THIRD CONSECTIVE WIN FOR TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING - Monday, July 19, 2004 at 09:55

Team ADT Champion Racing celebrated their third consecutive win in the American Le Mans Series today at the Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway. The #38 Audi R8 driven by teammates JJ Lehto and Marco Werner lead the 26 car field from green flag to checkered flag.


Marco Werner, who set a new track qualifying record, took control early in the race and basically never looked back. "In the beginning of the race I had a little pressure from Butch Leitzinger in the Dyson car," commented Werner. "But then I got in a good rhythm and kept pushing and created a good lead for us."


JJ Lehto took full advantage of the lead as he drove the second portion of the 2:45 minute race. "Marco and I stayed out of trouble, we had good pit stops, and we didn't have any mechanical problems," said Lehto. "The #16 car (Dyson) had been pushing us pretty hard until they unfortunately had some mechanical problems. Once that happened we just kept control of the race."


Team ADT Champion Racing will compete exactly one week from today, July 25, in the Portland Grand Prix at Portland International Raceway. The race will be televised on SPEED Channel at 4:00 pm, EDT. Live coverage can also be heard on the American Le Mans Series Radio Web at www.americanlemans.com.


Driver quotes:


JJ Lehto (Finland): "Marco did a great job in the beginning so I didn't have to push as hard as I normally do. Towards the end I pushed a little harder to gain an advantage for a splash and dash but overall I never needed to drive at 100 percent. I just stayed out of trouble and the result is another win for us."


Marco Werner (Germany): "It was a perfect weekend thanks to the ADT Champion guys and especially Michelin. The tires were very good this weekend. I had a really nice Sunday morning driving this great Audi on this beautiful track."


Brad Kettler (Technical Director): "I think today we won because the guys were very, very fast. Both JJ and Marco drove close to our qualifying times all race long. They both did a fantastic job today."


DRIVERS TEAM


TIME/DIFFERENCE


1) J. Lehto/M. Werner ADT Champion Racing 2:45:36.109


2) C. Dyson/A. Wallace Dyson Racing 1:03.169


3) J. Weaver/B. Leitzinger Dyson Racing 3 laps


4) R. Fellows/J. O'Connell Corvette Racing 5 laps


5) C.Field/R.Liddell/J. Field Intersport Racing 1:21.167


Margin of victory: 1:03.169


Time of Race: 2:45:36.109


Fastest Drivers:


LMP 1: JJ Lehto


LMP 2: Robin Liddell


GTS: Oliver Gavin


GT: Timo Bernhard


For more information on Champion Racing, please visit www.championracing.net. For more information on Audi's motorsport program, please visit www.audiusa.com.