ALMS first impressions of Long Beach

The cars and many of the stars of the American Le Mans Series have gotten their first taste of the Long Beach circuit in southern California. Thirty-four drivers entered in Saturday's race came into Friday having never driven on the famed street circuit. Here are some of their thoughts following Friday morning's practice:

Jan Magnussen, Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R
"The track is very small (tight) and it's very bumpy. There's not enough time to set up the car properly, but we'll be OK. I like this course. It's going to be fun."

Sascha Maassen, Penske Motorsports Porsche RS Spyder
"There is not a lot of time to get set up. Ryan will qualify so I gave him the most time in the session. Our team together here doesn't have a lot of experience, but we're coming along quickly and nicely. The car is looking great."

Rinaldo Capello, Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDI
"The car is ready to go but we still have some time during qualifying to improve it," said Dindo Capello. "But we're still looking good." "The track is very good. We're going need to get used to it. It's new for us. I didn't get so many laps because of the red flag. After that we made a change so I only got six or seven laps. The car is ready to go but we still have some time during qualifying to improve it. But we're still looking good."

Emanuele Pirro, Audi Sport North America, Audi R10 TDI
"We haven't had enough time on the track, it's barely more than an orientation. It's going to be a big guess. Not a lot of technique involved in the setup, so experience will play a big role. I guess we're going have to introduce ourselves before we can get more time on the track. It's a big car for this track, but every straight here we'll have an advantage."

The Grand Prix of Long Beach, Round 3 of the 2007 American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 4 p.m. PT on Saturday, April 14. SPEED will provide same-day broadcast coverage from 8 to 10:30 p.m. ET. MotorsTV in Europe, SPEED Latin America and 7TV in Russia will carry the race live. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.