Portland - July 22, 2006
First defeat in qualifying for the Audi R10 TDI
Following another change of the regulations at short notice, the two Audi
R10 TDI sports cars will start the sixth round of the American Le Mans
Series at Portland (US state of Oregon) from the second and third rows of
the grid. Dindo Capello and Emanuele Pirro (both Italy) had to be happy
with third and fifth places respectively in Friday’s qualifying session after
the toughest competitors in the LM P1 class, Team Dyson Lola, had been
granted a further weight-reduction of 40 kilograms (88 pounds). This
means the Lola is now 65 kilograms (143 pounds) lighter than the Audi
R10 TDI.
Weight reduction for LM P1 rivals
For the first time since its début in March, Audi’s revolutionary diesel
sportscar will thus not start from pole-position. At Sebring, Le Mans and
Salt Lake City a week ago, the 650-hp R10 TDI has always been the
fastest car in qualifying. This time, Dindo Capello, as the fastest Audi
driver, had to be happy with third place on the grid – 0.319 seconds from
pole. Emanuele Pirro in fifth position was outpaced by the fastest and
even lighter LM P2 car.
Despite the further handicap, the drivers of Team Audi Sport North
America will try everything to continue the winning streak of the Audi R10
TDI in Saturday’s race – the car has been undefeated in its three outings
so far. The race at Portland starts Saturday evening at 6 p.m. local time (3
a.m. Sunday morning in Germany).
Quotes after qualifying in Portland
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"The team and the drivers did the best they could from this new situation.
The decision at short notice to give our toughest competitor in the LM P1
class, Team Dyson-Lola, a further 40-kilogram weight reduction just
before qualifying had an immediate influence on the starting grid. The
situation is not nice for us. We had to accept a smaller diameter of the
refuelling rig last week now we must also accept this measure because
we are interested in the health of the American Le Mans Series which has
been created with the support of Audi to a large extent. We are sure that
IMSA will correct the weights again to make sure there is a balance of
performance.”
Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #2)
"Considering the new weight difference of the LM P1 Dyson Lola cars
which qualified 1-2 and our Audi R10 TDI, I feel I did a good job to achieve
P3 today. We are quite close to the front row times but importantly I was
able to consistently set mid 1min 3.5secs laps which makes me hopeful
for the race. I was on the limit in my first qualifying laps and decided to pit
because it was a little too close at times. I think we will have a good race.”
Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #2)
"I haven’t been here since 2000 but the track is identical – exactly the
same bumps are still here! A track temperature of over 50 degrees
Celsius means we’re sliding around especially in the low-speed, infield
section but that’s the same for everyone. We’ve been tuning the car to get
a good balance on ‘used’ tyres which will be very important in the race.
It’s difficult to assess how the latest weight adjustment in LM P1 will affect
us but at this track and in these weather conditions, weight will definitely
play an important factor in the race as we saw in qualifying.”
Frank Biela (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"After the very good result of Salt Lake City it is a lot tougher than I
expected. On the other hand Dyson was strong here last year. We must
be happy with what we have. The race will be long and we have to look for
a good strategy. This is definitely one of the shorter tracks, so it is difficult
to overtake even the GT2 cars in the infield.”
Emanuele Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1)
"I am quite happy with my time. At this circuit, grip is very poor. The car
was sliding a lot and we could not find more grip. We are very close to the
Porsche, but due to the new weight rules the Dysons are unreachable.
The race is long and anything can happen. The balance of the Audi R10
TDI is quite good. It is a very hard track for the car and the drivers. It is very
difficult to overtake and strategy will be crucial here. Because of our good
fuel consumption we can have a wider window when choosing to stop for
fuel. I learned that when you keep it steady and cool, things can improve.”
Dave Maraj (Team Director Team Audi Sport North America)
"We did a very good job taking everything into account. Dindo and
Emanuele did fantastically well to get that close to the lighter Lola LM P1
cars. We just now have to wait and see how the race plays out. Everything
is to play for and in the race and I feel we’ll have a very good car over the
duration of 165-minutes. Obviously Audi Sport North America is aiming to
keep our record on-going of claiming maximum LM P1 points in all of this
season’s races.”
The starting grid at Portland
|