Alex Job Racing - Petit Le Mans qualifying 1-2

Road Atlanta
qualifying, Oct. 11, 2002

first pole 

Alex Job Racing will start first and second in the GT class for Saturday's 
Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, after a perfectly executed qualifying session. 
 Jörg Bergmeister won his first American Le Mans Series GT pole position, 
driving the No. 22 McKenna Xybernaut Porsche he shares with Timo Bernhard and 
Marc Lieb.  He lapped the 2.54-mile road course in one minute 23.922 seconds. 
 Sascha Maassen was second in the No. 23 Porsche, in 1:24.068.

"Thank you to the team, they did a great job," Bergmeister said.  "It's my 
first pole in the ALMS and I'm really happy!  We put a little softer tire on 
the left rear, so I had to push from the beginning because I knew the tire 
would drop quite quickly.  My second lap when the tire was best, I had 
traffic, so I had to push even harder.  I was just pushing as hard as I 
could."

Bergmeister earned a bonus point for the pole, so he is tied with Bernhard 
for third place in the GT driver standings.  The team plans to have Lieb 
drive the most race laps to earn the final bonus point, leaving Bergmeister 
and Bernhard tied in final standings.  Maassen trails Luhr by one point, so 
he hopes to drive the most laps in the No. 23 car, so the two will be 
co-champions in the class.  Maassen had the challenge of being quick in 
qualifying, but not fast enough to win the pole, which would have given him 
one point too many.

"It was pretty difficult to judge my speed because we didn't have a reference 
lap in the car.  So I had to judge my speed and I did it right, but it wasn't 
just pure ability, there was a little bit of luck involved!" Maassen said.  
"We're on the front row, that was our goal for today.  We are in good shape 
for the race and for the championship, so I hope we continue with the program 
we have planned and then I'll hopefully be a happy man tomorrow."

soccer style

Five members of Alex Job Racing will play in the American Le Mans Series 
soccer match on Sunday.  Marc Lieb, Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen will join 
the driver squad, with Lieb in goal.  Ken Marino and Phil Pierce will play 
against them on the crew team.