ALMS, Mid- Ohio - Qualifying Report
And Friday Afternoon Notes In qualifying the expected shootout between de Ferran and Patron Highcroft went to de Ferran Racing, with P2 pole going to Fernandez. The GT2 class continues to be an all-out war, with less than .6 seconds separating the top seven. Class pole went to Jörg Bergmeister and his Lizard, while Guy Cosmo and Shane Lewis battled in the Challenge class, with Guy coming out on top. Gil continued his streak of four in a row at Mid Ohio, by capturing the top spot by a margin of only .069 seconds over David Brabham. “Getting my 4th consecutive pole here is really good for me and the team. There was a big gap between the second and the third (the first and second poles were when Gil was driving in Indy Cars), but Mid Ohio has always been a great part of my career. It was good to take the pole here, with so many Honda plants and employees in the area. I must say I’ve always enjoyed qualifying. I think it is one of the purest things in motorsport. I’m having a lot of fun and it feels good to be on pole today.”  |
It wasn’t looking good for Gil early, as after his first lap, his car had developed a bad vibration. “We had a solid strategy going into qualifying, and the plan was to wait a bit and then go out, get the tires up to temperature and put down a quick lap. However when I first went out, the car had a huge vibration, which was so bad that I could barely see the braking zone. On top of that, my radio wasn’t working, so I couldn’t even communicate with the team. I came straight into the pits to make sure nothing was severely wrong, unfortunately there was nothing they could do and the vibration continued. At that point I had to deal with it and do best I could. I must say that performance-wise, the car was great and my hats off to the engineers, who, together with the Acura engineers are really doing a fantastic job – they are just improving the car more and more.” After Gil surpassed Brabs time, both continued on, trying to better their times, but to no avail. For Highcroft, they were closer than they had ever been at the end of a session, but a slight understeer prevented a better time to be turned. “The car was a lot better than the previous practice sessions but we will take a look at the final change we made and see where the understeer came from. Well done to Gil, I know how hard I was trying out there and I am sure he must be out of breath. I was up a little bit on my second run but just picked up a bit of understeer. The two cars are so close it is unbelievable. The LMP2 cars are not too far behind so I think we are going to have a great race. It would have been nice the other way around but we certainly have some direction for the race tomorrow.”  |
Third overall and first in P2 was Luis Diaz and the Fernandez Acura. - “I am very happy. This is a very important weekend for Acura and Honda and for us as a team and, obviously, it is nice to get the pole for Lowe’s as well. It was very tight in qualifying. I knew the Mazdas were going to push us to the limit. I am happy that we have the Porsche here as well. As a team, we like the challenge. We have to focus on the race now. It is going to be a tough race but, looking at the big picture, I think we have a chance for a good result tomorrow.”  |
For Dyson, they were just short of the mark. Chris was only back .03 seconds “You can’t get much closer than that. We did our first run and put it in the bank and we thought if we bled the tires down, we could get more. I was pleasantly surprised how much better the car was once we did that. The team’s win at Lime Rock two weeks ago showed that we have the race pace and it is nice to have the speed in qualifying too.” Butch Leitzinger was slowed by a slight mis-fire in the No. 20 Lola Mazda, which prevented them from getting any closer than half a second.  |
The last two days have been a great start for the new Muscle Milk Porsche pairing. Klaus Graf drove the car to 6th on the grid, only .4 seconds back of Leitzinger. "I think overall we can be pleased. We're right there with all the other cars. Obviously it's very competitive in the LMP2 class. We had the Dyson's split almost to the end and they got us on the last lap so that's a bit of a shame. I would have liked to stay ahead of one Dyson car. Our Muscle Milk Porsche RS Spyder was fantastic. The guys did a very good job. We've done very little testing honestly so to come in like this in this type of competition and be right there with everybody else I think it shows really good work by the team, Porsche, Michelin and everybody involved. It's a good day for us."  |
Jon Field brought the Intersport Lola into 7th overall, leading the van der Steur Radical and Autocon Lola. Autocon had a rough day, suffering clutch issues earlier in the day. Even worse off was Corsa, as they did not turn a lap in either qualifying or in the afternoon practice session. In GT2, it remains to be seen how it works out long term, but for qualifying it appears as if the added 25 kg may have actually been a help on track for at least one Porsche. Bergmeister said “I can feel it, but when we added the weight to the car, we put it in the front and I think it might of helped us get a better balance in the car. I think we had the fewest laps out there of the field. We waited for a break in traffic, so I got out later in the session. I didn't have the pit lane speed limiter on when I left the pits so I was a bit too quick in pit lane, and a stop and go penalty cost us another few minutes. When I got on track, I had a really good run. We made a change right before qualifying, and with new tires the car was really hooked up.”  |
