Timo Bernhard Grabs Utah Pole Ahead of De Ferran
Show your support.
Buzz this article up.
May 17, 2008
timobernhard.de
“This track is not really built for us,” Werner said. “It is a very fast track but you change directions so many times that it is hard for us with all of the weight we have. If you see, the four-tenths to pole position is not a very big gap but we are so far back. I’m hoping for a good start tomorrow and hopefully a really good race.”
Jon Field qualified Intersport Racing’s E85-powered Lola-AER third in P1 and 11th overall.
Olivier Beretta put Corvette Racing’s No. 4 Corvette C6.R on the GT1 pole position for the second time this season. Beretta’s time of 1:43.869 (105.641 mph) was just 0.175 seconds ahead of Johnny O’Connell in the sister Corvette. Beretta took his second pole of the season after qualifying out front in class at St. Petersburg.
If anyone believes in trends, then Beretta and Gavin are in a good spot. The pole-sitting car in class has gone on to win each of the previous three races in the Series.
“We are allowed to race but not allowed to crash each other,” Beretta said, nixing the idea of team orders. “There has to be a safe place to do it and make sure not to crash our sister car.”
O’Connell and Jan Magnussen had been quickest in each of the three previous sessions but Beretta and Gavin won last year at Miller Motorsports Park. This also serves as the team’s final warmup before next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, so there is added attention to every little detail, Beretta said. That’s the reason Corvette has won in class there five times in the last seven years.
“We’ve started working on our aero package for Le Mans and we’ve been sharing our setups between the two cars,” said Beretta, who leads all Series drivers with 22 pole positions. “Then we switched to some fresh tires before the qualifying and everything linked up. It’s very important to have a good race here and keep it out of trouble. This is a great preparation for Le Mans but the cars need to be in good shape because we’ll need them there. Le Mans is the most important race to us and we are going there very confident and hope we will do very well.”
Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Wolf Henzler took the GT2 pole position in a dead heat with Risi Competizione’s Jaime Melo. Both drivers turned in a lap of 1:47.135 (102.420 mph) but Henzler’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR posted the time first and was awarded the top spot.
“It was such an exciting end to qualifying. It came down to the last car,” Henzler said. “We both did a good lap. The team was watching the TV and he did the same lap time. It’s unbelievable that two cars did the same time. Fortunately I did it first so we have pole position. It’s a great day for Porsche.”
It almost wasn’t one for Henzler. Early the session, he locked up his brakes under cornering and went off track, collecting a large amount of dust and debris on the car and Michelin tires.
“The next two laps I had no grip, lots of understeer and oversteer,” he said. “I thought, ‘That is it, qualifying is over.’ But then all of the sudden the car came back and I put down the best lap right after that.”
Henzler will team with Jörg Bergmeister, the duo looking for their first victory since winning Sebring with Marc Lieb. On the other hand, Melo and Mika Salo are looking for their first win of the season in the Ferrari F430 GT after winning nine times and the class championship last season.
Henzler’s pole was his second of the season and followed the first of his career at St. Petersburg in the second race of the season. It also marks Flying Lizard’s third consecutive class pole position as it looks to maintain its slim two-point lead in the GT2 team championship.
Patrick Pilet gave Flying Lizard third in class qualifying order at 1:47.252 (102.309 mph).
