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Sears Point Raceway 2002

19/05/2002

15/05/2002

Drivers day out in San Francisco

Taking advantage of their time in one of the world’s most beautiful and popular cities, drivers from the American Le Mans Series enjoyed a day of fun in San Francisco before beginning to get down to the business of competition at nearby Sears Point Raceway.

The series returns to action after a two-month break with Sunday’s Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Fosters. The two hour, 45-minute sports car event will begin at 1 p.m. (PDT) and will be televised live by SPEED Channel. Practice begins Friday with qualifying set for Saturday.

Nineteen drivers donned their racing suits and took a half-hour ride on a cable car Wednesday afternoon, taking in the sites from Fisherman’s Wharf to Chinatown during a video and photo shoot. One of San Francisco’s most recognizable symbols, the cable car carried the drivers up and down the steep hills that have appeared in so many movies and television shows filmed in The City by The Bay. The vehicle stopped once and the drivers disembarked to have a look at the famous zig-zag Lombard Street.

While gathering at Ghiradelli Square to board the cable car and standing around in their racing suits, the drivers attracted many passers-by.

Participants in the ride included Emanuele Pirro and Rinaldo Capello (Audi Sport North America), Chris Dyson and Elliott Forbes-Robinson (Dyson Racing), Bill Auberlen, David Brabham, David Donohue, Bryan Herta and Gunnar Jeannette (Panoz Motor Sports) and Terry Borcheller (Konrad Motorsport).

Also enjoying the cable car ride were Steve Knight and Chad Block (KnightHawk Racing), Ben Devlin and Dave McEntee (Archangel Motorsports), Chris McMurry, Jeff Bucknum and Bryan Willman (Team Bucknum Racing) and Sascha Maassen and Jorge Bergmeister (Alex Job Racing).

“I’ve travelled to a lot of places in the world for racing, but usually its airport, hotel, race track and airport,” said Brabham. “This is a great city to visit and I’m enjoying playing tourist. I’m staying at a little place near Chinatown and I’ve just been out walking around and looking. I try to have some time to look around, especially when it’s in America,” said Germany’s Maassen. “There are so many things to see.”

Earlier in the day, Capello and Pirro joined American Le Mans Series founder Don Panoz in the kitchen at the oldest Italian restaurant in
America, Fior d’Italia in San Francisco’s North Beach section. As TV cameras rolled, Capello, Pirro and Panoz helped prepare food for a noon press conference at the site.

“I feel home,” said Pirro, the 2001 ALMS champion. “I really enjoy cooking and to get to do it in such a professional atmosphere is really fun.” Pirro and Capello conversed in Italian with restaurant head chef Gianni Audieri as they prepared the meals.