Sonoma, May 19, 2002
Round two of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Sears Point was a
nerve-racking one: Torrential rain, spins, accidents, caution periods and a
dramatic photo finish provided plenty to talk about even hours after the race
in which Audi scored precious championship points. Johnny Herbert and
Tom Kristensen finished second to the winning Panoz by just 0.482
seconds with their ADT Champion Audi R8. Frank Biela, Rinaldo Capello
and Emanuele Pirro took twelve points for Audi Sport North America despite
a spectacular incident.
Following torrential rain, the second ALMS race of the season started
behind the safety car. While Team Audi Sport North America´s Audi R8
dropped to the back of the field in the opening stages of the race following
an early spin for Rinaldo Capello, Tom Kristensen fought an exciting duel
for the lead with David Brabham´s Panoz. On the drying track, Kristensen
took the lead shortly before half distance handing over the R8 in first
position to Johnny Herbert.
In the meantime, Frank Biela had climbed back from the end of the field to
third spot in Audi Sport North America´s Audi R8, before things got very
eventful: A lapped back-marker failed to see Johnny Herbert causing a tyre
change and a loss of one lap. Almost at the sime time, Emanuele Pirro was
touched by the Panoz of Jan Magnussen. Running over debris cut the right
rear tyre of the Audi R8 making Pirro spin rearwards into a tyre wall. The
reigning ALMS champion was able to bring the heavily damaged R8 back to
the pits on three wheels. Audi Sport North America changed the complete
rear end of the car within less than six minutes, earning the squad standing
ovations by the specators and eventually twelve championship points for 8th
place in the prototype class.
Absolutely sensational was Johnny Herbert´s drive back to the front of the
field in the ADT Champion Audi R8: In the final hour of the race, the former
Formula One driver was able to reduce a one-lap-gap to Jan Magnussen´s
Panoz getting within reach of the Dane on the final lap. When he tried to
catch Magnussen on the finish straight, Herbert touched a lapped Panoz,
ripping the rear wing from his car and crossed the finish line sideways in
second position. Herbert´s effort was rewarded with the lead in the
American Le Mans Series.
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