Club Arnage - 2001 Le Mans 24 hours

Second qualifying session

Wednesday June 13th 2001.

22:00hrs-24:00hrs
By: Stella Maria Thomas and Lynne Waite

The Audis are very fast (what a surprise) with the Kristensen car being fastest of all. Brundle has fallen off on the Mulsanne Straight and caused a yellow plus a fair amount of confusion. With the temperature lower than in the earlier session, and the track good and dry, the times could well be much better.
But right now it's Audi, Audi, Audi... Down in the pit lane one of the drivers seems to be getting a misguided tour of the controls of the Dome...

In addition the No. 18 Peugeot seems to be eating a mechanic...
The Bentleys are running very well at present, as is the No. 16 Chrysler of Beretta is well up the order. Even so, they are not having a happy time. Brundle: "We've never had dramas like today. We've had bad test days but never this..."

Suddenly there are a lot of cars in (17, 36) and there are reports that Lammers has stopped just after the Dunlop Bridge and the other Dome is out on the Mulsanne Straight. In addition the 63 Corvette is out with a lot of damage, Ron Fellows at the wheel. No. 62 Car in trouble too: Ian McKellar "I don't think our main lights are working. We're not sure what it is... I've never raced in the dark."

No. 15 Viper is in to the pits too for routine work.

No. 58 Bouchut - "We have a problem with the oil pressure. We are trying to find the problem so today is finished. We change the engine tonight because we don't understand very well. It was very easy to go a lot quicker than now. We have the car to beat the pole position."
The Playstation Chrysler (No. 16) in for a pit stop too.

Johannson car in. The Lammers car is no longer in the gravel but no one seems to have seen it since. Spooky or what? Ron Fellows is still stuck out in the gravel with extensive rear end damage.
Gavin is now on provisional GT pole, which is at least 1 second, faster than anyone else in the category.
The DAMS Cadillac No. 6 comes in too.

No. 70 goes back out.
The Rowan Racing car has had electrical problems. The crank sensor is the problem. "It might fail again and it might not. We'll have to wait and see."

MG are in difficulties too - one of them is off at Mulsanne and has been pushed behind the wall.
Hugh Chamberlain: "It's the no. 34 car and it's lost fuel pressure. Anthony Reid was at the wheel."
No. 10 is in for some work.

No. 18 has been out quite briefly with Emmanuel Clerico at the wheel. He gets out shaking his head so it doesn't look good and people are plugging laptops into the thing from all angles.

No. 19 is in too and similar things are happening. It looks like people are running very low fuel loads at present in an attempt to find as much time as possible.

No. 5 stops for more adjustments.

Panoz fans - No. 1 is out and going but the No. 12 is stuck in the pits being worked on. Apparently the back of the no. 62 Corvette locked up - the team are going out to try and retrieve it.

The prop shaft went on the Panoz just as Jan Magnussen went round on his first lap at the start of the first session. They put a brand new gearbox in and are about to bed it in do that they can run it in the race. When asked about the cause of the problems all David Brabham could say was "How long have you got? I hate losing and so do the team. It's hard coming to this race and knowing you can't win on speed. If we got to the end it would be a bonus…"

Tom Kristensen: "There's a slight misfire. When I did my qualifying run everything was OK but I had a little bit of a flash in the dash. Everything is OK. They will find it very soon. It's no problem. I just hope it will snow tomorrow… I'm pretty quick when it snows!"

No. 70, the Aspen Knolls Calloway, is being pushed away into the garage.

No. 33 MG (McGarrity, Brundle, Bailey) is in

No. 16 Chrysler also comes in.

Carl Rosenblad has had his helmet stolen from the truck in the pits. He doesn't have another one and he needs it back or he can't go out.

There's been a spinner at the start of the Mulsanne Straight but whoever it was gets going again and is soon out of the way.

The No. 7 Bentley of Brundle is back in finally.

The Calloway car is currently fastest in the GT class, well ahead of the first Porsche.
No. 75 Porsche (Neugarten, etc) is unexpectedly down the order.

Neugarten: "We have some problem with the set-up. We hope tomorrow is not raining. We had a problem with the brake balance and we change something and maybe make a little mistake. But we want to win the race on Sunday afternoon, not before. It's the fantastic Nigel Smith driving now!"

