Braselton, October 3, 2001 Emanuele Pirro carries the American Le Mans Series point lead into Saturday's running of Audi presents Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, and the Italian driver wasted no time on the opening day of practice in making sure that his car was at the top of the speed chart. The Audi R8 co-driven by Pirro and Frank Biela led Wednesday's practice session at the 2.54-mile circuit with a fast lap of 1:11.703, more than half a second faster than the next machine. Pirro can win his first American Le Mans Series title in Saturday's 10-hour sports car endurance race.

1. Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8	1:11.703
2. Stefan Johansson, Patrick Lemarie	Audi R8	1:12.316
3. Andy Wallace, Johnny Herbert	Audi R8	1:13.029
4. Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen	Audi R8	1:13.148
5. Klaus Graf, Franck Lagorce	Panoz LMP-1	1:13.171
6. Wayne Taylor, Max Angelelli, Christophe Tinseau	Cadillac LMP 01	1:13.822
7. Eric Bernard, Emmanuel Collard, Marc Goossens	Cadillac LMP 01	1:14.863
8. Jan Magnussen, David Brabham	Panoz LMP-1	1:14.868
9. James Weaver, Butch Leitzinger, Elliott Forbes-Robinson	Riley & Scott MkIIIC	1:15.781
10. Milka Duno, John Graham, Scott Maxwell	Reynard 01Q	1:18.181
11. Didier de Radigues, Bruno Lambert, Earl Goddard	Reynard 01Q	1:18.740
12. Steve Knight, Mel Hawkins, Claudia Huertgen	Lola B2K	1:19.380
13. Jordi Gene, Yannick Schroeder, Jean-Denis Deletraz	Reynard 2KQ	1:19.774
14. Franz Konrad, Terry Borcheller, Charlie Slater	Saleen S7R	1:19.826
15. Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell, Scott Pruett	Corvette C5-R	1:20.988
16. Andy Pilgrim, Kelly Collins, Franck Freon	Corvette C5-R	1:21.445
17. Ben Devlin, Jason Workman, Andrew Davis	Lola B2K	1:22.406
18. JJ Lehto, Fredrik Ekblom, Karl Wendlinger	BMW M3 GTR	1:22.701
19. Chris McMurray, Bryan Willman, Bret Arsenault	Pilbeam MP84	1:22.708
20. Jorg Muller, Dirk Muller	BMW M3 GTR	1:23.002
21. Chris Bingham, Ron Johnson, Oliver Gavin	Saleen S7R	1:23.349
22. Boris Said, Hans Stuck, Bill Auberlen	BMW M3 GTR	1:23.672
23. Jon Field, Rick Sutherland	Lola B2K 10B	1:23.734
24. Niclas Jonsson, Brian Cunningham, David Murry	BMW M3 GTR	1:23.873
25. Rickard Rydell, Peter Kox, Marc Duez	Ferrari 550 Maranello	1:23.944
26. Randy Pobst, Christian Menzel	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	1:24.252
27. Lucas Luhr, Sascha Maassen	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	1:24.849
28. Shane Lewis, Bob Mazzuoccola, Cort Wagner	Callaway C-12R	1:25.797
29. Mike Hezemans, Joeoen Bleekemolen, Anthony Kumpen	Dodge Viper GTS-R	1:26.543
30. Michael Petersen, Johnny Mowlem, Christophe Boullion	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	1:26.749
31. Walter Brun	Saleen S7R	1:27.782
32. Kye Wankum, Joe Foster	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1:29.110
33. Stephen E. Earle, Bart Hayden	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1:29.431
34. Tony Burgess, Stefano Buttiero, Hugh Plumb	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	1:30.107
35. Grady Willingham, Taz Harvey, Derek Higgins	Porsche 911 GT3 R	1:30.501
36. Joseph Policastro, Policastro Jr., Gunnar Jeannette	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	1:31.549
37. Leo Hindery, Peter Baron, Tony Kester	Porsche 911 GT3 RS	1:31.581
38. Ralf Kelleners, Marino Franchitti, Kelvin Burt	Ferrari 360 Modena	1:33.393
39. Tom Weickardt, Rick Fairbanks	Dodge Viper GTS-R	1:47.132

