Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From The Race Site:
Grand Prix of Atlanta: Dyson Racing on Pole, Corvette and Panoz Set Records
4/16/2005 - by Beth Wyse
Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Road Atlanta turned into its own race as JJ Lehto in the No. 1 ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 and James Weaver in the No. 16 Dyson Racing Team Lola EX257/AER battled for the pole throughout the 20-minute session.
When the checkered flag came out, it was Weaver who had snagged the top spot with a 1:11.241 for his second consecutive American Le Mans Series pole at Road Atlanta. In the other classes, two track records fell to cars making their debut this season.
The GT1 and GT2 classes had 20 minutes to qualify, followed by 20 minutes of track time for the P1 and P2 cars.
P1
After the first flying lap of P1 and 2 qualifying, it was Marco Werner at the top of the field in the No. 1 Audi, but one lap later it was Frank Biela in the No. 2 Audi with a time of 1:11.765. It was the quickest that Biela went during the session, and he dropped back to third in the P1 class as the competition increased between the No. 1 and No. 16 machines.
A red flag came out for a few minutes after the P2-class No. 19 van der Steur Racing Lola B2K/40/AER spun off track into a gravel trap. When the session was restarted, there was time for a few more laps and the race for the pole began in earnest.
Weaver turned his quick time on lap eight. Werner tried to beat it, but only managed a 1:11.668 to qualify 0.427 behind Weaver.
"We have a few things that we do differently between the race setup and the qualifying setup, but today we decided to run the full race setup, baring the full load to see what we could do," explained Weaver. "So it shows we're definitely going to be ready for the race tomorrow."
P2
In the P2 class, the No. 37 Telesis Intersport Racing Lola B05/40/AER continued to be the top car. Jon Field handled qualifying, putting in a lap in just 1:12.678 to wind up fifth overall. Over two seconds behind him was Jeff Bucknum in the No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage C-65/AER.
Guy Cosmo was even further back, qualifying third in P2 with a 1:17.622 in the No. 8 B-K Motorsports Courage Mazda. While the time was slow compared to Intersport's, this weekend is the first appearance by the car.
"My qualifying run was good," said Field, "but we were hoping to get a little more out of the car. We would have liked to have been in the middle of the P1s or even faster. But I'm excited for the race tomorrow and hope to have a good day."
GT1
Johnny O'Connell set a new track record for the GT1 class, turning a 1:17.034 at his home track in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R. O'Connell set the quick time on just his second full lap.
O'Connell said that "I don't get a lot of poles because I worry more about race setup than just one lap. Ron (Fellows) tends to qualify because I'm incredibly superstitious. A lot of times, he would do it because with one more he'd have a record."
The second Corvette Racing entry, the No. 4 C6-R, qualified second with Olivier Beretta behind the wheel. His time was a 1:17.323.
The new No. 35 Maserati MC12 from Maserati Corse struggled quite a bit during round one at Sebring, but they seem to have sorted out some issues. Andrea Bertolini turned a lap in 1:17.658 to qualify third in the GT1 class.
The No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7R wound up in the turn six gravel trap a few minutes before the end of Saturday's afternoon practice. The session immediately preceded qualifying, so Terry Borcheller was late getting onto the track because the crew had to clean gravel out of the car's underside. He turned most of his laps after the Corvettes had been parked, and wound up qualifying fourth with a 1:18.133.
GT2
While it may have been a surprise not to see an Audi on the P1 pole, the biggest upset came in the GT2 class. Jorg Bergmeister held onto the provisional class pole for a few laps in the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. On lap five, however, Bill Auberlen set a new GT2 track record with a 1:21.647 in the No. 50 Panoz Esperante GTLM.
None of the eight Porsches entered in the class was able to run faster than Auberlen's time, and he gave the new Panoz car its first career pole.
"We were close at Sebring to being quickest all the time," said Auberlen. "The car just keeps getting faster and faster. It took a long time for it to come in (during qualifying). On the fourth lap, it came. To be such a small company like Panoz and beat such a big competitor like Porsche, it's something all those guys can smile about. Let's see if we can keep it up front."
The second spot in class went to Bergmeister, whose early fast time of 1:22.406 had put him on provisional pole in the opening minutes. Jon Fogarty was nearly as quick, turning a time of 1:22.446 in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to qualify third in class. The Grand Prix of Road Atlanta begins at noon on Sunday, April 17. A total of 24 cars are entered in the two-hour and 45-minute race.
