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Sears Point Raceway 2002

19/05/2002

20/05/2002

Drivers Quotes

David Brabham (-P900 Panoz LMP01)
"At the beginning of the race the car was setup ideally for those conditions. As soon as the track dried up a bit it started to behave strangely. I wanted to come in and change, but the team told me to stay out as long as possible for the fuel. I knew when Jan got in he was going to have to try really hard in a not very good car. Maybe we went too much toward a wet setup. Tom (K) was catching me, but I managed to stay ahead. When I was out there at the start I could feel quite a bit of grip coming from the tire and I felt confident. As it dried, the rears were getting worse and worse, and I just tried to stay (on the track)." (about waking up to a rainy day) "I woke up surprised. I didn't have a big problem about it. It was wet for everyone. We learned a lot this weekend. I knew I just had to push as hard as I could." (on another note) "We found out (one of the crew's) daughter had leukaemia, the win for her."

Jan Magnussen (P900 Panoz LMP01)
"I was pushing, pushing, pushing hard, but the car was not nice in the dry. Johnny got closer and closer, but I was driving as hard as I could, it wasn't nice. (after the morning times a clue to the car's speed) "Yes, that's why we set it up for the wet." (did he know that Herbert was closing) "Yes, obviously I was informed about the gap the whole time, it kept coming down, which wasn't very nice. He came closer and close and closer, and they told me to drive harder. I drove flat out, as hard as I could. But it was nice to win."

Ron Fellows (GTS Corvette C5-R)
"The race went real well. It was a dilemma at the start trying to decide whether to go with the new or old Goodyear tire, we went with the old. It took a couple of laps to get the heat in the tires. We thought the Saleen was going to be a real threat, but they weren't, so it worked out. Johnny brought it home." (about the inside of the car) "The temperature was perfect today, I wish we had air temperature like that all the time."

Johnny O'Connell (GTS Corvette C5-R)
"This was easy. I had a moment where I wanted to pull away, I and I did, a little. Ron had made it easier with the gap he gave me." (about the new car) "I'm liking her a lot!" (about his co-drive) "Since we hooked up, we work well together. If he keeps handing it to me on a platter, I won't complain". (about the burnout) "I don't own the stuff I was burning up, but I got in trouble for it. When I was in the pits, I lit up the tires again, and I got yelled at. I told the manager it was bad luck if you put the mojo on me, so now I'm allowed to do it every time we win."

Lucas Luhr (GT Porsche 911 GT3 RS)
"I pushed as hard as I possible could to get in the lead because of the visibility problems. It was hard to get by my teammates. Our car was great in the weather (rain), but there was a lot of standing water on the track and a lot of puddles." (how did you get the lead on the first lap). "I don't remember (smiling). Jorg (Bergmeister) went by him (Buckler) and I tried to move in as well. I tried again on the next corner, and by the back stretch me windscreen was full of water and dirt, but I out braked them and pulled away."

Sascha Maassen (GT Porsche 911 GT3 RS)
"Lucas started and finished (the race). Our first goal was to win the race. The second goal was to give Lucas the most laps, since I had the most laps at Sebring. On our first stop, Lucas came in for dry tires, I came in, did two laps, and like at Sebring, we got lucky with the pace car, which put us a lap up. " (for second stop, were you afraid of putting the win in jeopardy) "We felt we were far enough ahead, and the stop was under yellow)."

Dave McEntee (P675 Lola B2K40/Millington)
"I think consistency is a good word for it. We had the car set up for the wet, so in the dry I just stayed with it. I think Ben did most of the hard work. The setup was fantastic. Archangel Motorsports has put together a great car - it worked great. We had high hopes for this race and it turned out well." (about racing with the turbo) "The Turbo is definitely the most significant part of the car to get used to for me. It seems like just a 2-litre engine for a second or two, but then it starts to pick up."

Ben Devlin (P675 Lola B2K40/Millington) (about staying out of trouble in the rain)
"It was close to impossible to stay out of trouble, but it was the first time out with the car and you can't ask for more than this. We plan to carry on for the whole year, and it should be a great season." (any close calls during the race) "The whole race was a close call, but I didn't have any major instances. It was great. Everyone moved out of the way and Sears Point Raceway did a great job."

Jon Field (P675 Lola EX257/AER MG)
"Without the electrical problem we would have won (in class). We had to change the ECU (which cost them time). I was proud of the way my son drove, we like this track a lot."

John Graham (P900 Panoz LMP07/Mugen) (about the last lap incident)
"I got a radio message that the leaders are coming through. I slowed down going into the last hairpin. Jan (Magnussen) got through. Johnny had left the door open on the exit, I kept coming out and he hit me then. I pointed for a side to go by, and the next thing you know, I was going across the start finish line backwards."

Kevin Buckler (GT Porsche 911 GT3 RS) "It feels great to finish second in front of my home crowd. We fell behind and battled back and fell behind and battled back. A great way to finish."

Jorg Bergmeister (GT Porsche 911 GT3 RS)
"We ran real good on the rain tires. It's great to finish third after what happened at Sebring."

Lucas Luhr (GT Porsche 911 GT3 RS)
"I started the race, but I went back in the car because I felt I didn't have enough time in it. It was a great race even with the rain."

Andy Pilgrim (GTS Corvette C5-R)
"It was a another great finish for the team, one two. The balance in the car was atrocious. I had absolutely no grip. I had Porsches banging me in the back. When it dried out, I was able to pass them."

Kelly Collins (GTS Corvette C5-R)
"It was a good stint, we have to figure out why we have no lateral grip in the wet. We had to use an old set of tyres. I was sliding around, but it was fun."

Domenico Schiattarella (GTS Ferrari 550 Maranello)
"It was very difficult. We caught the Saleen (#26-GTS) at the end and we had a little contact. I am very sorry."

Emanuelle Naspetti (GTS Ferrari 550 Maranello)
"We were pleased, but we lost too much time in the beginning with the wet tires. But with the dry we were competitive."

Johnny Herbert (P900 Audi R8) (about his Indy saga)
"We were trying to get a jet that we could use to get us to both tracks in time and we were having some trouble doing that. I had to get up at 5 am this morning, go to St. Louis, then San Francisco, then helicopter here. We got here about 12 noon. I would like to have run both races, but we are in contention for a championship here Dave Maraj asked me to be here, I had to say yes."