Press Release N° 4 - 19:00 to 21:00

Who could catch the Audis ?
Thursday, June 14th, 2001
The three leading Audis didn't have to improve their times to keep their positions. Note Johansson's move up to the 5th rank, and a worthy progression from Cadillac n°5. In the LMP675 category, all the competitors are in full preparation, behind MG.

Although the weather was threatening to change, the rain didn't disturb the second half of the second qualifying session. Almost all the teams went for a check lap first, before returning to the pits. The track seemed to be somewhat slower than the day before. Indeed, only 7 of the 20 first teams managed to improve their times.
Audi n°4 was delayed by some steering trouble, while team Johansson was counting a lot on this session to gain a few ranks. The Pilbeam had slight damper trouble, but finally Martin O'Connel managed to lap in a time that was sufficient to qualify in the LMP675 category (3:59.302). The two other drivers also had to lap in less than 4:04. Unfortunately, the car had another breakdown, i.e. a carburator control cable breakage.
In the LMGT category, many teams had their spots of bother. It started with Michel Neugarten, who hit the back of his car n°75 in the Playstation chicane. Luc Alphand's team suffered from a hose problem right after they had changed their engine. Luis Marques, who was driving at the time, spread oil on the track at the entrance of the Michelin chicane. The marshals quickly intervened to clean the track. Georges Borbois, in team Noël Del Bello's n°79, went off the track in the karting turn, and damaged the front left of his Porsche.
After an hour and fifteen minutes of practice, the first significant progression was that of the Racing for Holland's Dome, driven by Jan Lammers. The Dutch driver comforted his 4th position and came closer to Champion Racing's Audi, 5 tenths behind. Also note Emmanuel Collard's good progression with Cadillac n°5, in 3:37.402, which allowed him to gain 2.5 seconds, and to move back into 8th position. However, it was Jan Magnussen with his Panoz n°12 who performed the most impressive recovery in the ranking with an improvement of 5 seconds.
MG also had serious difficulties. N°34 could not leave the pits during the session, and n°33 could only do a few laps before having to slow down. The British team preferred to wait for night-time and drive more assiduously, so as to allow all their drivers to complete the 3 compulsory night laps.
10 minutes from the end of the session, Stephan Johansson, who was the only driver to drive Audi n°4, lapped in 3:35.985. A good time, which allowed him to rank at the 5th position - a position rnore in accordance with the real value of his car. The Swedish driver certainly chose the right moment to realize that time because the weather is becaming more and more threatening above the circuit with every minute that goes by. However, with or without rain, the official Audis haven't found anyone who seemed able to catch up with even the "slowest'' of them...