15.05.2004 After qualifying its an all Saleen front row for the third consecutive race, WHILE Karl Wendlinger leadS out the Ferrari runners ON ROW TWO: FIA GT qualifying report & grid from Hockenheim

For the second consecutive race, Walter Lechner Jr will start from pole position, having set a lap of 1:37.132 in the nr 4 Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7. 

This is the 22-year-old Austrian's fourth pole position, and the third Saleen pole for this season. 

"Obviously, I'm very happy to be on pole position," Lechner Jr. said. "But in the past, our problems always started during the race. I hope we'll be able to finish this time and bring our car over the three hours and the 500 km distance. We'll try and make good pit stops, then maybe we can finish on podium."

Second place went to the Magny-Cours winner, the nr 5 Vitaphone Racing Team Saleen S7, with the nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello claiming its best-yet qualifying position in third. It will be an all-Ferrari second row, as the nr 1 BMS car will start fourth, followed by two more Saleen S7s, the nr 28 Graham Nash Motorsport car in an excellent fifth position, and the nr 7 RML car of Erdos and Newton.

Qualifying was extremely close here at Hockenhim, with the top three cars separated by only 97 hundredths of a second, and the top six within a second, promising a tight and tough race tomorrow.

Stephane Ortelli, who has already set more pole positions than anyone else in the FIA GT Championship, added another to his score today, to bring it up to 11. "I managed to put in a clear, good lap and tried to use the potential of the car to the maximum. Hockenheim seems to be a good circuit for me," Ortelli said.

With a lap of 1:41.120 in the first qualifying session, he placed the nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport in the front of the N-GT cars for tomorrow's 4th round of the FIA GT Championship. He will start ahead of the nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport car driven by German drivers Maassen and Luhr, with the G.P.C Giesse Squadra Corse Ferrari 360 Modena in third. Fourth went to the two Russian drivers Vasiliev and Fomenko in the nr 77 Porsche, with Proton Competition fifth

Just like in the GT category, the times were extremely close, with the top three drivers setting times within six tenths of a second.

Hockenheim has hosted three rounds of the FIA GT Championship, but this is the first time the LG Super Racing Weekend has visited the German circuit. The very first round of the Championship was run here, in April 1997, when BMW Motorsport's McLaren F1 GTR of Soper and Lehto were victorious, Gache and Beretta winning in GT2 with a Chrysler Viper. 

In 1998, the overall race was won by Mark Webber and Bernd Schneider in a Mercedes CLK, Beretta and Lamy winning in GT2 in a Chrysler Viper. Finally, in 1999, Chrysler Viper Team Oreca's pairing of Dupuy and Belloc won on the short circuit, giving the Chrysler Viper a 100% class record at the track.

The International Court of Appeal sat in Paris on Wednesday 12th May, to hear the appeal lodged by the CSAI on behalf of BMS Scuderia Italia, against the decision taken by the Stewards in Magny-Cours concerning the incident during the Magny Cours race.

Having heard the explanations of both parties and examined the various documents and other evidence, the Court upheld the decision of the Panel of the Stewards to impose the 50-second  time penalty on the nr 1 Ferrari 550 Maranello.

This means that the race order for the third round has been confirmed, with the nr 5 Vitaphone Racing Team Saleen S7 winning, the nr17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M taking second and the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello third. The nr 1 Ferrari drops to fourth, with the nr 4 Konrad Motorsport Saleen in fifth.

By round 4, the weights are beginning to accumulate. The handicap weights take into account the final result of the Magny-Cours round, following the International Court of Appeal. This means that the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello now carries the maximum weight of 100 kg. A further win this weekend would give the car 150 kg for Brno. Both the nr 1 BMS Ferrari, and the nr 5 Vitaphone Saleen S7 have 40 kg, with the nr 17 JMB Ferrari on 30 kg.

In N-GT, the nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche has 45 kg, with the nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche five kilos lighter, at 40 kg. The nr 62 G.P.C Ferrari lost 20 kg at Magny-Cours, reducing them to 10 kg, the same as the nr 77 Freisinger Yukos Porsche, which is carrying weight for the first time.

