Qualifying Report
Fuji Speedway – 5 May 2006
After a thrilling final hour of practice/qualifying, stidriver, piloting the No. 2 Zytek 06S, claimed the pole position for this weekend’s Le Mans Series Fuji 1000 kilometers with a time of 1’08.023. Alongside him on the front row will be the Audi R10 of Dark Elite, who turned in a time of 1’08.438.
The pace of the Zytek certainly caught everyone by surprise. A late entry in the race, the Zytek didn’t even venture onto the circuit until the final hour of practice. However, once it appeared on track, stidriver quickly put it at the top of the time sheets.
Row 2 will feature the Courage of Mulsanne (1’09.021) and alongside, the Creation, driven by Earth (1’09.789). Behind them on row 3 will be the second Courage, piloted by DRIVEN -USA- (1’09.845) and the Pescarolo of appie17 (1’09.903). On row 4 is the second Audi R10 of BarrettJ1971, who turned in a lap of 1’10.631. Unfortunately, not venturing out during the session was the second Pescarolo of ls2_297, Pink_the_Floyd and the Chamberlain Lola of m.piedgros.
Teams were given five hours* of practice and qualifying. However, the first half of the session saw very little track activity, as teams were searching for the right set-ups and drivers were finding the limits of their cars, and sometimes exceeding those limits with multiple spins and excursions into the gravel traps. Dark Elite set the early pole lap with a 1’09.347. Earth and Mulsanne quickly responded with laps of 1’09.7 and 1’09.9, respectively.
The 1’09 barrier was broken by Dark Elite, who turned in a sensational 1’08.836. DRIVEN -USA- put his Courage in the field with a 1’09.8, with appie17’s Pescarolo just a tenth behind him. And the second Audi of BarrettJ1971 was having its own problems, turning in a 1’10.6, but the driver reported that he knew where he was losing time and would be faster in the race. But with no one else under 1’09, Dark Elite was looking certain to take the pole position.
However, teams got down to business in the final hour as lap times rapidly decreased and the pole position swapped hands several times. It came down to a battle between stidriver and Dark Elite. stidriver struck first, turning a 1’08.7, a tenth faster than Dark Elite. After having the team change some settings on the R10, the Audi driver responded with a 1’08.4. The rest of the teams gathered around the monitors to watch the qualifying duel. Meanwhile, Mulsanne bumped his time down to a 1’09.0, staying in third position, but still a long way off of the leaders’ times.
With just moments to go in the session, stidriver stunned the field with a time of 1’08.023, over four tenths faster than Dark Elite. Pulling into pit lane after the lap, the Zytek driver accepted the applause of the spectators and even from the other teams.
Looking forward to the race, it is shaping up to be an exciting and closely-fought event. The Zytek and stidriver have shown incredible pace in qualifying, but can they keep it up over 228 laps? Dark Elite and the Audi are also fast and are hoping the mechanical troubles that plagued them last year are a thing of the past. Mulsanne and Earth look to pick up where they left off in last year’s battle for the win. DRIVEN -USA-, appie17 and BarrettJ1971 are certainly not to be counted out either, as each has the ability to make a serious effort for the win. Hopefully, the troubles for ls2_297, Pink_the_Floyd and m.piedgros that kept them in the garages will be sorted out and we will see them take the start.
So, this is the way the grid lines up for the race:
Starting Grid
Row 1
1) 2. stidriver Zytek 1’08.023
2) 7. Dark Elite Audi 1’08.438 +0.415 (+0.5 sec)
Row 2
3) 13. Mulsanne Courage – Mugen 1’09.021 +0.998 (+1.0 sec)
4) 10. Earth Creation – Judd 1’09.789 +1.766 (+1.0 sec)
Row 3
5) 12. DRIVEN –USA- Courage – Mugen 1’09.845 +1.822 (+2.0 sec)
6) 17. appie17 Pescarolo – Judd 1’09.903 +1.880 (+2.0 sec)
Row 4
7) 8. BarrettJ1971 Audi 1’10.631 +2.608 (+3.0 sec)
8) 16. ls2_297 Pescarolo – Judd no time (+3.0 sec)
Row 5
9) --. Pink_the_Floyd TBA no time (+4.0 sec)
10) 19. m.piedgros Lola – AER no time (+4.0 sec)
* FYI: I’m writing the five days of practice as one five hour session, because how many real-world races have five days of practice and qualifying, other than Indianapolis?
👍
