Banned From Europe: Creation Prototype On Petit Pole
Written by Jonathan Ingram · September 29, 2006
Migrating from Europe, two hybrid prototypes have the speed for Audi at Road Atlanta, but do they have the endurance?
The Creation protoytpe driven by Nicholas Minassian (1:10.829) beat Allan McNish (1:10.910) and Audi’s invincible R10 diesel to the pole for the Petit Le Mans in the closing minutes of qualifying. But will the ground-hugging prototype have anything left for one of the world’s toughest endurance challenges at Road Atlanta on Saturday? “When you’re able to beat Audi — the best — it’s really good,” said Minassian. “But the big test is tomorrows.”
Indeed. Undefeated in seven races including Sebring and the Le Mans 24-hour, the brace of Audi diesels is expected to outpace the field in the ninth Petit Le Mans. The only question is whether the reduced weight the American Le Mans Series has given to the Audi’s competitors in LMP-1 will make a difference over 1,000 miles through the hills of north Georgia.
In a mid-day press conference, Scott Atherton, the president of the ALMS, made no excuses about changing the rules to keep cars competitive with the multi-million dollar Audi effort. The weight reduction has enabled a six-man team like Creation (well below just the number of engineers at the Champion Audi Sport team) to compete with the big boys. In fact, Atherton announced an ongoing agreement with officials at the Le Mans 24-hour to continue altering the rulebook of the French endurance classic, which is also used by the ALMS, to achieve closer competition.
Along these same lines, Zytek’s prototype driven by Stefan Johansson (1:11.090) took third on the grid. Both the Judd-powered Creation and the Zytek-powered Zytek began life as the last sports car chassis produced by Reynard in 2002. Known as “hybrids” because they have been modified to fit some of the current Le Mans rules, the cars have been grandfathered out of competition in the Le Mans Endurance Series in Europe. They will remain eligible in the U.S. (plus Japan) as part of the effort to increase car counts in America.
Dyson Racing, which has pestered the Audis all season with a brace of Lola B06 prototypes, slid to surprising seventh and eighth on the grid. The weight breaks enabled the Dyson team to come within seconds of beating the Audis at Mosport earlier in September.
The gasoline-powered LMP-1’s are allowed to carry a minimum weight of 860 kilos versus the weight in the rulebook used at Le Mans, which is 925 kilos. Only the V-12 Audis remain at the higher weight.
Pit stops may be affected over the 1,000-mile distance by the increase in the gasoline-powered LMP-1 fuel tanks. They will carry 95 liters versus the 90 liters allowed the Audi diesel, where the fuel mileage is worth an estimated additional seven laps at Road Atlanta despite the fuel tank upgrade for its opposition.
Elsewhere, in GT1 qualifying Corvette blamed Aston Martin for sandbagging (and currying favor for rules adjustments). “Anybody who thinks otherwise hasn’t been watching,” said Corvette’s Johnny O’Connell, angered by the fact he was on the pole courtesy of Aston Martin politicking. Time will tell in that dispute as well.
The Porsche Spyders of Penske ran just sixth tenths behind the LMP-1 pole time as Lucas Luhr (1:11.409) won the LMP-2 class pole. Notably, Mike Rockenfeller has joined that team this weekend as Porsche tries to keep the rising star out of the clutches of Audi for the 2007 season. “Rocky” has spent the season in GT2 category Porsche 911’s and the Crawford prototype of Alex Job Racing in the Grand American Rolex Series. Meanwhile, the very accomplished veteran J.J. Lehto was standing by in the Audi pit in hopes of returning to the factory driver line-up next season after a year off since the German company declined to bring him back for 2006.
The Ferrari of Risi Competizione won the pole in GT2 versus the Porsche of Jorg Bergmeister of Petersen/White Lightning. Bergmeister, who won the Rolex Series prototype championship, trails Johannes van Overbeek in the GT2 driver’s championship by 11 points. Marc LIeb qualified the Flying Lizard Porsche No. 45 to be shared with van Overbeek in seventh place in class, a disappointing result. Flying Lizard is also battling Risi for the team championship in the GT category. The Lizards lead by two points.
Notebook: The ALMS announced its 2007 schedule, which includes three new venues and an increase from 10 to 12 races: Mar. 17 Sebring; March 31 St. Petersburg; April 14 Long Beach; April 21 Houston; May 19 Salt Lake City; July 7 Lime Rock; July 22 Mid-Ohio; August 11 Road America; August 26 Mosport; Sept. 1 Belle Isle (Detroit); October 6 Petit Le Mans; October 20 Laguna Seca.
Three race weekends (Long Beach, Houston and Elkhart Lake ) will be shared with Champ Car. Two weekends (St. Petersburg, Belle Isle) will be shared with the IRL. Lime Rock continues on the schedule as long as the antiquated facility continues to make requested improvements. Portland fell off the schedule due to poor attendance after three seasons.
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Well, the rule changes made for a better race to watch in the LMP-1 class, but how long will racers put up with legislated changes. This may be why only two competitors in GT-1. If I was a car manufacturer, I would be hesitant to spend the money to build a competitive car and be at the mercy of arbitrary rules changing after the fact. Must be Frenchmen doing the rules.