Silverstone Saturday Qualifying Report

The Prototypes went out at 14:05, and it was Grouillard who came out first, and was also first to pit again... It later transpired that he was having a gear selection problem. Allan McNish set the early pace, with a 1m38.066, whilst Jörg Müller in the BMW had a much better session, and set a 1m38.059 - one of the few drivers to set a better time in the second session.

With 5 minutes gone, it was BMW, Audi, BMW, Reynard, Cadillac. The BMW of Müller came in for a driver change, so JJ got a chance in the car. The number 2 Panoz of Katoh set a 1m37.893, but made no impression on the grid position. Gounon in the second BMW, meanwhile, was spinning at Club, but managed to get the car back to the pits.

With 10 minutes gone, the Panoz of Katoh was top, with Müller, McNish, Gounon, and R&S Judd next. Lehto was now on the track, as was the Rafanelli Lola with Schiatarella at the wheel. The Audi of Pirro also came out onto the track. Shortly after the Kremer Lola and the Courage came into the pits. The Panoz of Brabham bumped into the top 6, demoting Gounon to 6th. With 5 minutes to go, there were very few cars circulating, but Schiatarella was, and set the fastest time of the session, with a 1m37.398, but didn't improve on yesterdays time. Allan McNish made a final stab at pole, but failed to improve on either today's or yesterday's times.

<pre> 1. Schiatarella/de Radigues Rafanelli Lola Judd 2. Brabham/Magnussen Panoz 3. Katoh/O'Connel Panoz 4. McNish/Capello Audi 5. Lehto/Müller BMW 6. Johansson/Smith Reynard

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Stephen M Baines http://www.motorsport.org.uk/me