Tuning Truck

Mark your calendars, folks: September 26, 2009 is the date of the "Icons of Speed & Style" auction, hosted by RM Auctions in Los Angeles. Among the beauties on the block: the outstanding 1850 'Boothill Express' Custom Show Rod (at left), "based on the 1850s funeral coach that reportedly carried James Gang member Bob Younger to his grave", and the legendary Road Agent, designed by Ed "Big Daddy" Roth. Best of all: every rod is offered with no reserve. So...is it too early to

Conducted and provided by Renault's press office.

Q. Bob, the team endured a tough weekend in Turkey. Was the result a fair reflection of the team's competitiveness?

Bob Bell: I don't feel it was a completely true picture of where we are at the moment. Fernando had some issues in qualifying with tyre warm-up and didn't get the perfect lap which hurt his grid position. Had he started higher up, he probably could have avoided some of the traffic after his first pit-stop and scored some points. With Nelson also having problems

Q. How is the race going for you so far?

Allan McNish: Obviously the pole car is very quick, we knew that from qualifying. We didn't quite have the balance we were hoping for at the start of the race, but you've got to remember that half a lap came with the safety car, so some of the difference is out of our control and some of it isn't.

I'd just pulled into the pitlane when the safety car boards came out. It was frustrating but there's very little you can do about it so there's no point

Q. How do you feel about racing an LMP1 at Le Mans?

Darren Turner: I'm just looking forward to it. It has been a very good experience over the last six years with the GT1 car and having two wins has been the icing on the cake. But this is like a whole new chapter for me.

Q. Does it feel like you are doing it for the first time?

DT: No. This time I feel so relaxed. I know we are racing in LMP1 and we are up against Audi and Peugeot, but when we came here with the

Q. You're in what is thought of as the junior Audi again, but is there enough experience in the #3 line-up to believe you can win the race?

Alexandre Premat: I am maybe more junior than them. It is my third participation at Le Mans but actually it's only my second because the first year I didn't drive because of Rocky [Mike Rockenfeller's crash]. So last year was my first real experience of Le Mans.

We are maybe thought of as the junior team again because I'm still there, but actually Timo

Q. You have already said that Peugeot's protest and subsequent appeal has not affected Audi's pre-race preparations, but is it damaging for the event as a whole to have these doubts cast during the week of the race?

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich: This is a one off, and this comes because one company has decided to go down this route. I think we should not put the whole system under questionmark because of that. The Le Mans 24 Hours is not the very first time that something happened because in any race there can

Epsilon Euskadi boss Joan Villadelprat was confident his team had every chance to be included on the list of entrant for the 2010 Formula 1 championship.

The Spaniard, however, was disappointed to find his team was not on it.

But Villadelprat told AUTOSPORT he is not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

Q. What is your reaction to today's decision?

Joan Villadelprat: I'm a bit surprised because I thought we were fighting against Aston Martin, and Lola, and companies with a pedigree, if you

Timo Bernhard and his regular team-mate Romain Dumas have spent the last few years racing against Audi in the American Le Mans Series. But for this weekend, the works Porsche drivers have been loaned out to Audi to join Alexandre Premat in the #3 R15 TDi for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Bernhard talked to AUTOSPORT about settling in to his new team, getting up to speed in the diesel-powered LMP1 car and his expectations for the race tomorrow.

Q. It must be quite an experience coming here with Audi and having the opportunity to win Le