Lone Star Grand Prix (ALMS) Qualifying and Results

[johnevans3]

Here it is guys, hot off the press.  The track is very bumpy and the corrections made on the cars suspension systems was remarkable after the first practice session.  There were spots where the cars were going airborn, about 3 inches or so off the ground and all were having issues staying planted on the concrete. 
After corrections then came qualifying and it was a different story.  The Dyson just eeked out the pole on the last lap because the number 7 Porsche had been announced as the pole sitter and had come into the pits.  Dyson took one more lap and it was a hot one. 
The Audi looked anemic.  I don't know if Champion has their A Team here or not but it is a very scaled down paddock crew and work area.  Nothing like I have ever seen of them before now. 
As a comparison, the fastest Champ car qualifying was just a shade over 1 minute, or about 4 seconds faster than the Dyson.   730 HP and several pounds lighter.  I would have thought that it would be a lot faster than the top LMP 1 car.  It really is a good comparo on the same track, conditions, etc.

Lone Star Grand Prix
Houston, Thursday's qualifying

1. James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:04.459, 93.30
2. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:04.481, 93.27
3. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:05.245, 92.18
4. Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi R8 (P1), 1:05.382, 91.98
5. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola EX257 AER (P1), 1:06.629, 90.26
6. Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny OConnell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:08.035, 88.40
7. Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:08.090, 88.33
8. Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Lola B05/40 AER (P2), 1:08.399, 87.93
9. Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Darren Turner, England; Aston Martin DBR9 (GT1), 1:08.427, 87.89
10. Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DBR9 (GT1), 1:08.629, 87.63
11. Paolo Ruberti, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Saleen S7R (GT1), 1:10.368, 85.47
12. Mika Salo, Finland; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (GT2), 1:11.209, 84.46
13. Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:11.340, 84.30
14. Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 1:11.777, 83.79
15. Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Courage C65 Mazda (P2), 1:11.866, 83.69
16. Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:11.895, 83.65
17. Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 1:12.131, 83.38
18. Wolf Henzler, Germany; Johannes vanOverbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:12.449, 83.01
19. Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:12.722, 82.70
20. Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B2K/40 AER (P2), 1:12.984, 82.40
21. Martin Jensen, Denmark; Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), 1:13.186, 82.18
22. Guy Smith, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), No Time, 0
23. Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), No Time, 0 

Good night from Houston!!!!!
 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 

[chop456]

Capello was none too happy with the track - ditto the Champ Car drivers.  It's a disaster, including the layout.  They had to put a chicane at the end of one of the straights due to lack of runoff even after being warned about the layout by Bourdais months ago.

Some people are saying that the undertrays of the cars are being absolutely torn apart and one of the Champ Cars broke a gearbox on one of the bumps after 3 laps.

Hooray for street circuits. 

[Fax]

The first races at new street circuits always seem to be a adventure.  Ron Fellows says it reminds him of the old Detroit GP circuit and everyone remembers what a disaster that first race in '82 was like, with the ground effect GP cars sucking the manhole covers right out of the road.
Fax

[Andy Zarse]

I know most city street circuits are pants but let's not tar them all with the same brush. Anyone remember the Birmingham Super Prix in the eighties? (That's Birmingham Warwickshire, not Alabamy  )

Have a look at this for a quality line up of cars and drivers. Some of these guys are sadly no longer with us and others went on to bigger and better things. Take a look too at car 70, the Andy Ingram Shrike P15 on which yours truly was pitcrew. http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Birmingham-1986-08-25-photo.html

Oh, and have a great weekend John, sorry you won't be joining us this year but hope the grand child thing works out fine and your daughter can quickly get back to important matters like bringing parties of school kids to Europe in June! 

[Fax]

Agreed Andy,
A few were quite nice, Monaco, Long Beach, Pau, and Birmingham probably the best examples.
But we've had some truly awful ones over here.
The Dallas disaster, Meadowlands CART venue, Columbus IMSA, etc.  And the worst of all was probably that abomination in Vegas.
Fax

[johnevans3]

Here are the results.   P2 Porsche lead most of the way and with 1 minute both broke down with about 15 minutes left to go.  Then the old dog that had been lurking around all night looked up and no one was left.  "LONG LIVE THE KING", he ain't dead just yet.  Audi takes it.  Corvettes rule but the best class of the night was how tight the GT2 class was for a very long time into the race.  Porsche still dominates.


