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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">18/07/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Earnhardt To Start Third In GTS</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">NASCAR Star Impresses On Debut In Corvette</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/corvette-8-infineon-q-04.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>Earnhardt To Start Third In GTS</B><BR> <BR> NASCAR's Dale Earnhardt, Jr., was the star attraction of the day, drawing a long line to a driver autograph session and then watching as co-driver Boris Said qualified third in the GTS class in the Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C5-R they will share in Earnhardt's first ALMS event.<BR> <BR> "It's going real good," said Earnhardt. "The car is real fast and I'm comfortable in the car. My co-driver is very, very quick and we feel like we have a good chance this weekend. It's a great car. Corvette has done a lot of testing. They deserve it because there is a lot of hard work behind it. I am very fortunate just to be able to climb right in and go so fast. <BR> <BR> "It's going to be different, watching for the prototypes, and the GT cars, being careful and just having a lot of respect and courtesy out there for everybody," he said. "You know I don't do this every weekend and to be here is a big honour for me to race against such a great group of competitors. I am just trying to earn respect and pay my dues out there and take my time and work my way up. I feel like we have a good chance to get a great finish this weekend if we keep our heads straight." <BR> <BR> Oliver Gavin of England, driving another car from the factory Corvette team, won the GTS class pole with a track record lap of 1:28.042. He will co-drive with Olivier Beretta of Monaco. The pole was Gavin's third straight this season.<BR> <BR> Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell, seeking their fourth straight GTS class win at Infineon, will start second in class in a third Corvette. Fellows was less than two-tenths of a second behind Gavin.<BR> <BR> "This new (qualifying) format is a lot of fun," said Gavin. "I enjoyed it and I know a lot of the other drivers do too. We do so much to set up for the race and with the new format you have to keep qualifying in mind too. We did a lot of playing with the tyre pressures. I think I had a carrot in front of me after Ron (Fellows) set his time before me. That might have gotten me a bit more fired up. The track rubbered up more and more as the session went on. I was really wild on my first lap but I got it so the team had me come in. That's one less lap on the tyres." <BR> <BR> "The (new) track surface may be suiting Michelin tyres more than any other manufacturers. The Saleen was so close at Lime Rock and at Mid-Ohio and now they're a bit farther back. A lot more has come with the car. These are the cars that raced at Le Mans so they are more perfectly balanced for weight, have a better chassis and gear box, and are better aerodynamically. The lap times could be better from the new surface and the switch to the Michelin tyres is helping too."<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>