Audi R8 starts its final race from second row
- Audi R8 bids for 63rd race win in its final race at Lime Rock
- Dindo Capello fourth fastest in qualifying
- Handicap weight slows down Lime Rock debutants
The Audi R8 of Dindo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland) will line-up on the second row of the grid for the fourth round of the American Le Mans Series at Lime Rock Park (US state of Connecticut) on Saturday 3:00 p.m. local time (9:00 p.m. German time).
Capello, who like McNish, has never previously raced on the eight-turn, 1.54-mile road course, set the fourth fastest time overall for Team of Audi Sport North America – second in the LM P1 category – a 46.965secs in Friday’s 20-minute qualifying session for the “New England Grand Prix”.
Capello and McNish, who had just two, one-hour practice sessions to acclimatise themselves with the undulating track prior to qualifying, are aiming to bring down the curtain on the Audi R8 in style and extend their lead in the LM P1 Drivers’, Manufacturers’ and Teams’ Championship points advantage.
The 2hr 45mins Lime Rock race marks the Audi R8 sports-prototype’s final race in the world having made its race début in March 2000. Audi Sport has created a unique design for the R8 with the names of all 18 drivers who have won a race with the R8 together with the names of the 23 race tracks worldwide on which a R8 has won. The Lime Rock circuit name already appears following wins in 2004 and ’05 by Team ADT Champion Racing.
The new Audi R10 TDI – the first diesel powered sportscar to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans – returns to American Le Mans Series action for the next race at Salt Lake City (15 July).
Quotes after qualifying at Lime Rock
Dindo Capello (Audi R8 #2): “We did the maximum we could do in qualifying. A few technical issues in the previous practice session caused us not to complete our tyre schedule which meant we began qualifying with a little question mark. But the tyres were good and so was the Audi but it is too heavy compared to the latest machines now and we have no chance to compete over one ‘flying lap’ in qualifying. But in Houston we started in a similar position in the R8 and won so I hope the same happens. But traffic is tough here and overtaking is difficult.”
Allan McNish (Audi R8 #2): “It’s the first time Dindo and I have raced here. It’s a short lap but with many fast, flowing and demanding corners. We’re using the set-up from last year’s race which worked well and so spent the two, one-hour practice sessions fine-tuning the R8 and coming to some important decisions on tyres which I believe will be critical – although we could definitely have done with more time to experiment with compounds.”
Dave Maraj (Team Director, Team Audi Sport North America): “Considering the extra weight the Audi R8 is carrying compared to here 12 months ago, our time was only two-tenth’s slower than last year’s qualifying performance which was an excellent effort by Dindo and the entire team. But I’m looking forward to tomorrow – it’s going to be a long, tough race. It is still possible that the race could come to us but the most important thing is to claim maximum LM P1 points towards the championship.”