-
- Audi
rewarded with points
after determined effort
- Charlotte,
April 1, 2000
Audi rewarded
with points after determined effort
With a determined
effort Audi brought both vehicles across the
finish line and in the points at Charlotte (North
Carolina). Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro
finished the second round of the American Le Mans
Series (ALMS) sixth. Michele Alboreto, Rinaldo
Capello and Allan McNish secured eighth place in
the prototypes class despite a 30-minute pitstop
for repairs following an accident.
"Today was
not our day," explained Team Director
Reinhold Joest after the finish. "But we
fought like lions." Audi did not race the
victorious cars from the season-opener in
Sebring, but instead contested the 2:45 hour
event with modified vehicles from last year. The
new Audi R8s are already being prepared in
Ingolstadt for the Le Mans 24 Hour race (17-18
June).
A good start saw
both Audi R8R cars gain one position. After
almost 45 minutes Frank Biela experienced a few
frightening seconds when he had a close encounter
with the BMW driven by Jean-Marc Gounon.
"The BMW went onto the grass and then
clipped the rear of my car, " said Biela,
who slid across the grass for a good 500 metres.
As a consequence
of the collision, the diffuser of the Audi with
race number 78 came loose and had to be removed.
Later, Biela´s teammate Emanuele Pirro was
plagued by gearbox problems, losing fifth and
sixth gear. Nevertheless, the German/Italian duo
reached sixth place overall.
Rinaldo Capello
experienced an even tougher time in his Audi R8R
with race number 77. While attempting to lap a GT
contender after almost one and a half hours, the
two vehicles collided. Capello hit a wall hard.
It took the Audi Sport North America team just 30
minutes to rebuild the front section and have the
R8R back in the race. The reward for this
excellent team effort were 12 points for eighth
place.
The American Le
Mans Series now travels to Europe. The next round
starts in Silverstone (GB) on May 13th. On July
9th the ALMS makes a guest appearance at the
Nürburgring.
Quotes after
the race
Michele
Alboreto (#77): "The team did a
fantastic job in bringing our car back into the
race. That made it possible to secure points
today. Thanks to the entire team."
Frank Biela
(#78): "It was important to score points
and even with the gearbox problem we finished
sixth. The BMW got onto the grass, he came back
on and then he hit me in the rear. After that the
car still felt okay, but I dropped to the back of
the field."
Rinaldo Capello
(#77): "I was on a new set of tires and
had really bad understeer.
I passed the GT car on the right side, but I
don't think the driver saw me because he turned
in and hit the back of my car sending me into the
wall."
Allan McNish
(#77): "I was quite surprised at the
pace of the race, the slower cars in the other
classes were very aware of the faster cars and
that is why the pace was so quick. It took about
45 minutes for someone to touch the chicane,
which is quite remarkable."
Emanuele Pirro
(#78): "We were third after one hour and
then we broke the top two gears fifth and
sixth. Considering everything we brought the car
home and scored some points toward the
championship."
Reinhold Joest,
Team Director Audi Sport North America:
"It was not our day, but we fought like
lions. The team did an excellent job to
repair the 77 car and get it back into the
race. Michele was able to do some fast lap
times with the car. After Frank's accident,
the car was not the same. The diffuser came
loose as a result of the accident. We were
able to match the pace of the frontrunners which
shows that even the '99 car can run with the
best."
Race results |
1 |
1 |
P |
42 |
Lehto/Müller |
125 laps |
|
|
2 |
2 |
P |
1 |
Magnussen/Brabham |
+ 7,884
sec |
|
|
3 |
3 |
P |
0 |
Schiattarella/de
Radigues |
- 1 lap |
|
|
4 |
4 |
P |
43 |
Gounon/Auberlen |
- 1 lap |
|
|
5 |
5 |
P |
2 |
OConnell/Katoh |
- 1 lap |
|
|
6 |
6 |
P |
78 |
Pirro/Biela |
- 3 laps |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
20 |
8 |
P |
77 |
Alboreto/Capello/McNish |
- 32 laps |
|
|
Race Development
after 02:16:30
under yellow/pace car |
1 |
1 |
P |
42 |
Lehto/Müller |
103 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
P |
1 |
Magnussen/Brabham |
103 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
P |
0 |
Schiattarella/de
Radigues |
102 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
P |
43 |
Gounon/Auberlen |
102 |
|
|
5 |
5 |
P |
2 |
O'Connell/Katoh |
101 |
|
|
6
|
6 |
P |
78 |
Pirro/Biela |
100 |
|
|
Race Development
after 01:37:27
second stint F.B.
