GT World Challenge Europe Sprint

Magny-Cours: Post-qualifying notes and quotes

FIA GT Championship Magny-Cours Post-Qualifying Notes and Quotes Matteo Bobbi -- nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia - 1st GT: "The Championship has started well for me, but the season is long. I am happy with today's pole position. It was difficult out ...

Published: Apr 27, 2003, 11:24 PM

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FIA GT Championship
Magny-Cours
Post-Qualifying Notes and Quotes

Matteo Bobbi -- nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia - 1st GT:
"The Championship has started well for me, but the season is long. I am happy with today's pole position. It was difficult out there, with a lot of water on the track. But I had two clear laps and pushed hard. I enjoy driving in these conditions. I think the Michelin tyres were better than the other tyres today. If it's dry tomorrow, the Lister will be faster than us, but I'll try to win again. The 40 kg penalty weight does not make a different -- Piccini won last year with 100 kg !"

Christophe Bouchut -- nr 1 Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper GTS-R - 2nd GT: "I am really happy with this position, especially here in France. It will be difficult to get good results this year, as the Viper is slower than the Ferrari and Lister, and soon than the Saleen. We have all the evolutions currently available on the car, and I think we will be competitive tomorrow, even if it is dry. We scored no points in the first round, and we really need to be on the podium tomorrow if we want to have any hope of retaining our title."

Jean-Marc Gounon -- nr 2 Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7-R - 3rd GT:
"I would like to thank Dunlop, Konrad and Peter Worm for giving me the opportunity to drive the car. The usual rule in motorsport is no money, no drive -- I heard on Tuesday that I would be in the car, and I have had no time to test. I do not know the car well yet, so the race will be difficult. But the performance has improved, and I think the reliability will be good."

Jamie Campbell-Walter -- nr 14 Lister Storm - 6th in GT:
"It's a bit of a shame, the car was better in the afternoon, but the weather was worse. We struggled for grip in the morning; we were much faster in the afternoon and I think I could have got up to 3rd but I couldn't manage to get a clear lap. I hope it will be dry tomorrow. Andrea had a tough time; the first time in those conditions in the Lister is very hard. I've had lots of experience so I can drag a time out of it.

Anthony Kumpen -- nr 5 Force One Chrysler Viper GTS-R - 10th in GT:
"The car was going well this morning, but we ran out of fuel after a miscalculation, and only got one timed lap in. This afternoon it was going well, and I was lapping the fastest out there, but when we came in to put different tyres on, we had to go to scrutineering for a standard check, and did not have enough time to try again. But 13th on the grid is much better than 28th ! When it was raining hard, the car was good, and it was also good in the dry so we think we have a good chance of finishing on the podium. The car has really improved since Barcelona, there is no comparaison. I'd prefer to have bad luck in Qualifying and good luck in the race. We'll be on the pace, I'm sure."

David Terrien -- nr 10 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello - 12th in GT:
"It's going better and better; there is still a lot to do, but we are discovering more of what we need to work on. We have not had any real problems, with no engine worries at all. Our aim is to get to the end of the race tomorrow."

Boris Derichebourg:
"The team has worked really hard after Barcelona, and everyone is very keen to improve. We have been concentrating on the set-up today; I really think that within two or three races we will be competitive -- the car has the potential."

Bobby Verdon-Roe -- nr 6 Creation Autosportif Lister Storm - 13th in GT:
"Qualifying was quite disasterous for me -- I made a mess of my fast lap in the last two corners. It was a shame. The car was good in the second session, and I was catching Jamie, but it was too late to improve on our position. Zadra is adapting well, doing lots of laps, and has quickly got up to pace."

Ni Amorim -- nr 8 Graham Nash Saleen S7-R -- 16th in GT:
"We have had a lot of problems with understeer and we're currently 29th, which is not good at all; something is really wrong. But it will be changed for tomorrow, and I am quite optimistic that we can climb back up and finish in the points."

Marc Lieb -- nr 50 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS - 1st in N-GT:
"Our car was very good in the rain, and Dunlop have done a great job with the tyres. I did three laps in the morning, and I was really surprised to be on pole. Stephane Ortelli went out in the second session and we have a good set-up for the conditions."

Walter Lechner Jr -- nr 99 RWS Yukos Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- 2nd in N-GT:
"I crashed the car at the start of the first session. It was raining a lot harder in the second session, and I never thought I would be able to improve on the morning times, so I am very surprised, but very pleased, with the second place in N-GT."

Tim Sugden -- nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- who celebrated his birthday with third position in N-GT today:
"It's a long race tomorrow, and whether it's wet or dry, we will be fine."

Tomas Enge -- nr 57 MenX Ferrari 360 Modena -- 4th in N-GT:
"I am very happy with my position, and being the leading Ferrari in N-Gt. But I am disappointed with qualifying, as I did a really good lap at the end, but found traffic at the last corner. I really think I could have gone for pole, but this is still a good result. I am looking forward to the race and will try to aim for the podium."

Darren Turner -- nr 89 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena -- 9th in N-GT:
"Yesterday we had an engine problem so we didn't run in the afternoon, and lost most of the morning. This morning, Kelvin was in the car, as he has never been here before. I took over in the afternoon, when the session was wetter, but I still managed to get up the grid. I'm not that worried about our grid position; the car is working well, and it was quite a good thing to get some rain experience today. The result might not be great on paper, but I'm quite happy considering how the weekend started."

Mike Jordan -- nr 74 Eurotech Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- 10TH in N-GT:
"I am really pleased with our performance today. In the morning I wanted to give Mark Sumpter a lot of running, as he had never been out in the rain in this car. This afternoon, I went out first, but I didn't think the conditions would improved, so I parked the car. When I went back out, I didn't want to push, but realised I was overtaking GT cars, so I decided things were going well and managed to get a bit further up the grid. This is really the best day we've had in the Championship so far; we've had a lot of engine problems, and two engine changes, and so today is the first day everything has run well, and I've been able to concentrate on driving instead of being a team manager. The Jones' were also good, they are always good in the wet -- it must be their rallying background."

Guillaume Gomez -- nr 58 Autopalace Ferrari 550 Maranello -- 13th in N-GT:
"We had alternator problems this morning and only did 3 laps. But it was very difficult this afternoon, due to the rain, and it was the first time we had been out in this car in that sort of condition with Pirelli tyres and we do not have an efficient set-up for the rain conditions yet. For the dry, it was quite good in free practice. We have to find the right race strategy, taking the tyre choice and the fuel consumption into account. If we are careful and manage our race well, we can manage with just one refuelling pit-stop, which could make up for our poor starting position."

-fia-

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