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Hungaroring

Eurosport Super Racing Weekends

01/07/2001

Qualifying

Report

First Qualifying Session

The Prodrive Ferrari was the first to top the times, but Christophe Bouchut showed Larbre Viper form with the better engine to go first, before Mike Hezemans was the next to go top with a 1:38.516. Julian Bailey then beat that, his 1:38.122 coming nine minutes before the end of the session. And that was pole for the Lister. “I knew the car could do it,” Bailey said. “It was just a case of getting a whole lap together. It wasn't a great lap, as I caught up with a car at the back of the track, but it just came together enough.”

The other Lister ended up third, half a second behind Bailey. “We both used both sets of tyres, and the car felt quite good, with no major problems,” Jamie Campbell-Walter said. “The tyres are coming up to heat quickly, so that should be good for the Superpole. Tom will do it; he's got the right crazy mentality to do one great lap, but he has to be careful because the tyres have to be used for the start. “In this heat, if you're following a car, you get all the hot exhaust and fumes, with no clear air. The first corner is quite tricky, downhill and off the camber, so if you're in the middle you can get engulfed by cars. It's very dirty off the racing line, so first or third is better than second...”

Both Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars qualified for the Superpole. “We had no problems at all,” Jeroen Bleekemolen said, after a lap of 1:38.516 put the #3 car in second place. “We're ready for the Superpole, and hope to catch up with Bailey. I think we can go as fast as him. Mike Hezemans and I did almost the same time, but I think he will do the Superpole as he is more experienced. It's my first time here, the track is slow but OK. The corners are not that challenging, but it's hard to drive as you are always steering and shifting gear, so there is no time to rest. It'll be very difficult tomorrow if it's this hot.“ His brother Sebastiaan qualified in fourth place. “I put on a new set of tyres at the end, and it went well. I really think we could finish fourth or better tomorrow.”

Prodrive just about got into the Superpole, at the first time of asking. “The team is still testing,” said Rickard Rydell. “We changed the car a bit, and it was worse, more difficult to drive, so we hope to find out why, and change it again for the Superpole. We are generally treating this weekend as a test session - otherwise we will not move forward.

Christophe Bouchut (fifth fastest): “I think this proves our problems in the last two races were due to the engine. This one is going much better, although it has already done 24 hours at Le Mans. But we noticed the difference right away. We're really pleased with the progress we've made, on the track where we thought we would struggle the most.

N-GT was even closer, the top six qualifying within three tenths of a second of each other. Michel Neugarten was fastest, ahead of the Redolfi Orlando and Art Engineering cars.

Neugarten's best lap was a 1:42.529. “It was fantastic. I attacked and got a really good lap. It's a track where you have to fight the car, instead of letting it flow. The result was especially good considering we are not really happy with the brakes at the moment.”

Philipp Peter set the second best time, two-hundredths off provisional pole, with the Art Engineering cars third and fourth. Fabio Babini was third, with Andrea Bertolini qualifying fourth in the #53 Porsche. “I really like the atmosphere of the championship, which is very professional, with very good drivers,” Bertolini explained.

The #62 JMB Ferrari set the fifth time in the first qualifying session. “We only used one set of tyres,” David Terrien explained. “At the beginning, the balance was not perfect, so we made some changes, and by the end of the session we were setting equivalent times, but on worn tyres. There was a lot of traffic, but it's not going badly, and I think we'll be fine in the Superpole.” Indeed.

Neither RWS Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R qualified for the Superpole. “We don't know quite what is wrong. We had the same set-up as yesterday when the car was good, but today something was different, and we had no grip,” reckoned Luca Riccitelli.

Superpole

Patrice Goueslard was the first out in N-GT, but David Terrien went two seconds faster in the Ferrari. Andrea Bertolini, Fabio Babini, Philipp Peter and Michel Neugarten couldn't match the Ferrari's best.

“The balance in the morning was not good enough,” the Frenchman said. “We made some improvements for the Superpole, and most importantly kept a new set of tyres. I think tyre wear is going to be an important factor tomorrow, but I am sure that the Michelin cars will be good in the race.”

Rickard Rydell was the first of the GT cars out, and the Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello was two tenths slower than in the morning. Christophe Bouchut then took provisional pole with a 1:38.514, but Tom Coronel knocked two tenths off Bouchut's time. Mike Hezemans, in the second Carsport Viper, wwent quicker though, to take the outright pole position.

“We really didn't have any problems,” said Hezemans. “Our car has lots of grip here, and I hope we fixed everything that was wrong with it during the break. We completely changed the fuel tank, replacing it with a standard tank like all the other Vipers, so the fuel pressure problems should not reoccur.

The two Lister Storm cars will start from the second and fourth places on the grid for tomorrow's race. “It's the second time I've done the Superpole,” Tom Coronel said. “Laurence Pearce told me that I mustn't ruin the tyres, and so when I locked the wheels early on I thought I'd be in trouble with him. When I saw my time was 1:38.2, I was really surprised."

Bouchut was an ominously quick third fastest.