Rinaldo Capello (#77)
"The big problem today was the start. I could not change from second to third.
When I finally managed to get third gear, the others had already passed me.
After a collision in the first corner I damaged the nose of my car. Despite the
aerodynamics being not perfect, the car was still fast. When I later had contact
with a GT car, a wheel broke and a tire punctured. The Michelin people told me,
that I could go to Rome and thank the Pope that I was able to come back to the
pits."
Allan McNish (#77)
"I was catching quite quickly the leader, when I came to lap Jean-Marc Gounon.
We crashed, I hit the wall and the car after that was never as good as before. I
dropped down to fourth, but came back to second. Prior to the last stop I was
pushing very hard and was able to come out ahead of Emanuele Pirro in the
other Audi.”
Frank Biela (#78)
"After two hard practice days we can be very content with the second place. We
had troubles during qualifying, because we did not find the right setup. Today,
however, the car was very good and we were able to keep pace with our team
mates."
Emanuele Pirro (#78)
"It has been really a positive race. Our weekend has been very difficult with the
setup. We changed the car completely over night, so we started the race with a
lot of question marks. When I got the car, it was going well. I was really
motivated and I did a good race. We made a 1-2, which is good for Audi."
Dr Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport
"This was a real ‘up-and-down race’ today. After the first lap we were a little bit
disappointed, because we knew, how difficult it is to overtake on this track.
That’s why the following laps were a big fight to gain one place after the other.
Despite three incidents, the car of Dindo and Allan was able to come back to the
front, and the race was decided during the final pit stops. Both cars spent
similar times in the pits, but on the in and out laps the conditions must have
been different. Allan took the lead from Emanuele and stayed in front until the
chequered flag. In the closing stages of the race we had to be careful because a
caution period allowed the BMW to close the gap, but our R8s continued to do
consistent fast lap times which allowed them to keep their advantage until the
finish.”
Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America
"This is a dream result for us. After the start it did not seem that we would be
able to go to the front. Dindo was lucky that he caught his puncture in the
moment when his tire change was scheduled. Today we had some luck. Which
was not the case with Panoz: It is a shame, because they were really fast here.
Our R8s were fantastic, both reliable and fast. And our drivers became better
with every lap."
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