for the American Le Mans Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was a difficult
one for Champion Racing. After setting the fastest time in pre-event testing,
Johnny Herbert qualified the 2000-spec R8 just fifth for the 2-hour, 45-minute
enduro on Saturday. Jan Magnussen and David Brabham took their second win of
the season in the Panoz.
On raceday, starter Andy Wallace struggled finding grip on the hot mid-west
track. Prior to pitting to turn over to Herbert Wallace made slight contact
with another car and was penalized for "rough driving". Herbert was penalized
soon after for exceeding the pit lane speed limit, the two penalties costing
nearly a minute on-track by the time both penalties had been served.
The dramas weren't over, as Herbert was forced to pit with an engine misfire.
The stop to solve that problem was made during a full-course caution, however,
and quick work from the crew meant the car did not lose a lap during the fix.
Several caution periods slowed the later stages of the race, but Herbert persevered
to climb back to the fifth finishing position, after being well back in sixth
for many laps.
Champion's 2000-spec R8, co-driven by Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace of England,
turned a best lap of 1:31.63 (88.707 mph) on the wet track to lead the session.
The car was rebuilt on the team's spare tub (chassis 406) after Herbert was
involved in a crash while racing for the lead in the closing moments of last
Sunday's event at Canada's Mosport International Raceway. The original tub,
chassis 405, sustained damage that could not be repaired in the three days before
action began at Mid-Ohio, and Brad Kettler's crew of ace technicians worked
virtually non-stop to have the new car ready for today's testing.
Johnny Herbert: "Passing the number one car at the end of the race shows
what we are capable of. We just need things to go our way. We had some bad luck.
The new set of tyres helped the handling a lot, but then the engine lost some
power. We pitted, changed the black box and had to come in again to change the
plug rail. After that the car was very competitive."
Andy Wallace: "During my stint I had no grip. The conditions were changing
this weekend. We started with very high tyre pressure, but this did not work.
When we changed, we reduced tyre pressure. This seemed to work better."
Next it's back to California and scenic Laguna Seca for the penultimate round
of the 2001 ALMS.
Top Five Finishers from Mid-Ohio:
1. (2) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz LMP1, 116laps
2. (1) Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi R8, 116
3. (7) James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, Penn.; Riley
& Scott MkIIIC-Lincoln, 116
4. (3) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi R8, 116
5. (4) Andy Wallace, England; Johnny Herbert, England; Audi R8, 115
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Wallace and Kettler