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Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada (16 August) --
Friday's two-hour
ALMS testing
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.
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Times from Friday ALMS Testing:
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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