ALMS, Lime Rock – Qualifying Report
Pagenaud, Fernandez, Melo & Faieta That was easily one of all around best qualifying sessions this season. Each class went down the wire with the best drivers in the series pushing each other to the limits. As usual the GT cars were first up directly after the 2nd practice session. Jaime Melo hit the track as soon as the green flag flew to start the qualifying. He immediately took charge and in just his third lap posted a 54.744, putting the Risi Ferrari in the top spot. And for most of the session it appeared the time would be good enough to give Melo the class pole. Henzler in the Farnbacher-Loles Porsche was next quickest with a 55.02 and would keep at it; putting in nine more laps but never able to improve on his time. He would end the session in third position. David Murray got a quick one out of the Robertson Ford GT and was as high as fourth position for a brief time. His time of 55.12 landed him finally sixth in class. Meanwhile the Rahal Letterman BMWs seem to be taking their time getting up to speed. Maybe they were holding back waiting for a clear lap. Finally Joey Hand sets a 55.049 to take over the fourth spot. Mueller spun the #92 in the turn 5 chicane which cost him considerable time. He got his momentum going again and on his tenth lap posted his quickest time, just .001 seconds shy of teammate Hand’s time. With the session winding down, and Melo parked comfortably in his pit stall, all eyes were on Patrick Long in the #45 Lizard Porsche. Long looked to be in some kind of funk as he languished back in the eight spot, his time just ahead of the Primetime Viper. With the pressure on, Long was able to deliver; and without regard to the curbs at either chicane Long flogged his 911 down into the 54s - a time good enough for second position and the only other car besides Melo to get below the 55 second mark. His next lap was in the 56 second range so it appeared that that was all the Porsche had in it. But Long wasn’t through. He was beyond the limit on the next lap and had the Michelin tires completely in the grass through the turn 5 chicane. He gathered it and crossed the line with a time of 54.729, the Flying Lizard pit box cheered with satisfaction. This time would surely hold, Melo had now been sitting idle in the pits for over five minutes. The news was relayed to Melo who was still strapped in his seat behind the wheel of the Ferrari. Without hesitation he flipped down his visor and tore out of his pit in an attempt to regain the pole. Melo was not fooling around and was on the attack immediately. He went deep into the turn 5 chicane, launching the 430 over the curbs. A lot of curb again in the west Bend chicane, brushing the tires on the exit. And on his first full lap after sitting idle in the pits Melo crossed the line with a 54.665 to reclaim the pole position that was ever so briefly held by Long. Patrick Long, “I just couldn’t get a decent lap early. It seemed like I always caught traffic in the worst locations. I knew I had a good race car; I just needed a clear lap. But I guess they had something in reserve.” Jaime Melo, “That was a great qualifying session. I was quite happy with my first run. I didn’t really expect to be able to do better than that. But when Long beat the time I said lets try again, maybe I can find a tenth somewhere. It was not my intention to get over the curbs so hard on the last lap. I broke a little too late and had some oversteer. So I had to go over the curb or I would have spun trying to make the turn. I really thought that cost me time and was surprised with the time on that lap.” In the Challenge class it was a nice battle between Bob Faieta and Martin Snow, with Faieta coming out on top. Prototype qualifying was not quite as dramatic, but it was just as hard fought. And there was another factor coming into play; rain. The skies were darkening, with some lightning off in the distance; and the radar showed rain was on the way. All the teams took to the track quickly in effort to beat the oncoming rain. ALMS pit notes appropriately called it a “prototype stampede”. Unfortunately the stampede got derailed just a few minutes into the session when a red flag came out for the Autocon Lola which had gone off course. McMurray was able to return to the pits under his own power and the session got back underway. At this time Fernandez held the best overall time but Brabham in the Highcroft Acura knocked that off quickly with a 47.5. Brabham looking to cement his position at the top continued to push and improved his time in each of the next two laps. Now with a 47.345 in hand, which was a new P1 class record, the Australian appeared to be in control. The record and the pole position did not last long. Just seconds after Brabham set his quickest time, Pagenaud - who had been lurking behind the Highcroft car - crossed the line with a 47.098. But the de Ferran pilot was not through. The very next lap he improved his time and broke the 47 second mark with a 46.971. That lap would not be beaten, even though Brabham did pit quickly for a splash of fuel to make one last ditch effort to dethrone the Frenchman. The rain was starting to fall and Brabham was only able to get in one more quick lap before wisely saving it for the race tomorrow. Pagenaud gets his third pole position of the season and now owns the P1 track record at Lime Rock Park. Pagenaud, “Its important to be on the inside of the first corner. It is a lot quicker than you think. This track has the property of having a dirty track on the outside. So it is quite an advantage to be on the inside lane. “Today was a good day for me. During qualification the crew did a great job looking at the weather with our new XM weather system. I have to say in the first few laps I was trying to get good heat in the tires. I was concerned with the red flag but once it went green, I went out there and it was a good lap.” In P2, Fernandez fought off advances first from Chris Dyson, then later Marino Franchitti, to claim the P2 pole position. It wasn’t all smooth sailing for Fernandez. The lap just after his quickest, Adrian continued to push and went too deep into the turn 5 chicane. The Acura got away from him and spun through the chicane landing harshly on the curb. Amazingly he was able to continue with no apparent damage; lets hope nothing shows up tomorrow during the race. Adrian Fernandez, “The car was very good. We had a little bit of a miscue coming out of the pits at the start of the session. I came out behind quite a few cars and I was worried about the rain and putting a good time, but I was P1 at the start. Obviously our car gets up to speed a lot quicker than the P1 cars but we knew they would be quicker in the end. I was pushing hard. I knew the rain was coming and did not want to wait for later. I just took it a little to deep into the chicane and spun. The team is at a good level and we are taking advantage of everything we learned last year.” The Dyson Mazdas recovered nicely from their sluggish start this morning and both cars were solid in qualifying, nipping at the heels of the Acura. Franchitti was the closest, just .2 seconds behind Fernandez. Then Chris Dyson was nearly as quick only .2 seconds behind his teammate. Away from the battle for the overall pole was a nice fight between Johnny Mowlem with the hybrid power and Clint Field with the old fashioned turbo power. Both improved their times throughout the session ending with 49.4 for Mowlem, just .5 seconds better then Field. Another great session completed with little, if any, damage. Turn 5 and its chicane was the source for much drama but luckily nothing to serious. It will be an area to watch tomorrow during the race when the intensity increases. But if qualifying was any indication, it should be a great race. Race Predictions. Northwest (Gary Horrocks) thinks race results will look like this, P1 - #66, P2 - #15, GT2 - #45, Challenge - #57. Where the Southeast (Me) has a different outcome in almost all the classes; P1- #66, P2 - #20, GT2 - #62, Challenge - #47. Russell Wittenberg | 