The Johansson Motorsport Audi R8 of Stefan Johansson and Patrick Lemarie was second-fastest at 1:12.316 in Wednesday's session, followed by the Champion Audi of Johnny Herbert and Andy Wallace at 1:13.029. The second factory Audi of Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen was fourth at 1:13.171 to complete an Audi sweep of the top four. Thirty-nine of the 46 cars on hand for the event participated in the practice session on Wednesday. Practice will continue on Thursday, with qualifying sessions set for Friday. The Petit Le Mans starts at 12 noon on Saturday. The fast time of the day in the LMP 675 class for smaller Prototypes was set by the Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q-Judd driven by John Graham, Milka Duno and Scott Maxwell. The car was clocked at 1:18.181, which was 10th fastest overall. The second Barbour car driven by LMP 675 champion Didier de Radigues, along with Bruno Lambert and Earl Goddard, was second-fastest at 1:18.740. There are eight entries in the class, the largest yet in the first-year class. The GTS class was led by the Saleen S7R driven by Terry Borcheller, Franz Konrad and Charlie Slater at 1:19.826. Second-fastest was the Chevrolet Corvette C5-R of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Scott Pruett at 1:20.988. The BMW M3 GTR of JJ Lehto, Fredrik Ekblom and Karl Wendlinger led the GT class with a lap of 1:22.701, beating the 1:23.002 posted by the BMW Motorsport team car of Jorg Muller and Dirk Muller. Saturday's race will be televised live by the Speedvision Network beginning at 11:30 a.m. The live broadcast by the American Le Mans Series Radio Web can be heard online at

At 2:00, green flag At 3:00, checkered flag

Magnussen, Brabham	Panoz LMP1	1:12.517
Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen	Audi R8	1:13.001
Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8	1:13.320

ALMS Combined P900, P675, GTS and GT practice (2-hour session): At 7:00, green flagAt 9:00, checkered flag A total of 39 cars practiced. Only the #22-GT (engine change), #35-GT (mechanical), #47-GT (withdrawn) and #50-P900 (structurale problems) did not participate

Tom Kristensen	Audi R8	1:12.464
Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8	1:12.615
Andy Wallace	Audi R8	1:12.862

At 8:00, green flag At 8:02, black flag all – debris on the track between turns 10 and 12 at the top of the hill. Car #18- P900 Audi R8 lost the front bodywork on the track. At 8:08, green flag. At 8:12, black flag all – car #31-P675 Pilbeam MP84/Nissan has stopped on course at turn 10 needing a tow for a flat right rear tire. At 8:20, green flag. At 8:31, 33 cars have been on the track so far. BMW Motorsport has repaired the #42-GT BMW M3 GTR, but has elected not to practice with either car this morning. At 8:50, Michelin tire engineers report the track temperature is 61 degrees. At 8:52, car #51-P900 Panoz LMP1 Roadster S is stalled on course with no brakes at turn 10 and will require a tow at the end of the session. At 9:00, checkered flag. 37 cars posted times.

Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8	1:11.404
Tom Kristensen	Audi R8	1:11.602
David Brabham	Panoz LMP1	1:12.555

Driver

Make

Best Lap

Gap

Tom Kristensen

Audi R8

1:10.917

Emanuele Pirro	Audi R8	1:11.011	0:00.094
David Brabham	Panoz LMP1	1:11.061	0:00.144
Stephan Johansson	Audi R8	1:11.939	0:01.022
Johnny Herbert	Audi R8	1:11.948	0:01.031
Klaus Graf	Panoz LMP1	1:12.372	0:01.455