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Rose City Grand Prix Portland
Sunday, September 09, 2000

After a 1900 miles non-stop trucking trip from Texas to Portland, the first hurdle was taken, now it is the
drivers task, the qualifying is on. The skies are slightly overcast, after the forecasts were threatening with
rain. Due to the tight schedule of this back-to-back racing weekend there will be only one 20 minute

qualifying session.

For the fifth time in a row Audi took pole position in the American Le Mans
Series (ALMS). This time it was Rinaldo Capello who set fastest time during
the 20 minutes of qualifying on Portland International Raceway and lowered the
old ALMS track record. Le Mans winner Frank Biela who was quickest during
the free practice sessions completed the great starting position for Audi with
second fastest time. After the gruelling heat of Texas which the Audi drivers
suffered from last weekend the weather turns out to be more comfortable in
Oregon. Despite dark clouds the entire qualifying took place under dry

conditions.

Round eight of the American Le Mans Series starts on Sunday, 12 pm local
time and runs over a distance of 2:45 hours. Rinaldo Capello (#77) and
Emanuele Pirro (#78) will be the start drivers in the two Audi R8s.
OA Car Driver(s) Lap Best Time Interval Car Make/Engine
77 Capello/McNish 4 1:04.312 -- Audi R8
2 78 Biela/Pirro 4 1:04.387 0:00.075 Audi R8
3 1 Brabham/Magnussen 6 1:04.503 0:00.191 Panoz LMP-1
4 2 Katoh/O'Connell 8 1:05.309 0:00.997 Panoz LMP-1
5 0 Schiattarella/de Radigues 5 1:05.394 0:01.007 Lola B2K/10/Rafanelli V10
6 42 Lehto/Muller 4 1:05.582 0:01.270 BMW V12 LMR
7 36 Johansson/Smith 9 1:05.758 0:01.446 Reynard 2KQ/Judd
8 43 Auberlen/Gounon 3 1:05.940 0:01.628 BMW V12 LMR
9 19 Angelelli/Taylor 5 1:06.993 0:02.681 Cadillac Northstar LMP
10 37 Field/Sutherland 11 1:07.273 0:02.961 Lola B2K/10/Judd
11 39 Matthews/Simo 9 1:08.138 0:03.826 Reynard 2KQ/Judd
In the Pitlane
In the Pitlane
Emanule Pirro cleaning his "Friend"
Audi R8 #78 Emanuele Pirro

Rinaldo Capello (#77)

„We improved the car a lot since the free practice sessions, after we copied
the setup from the sister car. Now I had a much better feeling and I knew I
could do a good lap time. Nevertheless I had to push very hard because the
Panoz team was very strong and forces us to work even harder. We are not
going to change anything on the car for the race except a shorter first gear so

that we can get away better at the start.”

Frank Biela (#78)

„It's a pity that we didn't make it to pole position. But still I'm quite satisfied
because our car is very good. And with a margin of a few hundredths of a
second you also need a lot of luck. For Emanuele having three points less than
me in the championship he will do the start tomorrow. With a clean track he
has a good chance to do the quickest lap and get an extra point. A chicane
right after the start is always a problem. We have to take good care of the
second and third row. They will definitely go for their chance to catch up right

at the beginning.”

Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America

„It was not an easy job to find the right setup for both cars, especially with car
no. 77. Which we finally copied from the #78 Audi. Panoz is getting faster and
closer so I expect the race to be very exciting. The second problem, after the
first chicane, is the low grip on the track which makes the tires lock up again
and again. The good thing is that both Audi R8s are in the first row . I hope
we'll manage to keep the Panoz behind so that our drivers can concentrate on
their own performance.”