Aug 30, 2008
Like last year, the Audi drivers are facing an extremely difficult task in the race of the American Le Mans Series on the "Belle Isle Street Circuit” in Detroit (U.S. state of Michigan). Team Audi Sport North America’s pair of Audi R10 TDI prototypes will start Saturday’s race from the fourth and fifth row of the grid on the bumpy city street circuit.
The track at Detroit is considered to be one of the most challenging for the cars of the LM P1 class. In 2007, the gap between the two Audi R10 TDI prototypes and the ligher LM P2 cars was similar to that set today. From starting positions seven and eight, however, the two diesel-powered sports cars moved up to second and third place in the race.
Compared to last year’s Friday practice, this year the conditions were even worse due to changing weather. Both free practice sessions took place in the rain making a proper set-up work impossible. It was dry for qualifying but the track was extremely slippery due to the previous rain.
Team Audi Sport North America used the 20-minute qualifying session to prepare for the race. Set-up changes were made on both cars while all four drivers were in action, which is normally unusual in qualifying. Lucas Luhr and Marcel Fässler both completed their first dry laps on the "Belle Isle Street Circuit” in qualifying. Nevertheless, Luhr was able to set the LM-P1 pole in 1m 15.879s.
On Saturday, Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner will start the third last race of the season with a 66-point lead having an early opportunity to clinch the LM P1 Drivers’ title. If their advantage is a minimum of 55 points after the race in Detroit, they have secured the title.
The race in Detroit begins on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. local time (8:35 p.m. in Germany) and lasts 2 hours and 45 minutes. Audi is unbeaten on city street circuits in this year’s American Le Mans Series and has scored five overall victories in the first eight races – most recently three in a row.
The starting grid in Detroit
1 Brabham/Sharp (Acura/Honda) 1m 13.483s
2 de Ferran/Pagenaud (Acura/Honda) 1m 13.660s
3 Smith/Dyson (Porsche) 1m 14.209s
4 Fernandez/Diaz (Acura/Honda) 1m 14.380s
5 Rossiter/Montagny (Acura/Honda) 1m 14.446s
6 Dumas/Bernhard (Porsche) 1m 14.598s
7 Briscoe/Long (Porsche) 1m 15.476s
8 Luhr/Werner (Audi R10 TDI) 1m 15.879s (1st in LM P1)
9 Fässler/Pirro (Audi R10 TDI) 1m 15.923s (2nd in LM P1)
10 Franchitti/Leitzinger (Porsche) 1m 16.554s
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