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Audi 1 2 3 during practice at Road Atlanta

Posted 9:51AM on Thursday 10th October 2002 ( 22 years ago )
BRASELTON, Ga. - Audi R8 Prototypes were 1-2-3 Wednesday as practice got underway for Audi presents Petit Le Mans, the final race of the American Le Mans Series season that will be run Saturday at Road Atlanta.


Saturday's 1,000-mile sports car endurance race will start at 11:30 a.m. More practice will be held on Thursday, with qualifying to determine the 50-car starting field to be held on Friday.

The Audi co-driven by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro was the fastest in Wednesday's opening practice with a lap of 1:11.499 (127.890 mph) on the 2.54-mile, 12-turn circuit. Biela and Pirro were the overall winners of the 2001 running of the event.

Tom Kristensen, who is in a position to clinch the ALMS driving title for 2002, and teammate Rinaldo Capello were second-fastest at 1:11.569, followed by the privateer Champion Audi of Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson at 1:12.038.

The Dyson Racing Lola EX257-MG of James Weaver, Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace was fourth-fastest overall and led the LMP 675 class for smaller Prototypes with a lap of 1:12.573. Second in class was the Lola-MG of Jon Field, Duncan Dayton and Michael Durand at 1:14.208, followed by a new ALMS entry, the Reynard 02S-Zytek driven by Danes John Nielsen and Casper Elgaard.

The hotly-contested GTS class was led by the Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello co-driven by Tomas Enge, Peter Kox and Alain Menu at 1:19.874. The Chevrolet Corvette C5-R of Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Oliver Gavin was second at 1:19.996, followed by the Corvette of defending class winners Kelly Collins, Franck Freon and Andy Pilgrim.

Leading the GT class was the Porsche 911 GT3 RS of Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen at 1:23.457. Their Alex Job Racing team car driven by Jorg Bergmeister, Timo Bernhard and Marc Lieb was second, but suffered damage in the only accident of the day when it was rear-ended in Turn 6 by a P675 car driven by Stephane Daoudi. Lieb was at the wheel at the time of the accident, but neither driver was injured.

Saturday's race will be televised live from flag to flag by the SPEED Channel, with the American Le Mans Series Radio Web to have live coverage online at www.americanlemans.com.

Wednesday practice times for Saturday's American Le Mans Series Audi presents Petit Le Mans at 2.54-mile Road Atlanta:

1. Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 1:11.499.
2. Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 1:11.569.
3. Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson; Audi R8 (LMP 900), 1:12.038.
4. James Weaver, Butch Leitzinger and Andy Wallace; Lola EX257-MG (LMP 675), 1:12.573.
5. Bryan Herta, Bill Auberlen and Gunnar Jeannette; Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900), 1:12.872.
6. Jim Matthews, Marc Goossens and Tony Ave; Riley & Scott MkIIIC-Elan (LMP 900), 1:13.292.
7. Jon Field, Duncan Dayton and Michael Durand; Lola EX257-MG (LMP 675), 1:14.208.
8. Jan Magnussen, David Brabham and David Donhue; Panoz LMP-1 (LMP 900), 1:14.442.
9. John Nielsen and Casper Elgaard; Reynard 02S-Zytek (LMP 675), 1:15.285.
10. Steve Knight, Mel Hawkins and Chad Block; Lola EX257-MG (LMP 675), 1:16.071.
11. Milka Duno, Christian Vann and Xavier Pompidou; Dome S101-Judd (LMP 900), 1:17.344.
12. Clint Field; Lola B2K10-Judd (LMP 900), 1:18.295.
13. Ben Devlin, Jason Workman and Georges Forgeois; Lola B2K40-Millington (LMP 675), 1:19.190.
14. Earl Goddard, Andrew Davis and John Mefford; Reynard 01Q-Nicholson McLaren (LMP 675), 1:19.249.
15. Tomas Enge, Peter Kox and Alain Menu; Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS), 1:19.874.
16. Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell and Oliver Gavin; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS), 1:19.996.
17. Chris McMurry, Jeff Bucknum and Bryan Willman; Pilbeam MP84-Nissan (LMP 675), 1:20.522.
18. Andy Pilgrim, Franck Freon and Kelly Collins; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS), 1:20.644.
19. Emanuele Naspetti, Mimmo Schiattarella and Max Papis; Ferrari 550 Maranello (GTS), 1:22.719,
20. Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:23.457.
21. Dennis Spencer, Rich Grupp and Ryan Hampton; Lola B2K42-Mazda (LMP 675), 1:24.146.
22. Timo Bernhard, Jorg Bergmeister and Marc Lieb; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:24.822.
23. Charles Slater; Saleen S7R (GTS), 1:25.170.
24. Tom Weickardt, Marc Bunting and Jean-Philippe Belloc; Dodge Viper GTS-R (GTS), 1:25.243.
25. Justin Jackson, Mike Fitzgerald and David Murry; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:25.612.
26. Pierre Ehret, Melanie Paterson and John Olsen; Pilbeam MP84-Nissan (LMP 675), 1:25.615.
27. Kevin Buckler, Brian Cunningham and Michael Schrom; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:25.791.
28. Anthony Lazzaro and Ralf Kelleners; Ferrari 360 Modena (GT), 1:26.584.
29. Philipp Peter, Joe Foster and Giovanni Anapoli; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:26.836.
30. Michael Petersen, Randy Pobst and Johnny Mowlem; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:26.864.
31. Marino Franchitti, Fabio Babini and Mike Hezemans; Dodge Viper GTS-R (GTS), 1:26.945.
32. Thomas Erdos, Robin Liddel and Rob Bariff; Saleen S7R (GTS), 1:27.007.
33. Patrice Roussel, John Mirro and Jeret Schroeder; Norma M2000-2-Ford (LMP 900), 1:27.385.
34. Steve Donovan, Piers Masarati and Gavin Pickering; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:27.412.
35. Vic Rice, Mike Newton and Shaun Balfe; Saleen S7R (GTS), 1:27.953.
36. Leo Hindery, Peter Baron and Tony Kester; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:28.138.
37. Craig Stanton, Hugh Plumb and Gilles Vannelet; Ferrari 550 Maranello (GT), 1:29.880.
38. Tony Burgess, Phillip Collin and Grady Willingham; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:30.174.
39. Gary Schultheis, Joe Policastro and Jay Policastro; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:31.436.
40. Emil Assentato, Chris Gleason and Nick Longhi; BMW M3 (GT), 1:31.938.
41. Bart Hayden, Richard Dean and Jurgen Von Gartzen; Porsche 911 GT3 R (GT), 1:33.159.
42. Michel Neugarten, Angelo Barretto and Thierry Perrier; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 1:37.205.

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