Ferrari on Pole for WSC Championships (with Qualifying Results)
25 October 1997
Laguna Seca, CA -- Setting an incredible pace in the #30 MOKART/Playpiso/ITS Ferrari, Andrea Montermini and Antonio Herrmann will start from pole position in tomorrow's Visa Sportscar Championships Presented by Porsche. With a time of 1:17.311, for an average speed of 104.21 mph, Montermini blistered the field by a full half-second. The#27 Lista Ferrari with Didier Theys and Fredy Lienhard was second in qualifying with a time of 1:17.980, for a speed of 103.31mph. The battle between Dyson Ford teammates Butch Leitzinger and Elliott-Forbes Robinson carried into qualifying with Leitzinger, in the #20 Ford, setting the fourth fastest time with a lap of 1:18.464, for a speed of 102.68mph. James Weaver in the #16 Ford qualified fifth, with a time of 1:18.636, for an average speed of 102.45. Montermini's quick lap of the day was on the third lap of the session. Montermini offered "that the lap could have been quicker but I missed the exit by one inch on turn #2." The qualifying trim and race set-up will be quite different but the Ferrari teams all seem to have found their stride in the last three races. Missing from qualifying was the Danka/Toshiba Copiers Oldsmobile of Wayne Taylor and Eric Vande Poele. Taylor complained of being down on power during yesterday's three practice sessions. To remedy the situation a new engine is being flown in today. The team, to say the least, has had a character-building year. Missing qualifying will relegate the team to the back of the field. Should the team have a similar race like Sebring, Taylor and van de Poele will be near the front within a few laps. The Sebring race appeared to be theirs for the taking, until losing an engine in the last thirty minutes. Tire wear will certainly play a role, as it does in any race. In WSC, the teams must start the race on their qualifying tires. A small bit of strategy is at work with the Ford team. Of all the top qualifiers, Leitzinger put the fewest number of laps on his tires. Seven to be exact. With a late starting time for the race tomorrrow (3:00 PM PST) the track will have a lot of debris from the FIA GT race. The 2-hour race will be a virtual sprint with interruptions for fuel, tires and caution flags. A concern expressed by some of drivers is the speed disparity between the first and last qualifier. Sixteen miles per hour separate Montermini from the last place car of Bruce and Spencer Trenery. The top seven cars are covered by two seconds. From there, the drop-off is an average of one-half second per car. Things could get intersting! Qualifying for The Visa Sportscar Championship Presented by Porsche WSC POS Car# Driver(s) Car Time 1 30 Hermann/Montermini Ferrari 333SP 1:17.311 2 27 Theys/Lienhard Ferrari 333SP 1:17.980 3 3 Salazar/Velez Ferrari 333SP 1:18.274 4 20 Leitzinger/Paul,Jr. Ford R&S III 1:18.464 5 16 Robinson/Weaver Ford R&S III 1:18.636 6 43 Morgan/Hall Ferrari 333SP 1:19.316 7 21 Caffi/Montani/Chiesa Chevy R&S 1:19.630 8 4 Jochamowitz/Pace Olds R&S III 1:20.281 9 2 Nelson/Clark Ford R&S III 1:20.619 10 88 Jones/Bentley Chev R&S III 1:21.044 11 03 McCarthy/Auberlen BMW URD 1:21.277 12 60 Donley/Wilson Ford KeilerII 1:21.608 13 17 Mucha/Field Courage/Olds 1:22.363 14 63 Downing/Katz/Freon Mazda Kudzu 1:22.993 15 28 Gregg/Sellers/Field Olds Spice 1:23.558 16 62 Grupp/Debban Mazda/Kudzu 1:24.221 17 95 Volk/Bell Chevy/Kudzu 1:27.086 18 19 Davin/Montgomery Buick Kudzu 1:29.232 19 51 Trenery/Trenery Chevy Cannib. 1:31.544 20 1 Taylor/van de Poele Olds R&S III No-Time 21 29 TBA Nissan Matrix No-Time 22 40 TBA Pontiac/Benn No-Time David Treffer -- The Auto Channel
