NO SMALL THING; Audi diesel captures Petit Le Mans.(Motorsports)

Byline: GARY WATKINS

A quick glance at the result sheets suggest this was some kind of walkover. History will say Audi drivers Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello won the ninth Petit Le Mans by four laps, but the final classification at Road Atlanta gives no insight into a close and exciting race that gripped a record crowd to the end. The outcome was decided only a quarter of an hour before the end of a race lasting more than nine hours. What's more, no fewer than five different cars led on a day when Audi's R10 turbo-diesel prototype, in handicapped form, wasn't the fastest car.

The pole-winning Creation and the Zytek, both making their seasonal debuts in the American Le Mans Series, showed the way to the Audis during the opening stint. The Zytek 06S, driven by Stefan Johansson, Johnny Mowlem and Haruki Kurosawa, would lead on two occasions, the second as late as six hours into the race.

One of Porsche's baby prototypes had a short spell in the lead, too, while the two Dyson Lolas proved once again that they had the pace to take the fight to the R10. Guy Smith split the Audis in the second hour and was just shaping up for a bid for the lead when he crashed heavily in the esses, while the second Dyson car set fastest lap in the hands of James Weaver and was running third, on the same lap as the R10s, when it went out with engine failure in the sixth hour.

The end of Dyson's bid for the win coincided with a renewed challenge from Zytek. The British prototype's ability to double-stint its tires, something Audi never achieved in the heat of the battle, allowed Johansson briefly into the lead. The ex-Ferrari Formula One driver was running between the two R10s when a blowout on the back straight sent him to the pits for new rubber and rear bodywork repairs.

Audi and the factory Champion team were now in control, though this race was far from over.

There wasn't much difference between the two Audis' performances through the whole race. McNish held the upper hand initially, only for Capello to drop behind Frank Biela when the latter took on less fuel at the first driver change. The positions swapped back the other way two stops later, courtesy of a quick in-lap for Capello and a minor delay while the sister car's radiators were cleared of debris.