Session Order After One Hour:
1 2 3 9 16 7 8 4 19 15 6 5 17 34 10 14 33 20 18 38 12 36 21 30 11 60 63 32 64 37 58 57 62 56 61 55 70 80 35 83 72 79 76 74 75 77 82 71

No. 10 back in yet again, waving a bit of paper at the team. Perhaps it's his doctor's note as the driver is now getting out. The engine cover is off and it's not nice.

No. 3 is in, the Herbert car.

No. 19 (Gache, Beltoise, Policand), driven by Beltoise, misses his pit by about three spaces causing general consternation in his garage.

The Ian McKellar Saleen (No. 62) is back out, with the driver wearing an open-face helmet so he looks very old-fashioned and rather wonderful even if it is rather dangerous.

The No. 64 Corvette has an electrical problem and is losing voltage but they don't know why.
No. 19 us having everything changed right now.

No. 36 car is having problems too at the Chicane (spins and continues). The 37 car was in trouble earlier when it came to a halt unexpectedly.

No. 38 Reynard is not anywhere to be found either. It's not in the pits and it hasn't set a time. No one knows where it is.

No. 82 and No. 37 dive back in.

There are problems out on the circuit again There's a load of oil at the entrance to the first chicane and it's slowing people badly as well as causing slippy moments.

One of the DAMS is back in the pits too.

No. 4 Audi goes out with a new set of slicks and Lemarie at the wheel, which might not be the best idea given the nature of the track at present.

No. 16 comes in.

No. 2 comes in too.

No. 62 comes in.

No. 14 and No. 75 in for adjustments too.

No. 4 in too.

No. 17 in and No. 18 again. It seems to be spending most of its time in the pits at present.

And 18 comes back in yet again after about two laps.

No. 2 Audi has troubles. The powersteering has failed and they have to change it. It has no bodywork to speak of and they are working on it.

No. 19 manages to get back and only overshoots by one pit so the change of driver seems to have helped.

No. 10 comes back.

Mowlem: We're having what they call a character building evening. There's a whole variety of things we're hoping to get sorted before tomorrow. I've only managed one lap just to get my qualifying night lap in. At the moment it's not comfortable enough to push it."

No. 12 comes back out of the garage with less than 30 minutes to go.

Callaway: The car is still on pole by 8/10ths of a second.

Cort Wagner: "I couldn't be happier. It's an all American car and an all-American team. We're very excited. We know there's a long way to go but we are very happy. To be able to hold the pole here is very important, especially against all the Porsches."

No. 6 in.

No. 10 gets pushed away in to the garage with 20 minutes to go.

No. 3 Audi is in being worked on too. Thierry Boutsen, who is advising the drivers as well, is sponsoring it. Derek Bell is helping Bentley.

No. 18 is back in again. It's being pushed in to the garage.

No. 2 Audi comes in too. Presumably the team are now able to cope as they have finished working on the others.

No. 19 comes back in too.

The Rowan Racing car comes back in.

No. 6 Cadillac in. It's getting very empty out there…

No. 18 goes back out despite his repeated pit stops.

Goossens is going well in the Cadillac but this should come as no real surprise to anyone either.

With 10 minutes to go, 37 pits.

No. 19 is now having ride height adjustments among other things.

Ben: "It's great to be back in the Ascari. I'm really enjoying it. To drive, it's very much like driving a single seater. It's the best car I've ever driven. I'd love to stay here - it's very professional. It's one of the best circuits I've ever driven at. The atmosphere is like a Grand Prix."

No. 18 in again.

No. 32 in.

Guy Smith is now running very fast in the No. 7 Bentley.

At the top of the order, the Biela Audi is still over 1 second faster than anyone else.

Gavin: "It's really been an erratic night with things that haven't gone right. We had a little bit of trouble with the right upright. Tomorrow we might be there and have a go but provisional pole is brilliant."

Final Order: 1 (LMP900 Pole) 2 3 9 16 7 (GTP Pole) 8 4 19 15 6 5 17 34 (LMP675 Pole) 10 14 33 20 18 21 38 12 36 30 11 60 63 32 64 37 58 (GTS Pole) 57 62 56 61 55 70 (GT Pole) 80 35 83 72 79 76 77 74 75 82 71