Lone Star Grand Prix
Reliant Park, Houston
Final results
1. (4) Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi R8 (1, P1), 143.
2. (7) Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6-R (2, GT1), 138.
3. (6) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny OConnell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (3, GT1), 137.
4. (9) Darren Turner, England; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Aston Martin DB9 (4, GT1), 137.
5. (10) Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DB9 (5, GT1), 137.
6. (1) James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola B06/10 AER (6, P1), 134.
7. (23) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT2), 133.
8. (17) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 132.
9. (12) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (9, GT2), 131.
10. (13) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 130.
11. ( Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40 AER (11, P2), 128.
12. (22) Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Courage C65 Mazda (12, P2), 127.
13. (21) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Lola B06/10 AER (13, P1), 126.
14. (3) Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (14, P2), 123, Drivetrain.
15. (16) Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (15, GT2), 122.
16. (18) Ben Devlin, England; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Lola B2K/40 AER (16, P2), 121.
17. (2) Romain Dumas, France; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (17, P2), 119, Drivetrain.
18. (14) Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz Esperante GTLM (18, GT2), 114.
19. (20) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E46 M3 (19, GT2), 50, Mechanical.
20. (19) Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; Martin Jensen, Denmark; BMW E46 M3 (20, GT2), 26, Gearbox.
21. (11) Paolo Ruberti, Italy; Franz Konrad, Germany; Saleen S7R (21, GT1), 16, Engine oil seal.
22. (5) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola EX257 AER (22, P1), 15, Gearbox.
23. (15) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Panoz Esperante GTLM (23, GT2), 6, Gearbox

[Steve Pyro]

GT1 looked pretty close too John.
Corvette no.2 on 138 laps, other Corvette and both Aston Martins on 137 laps.  Shame about the Porsche P2s.

[Fax]

Watched the CBS tape delayed coverage this afternoon.
Looked like the bumps (especially at turn 9) really made a mess of things with both Porsches suffering gearbox gremlins and the Dyson Lola's having suspension and gearbox problems.  They really shouldn't have been racing on a circuit that choppy.
Made Sebring look billiard table smooth by comparison.  Next week at Mid-Ohio should be really something, the Lola's and Porsches shouldn't have any of the problems they had with Houston and they've both got the Audi beat on outright speed.  The Ferrari 430 continues to impress with a great drive by Salo with no power steering.
Tonight's Champ Car race in Houston will be a battle of attrition, there could be about four cars running by the end of it.
Fax

[johnevans3]

Hey Fax, you would have thought such but from what I was able to see at the race, the bumpy track wasn't the culprit.  The chacaine (sp?)
gave just about everyone fits.  The Chump boys and Kathrine (sp?) did much better that the Atlantic grid. 
The Atlantic kids were running all over themselves at the chicaine.   The Chump wrecks were there and right in from of me on the straight and just before the entrance to the pits.  In those two and the chicaine wrecks bumps didn't seem to be a factor. 
The difference in suspension settings from first practice to qualifying to racing was pretty impressive for all racing groups.  They all did an excellent job of compensating for a very rough track.  I talked with Ron Fellows (CORVETTE TEAM) and he said that the more swoopy track like Miami is harder to deal with than this one or Sebring....and he said it affects everyone.

Chris 24, tried the Aston guys for a team poster, not Houston or Sebring (they had those) and they didn't have any.   The line was so long for the Spyder guys and driver cards, I decided to abort.  Sorry I couldn't help you out.  Maybe the Mid Ohio bunch can be more successful.

Got to go to bed, I am beat.  Good night from Houston.

[Fax]

John,
During the CBS coverage Ron Fellows said he was actually enjoying it, said it was a good old fashioned street fight.  He seemed more annoyed with the 175 lbs ballast they're carrying than the bumps.  He accurately described it as carrying a passenger.  Like I said, new street circuits are always an adventure, they'll have it ground down better next year.  Looking forward to Mid-Ohio this week, just hope the rain finally stops, about ready to get that home ark kit out.  It's not doing the IRL guys any favors over at IMS either.
Would be nice to see the Penske Porkers win at Mid-Ohio, saw the first win for the 962, in 1984 at Mid-Ohio with Al Holbert and some guy named Bell, and it would be nice to see a second debut win for a Porsche prototype in person.
Fax

[johnevans3]

Amen.  I talked with one of the Penske pit crew on saturday morning and said how ironic that they both went down within a minute or so of each other just like Sebring.  His comment was a disgusted, "Yeah, how ironic."  Drive train issue for both. 
But I think that Mid Ohio will be their day. 

[chop456]

THIS is a joke

[Steve Pyro]

THIS is a joke

Agreed Chop.  I've seen better ploughed fields.

[Fax]

Good Grief!  Do you think they were having trouble getting grip and the power down   YEESH!
Fax

[Fax]

Mid-Ohio won't look like that.  Spoke to my uncle in Ashland, Ohio and he knows some of the crew that worked on Mid-Ohio's re-paving, said they did a brilliant job with it, used some very expensive stuff and its smother than a baby's backside but very grippy.
Fax