north-east of Montréal. The 1.521-mile street circuit
hosts the three-hour event.
Every
effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but no
responsibility is accepted for the information on these pages.
News and photos
from Audi Sport © and from
AmericanLeMans
used by kind permission.
This page last updated Monday, 20-May-2002 08:00:27 BST
|
