"It was just not meant to be", said Champion Racing owner Dave Maraj
in describing the fraught weekend that saw the ADT/Champion Audi R8 team finish
fifth in the inaugural American Le Mans Series Cadillac Grand Prix of Washington,
D.C., which was won by the Panoz of Jan Magnussen and David Brabham.
The debut ALMS weekend in the Nation's Capital had gotten off to a promising
start for Champion, with Johnny Herbert setting the fastest time during Friday's
first practice for Sunday's two-hour, 45-minute sports car endurance race. In
Saturday's 20-minute qualifying session, Herbert, who won the Sebring 12 Hours
and came second at Le Mans in a 2002-spec factory Audi R8, was near the the
top of the time sheets early on, but ultimately was able to set just the fourth
best time in Champion's 2001-spec R8.
In the closing minutes of qualifying, however, Herbert's final attempt at bettering
his time ended in the Turn One tire barriers, doing mostly cosmetic damage to
the front of the colorful Audi, but crucially flat-spotting his front tires.
Series rules require all cars to start the race on the same set of tires used
for qualifying, but as result of the damaged front tires the team took the decision
to start the race with fresh rubber, which by rule forced the #38 ADT/Michelin-sponsored
entry to start from the 33rd and last starting position for the race.
Race day brought brutally hot and humid conditions, with temperatures above
100 degrees F on the 1.661-mile temporary circuit, constructed on the site of
a former parking lot outside Washington's RFK Stadium. As the parade and pace
laps got underway, starter Stefan Johansson pitted immediately after the first
of three pre-green flag laps and the Champion crew topped off the R8 with fuel.
Because he had pitted prior to the start, Johansson then had to wait at Pit
Out, and start once the field had passed by after taking the green flag. The
team's strategy, given a pre-destined last-place start, was to start the race
with effectively three laps' more fuel onboard than the rest of the field, which
had the race played out differently could have been a decisive advantage.
Johansson put on a memorable charge in the race's opening laps, making his way
past 29 slower cars to sit in fourth place overall by one-third distance, despite
two spins, the second from contact by the #2 Joest Audi of Rinaldo Capello,
which made contact with Johansson's car while trying to put him a lap down,
spinning both cars.
A full-course caution period near the end of the first hour allowed Johansson
to pit for fuel, four fresh Michelins and the handover to Johnny Herbert. During
Herbert's opening stint however, the ADT/Champion R8 again experienced a recurring
turbo-boost-related problem, first experienced at Mid-Ohio, that put the Audi
FSI Turbo motor well down on power and prevented Herbert from pushing as hard
as necessary to catch the race leaders.
Iron-man Johnny, who drove nearly eleven hours of this year's Le Mans 24 Hours
in a factory Audi, pushed on through the punishing heat, driving the last two
stints of the race. Despite his heroic efforts, the lack of power from the twin-turbo
V8 caused Herbert to lose fourth place near the end, the ADT/Champion team being
forced to settle for fifth place on the day.
Said Herbert after the race, "It turned into a disappointing weekend after
I flat-spotted the tyres in qualifying yesterday. That meant we needed to use
a new set of tyres and start the race from the back. Stefan did a good job fighting
to the front but after I took over I lost power due to a technical problem and
surrendered fourth place - I just wanted to reach the finish.”
Despite the team's fifth-place finish, Champion Racing won the IMSA Cup for
Privateers, as highest-finishing privateer. Champion leads the LMP-900 IMSA
Cup standings by 27 points over Intersport Racing's Lola/Judd. Johnny Herbert
is now tied for fourth in LMP-900 Drivers points with Emanuele Pirro, and Champion
Racing is now third in LMP-900 Teams standinngs behind Joest Audi and Panoz.
The next race for the American Le Mans Series will be Le Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres on August 3 in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada.
Race Results from Washington, D.C.:
1. Jan Magnussen, David Brabham; Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900), 140 laps
2. Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 140
3. Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 140
4. Christophe Tinseau, Max Angelelli; Cadillac Northstar LMP-02 (LMP 900), 139
5. Johnny Herbert, Stefan Johansson; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 138
LMP-900 Drivers' Points Standings after Washington, D.C.:
1 - Tom Kristensen, 114
2 - Rinaldo Capello, 111
3 - Frank Biela, 101
4 - Johnny Herbert, 100
Emanuele Pirro, 100
LMP-900 Teams Points after Washington, D.C.:
1 - Audi Sport North America, 113
2 - Panoz Motor Sports, 100
3 - Champion Racing, 93
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Stefan Johansson climbs aboard for final pre-qualifying practice