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Written by:
Marshall Pruett
04/26/2008 - 11:51 AM
Monza, Italy
Peugeot is on another tear in the LMS, qualifying nearly 2 seconds ahead of the leading Audi of Dindo Capello. (Photo: Peugeot Sport) » More Photos
In an indicator of the rapid improvement of the Peugeot's progress, Nicolas Minassian rounded off the free practice session with a time three seconds faster than the 2007 pole position his team set last year. He went out early in the qualifying session, but a fellow competitor’s ‘off’ at the second chicane brought fears of a red flag, so team manager Serge Saulnier decided to bring him back into the pits. In the end, the track remained open and two 908 HDi FAPs came out almost simultaneously, Pedro Lamy just ahead of Nicolas Minassian.
Following a lap time of 1m 32.731s set by Pedro, Nicolas responded immediately with a 1m 32.090s. On their second quick lap, both Peugeot's improved, still with the advantage to Nicolas, a 1m 31.528s against Pedro’s 1m 32.174s and finally on his third lap Nicolas took pole position in 1m 31.470s. After giving his tires a chance to cool down over a slower lap, Lamy stayed out to have one final attempt, improving to 1m 31.957s, but he still had to settle for second fastest.
For Minassian, extracting speed from his 908 is becoming easier at every round. "It's easy when you have a very good car! We worked well with Marc Gené and the team during the free practice sessions. Now that the car is reliable, we can explore the full potential of the 908, the car is really fast, the engine, chassis and brakes are fantastic." For team mate Lamy, settling for 2nd was his only option. "We are a little faster than the Audis, but we still need to improve a bit. Nicolas had a better set-up, and despite a last attempt I wasn’t able to threaten his time. "
Capello and Rockenfeller worked in tandem to secure the second row at Monza. (Photo: Audi Sport) » More Photos
Saulnier can only hope the large gap to Audi is retained in the race. "Overall the outcome today is very positive, because when we got to Monza we could have expected the gaps to the Audis to be smaller than at Barcelona. They remain quite substantial and I hope that this will give us a little room for manoeuvre during the pit stops or if there are safety car periods if there are any incidents in the race. Nicolas and Marc did a very good job in free practice, Nicolas was well-prepared for qualifying and he made the most of three clear laps, unlike Pedro who was slowed in traffic and had to have an extra attempt. All this work is encouraging for the race.“
Audi driver Dindo Capello’s motivation for his "home race" is particularly high: exactly 20 years ago the Italian won the "Gran Premio della Lotteria", a very important Formula 3 race back then. Capello set his quickest time as early as on his first flying lap of qualifying before being slowed by other cars. "My first lap was the fastest one because on the second – which was better up to that point in time –
Audi youngster Mike Rockenfeller in the sister car came close to the time set by his more seasoned team mate. However, a small mistake in the Ascari chicane cost him crucial fractions of a second. "Of course I’d have liked to beat Dindo (Capello) at his home race in qualifying. It was very close, but in the Ascari chicane I made a small mistake. Still, I believe we can be satisfied. Our R10 TDI feels good. I’m convinced we’ve got a safe car for the race. If we manage a consistent, smooth race, we can score a lot of points, as we did at Barcelona. And that’s our goal."
Verstappen owned LMP2 qualifying at Monza. (Photo: LMS Series) » More Photos
For Audi Sport technical director Ralf Juttner, hopes for a better race result are all he can focus on. "So far, we’ve driven here without any major problems. On Friday we had slight difficulties with brake temperatures at the rear axle. That’s under control now. We’re well set for the race, even though the time gap to Peugeot is big. But I do think that, like at Barcelona, we’ll be closer to them in the race than in qualifying. Our two cars have a similar speed level. Our youngsters are catching up. That’s good because it means we’ve got two cars with which we can attack tomorrow. And we’ve got to do that, too. I’m hoping for a thrilling race without any technical problems."
In the LMP2 category, the expected dominance of the all-conquering Porsche RS Spyder chassis was evident with the three privateer prototypes placing first through third on the qualifying time sheets at Monza. In a repeat of the season-opener at Barcelona, the fastest of the trio was Holland's Jos Verstappen driving for the Van Merksteijn Motorsport team. Second on the traditional 5.793 kilometer circuit went to his compatriot Jan Lammers for the Swiss Horag team, with Dane Casper Elgaard rounding off the Porsche success with third for his Essex team.
Qualifying results:
1 Gené/Minassian (Peugeot) 1m 31.470s
2 Lamy/Sarrazin (Peugeot) 1m 31.957s
3 Capello/McNish (Audi R10 TDI) 1m 33.193s
4 Prémat/Rockenfeller (Audi R10 TDI) 1m 33.330s
5 Charouz/Mücke (Lola-Aston Martin) 1m 34.170s
6 Panis/Lapierre (Courage Oreca-Judd) 1m 35.303s
7 Campbell-Walter/Hall (Creation) 1m 35.869s
8 Ortelli/Ayari (Courage Oreca-Judd) 1m 35.891s
9 Boullion/Collard (Pescarolo-Judd) 1m 36.117s
10 Verstappen/van Merksteijn (Porsche) 1m 36.842s
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