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Magny Cours

29/07/2001

Qualifying

Report

"I simply learn the track on my video game, but there is a lot of difference, I cannot pass the first corner flat out as in the game," explained Hiroki Katoh. Flat out or not, it didn't seem to matter, as the Japanese driver took pole - the first genuine one for the R&N team - by four tenths of a second, from the Pescatori / Zadra Ferrari.

"We run, we learn," was John Nielsen's brutally simple summing up of ...the day, or the season so far? Whatever, his campaign with the Dome is now showing real form race after race. "We just have to chip away at the (19 point) deficit (to Marco Zadra) and we would like to start that with taking a good chunk of it on raceday."

Christian Pescatori may have a view on that. "I just love driving this car and as we are seeing, we can still give the new cars some trouble. I am fighting for the championship, not for me but for Marco, who is in with a good chance." Pescatori has missed a couple of races, but he was straight back into it, and set the front row time for BMS. "Christian is a good driver and he can really help me," explained the Championship leader. Will Pescatori race with Audi again? "I would like to continue with Audi but we don't know..."

Jean-Marc Gounon and Sam Hancock found a second between free practice and the Qualifying session, the Frenchman spinning wildly at the Nurburgring Esses on his last lap this afternoon. He gathered it all up and roared back onto the track. Gounon felt that a front row slot was a possibility, but he at least proved that the Lola is still almost as competitive as it was when he drove a Judd-powered example for DAMS two years ago.

Jan Lammers and Val Hillebrand start fourth, just ahead of the Pescarolo Courage, which was working on a race set-up more than an out and out lap.

The second BMS Ferrari is sixth - so the Ferrari V12 is still producing the power it seems - with the Ascari a slightly disappointing seventh, struggling with oversteer. Alex Caffi and Mauro Baldi could do no better than eighth, and with two and a half seconds separating these eight cars, this is where the real competitive edge lies in SR1. The Brums Ferrari didn't set a time, and the Conrero R&S was known to be a non arrival some days ago.

SR2 was reduced to ten cars, with eight of them setting good Qualifying times, just like the SR1s. Massimo Monti set his and his team's second consecutive pole, as his co-driver suffered with illness. Thed Bjork and Larry Oberto were sixth tenths down in second, although Bjork looked likely to go quickest until he spun on what was looking like his best lap.

The Rowan Pilbeam starts a good third, Wolfgang Kaufmann is sixth in the Renauer Tampolli, just ahead of the Swara example of Phil Andrews and Michael Mallock.

For the umpteenth time, the Rapier 6 doesn't seem to have made it to a race it was entered for, while a couple of the Lucchinis aren't present either. No, the Rapier 6 is present - no reason known for its lack of a Qualifying time though.

A race that was supposed to be the highlight of the season has just one more entry than the bulk of the 2001 races. You have to feel sorry for John Mangoletsi, but at least he can now go back to his original theory, that of being happy with his "22-24 out and out racing cars" - well, 22 anyway. He regularly maintains that more cars will join the series. The question is, when?