Audi boss denies Dalmas flip claim

Audi's motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich has denied that the Team Goh Audi R8 of Yannick Dalmas somersaulted in qualifying yesterday, although he did admit the car suffered "a big accident"

Jun 13, 2002, 10:06 PM

Dalmas's car came to rest at one of the chicanes on the Mulsanne straight, and had taken front and rear impacts. An unnamed driver claimed to have seen the car flip over in front of him, but Ullrich denied that was the case.

"The car had a big accident," said Ullrich. "I have been to the race director and looked at the video evidence, but there is nothing to show that the car flipped over, although it did touch [the barrier] several times."

Dalmas himself - whose Porsche backflipped at Road Atlanta in 1998 - played down the incident, saying it was merely a "spin".

After an overnight rebuild, the car appeared in today's qualifying session but hardly completed a lap before breaking down in the opening hour. It has since completed a number of laps in the night period.