6 Sep - The ADT Champion Audi of Johnny Herbert and JJ Lehto starts the seventh round of the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca from the second row of the grid.

 

The 39-year-old Briton set a fastest time of 1:16.842, an average speed of 104.849mph around the 2.238-mile Californian track.

 

The team decided to save any further tire wear by not contesting the final five minutes of qualifying when the 20-minute time trial resumed which ultimately proved costly when James Weaver demoted Herbert a place on his last lap.

 

Johnny Herbert:

“I was on provisional pole for each of my three flying laps but Frank [Biela] ultimately bettered my times.  The front tires were starting to grip nicely on my fourth flier but I had to back off when the red flag appeared.  It was decided to ‘save’ the tires [for the race] which is why I didn’t go back out when qualifying resumed.  Unfortunately in those final five minutes, we were bumped off the front row.  I’ve finished second here for the past two years so I would dearly like to think we can go one better in my third Laguna race and score a win.  The team has worked hard to give us a competitive car and it would be good to reward them.”

 

JJ Lehto:

“We have made definite progress over the past two days in getting a good set-up on the R8 - it was a major struggle on Friday with massive understeer [push].  It’s extremely important to finish ahead of the Joest Audi in the race in terms of the ALMS championship.  I’m third in the Driver’s standings and Champion Racing is placed second in the Team’s category.  With only two races remaining after Laguna, it is mathematically possible to win both titles by winning the last three races even if Joest finish second in all three so the last three races are going to be very, very interesting.”