Of particular interest in the paddock today was the goldish-yellow road going Panoz which was displayed at the Autosport International show in Birmingham in January. The Panoz is most definitely an acquired taste and made a fascinating contrast with the nearby silver road going Porsche 911GT1.
A notable driver change is the replacement of Mauro Martini in the number 21 Nissan by Wayne Taylor as the Italian was injured in an accident on his mountain bike, last weekend. Martini suffered shoulder and collarbone injuries after colliding with a car. Wayne Taylor was at home in Florida when Nissan called him at 04.00 in the morning. In a quote he says that " I was quite happy to be woken up once I realised why I was being called" with the clear implication that he was initially less than amused.
At the Courage press conference this afternoon Mr Andretti senior was in bullish mood ( for Mario ). He stated that he was sure that the C36 was a realistic winning car and that the more advanced C41 was fast but less certain of being in the running at the finish due to a shortage of testing. Yves Courage explained the problems they experienced in finding parts for the Porsche power units now that factory support is over. They have been scouring for sources all over Europe to supply the team for this year but are now more than ready for the race.
During practice the Panoz pit was a hive of activity and expletives. The David Price team were elbow deep in The No55 car that languished at the bottom of our screen for most of the evening, but was eventually coaxed into a respectable 25th fastest 3:53.101 ( but still virtually 5 seconds slower than the DAMS Panoz that finished the session a creditable 8th fastest ).
The position is that there are 52 cars eligible for the practice sessions today and tomorrow (13th). Only 48 will qualify for the grid. The rules for qualification are far from simple but here is an attempt to summarise how the field will be shortened.
"The qualification process will not alter the percentage of cars in each category. The maximum qualifying time in each class is 125% of the average of the 3 best qualifying laps by 3 different cars of different makes." (I warned you it was complicated, and no I don't understand it either.)
We will be back again tomorrow with the second practice session and the final 'scramble' for grid positions.
Dave Davies and Jonathan Watts.
(Remember to shift your window to the right for more details.) Car Drivers Type Time Speed(kmh) 25 HJ.STUCK(D)/T.BOUTSEN(B)/B.WOLLEK(F) Porsche GT1 3:44.234 218.343 26 E.COLLARD(F)/R.KELLENERS(D)/Y.DALMAS(F) Porsche GT1 3:45.490 217.127 7 M.ALBORETO(I)/S.JOHANSSON(S) Joest Porsche 3:46.066 216.574 T.KRISTENSEN(DK) 3 G.MORETTI(I)/D.THEYS(B)/M.PAPIS(I) Ferrari 3:46.431 216.225 42 JJ.LEHTO(SF)/S.SOPER(GB)/N.PIQUET(BR) McLaren F1-GTR 3:46.895 215.783 27 PL.MARTINI/C.PESCATORI(I)/A.HERMANN(BR) Porsche GT1 3:46.907 215.771 21 M.BRUNDLE(GB)/J.MULLER(D)/W.TAYLOR(USA) Nissan R 390 3:48.089 214.653 52 F.LAGORCE/E.BERNARD/JC.BOULLION(F) Panoz GTR 3:48.123 214.621 41 