Audi achieves third
place at Silverstone
Silverstone,
May 13, 2000
The
first appearance of the American Le Mans Series
(ALMS) in Europe was a real thriller. After an
exciting 500 kilometre race, Audi ultimately made
it to the podium. Rinaldo Capello and Allan
McNish finished third, Frank Biela and Emanuele
Pirro claimed fourth place at Silverstone.
The
race was decided only in the last few miles in
the 98 lap race. After a tremendous start when
Allan McNish moved from fourth to third place and
Emanuele Pirro from eighth to fifth, McNish took
over the lead after 14 laps. But during the
second pit stop, both cars lost time and
positions.
A few
laps before the finish Rinaldo Capello
demonstrated what unexpected things can happen
during a 3 Hour race: Although Capellos car
suffered broken suspension caused by a collision
during early stage of the race, he made it to the
chequered flag on three wheels.
Quotes
after the race
Allan
McNish (#77): "This was one of the races you
think is going well and then it goes away and
then it comes back again. When Rinaldo came into
the pits at the end of the race I had already
gone to the truck to get changed because I
thought it was all over. The podium was a big
surprise but a very pleasant one."
Rinaldo
Capello (#77): "To be honest, I didnt
really know what was going on because my radio
didnt work. I just felt there was something
wrong at the rear. But apart from that the car
felt very good. I had some trouble when I took
over the car. It was quick in right hand corners
but very difficult in left hand corners. But
after ten laps it worked out and I could
push."
Frank
Biela (#78): "I hadnt expected the
race to be so close. When Emanuele handed over he
was already complaining about the air vent over
the front left tyre getting loose. And he was
right: I had a lot of understeer and oversteer
and the car was bouncing in the corners."
Emanuele
Pirro (#78): "It was going better than we
thought. But then one part of the body work broke
and after that the car was very difficult to
drive especially when the tyres ran out. At the
end we have been very lucky."
Dr.
Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport: "For
the last race with the 99 cars it was a nice
success. But on the other hand Im very
disappointed. We made too many mistakes in the
pits which no driver can make up again on the
track. We have to work on this a lot before Le
Mans."
Reinhold
Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America:
"That was really an exciting and crazy race.
We were lucky at the end but I think we deserved
that little present because the spectators had a
nice show. Unfortunately weve lost a lot of
time in the pits."
ELMS Race
after 500km |
Pos |
# |
CL |
Team |
Drivers |
Car |
Time |
1 |
42 |
P |
BMW Motorsport |
Lehto/
Mueller |
BMW V12 LMR |
|
2 |
1 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Brabham/
Magnussen |
Panoz LMP-1 |
33.493 |
3 |
77 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Capello/
McNish |
Audi R8 |
1:44.322 |
4 |
78 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Alboreto/
Biela/
Pirro |
Audi R8 |
1 Lap |
|
ELMS Race
after 1.10 hour |
Pos |
# |
CL |
Team |
Drivers |
Car |
Time |
1 |
77 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Capello/
McNish |
Audi R8 |
|
2 |
2 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Katoh/
O'Connell |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1.692 |
3 |
42 |
P |
BMW Motorsport |
Lehto/
Mueller |
BMW V12 LMR |
9.289 |
4 |
