Road Atlanta MichelinPorsche Petit Le Mans Qualifying

MICHELIN FITTED PORSCHE TAKES POLE AT PETIT LE MANS

(Braselton, GA)---A Michelin fitted Porsche 911 GT1 driven by 1998 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Alan McNish claimed the pole position for tomorrow's first ever Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta with an average sped of 124.95 miles per hour.

"The circuit requires a lot of determination and a lot of confidence," said McNish. "The last corner is especially tough since you come down the hill and the car takes off and lands. You need to have committed to where you want it to land and it takes a good car and confidence to do that," said McNish. "That said, this is one of the best tracks I've ever driven."

"This is not the track for a nervous or twitchy car," said McNish. "You must have a good car under you to drive with confidence. I'm pretty happy with the balance we have right now, " said McNish. "Michelin picked a good choice. We only ran one hard lap on this set of tires since we will use them to start the race

"We knew that the Ferrari would be strong here, they ran well here in June and they ran even faster this time," said McNish. The top four cars in qualifying included two Ferraris and a Porsche LMP1, all qualifying within eight tenths of a second.

McNish's Porsche teammate, Yannick Dalmas of France agreed "The track here at Road Atlanta is very difficult to drive, it is very technical" said Dalmas. "It is very exacting."

So what do the 1998 Le Mans 24 Hours Race winners expect for the first ever Petit Le Mans ?

"I think the race will have a lot of "to and fro" said McNish. "I think the race will come to a team for a while then go away. It will be like Le Mans, but a little more intense since it is shorter."

Asked about racing at Road Atlanta after darkness falls on Saturday, McNish noted; "Coming over the rises at the top of the hills, the headlights are pointing at the sky, not at the track or to where you want to go. You are dipping into the dark and hoping that the track is where you positioned the car to be. You've got to know where you are positioning the car…"