All Audi front row at Las Vegas
For the seventh time this year the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) has an all Audi front row. Allan McNish set the fastest time in the final qualifying session for Sunday´s race at Las Vegas establishing a new lap record. Team mate Frank Biela was only 0.199s behind in the companion Audi R8 also breaking the existing lap record.
After Friday´s wet first qualifying session, the sun returned to Las Vegas on Saturday allowing all teams to improve their times. McNish was almost a full second faster than the third place Panoz.
Quotes after second qualifying
Rinaldo Capello (#77): “We could not hope for a better result. I am a little bit surprised about the big gap between us and the others. Of course this is very good for us. It was a nice fight between Allan and Frank for pole position. Fortunately for me our car is in front. It is the fifth pole position in a row for us which makes me very proud.”
Allan McNish (#77): “I am very happy that we were able to retain pole position. Also it is very nice that we achieved an Audi 1-2. It proved that the Audi is very quick in the wet and the dry. Now we can work towards the race which is obviously quite difficult with the possibility of changing conditions tomorrow.”
Frank Biela (#78): “My lap was quite good, but Allan´s was even better. The car works very well. It is a pitty that I could not take the pole position. However both R8s are on the front row - and that is all that matters.”
Emanuele Pirro (#78): “The weekend so far looks good. Our car proved to be very good. I feel really confident for the race, because I think we have a very good setup.”
Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America: “Of course we are very happy being 1st and 2nd on the grid. The team, the drivers and especially the engineers did a fantastic job. Both cars are very close together. There are no problems at all, the setup of the cars is perfect. We are prepared for the rain as well. I hope, we will be able to produce a good result, because then we can go to Australia without any worries.”
The starting grid at Las Vegas
1. Capello/McNish (Audi R8) 1m 06.628s
2. Biela/Pirro (Audi R8) 1m 06.827s
3. Brabham/Magnussen (Panoz) 1m 07.527s
4. Lehto/Müller (BMW) 1m 07.837s
5. O´Connell/Katoh (Panoz) 1m 08.242s
6. Schiattarella/de Radigues (Lola) 1m 08.554s
7. Gounon/Auberlen (BMW) 1m 08.659s
8. Johansson/Smith (Reynard) 1m 08.867s
9. Field/Sutherland (Lola) 1m 10.251s
10. Konrad/Slater (Lola) 1m 12.683s