JM.GOUNON/PH.RAPHANEL(F)/O.OLOFSSON(S) McLaren F1-GTR 3:48.369 214.390 10 F.EKBLOM(S)/JL.RICCI(F)/J.P.LIBERT(B) Courage 3:49.005 213.794 29 J.VON GARTZEN(D)/O.THEVENIN(F)/A.FERTE(F) Porsche GT1 3:49.255 213.561 40 J.NIELSEN(DK)/T.BSCHER(D)/C.GOODWIN(GB) McLaren F1-GTR 3:49.330 213.491 43 P.KOX(NL)/R.RAVAGLIA(I)/E.HELARY(F) McLaren F1-GTR 3:49.638 213.205 22 R.PATRESE(I)/E.VAN DE POELE(B)/A.SUZUKI(J) Nissan R 390 3:49.764 213.088 23 K.HOSHINO(J)/E.COMAS(F)/M.KAGEYAMA(J) Nissan R 390 3:50.152 212.729 30 C.BOUCHUT(F)/A.EVANS(USA)/B.GACHOT(B) Porsche GT1 3:50.248 212.640 44 A.NAKAYA/K.TSUCHIYA(J)/GP.AYLES(GB) McLaren F1-GTR 3:50.578 212.336 33 P.LAMY(P)/A.HAHNE(D)/P.GOUESLARD(F) Porsche GT1 3:50.767 212.162 49 J.LAMMERS/M.HEZEMANS/S.GRAU(D) Lotus GT1 3:50.986 211.961 39 R.BELLM/A.GILBERT SCOTT(GB)/M.SEKIYA(J) McLaren F1-GTR 3:51.494 211.496 32 S.ORTELLI(F)/A.MCNISH(GB)/K.WENLDINGER(A) Porsche GT1 3:52.250 210.807 4 M.FERTE(F)/A.CAMPOS(E)/C.NEARBURG(USA) Ferrari 3:52.395 210.676 55 D.BRABHAM(A)/P.McCARTHY(GB)/D.BUNDY(USA) Panoz GTR 3:53.101 210.038 28 F.KONRAD(A)/M.BALDI(I)/R.NEARN(GB) Porsche GT1 3:53.124 210.017 9 M.ANDRETTI(USA)/M.ANDRETTI(USA) Courage 3:55.232 208.135 O.GROUILLARD(F) 13 D.COTTAZ/J.POLICAND(F)/M.GOOSSENS(B) Courage C41 3:56.199 207.283 54 A.WALLACE/J.WEAVER(GB)/B.LEITZINGER(USA) Panoz GTR 3:56.348 207.152 46 J.BAILEY(GB)/T.ERDOS(BR)/M.SKAIFE(A) Lister Storm 3:56.709 206.836 6 G.LAVAGGI(I)/J.L.MAURY-LARIBIERE(F) Kremer Porsche 3:56.929 206.644 B.CHAUVIN(F) 45 G.LEES/T.NEEDELL(GB)/G.FOUCHE(ZA) Lister Storm 3:57.200 206.408 50 F.GIROIX(F)/JD.DELETRAZ(CH) Lotus GT1 3:59.327 204.574 14 H.TOIVONEN(SF)/E.SALAZAR(RCH) BRM Nissan 4:01.237 202.954 J.PAREJA(E) 15 Y.TERADA(J)/J.DOWNING(USA)/F.FREON(F) Mazda 4:02.621 201.796 5 JT.SALDANA(E)/C.ROSENBLAD(S) Kremer Porsche 4:02.950 201.523 J.LASSIG(D) 62 T.ARCHER(USA)/S.AYARI(F)/M.DUEZ(MC) Viper GTS-R 4:04.589 200.173 61 Ph.GACHE/O.BERETTA(MC)/D.DUPUY(F) Viper GTS-R 4:04.654 200.119 8 H.PESCAROLO/JP.BELLOC/E.CLERICO(F) Courage 4:05.957 199.059 67 S.SALEEN(USA)/P.COBB(USA)/C.PALAU(E) Mustang 4:06.922 198.281 77 JL.CHEREAU/J.LECONTE/JP.JARIER(F) Porsche GT2 4:07.137 198.109 74 A.AHRLE(D)/A.PILGRIM(USA)/B.EICHMANN(CH) Porsche GT2 4:09.782 196.011 66 P.LLOYD(GB)/D.WARNOCK/R.SCHIRLE(GB) Mustang 4:09.801 195.996 84 E.CALDERARI/L.BRYNER(CH)/A.ZADRA(I) Porsche GT2 4:10.094 195.766 75 P.BOURDAIS(F)/P.KITCHAK(USA)/A.LARARESENDE(BR) Porsche GT2 4:10.903 195.135 70 C.EUSER(NL)/T.SUZUKI(J)/H.BECKER(D) Marcos LM 600 4:12.474 193.921 64 J.HUGENHOLTZ(NL)/J.NURMINEN(SF)/C.GLEASON(USA) Viper GTS-R 4:12.696 193.751 78 M.NEUGARTEN(MC)/G.MARTINOLLE(F)/C.LAGNIEZ(F) Porsche GT2 4:12.806 193.666 79 T.SEILLER(CH)/L.SCHUMACHER(USA)/M.LIGONNET(F) Porsche GT2 4:13.504 193.133 73 MM.BREYNER/TM.BREYNER/PM.BREYNER(P) Porsche GT2 4:14.124 192.662 80 C.HURTGEN(D)/H.PRICE/J.ROBINSON(GB) Porsche GT2 4:14.159 192.635 63 J.BELL(GB)/P.YVER(F)/J.MORTON(USA) Viper GTS-R 4:14.653 192.262 60 A.COPPELLI/R.AUGUSTA(I)/E.GRAHAM(F) Corvette LM GT2 4:15.616 191.537 71 D.CHAPPELL(USA)/F.MIGAULT(F)/H.MAUNOIR(F) Marcos LM 600 4:22.995 186.163