A good start for Audi Sport Team Joest at the Le Mans 24 Hours. The three Audi
R8s are placed first, second and third fastest after the opening qualifying session
held in warm, dry conditions this evening.
Not only were the Audi R8s able to achieve their fast times around the 8.45-mile
road circuit, despite a ”dirty” surface making conditions slippery at the beginning,
but the team were delighted to find that detailed work made since the pre-test in
April had worked.
”All of our drivers and our technical staff around the circuit reported the same
story: that the car was smooth and stable and we'd made a big step forward
since we were here at the pre-test,” confirmed Audi's Head of Sport, Dr Wolfgang
Ullrich.
The best time of the evening was set by Audi R8 no.7 by Rinaldo Capello who
claimed provisional pole-position as dusk approached with a time of 3mins
37.523secs. Frank Biela in the Audi R8 no.8 and Allan McNish driving the Audi
R8 no.9 were only 72 and 130 thousands of a second slower.
But first qualifying was not completely trouble-free for Audi Sport Team Joest.
The no.8 Audi R8 suffered a rear puncture with Emanuele Pirro at the wheel,
while the no.7 with Christian Abt had to stop his Audi R8 after three hours
because of an engine failure.
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