CHAMPIONS CORVETTE RACING MAKE IT THREE OUT OF THREE IN MID-OHIO
LEXINGTON, June 30, 2002 – Defending ALMS GTS Champions Corvette Racing made it yet another perfect day today by scoring their third consecutive win in the third round of the 2002 American Le Mans Series at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Also for the third time in a row, Ron Fellows parked his Chevrolet Corvette C5-R on pole position in Saturday's qualifying session. "That was close," said Fellows. "Generally after a Trans-Am race like the one that preceded our qualifying session, the track isn't as good as it was before. I had a very clear race track and some of the guys elected to stay in so it worked out for us. Andy got real close and the Ferrari is right there, too. It all worked out for us today and I think we've got a little bit left for tomorrow."
Come race day the biggest competitors for the Corvettes seemed to be the blistering heat and traffic. "There was a lot of traffic out there," Fellows said. "It was interesting though: I'd catch clumps of five or six cars and I tried to use them to my advantage. It was kind of funny actually."
The race wasn't entirely trouble free for either Corvette. Fellows had a fuel pressure light come on briefly, but the backup system carried on flawlessly. Andy Pilgrim, in the other Corvette, had an on-track incident with a back-marker, but recovered quickly to finish second in GTS and seventh overall. "The traffic was difficult today," Pilgrim said. "One of the LMP cars, running some twenty laps down, just hit me and spun me around. I guess he just couldn't wait."
Ron Fellows, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet now lead the Drivers, Teams and Manufacturers Championships with the maximum of points. The fourth round for the American Le Mans Series takes place next weekend in Elkhart Lake. The "Road America 500" is the second of three endurance races of this year's series.
The ALMS At Mid-Ohio – Final Results
| 1. | Biela/Pirro | Audi R8 | 111 laps |
| 2. | Kristensen/Capello | Audi R8 | - 0m06s248 |
| 3. | Magnussen/Brabham | Panoz LMP-01 Evo | - 0m24s955 |
| 4. | Auberen/Herta | Panoz LMP-01 Evo | - 0m40s230 |
| 5. | Weaver/Dyson | R&S-Lincoln Mk.IIIA | - 2 laps |
| 6. | Fellowos/O'Connell | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (1st GTS) | - 5 laps |
| 7. | Pilgrim/Collins | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (2nd GTS) | - 6 laps |
| 8. | Maxwell/Duno | Panoz-Mugen LMP-07 | - 7 laps |
| 9. | Field/Neuhaus | Lola-Judd B2K/10B | - 8 laps |
| 10. | Herbert/Johansson | Audi R8 | - 9 laps |
| 11. | Zacharias/Buckler | Porsche 911 GT3-RS (1st GT) | - 10 laps |
| 12. | Bernhard/Bergmeister | Porsche 911 GT3-RS (2nd GT) | - 10 laps |
| 13. | Bucknum/Willman/McMurry | Pilbeam-Nissan MP84 (1st LMP675) | - 11 laps |
| 14. | Devlin/McEntee | Lola-Ford B2K/40 (2nd LMP675) | - 11 laps |
| 15. | Fergus/Hawkins/Knight | MG Lola EX257 (3rd LMP675) | - 12 laps |
| 16. | Jackson/Fitzgerald | Porsche 911 GT3-RS (3rd GT) | - 12 laps |
| 23. | Bunting/Weickardt | Dodge Viper GTS-R (3rd GTS) | - 23 laps |
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