Monza - 22/04/2001   Qualifying Report   Guy Smith – fresh from his starring role at Donington Park last week – did it again at Monza, taking pole position this time, in the Redman Bright Reynard 01Q – Judd. “I actually went on to the grass at the Parabolica on that lap and must have lost at least half a second. I called myself something very rude and thought I had screwed the lap, but the time was good enough.” Team-mate Peter Owen reckoned that, “Guy did a fantastic job today and the good thing is, we know there is more time in the car. Now we have to convert this in to a good race strategy.” The Pescarolo Sport Courage Peugeot – also coming here from a successful weekend at Donington - came within a tenth of Smith’s time, driven by Sebastien Bourdais. “We are satisfied with a place on the front row once more and the only real problem we had was to warm the soft compound tyres, as it is very cold here at Monza.” Jan Lammers claimed third in the new Racing For Holland Dome S101, and was only two tenths off Smith’s time. “We resolved Barcelona problems only five days ago.... we have tested only one set of tyres.. for today, the most important thing is to be very conservative...it doesn’t matter what final position we will achieve, all we need is to do miles! We haven’t yet done a run from full tank to empty, so if we finish it will be really good," bubbled Jan Lammers. The other Dome was fourth, so here was a novel situation in the FIA SCC – new cars in the top four spots on the grid. “We actually chose the wrong rear tyres today, but we know the potential of the car, and now we must squeeze it out,” said John Nielsen. The Ascari Judd was fifth – almost a new car – having set the pace at the beginning of the session. The lead BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari will sit next to the Ascari on the grid. When did a 333SP last qualify as low as sixth in this series? Never, I’d suggest. “For sure we do not have enough speed on the straights here,” said Marco Zadra. “But we know that the car is reliable and that tomorrow is a very long race.” Pescatori: ”Is not too bad considering that on the straights we lose something be we lack about 50 bhp compared with Judd equipped cars. We are slower for only a second, while in the last tests done here in Monza we gave three seconds to the best cars. So we have definitely improved. Tomorrow will be different because we can be competitive during all the five hours while the other teams have to face some teething problems." The R&M Riley & Scott was eighth, Ivan Capelli only having five laps in it this morning, which included a huge spin. Kremer Racing and GLV Brums were both suffering with their engines: Kremer still have a serious misfire, while Brums had already changed their engine after free practice only to see their new unit misbehave too. GLV-Brums co-owner Achim Stroth explained to me that they were suffering electronic troubles and managed to do that single lap only to accomplish the qualifying rules and get a grid spot. He also explained me that the trouble suffered yesterday was with a broken oil pump. The Conrero R&S experienced a clutch problem during the morning session and they were unable to fix it before the qualifying session. The team hope was to have the permission to start in the race despite having no-time. The Stanley Dickens entered Lola B2K/40 Nissan will sit on the SR2 pole, only a tenth quicker than the BM Autosport Tampolli driven by Fabio Mancini. “I had to overtake a cruising car on the Parabolica on that final lap,” said Thed Bjork – the pole setter. “I thought that would ruin it, but luckily I’d done enough elsewhere on the circuit to top the times.” For most of the session, pole position was held by Fabio Mancini with the BM Autosport Tampolli-Alfa Romeo, and it seemed that this would be the first qualifying defeat for the Lola SR2 but Bjork took the best time with the last lap before the chequered flag, beating Mancini by 98 thousandths. Nobili, co-driver of the BM Autosport Tampolli (with Mancini and Monti), explained that the small softness problems experienced yesterday by the car have been resolved and now the car is “all OK”. However, their qualifying time has been set by Mancini, who felt that the car still has the potential for a great improvement. “I haven’t driven a sportsracing car for more than a year, but has been really easy to lower the time by 1 second for each lap I completed. Monti, who better knows the car, could have done ever better than me. The car is really fast, improves lap by lap and is also very fast on the straights. Yes, I don’t think the Lola is unbeatable in qualifying.” After them we find three Lucchinis: the Audisio & Benvenuto car of Tonetti / Saccomanno (half second behind), the works car of Zardo / Prospero (six tenths from the pole) and the Audisio & Benvenuto car driven by Corradi / Chiminelli / Vallebona (1.7 seconds from the pole time). In the sixth spot we find the best Pilbeam-Nissan, the Swara Racing car, with a 2.5 seconds gap from the SRTS time. The Swara Pilbeam experienced two spins in the final 10 minutes of the half hour session. Swara driver, Wiseman, explained to me that they also them can improve. They are still learning the track. “It will be a long race and the battle is going to be close…” Seventh time overall (in this session) has been set by the best GT car, the Porsche 911 GT2 driven by Grassi / Muenz. Their time, 1:54.861, is at the same level of the Porsche GT2 times in the FIA GT qualifying and better then the seventh Superpole time of the same race!!! The ACO / GT Seikel Porsche 911 GT3RS driven by Rosa / Rosa / Babini also got among the SR2s, but most of the GT field are lined up at the back. This is more a reflection on the entries than the pace of the SR2s. Franco Tedeschi Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport