Schiattarella: no giant killer

Apart from the fact that he hadn't shaved for a couple of days - what does that do for your drag? - Schiattarella revealed that he doesn't expect to repeat his performance at the Silverstone European Le Mans Series race.

The Italian ace took pole at Silverstone and led the race until his Lola's throttle cable broke and he dropped out of contention. He took fastest lap in his struggle to get back into contention.

"Silverstone is a totally-different circuit," he said. "You need speed here, and we do not have that. I think people are expecting too much from us. We are a little team compared with Audi and Panoz, but we are trying to do our best."

Schiattarella said he was flattered when he heard that Allan McNish rates his Lola-Judd as a threat during the race: "This is very nice, but I must be realistic. Some people are dreaming too much. This car was quick at Silverstone but not here."

"We are currently taking wing off the back because we aren't quick enough on the straights. The car is quick through the corners but the Panoz and Audi are both much faster than us out of them."

The Judd engine is, as usual, going like a train: "Audi and Panoz are quicker than us out of the corners, but at the end of the straight I can catch them up again," said Schiattarella.

But he refused to be drawn on the team's strategy for the race: "First and foremost is to finish, then we will see who's in front."

But then, that's the secret of endurance racing, isn't it?