06.07.2004 A battle-scarred Lamborghini Murcilago R-GT reached the finish line at Lime Rock yesterday thanks to a determined effort by the Krohn-Barbour Racing pit crew in difficult conditions

A battle-scarred Lamborghini Murcilago R-GT reached the finish line in the third round of the American Le Mans Series, the inaugural New England Grand Prix at Lime Rock, Connecticut, yesterday thanks to a determined effort by the Krohn-Barbour Racing pit crew in high humidity and 84-deg F heat.

The teams mechanics toiled and sweated to repair rear suspension damage, sustained when Lamborghini driver Peter Kox was the blameless victim of a collision with the rival Saleen S7R of Johnny Mowlem.

Five minutes before the collision, Dutchman Kox had taken over the Krohn-Barbour Racing car from Australian David Brabham, who ran strongly with the top three GTS-class runners in the opening stages of the race when the track was made greasy by light rain.

The pivotal point for the Lamborghini came 53 minutes into the two-hour 45-minute race. Mowlem attempted to pass the Krohn-Barbour Racing car by diving down the inside line going into turn one, a sharp right-hander, but he started his manoeuvre from too far back and the nose of the Saleen hit the right-rear corner of the Lamborghini hard. The Lamborghini's rear suspension was damaged, and Kox had to bring the car into the pits.

Working in difficult conditions, the Krohn-Barbour crew replaced a rear suspension wishbone and tidied-up tattered bodywork in a frantic 33 minutes. Kox regained the track, but had to pit again 17 minutes later. This time the crew worked for 24 minutes to replace a CV joint, also a legacy of the body-blow delivered by the Saleen.

Once more back on track, the Lamborghini ran through to the finish, covering 103 laps of the seven-turn, 1.54-mile Lime Rock circuit. Kox's fastest race lap, 54.232sec, was less than two seconds away from the best lap of the GTS class-winning Corvette of Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta, which completed 160 laps.

The other GM Racing Corvette of Ron Fellows/Johnny OConnell placed second in GTS, also on 160 laps, ahead of the Mowlem/Terry Borcheller Saleen (159 laps) and the Tom Weickardt/Jean-Phillipe Belloc Dodge Viper (149 laps). The Krohn-Barbour Racing Lamborghini was fifth in class, one week after coming within seven-tenths of a second of taking third place on its US racing debut at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Brabham said, "The cars still brand new compared to all the others, and that means there's heaps of development work ahead of us, but the way our lap times improved this weekend showed we are making some progress. When it was slippery [in the opening 12 minutes of the race], we were as quick as any of them.

Of Mowlem running into him, Kox said, "I knew he was there, behind me, but because I couldn't see him I also knew he wasn't close enough or committed enough to attempt to pass. I was already at the corners apex, then bang! It wasn't just a tap, he hit me really hard."

When Mowlem completed his on-track stint, he made the short walk to the Krohn-Barbour Racing pit to speak briefly with team manager Dick Barbour. He told me, "'Im sorry and I wont do it again," said Barbour. He said, "I screwed-up." I appreciate him having the honesty to do that.

Team co-founder Tracy Krohn commented, "Once again we finished the race, albeit a bit injured. The team performed admirably in the pits and got the car back out on the track. For reliability, the Lamborghinis good, its just unfortunate that [this weekend and last] we've taken a couple of hits."

Krohn-Barbour Racing will field two Lamborghinis in round four of the ALMS at Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California, on July 16-18. The car of Texan businessman Krohn and Canadian racer Scott Maxwell, damaged in a collision with a Porsche 911 GT3 in Friday testing before the Mid-Ohio race, is currently being rebuilt around a new chassis for that race.