ALMS qualifying: Brabs breaks Audis

The England-based Australian picked up his third pole position in the series by clocking a lap of 1m04.121s around the two-mile circuit in Oregon towards the end of the qualifying session. His Panoz LMP1 Roadster was one tenth of a second quicker than the fastest Audi R8 of Tom Kristensen, and Brabham was more than chuffed with his efforts.

"Awesome," said the 35-year-old. "I'm very satisfied to be here, in front of the media, on the pole. We're really pleased. We don't have a big program so we have to test at the races. We had such a long year with the new car, to come back here with a car that we know and are comfortable in gives us much more confidence."

And the reason why the Panoz he shares with Dane Jan Magnussen was able to nick ahead of the all-conquering Audis?

"It was a secret we left the car in the garage for six months," grinned Brabham. "We dusted it off and it seemed to find more speed. I know we had the quickest time in practice and we pushed like hell to get here. I had a series of good laps, it was a great effort by the team. We have a good race set-up, it'll be a long race tomorrow and we'll just try and beat the Audis."

Behind Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello in the second of the works Audis was Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela who had to settle for third place on the grid for Sunday's two hour 45 minute battle.

Klaus Graf and Franck Lagorce proved that the speed of the Panoz was now fluke, posting the fourth fastest time of the session, just ahead of British duo Johnny Herbert, fresh from his Champ Car test at Rockingham, and Andy Wallace in the Champion Audi.

Didier de Radigues took the LMP 675 pole and sixth overall with a lap of 1m07.910s, ahead of Mel Hawkins and Stephen Knight.

"We felt alone in the 675 program," said Monegasque de Radigues. "We are preparing for next year and this new category. We're happy to be on the pole and look forward to more competition."

Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell took the pole honours in the GTS class in the Chevy Corvette, but only just. The Saleen on Franz Konrad and Terry Borcheller was less than a tenth of a second slower.

In the GT class, the BMWs ruled the roost, with Boris Said and Hans Stuck the quickest in the class. BMWs took the top four slots, with Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr being the fastest of the Porsches in 16th overall.



David Brabham/Jan Magnussen Panoz LMP1 Roadster S 1m04.121s
Tom Kristensen/Rinaldo Capello Audi R8 1m04.255s
Emanuele Pirro/Frank Biela Audi R8 1m04.300s
Klaus Graf/Franck Lagorce Panoz LMP1 Roadster S 1m04.508s
Johnny Herbert/Andy Wallace Audi R8 1m05.136s
Didier de Radigues/Milka Duno/John Graham Reynard 01Q/Judd 1m07.910s
Mel Hawkins/Stephen Knight Lola B2K/40/Nissan 1m11.281s
Ron Fellows/Johnny O'Connell Chevrolet Corvette C5-R 1m12.324s
Franz Konrad/Terry Borcheller Saleen S7R 1m12.390s
Andy Pilgrim/Kelly Collins Chevrolet Corvette C5-R 1m12.682
Boris Said/ Hans Stuck BMW M3 GTR 1m13.291s
JJ Lehto/ Jorg Muller BMW M3 GTR 1m13.331s
Bill Auberlen/Niclas Jonsson BMW M3 GTR 1m13.407s
Fredrik Ekblom/Dirk Muller BMW M3 GTR 1m454s
Shane Lewis/Jeff Altenburg Dodge Viper GTS-R 1m13.730s
Sascha Maassen/Lucas Luhr Porsche 911 GT3-RS 1m13.783s
Christian Menzel/Randy Pobst Porsche 911 GT3-RS 1m14.138s
Johnny Mowlem/Michael Petersen/Timo Bernhard Porsche 911 GT3-RS 1m15.158s
Kevin Allen/Tom Weickardt Dodge Viper GTS-R 1m16.411s