Oschersleben, 19th July 2003
FIA SCC new boy Andy Wallace showed that he is still one of the finest sportscar
drivers in the world by setting the fastest time in Saturdays SR1 qualifying session
at the Motopark Oschersleben in Germany.
Wallace, substituting for John Nielsen in the DBA4-Zytek set an astounding lap
time of 1:18,884 to leave current champion 2003 series leader Jan Lammers
struggling to find the pace to match him.
Lammers could only manage an early time of 1:21,664. Meanwhile after his
astonishing 3 laps Wallace brought the car back into the pits to sit out the rest of
the session;
“We were very happy with our time early in the session so I brought the car back in
to conserve tyres as we only get 3 sets during the race. Hayanari will start in the
car tomorrow and as long as we can out-drag the Domes to the first corners we
should be good.”
Meanwhile Eric Helary was struggling with the set-up of the Pescarolo Courage
and paid 2 visits to the garage during the qualifying session was beginning to be
pushed back by a storming Beppe Gabbiani in the second of the Racing for
Holland Dome S101’s.
Michele Rugolo kept the Durango in the hunt throughout the session before
handing across to Leonardo Maddalena to wrap up the session for the team from
Venice, Italy.
So fast was Italian veteran sportscar driver Gabbiani that with less than 5 minutes
of the session left he eclipsed team mate Lammers best lap of 1:20,380 with a
time of 1:20,262 to take second spot;
“Yeah, I’m very pleased but you really have to be on the limit and cutting every
corner and take every piece of curb especially at the chicane. It reminds me of
being back in F3 at places like Vallalunga and Misano!”
In SR2 it was British driver Sam Hignett who set a blistering pace in the Team
Jota Pilbeam Nissan taking just 2 laps to clock a 1:25,318 around
Oschersleben’s tight bends and short straights.
Massimo Saccomanno managed just 1 lap before the GP Racing Lucchini Alfa
Romeo succumbed to gearbox problems and promptly returned to the pitlane,
then the garage and there it stayed for the remainder of the session.
Meanwhile Pierre Bruneau and the Lucchini engineering car of Peroni were busy
chipping away at Hignett’s time, albeit still some way off. After 20 of the 30
minutes qualifying time had elapsed Peroni had managed a 1:26, 464 with
Rostan further back at 1:28,706.
With just 8 minutes remaining Peroni handed the Lucchini Engineering car over to
Mirco Savoldi who promptly upped the ante by clocking a 1:25,532 to take the
battle to the flying team Jota.
After spending 15 minutes conserving the car after such a fast lap Jota were
forced back onto the offensive but even a concerted effort by Hignett could not hold
back the flying Savoldi who edged out the Pilbeam Nissan for top slot in the dying
seconds with a 1:24,953;
“It’s a pity of course you never want to lose a fastest time but that’s the way of
it, we brought the car in after 4 laps as our early time was good…you then
spend 25 minutes wondering if the opposition will catch up with you,
unfortunately this time they did.”
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