Spa
LMES , 12th September 2004
Race
Victory
for Johnny and Jamie - and Johnny is LMES Champ!
Audi
UK Press Release, 2th Spetember 2004: Johnny
Herbert has won the inaugural Le Mans Endurance Series Championship.
The 40-year-old Brentwood-born ace swept his Audi to victory
in the fourth and final round of the European-based sportscar
endurance championship at Spa-Francorchamps yesterday (12 Sep).
Herbert
and co-driver Jamie Davies started the 144-lap, 1,000km race
from third on the 39-car grid around the magnificent 4.333-mile,
15-corner track in the Ardennes region of Belgium. The Davies/Herbert
Audi went to the fore on lap 26 when the leading Audi of team-mates
Allan McNish/Pierre Kaffer collided with a back-marker.
Johnny
remarked: “The opening lap was hectic but my biggest problem
was losing almost a lap when the Safety Car came out in front
of me putting me almost a lap down. My engineer [Chris Gorne]
then perfectly ‘called’ the weather and sent me out on intermediates
rather than full wet weather tyres during a heavy rain shower.
"This
is my first championship success since winning the 1987 British
Formula Three title so I’m delighted – I’d forgotten what
it felt like!”
Herbert,
a three-time Formula One Grand Prix winner, has impressed many
observers with his driving in Europe this season after spending
the past three years predominantly racing in North America.
Third place in the Sebring 12 Hours in Florida in March was
followed up by Johnny setting the second fastest time in warm-up
trials in April for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
Herbert
and Davies won the opening LMES race at Monza in Italy in May
while a month later, Johnny personally claimed his first Le
Mans 24 Hours pole-position. Herbert, Davies and Guy Smith led
for the opening 15 hours in their Veloqx Audi before handling
problems caused a seven minute pit-stop. At the chequered flag,
the British trio had clawed back to within 40-seconds of the
winning car.
Second
and third places at the Nürburgring in Germany and Silverstone
in July and August respectively plus this latest victory at
Spa in the LMES finale combined to earn Herbert and Davies the
LMES LM P1 Driver’s “crown”.
Herbert
will now turn his attentions to racing a Champion Racing Audi
R8 in the Petit Le Mans 1,000-mile race at Road Atlanta in Georgia
(25 Sep) and Laguna Seca, California, (16 Oct) - the final two
rounds of the American Le Mans Series.
Audi
UK Press Release, 2th Spetember 2004: Jamie
Davies and Johnny Herbert plus Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx have
claimed the Driver’s and Teams’ Le Mans Endurance Series (LM
P1) titles respectively.
The
British pairing won the fourth and final round of the LMES at
Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium today (12 Sep). In doing so, Davies
and Herbert scored the Audi R8 sportscar’s 50th race victory
in its 60th race since the sports-prototype’s début in March
2000.
The
“sister” Veloqx Audi of Pierre Kaffer and Allan McNish, who
started the race leading the championship, retired after a collision
with a slower car.
Kaffer
and Herbert started the 144-lap race from second and third places
respectively on the 39-car grid - McNish earning Veloqx Audi
its fourth consecutive LMES front row start after the DBA Zytek
of Minassian/Campbell-Walter denied McNish of pole-position
by just 0.038secs.
Kaffer’s
Audi and the pole-starting Zytek touched approaching Eau Rouge
immediately after the green light, Minassian pitting with a
left rear puncture, while Kaffer went straight on at Les Combes
disputing the lead with team-mate Herbert.
The
Team Goh Audi of Capello/Ara led the opening lap from a recovering
Kaffer with Herbert third. Kaffer briefly got ahead on the tenth
lap but almost immediately made a small mistake dropping behind
Capello. Simultaneously,
an accident caused a full course yellow but unfortunately for
third-placed Herbert who had been less than 10-seconds behind
the leader, the Safety Car picked up his #88 Veloqx Audi effectively
putting #88 almost a full lap down on Capello and Kaffer.
With
20-laps run and almost one hour on the clock, Kaffer took the
lead from Capello with Herbert third, 104-seconds behind. But
disaster struck leader Kaffer just three laps later when he
collided with a slow car approaching the Bus Stop chicane. Pierre
drove back to the pits, the rear of the car engulfed in flames,
but the damage was too bad and the #8 Audi posted its first
retirement of the season.