Just over 0.2 seconds back was Jamie Melo in the Risi Ferrari. “It was a good lap, even with the mistake at the Carousel where I maybe lost a tenth of a second. We have been having some turn-in oversteer in the car but, even with that, I think that was the maximum time the car could hold. I tried once more after my fastest lap but the car was oversteering so I said, that’s enough, let’s save the tires for the race. Now we need to improve the set up for the rear on entrance to corners to try to have a comfortable car for the race. Second on the grid is not bad, it’s still very close, and we can be there for the race. Pierre looked good in free practice and has learnt the track quickly so I think we’ll be able to push from the very first moment to the end.”  |
Third in class was Jan Magnussen in the No. 3 Corvette. "Ordinarily we wouldn't be very happy with that, but I'm quite pleased. The cars worked well and the team has built a fantastic car with real potential. Of course we would have liked the pole, but one will come eventually, I'm sure. We worked qualifying well by waiting a little while to let some of the other guys finish off their runs so there less traffic when I was out there," he explained. "My quickest lap was completely clear. My second fastest lap was close in time, but I lost a little time passing a car at the end of the straight. We're four tenths away from the pole – it's a good chunk of time, but I'm confident we can find it."  |
Ollie Gavin was 6th in class, but only a bit over 0.1 second back of Mags – that’s how tight the class is. "I had some slow traffic on my quickest lap and passed a couple of slower ALMS Challenge cars at Turn 8, which sucks up a little time. The balance of my car was very good and I felt comfortable. Being half a second off the pole on our first time out is a really good showing for everybody here at Corvette Racing. Bring on the race, I'm really looking forward to it!" It has been a very consistent and methodical approach from Corvette Racing so for in their first event in GT2. There have already been comments concerning the team sand bagging, but they should consider that a show of respect. No matter what they do for the next few races, they will be under the microscope. If they are successful, it’s because their car is too good. If they do not do well, it’s because they are holding something back
The home track BMWs came home 4th and 7th in class, highlighting that they too have made some significant strides. Dirk Mueller, who qualified 4th quickest said, “for the very first time we were P1 in practice, but it was very close. Today I was only two- tenths from third and less than one-half second from the pole. Honestly, I think tomorrow’s race will be the toughest race of the year. Pit strategy will make a big difference, and we have that element on our side. I like this kind of racing!”  |
Fifth in class was Wolf Henzler in the Farnbacher-Loles Porsche, while David Murry brought the Ford GT up to eighth in class, just a tick over a second off pole, while the PTG Panoz was back another .2 seconds. The No. 44 “clipped wing” Lizard will be forced to start from the back of the grid, due to Darren Law racing at Watkins Glen in the Grand Am race. The Challenge Class saw the pro/coaches take center stage, with Guy Cosmo coming out on top. “It was a lot of fun - it always is at Mid-Ohio. We had no issues with the car. We didn’t make qualifying at Lime Rock as the starter wasn’t working. I was relieved when it fired up here and it was really good all session. I’ve been to the top classes and now I’m here in the bottom class, but it’s all good. I just want to stay out of the way and not screw up the other races on the track.” Afternoon notes - The afternoon session saw Acuras 1-2-3 at the front of the grid, with another barnburner in GT2, with 7 cars within .4 seconds. As in the morning session, it was the No. 66 de Ferran Acura holding about a half a second advantage over the Patron Highcroft Acura. In this session, it was the Fernandez Acura that was heading up the LMP2 class, having spent the morning session on used tires. Dyson racing spent a good portion of the session heading the times, courtesy of an early 1:11.866 by Guy Smith, before ending up 4th and 5th overall. John Doonan revealed that it will be Patrick Dempsey driving the recently restored Mazda RX-792P at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca during the Monterey Historics. On the subject of Mazda, Ben Devlin recently tested with Dyson and hopes to be racing with the team at the last two races of the season. He also hopes to be joining a Mazda team in the LMS, possibly for the last two races of their season. You’ve got to wonder where all these rumors came from. Why can’t the source be trusted? According to an advance copy of the Patron Bee, Duncan Dayton states the following, in order to support previous statements he has made about their future in the series: “We are 100 per cent committed to the American Le Mans Series. Sportscar racing will always be the soul of Patrón Highcroft Racing, but we are looking to expand our operation.” “We are now aiming to be one of the premier race teams in North America. The team took great pride in racing against teams like Penske Racing and AGR
last year. “Teams like these and Target Chip Ganassi Racing have set the bar for race teams in this country and we will always be looking for additional opportunities to expand our operations along similar lines.” “…Le Mans is a very big goal for us. Not just to compete, but we are very focused on winning the biggest sportscar race in the world.” Follow up from the earlier Corvette Racing show and tell – Doug Fehan believes it is only a matter of time before they can race E85 at Le Mans. He sees 2010 as doubtful, but believes that by 2011, the ACO will allow E85 to be used in the 24-hour race. Gary Horrocks | 