under yellow/pace car
pit stop and driver change
after the restart Biela had contact with
Gounon both spun off
car was damanged and had later to be
repaired when driven by E.P. |
1 |
1 |
P |
42 |
Lehto/Müller |
75 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
P |
43 |
Gounon/Auberlen |
75 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
P |
1 |
Magnussen/Brabham
|
75 |
|
|
4 |
4 |
P |
|
Schiattarella/de
Radigues |
75 |
|
|
5
|
5
|
P |
78
|
Pirro/Biela |
75 |
|
|
Race Development
after 00:48:38
first stint E.P.
under yellow/pace car
pit
stop and driver change |
1 |
1 |
P |
1 |
Magnussen/Brabham |
39 |
|
|
2 |
2 |
P |
42 |
Lehto/Müller |
39 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
P |
78 |
Pirro/Biela |
39 |
|
|
American Le
Mans Series Race 2
Grand Prix of Charlotte
Provisional Grid |
1
|
42
|
P
|
1
|
Lehto***/Muller/
BMW Motorsport |
BMW V12 LMR |
01:04.769
|
4
|
125.060
|
01:04.096
|
3
|
126.373
|
126.373
|
2
|
1
|
P
|
2
|
Magnussen***/Brabham/
Panoz Motor Sports |
Panoz LMP-1 |
01:05.234
|
4
|
124.168
|
01:04.202
|
4
|
126.164
|
126.164
|
3
|
0
|
P
|
3
|
Schiattarella***/de
Radigues/
Team Rafanelli SRL |
Lola B2K |
01:06.051
|
4
|
122.633
|
01:04.431
|
3
|
125.716
|
125.716
|
4
|
78
|
P
|
4
|
Pirro***/Biela/
Audi Sport North America |
Audi R8 |
01:04.901
|
3
|
124.805
|
01:04.439
|
3
|
125.700
|
125.700
|
5
|
77
|
P
|
5
|
McNish***/Alboreto/Capello/
Audi Sport North America |
Audi R8 |
01:05.099
|
4
|
124.426
|
01:04.563
|
7
|
125.459
|
125.459
|
American Le
Mans Series Race 2
Grand Prix of Charlotte
Provisional Qualifying |
1 |
42 |
P |
1 |
Lehto/Muller/
BMW Motorsport |
BMW V12 LMR |
01:04.769 |
4 |
125.060 |
6 |
2 |
78 |
P |
2 |
Biela/Pirro
Audi Sport North America |
Audi R8R |
01:04.901 |
3 |
124.805 |
5 |
3 |
43 |
P |
3 |
Auberlin/Gounon/
BMW Motorspor |
BMW V12 LMR |
01:05.028 |
8 |
124.562 |
8 |
4 |
77 |
P |
4 |
Alboreto/Capello/McNiish
Audi Sport North America |
Audi R8R |
01:05.099 |
4 |
124.426 |
6 |
American
Le Mans Series Race 2
Grand Prix of Charlotte
Practice Session 1 |
1 |
43 |
P |
1 |
Auberlin/Gounon/
BMW Motorsport |
BMW V12 LMR |
01:05.895 |
18 |
122.923 |
18 |
2 |
77 |
P |
2 |
Alboreto/Capello/McNish
Audi Sport North America |
Audi R8R |
01:06.080 |
16 |
122.579 |
16 |
3 |
78 |
P |
3 |
Biela/Pirro
Audi Sport North America |
Audi R8 |
01:06.117 |
20 |
122.510 |
20 |
4 |
42 |
P |
4 |
Lehto/Muller/
BMW Motorsport |
BMW V12 LMR |
01:06.198 |
19 |
122.360 |
19 |
|