Kaffer’s
accident brought out the Safety Car and this time Herbert benefited,
his #88 Veloqx Audi resuming at the green flag with a 19-secs
lead over the Goh Audi after both cars had made scheduled pit-stops
under full course yellow.
At
half-distance (lap 72) leader Davies, who had taken over from
Herbert 20 laps earlier, enjoyed almost a full lap lead over
the Goh Audi around the 4.333-mile track. Davies continued to
charge, setting the race’s fastest lap (2:06.626) on lap 107
- less than 90-minutes from the finish. At
the chequered flag, in a race featuring five full course yellow
periods, Davies finished a lap ahead of the Goh Audi.
The
Spa-Francorchamps race marked the British team’s sixth and final
race of the 2004 season. The Veloqx Audi team made a magnificent
race début by finishing first and third in the historic Sebring
12 Hours in March.
Apart
from the four-race LMES in which Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx won
each race outright, the Veloqx Audi squad also claimed second
(Davies/Herbert/Guy Smith) and fifth (Biela/Kaffer/McNish) places
in the Le Mans 24 Hours, having started its cars from the front
row and led for the opening 15 hours. Indeed in the LMES championship,
covering a total of almost 2,500-miles, Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx
led for all but 250-miles.
The
British team was the only Audi “customer” sportscar outfit in
2004 to win an endurance race on both sides of the Atlantic
in the ALMS and LMES championships.
Qualifying
Third
on the grid
Audi
UK Press Release, 11th September 2004: The Audi Sport UK
Team Veloqx R8s line-up in second and third positions on the
41-car grid for the fourth and final round of the Le Mans Endurance
Series at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Sunday.
Allan
McNish claimed the British Audi team’s fourth consecutive LMES
front row start position with a 2min 06.002secs lap, an average
speed of 123.80mph around the undulating 4.333-mile track. McNish’s
time was bettered by just 0.038secs by Nicolas Minassian (Zytek)
with 16-minutes remaining in the 45-minute qualifying session.
Jamie
Davies in the “sister” Veloqx Audi R8 stopped the clock at 2:06.139
in the second and final time trial, staged in warm and dry conditions,
that was twice red-flagged.
Jamie
said: "On my first flying lap in the afternoon session
I spun under braking for the 'bus-stop' and on my ultimate
fastest lap, just before the second red flag interruption,
I was held up badly and lost time. But we should be in good
shape for the race which is what matters."
Johnny
added: "When I took over from Jamie with 30 minutes to
run, we made the decision to concentrate on our race set-up
rather than get involved in a fight for pole. I’m still not
totally happy – we have too much understeer – but we’ll dial
that out in the warm-up."
The
morning 45-minute qualifying session had begun on a wet track
which steadily dried and was a battle throughout between Kaffer
(2:13.818) and Davies (2:15.593) for the fastest time.
The
144-lap, 1,000km race which sees the Veloqx Audi squad bidding
for the outright and LM P1 Driver’s and Teams’ inaugural LMES
titles, is scheduled to begin at 1300hrs (CET).
Preview
Herbert
bids to bring down LMES title in style
Audi UK Press Release, 2nd September 2004: Johnny
Herbert bids to bring down the curtain on the inaugural Le Mans
Endurance Series in style by claiming a second victory in the
fourth and final round of the sportscar endurance racing series
at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium on Sunday (12 September).
The
40-year-old from Brentwood in Essex and Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx
co-driver Jamie Davies, from Somerset, will start the 144-lap
race around the magnificent 4.333-mile, 15-corner track in the
Ardennes region of Belgium lying second in the LM P1 Drivers’
Championship standings.
Victory
in their 200mph Audi R8 sportscar in the opening race at Monza
(it), plus second and third placings at the Nürburgring (D)
and Silverstone (GB), leave Herbert and Davies trailing Veloqx
Audi team-mates Allan McNish and Pierre Kaffer, of Germany,
by just four-points.
Herbert
confirmed: “Only one result is important to me at Spa and
that’s a victory. I raced in the Belgian Grand Prix on 11
occasions with a best result of fourth place (1997) having
started the ’95 race from the second row - a Grand Prix I
also led.
“My
last race there was the 2000 GP. Despite changes to the circuit
in recent years its still a true driver’s challenge. The run
down to Eau Rouge is phenomenal."
Jamie
Davies added: “There will be no team orders but for Johnny
and I to win the title, we would need Allan and Pierre to
finish fourth or lower.”
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