78 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Alboreto/
Biela/
Pirro |
Audi R8 |
10.515 |
|
ELMS
Qualifying Session 2 (Prototype) |
Pos |
# |
CL |
Team |
Drivers |
Car |
Time |
1 |
0 |
P |
Team Rafanelli |
Schiattarella/
Radigues |
Lola B2K/10 |
1:37.398 |
2 |
2 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Katoh/
O'Connell |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:37.893 |
3 |
42 |
P |
BMW Motorsport |
Lehto/
Mueller |
BMW V12 LMR |
1:38.059 |
4 |
77 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Capello/
McNish |
Audi R8 |
1:38.066 |
5 |
1 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Brabham/
Magnussen |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:38.588 |
6 |
43 |
P |
BMW Motorsport |
Auberlen/
Gounon |
BMW V12 LMR |
1:38.707 |
7 |
78 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Alboreto/
Biela/
Pirro |
Audi R8 |
1:38.965 |
|
ELMS
Combined Practice 3 (Prototype /
GTS / GT) |
Pos |
# |
CL |
Team |
Drivers |
Car |
Time |
Laps |
GAP |
1 |
0 |
P |
Team Rafanelli |
Schiattarella/
Radigues |
Lola B2K/10 |
1:37.3 |
27 |
|
2 |
1 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Brabham/
Magnussen |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:38.5 |
22 |
1.187 |
3 |
2 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Katoh/
O'Connell |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:38.8 |
28 |
1.432 |
4 |
77 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Alboreto/
Biela/
Pirro |
Audi R8 |
01:39.2 |
29 |
1.908 |
5 |
78 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Capello/
McNish |
Audi R8 |
01:39.4 |
25 |
2.115 |
6 |
43 |
P |
BMW Motorsport |
Auberlen/
Gounon |
BMW V12 LMR |
1:39.6 |
25 |
2.232 |
|
ELMS
Qualifying Session 1 (Prototype) |
Pos |
# |
CL |
Team |
Drivers |
Car |
Time |
1 |
0 |
P |
Team Rafanelli |
Schiattarella/
Radigues |
Lola B2K/10 |
1:37.030 |
2 |
1 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Brabham/
Magnussen |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:37.360 |
3 |
2 |
P |
Panoz Motor Sports |
Katoh/
O'Connell |
Panoz LMP-1 |
1:37.485 |
4 |
77 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Capello/
McNish |
Audi R8 |
1:37.495 |
5 |
36 |
P |
Johansson Matthews |
Johansson/
Smith |
Reynard 2KQ |
1:38.107 |
6 |
43 |
P |
BMW Motorsport |
Auberlen/
Gounon |
BMW V12 LMR |
1:38.697 |
7 |
78 |
P |
AUDI Sport N America |
Alboreto/
Biela/
Pirro |
Audi R8 |
1:38.723 |
|
ELMS
Combined Practice 1 (Prototype /
GTS / GT) |
Pos |
# |
CL |
Team |
Car |
Time |
Laps |
GAP |
1 |
0 |
P |
Team
Rafanelli |
Lola
B2K/10 |
1:36.6 |
25 |
|
2 |
42 |
P |
BMW
Motorsport |
BMW
V12 LMR |
1:38.3 |
24 |
1.753 |
3 |
2 |
P |
Panoz
Motor Sports |
Panoz
LMP-1 |
1:38.8 |
26 |
2.26 |
4 |
1 |
P |
Panoz
Motor Sports |
Panoz
LMP-1 |
1:39.1 |
22 |
2.499 |
5 |
43 |
P |
BMW
Motorsport |
BMW
V12 LMR |
1:39.3 |
26 |
2.7 |
6 |
36 |
P |
Johansson
Matthews |
Reynard
2KQ |
1:40.3 |
16 |
3.794 |
7 |
78 |
P |
AUDI
Sport N America |
Audi
R8 |
1:40.4 |
23 |
3.871 |
8 |
77 |
P |
AUDI
Sport N America |
Audi
R8 |
1:40.5 |
25 |
3.909 |
|
Silverstone 500
USA Challenge time table |
Date/Time
GMT |
Session |
Friday, May
12, 2000 |
9:00 - 10:00 |
ELMS
Combined Practice 1 (Prototype /
GTS / GT) |
14:00 - 14:20 |
ELMS
Combined Practice 2 (Prototype /
GTS / GT) |
14:45 - 15:00 |
ELMS
Qualifying 1 (Prototype) |
Saturday,
May 13, 2000 |
9:00 - 10:00 |
ELMS
Combined Practice 3 (Prototype /
GTS / GT) |
14:05 - 14:25 |
ELMS
Qualifying 2 (Prototype) |
18:00 |
Start
European Le Mans Series The USA
Challenge |
21:15 |
Podium
Ceremony |
|
|