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Monza

Eurosport Super Racing Weekends

01/04/2001

Saturday

Superpole

The new Qualifying system takes a little explaining. GT racers at Silverstone today were baffled that the #1 Lister Storm qualified in 13th place – even though it set the fastest time! After the first 45-minute session, the fastest six GT and fastest six N-GT cars went through to the Superpole session, where the top 12 places on the grid are determined by a single timed lap. The rest of the entry take part in a 15-minute session to try and set a better time in their quest to move up the order in positions 13 onwards on the grid.

It was in this 15 minute period that the #1 Lister, driven by Tom Coronel, set a 1:47.400, over a second quicker than anyone else – but it had only managed seventh fastest in the first session, so it sits in 13th on the grid. All clear? “It was my first time in the car in the dry, and I wanted to feel what the car was like,” explained Coronel. “I also wanted to measure myself against the Superpole guys, and on my first lap out, I did 1:49.3, which would have given me pole. And I still didn't feel happy with the braking points. Now I'm quite happy with it - I learn circuits and cars very quickly. The car was stable, no trouble, and I'm pleased with my choice for the season!”

The weather was fine and dry, and as Franco Tedeschi reports, it was a very exciting day. Before the action began, Christian Pescatori explained the reasons for the poor Friday performance of the lead JMB Ferrari 360. “We have problems with the engine on my car and we have mounted the only spare engine on the other car, which had broken the first engine. So, we will are waiting for a new engine from Maranello and we will mount it on the car tonight. So we will go again slow in today’s sessions. The car has done many practice sessions (also long runs) and now is 20 Kg under the minimum weight, so we have to add ballast.”

The 360 may have been slow in the first Qualifying session, but a 1:53.897 in the 15 minute session showed where this car is going – the front of the N-GT grid. That was the second best N-GT time of the day.

But the Superpole session saw Larbre Competition take pole in both classes, this on their debut in the GT class. Christophe Bouchut did the honours: “I am really happy. The Viper is very good and reliable. We did not have a lot of information on the car in dry conditions, so the result is very good. I only missed a gear between the two Lesmo corners.”

Jürgen von Gartzen was fastest in N-GT in the #51 Larbre Porsche, with a lap of 1:52.987. “It was a clean lap, but I did not push too hard. It would not be possible to have a better car; we had no problems at all. I am really surprised considering how little running time we had in the dry.” #51 ended up fifth on the grid. The start of the race should be thrilling, with the classes jumbled up.

The six GTs to go through to the Superpole session were the three Paul Belmondo Vipers, the Larbre Viper, the #2 Lister Storm and the #5 Ferrari 550 Maranello. Franco Tedeschi watched the Superpole from the office of Luigi Vignando, sitting alongside Andrea Montermini, who helped explain the detail behind each driver’s efforts. The N-GT drivers went first, and no one made any significant mistakes. Then came the communication that Bailey wasn’t going to run for mechanical reasons – after being fastest in the first Qualifying session.

Didier Defourny was the first GT driver trying his shot, and he took the provisional pole. The second GT driver was Naspetti in the 550 Ferrari, but although he ran an aggressive lap, gaining a second over Defourny before the finish, he spun on the last corner. That left him with the worst time, leaving behind him four GT3Rs. After him came the other two Belmondo cars with Derichebourg doing a time better than the Kumpen one. All the Belmondo times are similar. Bouchut took the last shot and beat the Belmondo squad by over a second.

The first Qualifying session had been extremely close at the front of the field, the top five cars within less than as second. With the #1 Lister Storm lying sixth with minutes to go, it was expected to go into the Pole shoot out. But the #11 Paul Belmondo Viper of Didier Defourny shunted the Lister down to seventh. The teams have a chance now to exhibit real team work in Qualifying. “We hoped to get at least one car in, so to get all three is excellent,” Paul Belmondo said. Laurence Pearce explained that the #1 Lister was suffering from a fuel mixture problem: “We have changed the filters, and will change the tank tonight if necessary.”

Unfortunately, neither the GLPK Chrysler Viper nor the two Carsport Vipers set a time in any of the Saturday sessions. Tamas Illes damaged the Belgian entry, while Carsport were in all sorts of engine trouble. On Friday, the engine in the lead car suffered a lack of oil pressure, damaging the bearings and crankshaft. The only spare engine that the team had available in Monza developed the same problem. A new engine was flown in during the night from Heini Mader in Switzerland, but that one turned out to be not working as well. There was no way to have either car ready to race.

"Of course, we had very different expectations about the first weekend of the season", said Mike Hezemans.

Stéphane Ortelli left the track in the #57 Freisinger Porsche 996 GT3-R, so it wasn’t turning out to be a good weekend for the Bentley Le Mans driver. “I went off after one lap - it was my fault, and I'll have to do better tomorrow, for the team. I didn't drive yesterday in the wet, and I think I was trying too hard, too soon, and I lost control, and went too fast into the Ascari corner. We need to have a good race tomorrow, and get some good points.”