session was run under wildly varying weather conditions. The day had been variably
cloudy, warm and humid, with occasional sunshine...until it was time for the
Prototypes to take to the track 30 minutes into the session. The Prototypes
had barely warmed their tires and were beginning to turn race-speed laps when
the the first of several red-flags flew, for a car off course.
All action stopped, and when it resumed, Johnny Herbert turned what would become
the ADT/Champion Audi R8's fastest time of the day, a 1:13.487 around the 2.459-mile,
10-turn road course. This time was well short of what the R8 is capable of on
the ultra-demanding Mosport circuit, but just as the session had resumed the
rains came, stopping all track action once more. All cars pitted, some for rain
tires and others to wait and see what the weather would do. But the rain stopped
as suddenly as it had begun, and soon both Prototypes and GT's were back out,
though almost immediately stopped again when the session was red-flagged due
to a car off course.
What followed was a series of ever-heavier rain showers combined with a series
of red-flags for cars spun off course. Herbert handed over to Stefan Johansson,
who took to the track amidst heavy rain and spray. Times slowed predictably,
and no one was able to set times equal to those turned in the first few minutes.
With a half hour left in the session and the rains coming heavily, Champion
Crew Chief Brad Kettler took the decision to call and early end and retire the
colorful R8 for the remainder of the session. Kettler commented, "with
the track wet and the rain continuing, there was nothing more to gain - and
a lot to lose by staying out and risking damage to the car."
The first official practice of the Mosport weekend gets underway early Saturday,
with a further session at mid-day. Qualifying for Sunday's two-hour, 45-minute
race takes place Saturday afternoon.
1. JJ Lehto/Max Angelelli, Cadillac Northstar LMP 02, 1:11.448.
2. Jan Magnussen/David Brabham, Panoz LMP-1, 1:12.720
3. Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen, Audi R8, 1:13.363
4. Johnny Herbert/Stefan Johansson, Audi R8, 1:13.487
5. Bryan Herta/Bill Auberlen, Panoz LMP-1, 1:13.598
6. Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, Audi R8, 1:14.364
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Olaf Schwarz from Audi Sport is looking after our R8's motor here at Mosport