18.07.2004 For the first time both Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT's will start an ALMS race, despite a dramatic slide from Tracy Krohn during his flying lap: Krohn-Barbour Racing qualifying report from SoNoMa

Both Krohn-Barbour Racing Lamborghini Murciélago R-GTs survived a new and unforgiving qualifying system to line-up for today’s fourth round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California.

The number 5 car of David Brabham and Peter Kox just missed out on a top-ten place, Brabham recording a best lap of 1min 32.039sec.

The number 6 car of Tracy Krohn and David McEntee, standing-in for Scott Maxwell, starts from the back of the grid, with a lap of 1min 40.997sec, after losing time with a dramatic slide that Krohn did well to catch.

This will be the first time that both Lamborghinis have started a race. The Brabham/Kox car made its debut three weeks ago in round two at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

At previous ALMS events, drivers in the GTS-class had 20 minutes to strive for the lap time that determined their starting-grid position, but yesterday the ALMS introduced a new qualifying system which gave each driver only four laps on track, an out-lap, an in-lap, and just two hot laps in which to set a time. Under the glare of the TV cameras, there was pressure to perform.

Krohn lost time on one of his hot laps with a ‘tank-slapper’ from which he did well to recover, then lost a lap with a half-spin.

The Texan said: “The car’s starting to feel a little more natural to me now. I had a pretty reasonable qualifying lap going, but approached turn seven a little faster than I thought! It’s just a matter of getting more time in the car, getting familiar with it. It’s a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”

Brabham, who won this race outright in 2002, said: “I just wanted a quick, clean lap. It was clean, but it could have been quicker with a different tire combination. Unfortunately we ran out of time in practice [before finding the optimum tyre-compound choice].

“The car’s getting much easier to drive, and we improved it with every session. We’re now within one second of the Saleen, which is the closest we’ve been.”

Team manager Dick Barbour explained: “We’ve been able to run some new parts here, and they’ve taken us another small step forwards. We have a modification to the rear suspension, a new sway bar for better stability, and a new rear wing for more downforce. It’s a smooth track [after the bumps of rounds two and three at Mid-Ohio and Lime Rock] and we want to keep the rear end planted.”

Fastest in the GTS-class were the three GM Racing Chevrolet Corvettes, driven by Oliver Gavin (1min 28.042sec), Ron Fellows (1min 29.322sec) and Boris Said (1min 30.127sec). The latter will partner NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in this race.

The Corvettes line-up tomorrow for their 50th ALMS race (of two hours, 45 minutes duration), the Lamborghini for its third. Marco Werner (Audi R8) snatched outright pole position from Butch Leitzinger (Lola EX257) by 0.125sec.

Canadian Scott Maxwell, the regular driver of car 6, was unable to enter the USA for this race because his sportsman’s visa needs updating. He is expected to be back behind the wheel for round five next weekend in Portland, Oregon. Maxwell’s stand-in, 31-year-old David McEntee, is an instructor at Infineon Raceway and won the LMP675 class of the ALMS race here two years ago.

INFINEON GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA: QUALIFYING REPORT AND TIMES