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Audi R10 TDI with record lap at Mid-Ohio - Friday, July 20, 2007
at 21:56
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Mid-Ohio, 20 July 2007
Fastest LM P1 car in qualifying
Capello/McNish on second row of the grid
Pirro/Werner on row four after collision
With its best qualifying performance since April, Audi Sport North America has secured a promising starting position for the seventh round of the American Le Mans Series. On Friday, Dindo Capello (Italy) broke the track record for LM P1 sports cars at Mid-Ohio by almost two seconds. The Italian captured fourth position on the starting grid behind three LM P2 cars. The other Audi R10 TDI will start Saturday’s race from row four.
Running the revolutionary diesel-powered sports car for the first time at Mid-Ohio, Team Audi Sport North America improved from session to session during the two days of practice. In qualifying, Dindo Capello recorded the fastest ever lap of a LM P1 sports car on the 3.634-kilometere (2.258 miles) race track in the middle of Ohio (1m 09.435s). The Italian thus not only left all competitors in the LM P1 category behind but also six of the much lighter LM P2 cars.
Emanuele Pirro was unlucky: The Italian was involved in a collision during qualifying when two prototypes ahead of him suddenly slowed down in the final corner. Pirro had to change the damaged front bodywork of his Audi R10 TDI. Despite losing precious time he was able to move to the fourth row of the grid just before the end of qualifying.
The race at Mid-Ohio will start on Saturday at 3:15 p.m. local time (9:15 p.m. in Germany) with a race duration of 2:45 hours.
Quotes after qualifying
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1): "I honestly did not expect to be on the second row of the grid. We made a change to the car at the very end of the last practice session before qualifying and it paid off. It immediately improved our lap times. The car in this set-up gave me confidence. We are still almost one second off pole but starting fourth is very encouraging for the race."
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #1): "It’s the first time we’ve been here with the R10 TDI and we found it’s completely different to the Audi R8 we raced here last season. We went through a number of different set-up options and reverted to a more standard base to dial in the car for qualifying which improved the balance and grip. We knew we’d be off the very fastest LM P2 times but are nevertheless pleasantly surprised we’ve managed to bag a second row start which gives us a good fighting chance for the race."
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #2): "Despite the eighth starting position I’m quite pleased with the way things went so far. I think we have quite a good set-up for the race. We have a very different set-up from car number 1 and I still believe this is a good choice for the race although qualifying did not prove to be in our favour."
Marco Werner (Audi R10 TDI #2): "It’s still difficult for us although the track at Mid-Ohio is a little better for us. The times are closer than in the last couple of races. Our qualifying was a bit disappointing. But I think things could look better for us in the race. We know that the LM P2 cars are simply faster in qualifying. But in the race the gap should not be as big. I’m looking forward."
Dave Maraj (Team Director Audi Sport North America): "This was a very good qualifying performance of Dindo (Capello). He was much faster than I thought he could be. I’m very happy we start from fourth on the grid, this gives us a good position to attack. We also know that Emanuele (Pirro) is a very good starter. I think we will see a very interesting start tomorrow."
The starting grid at Mid-Ohio
1 Dumas/Bernhard (Porsche) 1m 08.510s
2 Maassen/Briscoe (Porsche) 1m 08.755s
3 Fernandez/Diaz (Acura/Honda) 1m 08.973s
4 Capello/McNish (Audi R10 TDI) 1m 09.435s (1st in LM P1)
5 Wallace/Leitzinger (Porsche) 1m 09.537s
6 Brabham/Johansson (Acura/Honda) 1m 09.677s
7 Herta/Franchitti (Acura/Honda) 1m 09.832s
8 Pirro/Werner (Audi R10 TDI) 1m 09.878s (2nd in LM P1)
9 Dyson/Smith (Porsche) 1m 09.988s
10 Bach/Devlin (Lola-Mazda) 1m 09.988s
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