Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish will tackle the finale of the
Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) at Zhuhai from the second row
of the grid. In qualifying on Saturday Tom Kristensen took grid
position three for Audi in 27 degrees in the shade. The Le Mans
record winner was merely 269 thousandths of a second short of the
pole position.
Last year had already shown that the 4.317-kilometer race track
at Zhuhai with its nine right- and five left-hand turns is
particularly hard on the brakes and tires. Therefore, Audi
systematically used the wet test day on Wednesday and the free
practice sessions on Friday and Saturday to intensively work for
the six-hour race - and with a positive interim result: both Audi
R18 TDI cars left an extremely strong impression during long runs
in practice.
"Here, it's about having a good front axle in order to optimally
get through the tight turns - that's what we've been working on
from the outset. Naturally, you've got to find the perfect
compromise with sufficient traction on the rear wheels. To achieve
this for one lap is one thing but an altogether different matter
for long runs. I think we've set up a very good race car and will
see a very exciting race tomorrow. There's one thing I can promise:
All four Audi drivers are hungry for victory at the finale of the
ILMC."
On Sunday audi.tv will provide a live stream of the race from
the site: http://microsites.audi.com/lemans/
Qualifying results
1 Bourdais/Davidson (Peugeot) 1m 21.769s
2 Montagny/Sarrazin (Peugeot) 1m 21.844s
3 Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 TDI) 1m 22.038s
4 Bernhard/Fässler (Audi R18 TDI) 1m 22.538s
5 Jani/Prost (Lola-Toyota) 1m 24.684s