2 Aug - The lap times came down and down during Saturday's frantic 20-minute qualifying session for Sunday's American Le Mans Series race in Trois-Rivières, and when the checkered flag fell Johnny Herbert had set the second-fastest time of the session and will start on the first row, next to Joest Racing's Marco Werner.

 

Herbert had topped the time sheets in both Friday testing and Saturday morning practice at the scenic street course in Quebec, Canada. Herbert, driving the ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 that he will co-drive with JJ Lehto, turned the 1.521-mile street racing circuit in 59.358secs to lead the field overall in the first timed practice, also pacing the LMP 900 class.

 

The Infineon Team Joest Audi R8, rebuilt after Friday’s crash in testing, was second-fastest in the practice session at 59.442. German drivers Frank Biela and Marco Werner will co-drive the car.

 

But in qualifying, Werner was able to set a stunning lap record time of just 57.740 seconds, with Herbert's best at 58.396 seconds to round out an all-Audi front row. Sunday's three-hour timed race starts at 2:45 p.m. (EDT) and will be televised live in North America by the SPEED Channel. The American Le Mans Series Radio Web will have live coverage online at www.americanlemans.com.

 

Top times from Saturday Qualifying at Trois-Rivieres:

 

1. Marco Werner; Audi R8 (P900), 57.740, 94.832
2. Johnny Herbert, England; Audi R-8 (P900), 58.396, 93.767
3. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola EX257/AER MG (P675), 58.547, 93.525
4. Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Panoz LMP01/EPP (P900), 59.148, 92.575
5. Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Panoz LMP01/EPP (P900), 59.644, 91.805