Wieth Racing is not competing at Hockenheim this weekend. "Although we tried very hard, it was not possible to finish the second car. And even if we had finished it, we could not have tested before going to the track, and it would have been too dangerous to race a completely new car. Contractual obligations meant we could not use the first car, which is a great shame for what would have been our home race," team manager Florian Hebel explained.

First Qualifying

An extremely close qualifying session saw the top six set times within 0.844 of a second, with four of them being Saleen S7 cars! Walter Lechner Jr took provisional pole early on, setting a lap 1:37.132 in the nr 4 Konrad Motorsport Saleen eight minutes into the session, which proved  to be unbeatable. 

"Actually, I thought we could improve more and go under the 1:37 barrier;" Walter explained. "It is very close today between the Saleens and the Ferraris.  It will be a very tough and interesting race tomorrow. And as far as I know, I am the only driver in the top to have another set of spare tyres for the afternoon, just in case." Magny-Cours winner Michael Bartels came closest to Walter's time; his lap of 1:37.182 was only 55 thousandths slower. 

Third fastest was the nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello, only 97 thousandths of a second slower than the Konrad car, meaning that the top three were only separated by a tenth of a second. The nr 1 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello was fourth, with the nr 28 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen a fine fifth and the nr 7 RML Saleen of Erdos and Newton sixth. The nr 7 Zwaan's Racing Chrysler Viper was seventh. "It shows the Viper can still do it !" Bouchut said, having set a time just over a second off pole. The Lister Storm was ninth, after a spectacular spin for Tom Coronel.

N-GT was equally close, with the top three within six tenths of a second. Ortelli and Collard, in the nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Porsche, set the provisional pole, with a lap of 1:41.120, with Maassen and Luhr second, and the nr 62 Ferrari 360 third.

The nr 7 RML Saleen lost some of their qualifying times due to ride-height failure, but retained 6th position, the time having been set later. The nr 18 JMB Racing car also lost times due to ride-height failure, and the nr 9 Zwaan's Racing Chrysler Viper due to failing to stop for scrutineering, with neither car meeting the minimum qualifying time in the morning. The nr 57 Vonka Porsche also lost most of its times, having failed to stop for tyre checking.

Second Qualifying

With temperatures higher, the track proved to be slower in the afternoon session. Once again, however, the nr 4 Saleen set the fastest time, with a lap of 1:38.089. The nr 5 Vitaphone Saleen was second-fastest, two tenths slower, with the nr 27 Creation Autosportif Lister Storm improving over the morning's time, setting the third-fastest time and claiming 10th place on the starting grid. Peter and Babini, in the nr 11 G.P.C. Giesse Squadra Corse Ferrari 575 Maranello were fourth, and the only Ferrari in the top five, as Goodwin and Barbosa took fifth in the nr 8 RML Saleen.

In N-GT, the nr 62 G.P.C. Giesse set the fastest time, with a lap of 1:42.034, ahead of the nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche of Maassen and Luhr, with the nr 50 Porsche of Ortelli and Collard, fastest in the morning session, third in the afternoon.

There were few improvements, although the nr 18 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello moved up to 15th after losing its morning times. The nr 69 Proton Porsche, nr 56 AB Motorsport  and nr 57 Vonka Racing all managed to improve their times. The nr 9 Zwaan's Racing Chrysler Viper, which lost its morning times due to failing to comply with the weighing procedure, lost its afternoon times due to the non-compliance of the front splitter. This means that the car has not set a qualifying time, and it will have to start from the back of tomorrow's grid. 

The one-engine-per-event rule, which came into force at the start of this season, has been seen in action at this race. The nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello has changed an engine after problems in second qualifying, likewise, the nr 14 Lister Storm had an engine failure after over-revving. The nr 13 G.P.C. Ferrari has also changed an engine. 

According to the regulations, the cars will line up by chronological order of receiving the notification. This means that the nr 2 (which qualified 12th) will be ahead of the nr 13 Ferrari and the nr 14 Lister Storm. The nr 9 Zwaan's Racing Chrysler Viper will start behind them all.