Petit Le Mans 2010 qualifying 'dash'.

It always surprises me that for endurance races the qualifying sessions are so incredibly short. In the case of ALMS races only 25 minutes. Even when the GT cars and prototypes qualify separately, with such a big grid the chances of a completely clear hot lap are quite low. At least the rain held off this time and the two short afternoon sessions were warm and dry.

The dash for pole is more for kudos than a significant tactical advantage in such a long race, but there is a lot at stake for sponsors and manufacturers who want their car to take the first turn in the lead for the sake of the TV cameras. So it was that Englishman Anthony Davidson born Hemel Hempstead (that must irk the frogs slightly) in a car that had been extensively rebuilt by Peugeot machanics overnight after a small excursion in night practice, that made the flying lap in qualifying that was better than he had dreamed of, to put his car at the front of the grid. There is no doubt that Peugeot are quick, they showed that at Silverstone, and 'team perfect' Audi sometimes slip up (also in evidence at Silverstone) and Road Atlanta is notorious as an 'anything can happen and usually does' circuit. So there is all to play for when the flag drops at 11:20am today.

In GT the Ferrari lock-lout on the front of the GT grid is a fitting swan-song for the Ferrari 430 GT. Risi Competizione headed the spectacular Ferrari assault in qualifying The Cavallino Rampante (Prancing Horse) features on the first four cars of the 17-strong GT2 grid, with Brazilian Jaime Melo in the #61 Risi Ferrari leading the way.

GF