Grand Prix of Atlanta: Dyson Racing on Pole, Corvette and Panoz Set Records
4/16/2005 - by Beth Wyse
Qualifying for the Grand Prix of Road Atlanta turned into its own race as JJ Lehto in the No. 1 ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 and James Weaver in the No. 16 Dyson Racing Team Lola EX257/AER battled for the pole throughout the 20-minute session.
When the checkered flag came out, it was Weaver who had snagged the top spot with a 1:11.241 for his second consecutive American Le Mans Series pole at Road Atlanta. In the other classes, two track records fell to cars making their debut this season.
The GT1 and GT2 classes had 20 minutes to qualify, followed by 20 minutes of track time for the P1 and P2 cars.
P1
After the first flying lap of P1 and 2 qualifying, it was Marco Werner at the top of the field in the No. 1 Audi, but one lap later it was Frank Biela in the No. 2 Audi with a time of 1:11.765. It was the quickest that Biela went during the session, and he dropped back to third in the P1 class as the competition increased between the No. 1 and No. 16 machines.
A red flag came out for a few minutes after the P2-class No. 19 van der Steur Racing Lola B2K/40/AER spun off track into a gravel trap. When the session was restarted, there was time for a few more laps and the race for the pole began in earnest.
Weaver turned his quick time on lap eight. Werner tried to beat it, but only managed a 1:11.668 to qualify 0.427 behind Weaver.
"We have a few things that we do differently between the race setup and the qualifying setup, but today we decided to run the full race setup, baring the full load to see what we could do," explained Weaver. "So it shows we're definitely going to be ready for the race tomorrow."
P2
In the P2 class, the No. 37 Telesis Intersport Racing Lola B05/40/AER continued to be the top car. Jon Field handled qualifying, putting in a lap in just 1:12.678 to wind up fifth overall. Over two seconds behind him was Jeff Bucknum in the No. 10 Miracle Motorsports Courage C-65/AER.
Guy Cosmo was even further back, qualifying third in P2 with a 1:17.622 in the No. 8 B-K Motorsports Courage Mazda. While the time was slow compared to Intersport's, this weekend is the first appearance by the car.
"My qualifying run was good," said Field, "but we were hoping to get a little more out of the car. We would have liked to have been in the middle of the P1s or even faster. But I'm excited for the race tomorrow and hope to have a good day."
GT1
Johnny O'Connell set a new track record for the GT1 class, turning a 1:17.034 at his home track in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C6-R. O'Connell set the quick time on just his second full lap.
O'Connell said that "I don't get a lot of poles because I worry more about race setup than just one lap. Ron (Fellows) tends to qualify because I'm incredibly superstitious. A lot of times, he would do it because with one more he'd have a record."
The second Corvette Racing entry, the No. 4 C6-R, qualified second with Olivier Beretta behind the wheel. His time was a 1:17.323.
The new No. 35 Maserati MC12 from Maserati Corse struggled quite a bit during round one at Sebring, but they seem to have sorted out some issues. Andrea Bertolini turned a lap in 1:17.658 to qualify third in the GT1 class.
The No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7R wound up in the turn six gravel trap a few minutes before the end of Saturday's afternoon practice. The session immediately preceded qualifying, so Terry Borcheller was late getting onto the track because the crew had to clean gravel out of the car's underside. He turned most of his laps after the Corvettes had been parked, and wound up qualifying fourth with a 1:18.133.
GT2
While it may have been a surprise not to see an Audi on the P1 pole, the biggest upset came in the GT2 class. Jorg Bergmeister held onto the provisional class pole for a few laps in the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. On lap five, however, Bill Auberlen set a new GT2 track record with a 1:21.647 in the No. 50 Panoz Esperante GTLM.
None of the eight Porsches entered in the class was able to run faster than Auberlen's time, and he gave the new Panoz car its first career pole.
"We were close at Sebring to being quickest all the time," said Auberlen. "The car just keeps getting faster and faster. It took a long time for it to come in (during qualifying). On the fourth lap, it came. To be such a small company like Panoz and beat such a big competitor like Porsche, it's something all those guys can smile about. Let's see if we can keep it up front."
The second spot in class went to Bergmeister, whose early fast time of 1:22.406 had put him on provisional pole in the opening minutes. Jon Fogarty was nearly as quick, turning a time of 1:22.446 in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to qualify third in class. The Grand Prix of Road Atlanta begins at noon on Sunday, April 17. A total of 24 cars are entered in the two-hour and 45-minute race.
