26.09.2003 DAVID BRABHAM SECURES GTS POLE POSITION FOR FERRARI AROUND THE STREETS OF MIAMI
The red 80 Ferrari 550 Maranello of David Brabham and Darren Turner will start tomorrow’s 8th round of the American Le Mans Series from pole position in the GTS class. The Australian set a fastest time of 50.922 seconds on the 1.2 mile street track, just after midway through the 20-minute qualifying session, his first GTS pole position since joining the Prodrive Ferrari team in July.
The second Care Racing-supported Ferrari was less fortunate in its quest for grid position, having suffered an incident early on in the session which resulted in a lengthy stop for repairs in the pits. Peter Kox, who was qualifying car 88, was able to return to the track before the chequered flag and set a fastest time of 51.929 seconds, placing he and his team mate Tomas Enge in 5th position in class.
David Brabham (AUS), car nr.80: “Qualifying was good. The car was good, considering we don’t get a lot of running to work on it. We came here with a set up which we thought would be okay and it worked well. The Michelin tyres worked very well, were very consistent. It’s nice to get pole, but it’s going to be some race round here tomorrow! This track is so short, I wasn’t sure I liked it at the beginning of the weekend but now I really like it. For the race though, it will be very tough, especially with the track surface. On the last corner of the track, before coming onto the straight, we get really launched - all wheels off the ground.”
Peter Kox (NL), car nr.88: “I don’t really know what happened to cause the accident. I braked for the first corner but just went straight on. A coolant alarm had gone off and there was some water on the windscreen, but until we’ve looked at the data I can’t really say exactly what happened. I think it must have been my fault. I must say a big thank you to the guys for getting the car back on the track so at least I could have a few more laps to try and gain a few places on the grid.”
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