Audi fastest in Texas first qualifying

Fort Worth, Texas, The Audi R8 proves to be the fastest car of the American Le Mans Series in all conditions. After the victory in the rain at Mosport, the Audi drivers dominated the first qualifying session for the seventh round in the Texas heat. Outside temperatures reached 113 degrees on Friday afternoon when Allan McNish and Emanuele Pirro recorded the fastest times on the new 2.324-mile road course at the Texas Motor Speedway.

Quotes after first qualifying: Allan McNish (#77)
"It is probably not the most exciting track to drive, but it is pretty difficult and I think it will produce a good race. It is never easy to put a road course into an oval, but I think they have done a good job. Of course I am happy to be on the provisional pole position."

Emanuele Pirro (#78):
"Before qualifying I was not sure if I should use high or low down force. I started with low down force, but there was less grip than in the morning practice so I had to change again. I am quite content with my time, but we still have to improve the car as we have some problems at the entrance of the corners."

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport:
"It is not easy to find the right mix for this track. We are running quite a large percentage on the high-speed oval, therefore we tried to run with low down force. You gain up to 10 mph, but you lose too much in the infield section and have more risk under braking. Therefore we decided to use more down force."

1Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America:
"I did not expect such fast times under those circumstances. We had asphalt temperatures of 133 degrees."

<pre> Results 1. Capello/McNish (Audi R8) 1m 13.242s, 114.23 mph 2. Biela/Pirro (Audi R8) 1m 13.481s 3. Brabham/Magnussen (Panoz) 1m 13.923s 4. Lehto/Müller (BMW) 1m 14.586s 5. O'Connell/Katoh (Panoz) 1m 14.590s 6. Auberlen/Gounon (BMW) 1m 15.741s 7. Schiattarella/de Radigues (Lola) 1m 15.937s 8. Johansson/Smith (Reynard) 1m 16.402s 9. Matthews/Simo (Reynard) 1m 18.374s 10. Field/Sutherland (Lola) 1m 19.531s