Audi second and third on the provisional grid
The two Audi R8s were second and third during the first qualifying session for round ten of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Laguna Seca on Friday afternoon. Rinaldo Capello and Frank Biela both set times under the existing sportscar lap record.
The demanding track is completely new for three of the four Audi drivers and the Team Audi Sport North America. Audi is optimistic to improve the setup of the cars for Saturday´s final qualifying session and have a run at the seventh pole position in a row.
Quotes after first qualifying
Rinaldo Capello (#77): "I am happy with the car, but unfortunately I went on the track at the wrong moment. I had to pass three slower cars which destroyed my first two laps. After that, the tires had less performance in the slow corners. However, I was able to learn a lot during this qualifying session and I am optimistic that I can improve my time tomorrow."
Frank Biela (#78): "You need a lot of experience to find the right line on this track. If you are only half a meter off the line you have no grip at all. I had some difficulties in the first practice sessions to get used to the track and find the right rhythm. During the qualifying session I finally got a feeling for the car. I hope we can improve the setup for tomorrow. If it is not going to rain, it should be possible to go much faster."
Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America: "We had no possibility to test here, so we have to start from zero. Other teams have already some experience on this track. This starts with the setup of the car and ends with the drivers getting more mileage. It is a challenge to find a perfect setup. It looked a little bit better yesterday, maybe we changed to many things at the same time. We will analyse the data exactly, and I am sure we will find ways to improve."
Results
1. Brabham/Magnussen (Panoz) 1m 15.219s
2. Capello/McNish (Audi R8) 1m 15.408s
3. Biela/Pirro (Audi R8) 1m 15.823s
4. Lehto/Müller (BMW) 1m 16.037s
5. O´Connell/Katoh (Panoz) 1m 16.213s
6. Schiattarella/de Radigues (Lola) 1m 16.412s
7. Auberlen/Gounon (BMW) 1m 16.596s
8. Johansson/Smith (Reynard) 1m 16.780s
9. Field/Sutherland (Lola) 1m 18.546s
10. Angelelli/Taylor (Cadillac) 1m 19.762s