hosted a gala press launch for their 2001 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) program,
where they will campaign the third of three Audi R8 Prototypes for the full
season. ALMS founder Don Panoz was on hand for the event, celebrating another
major entry in the full series. The launch party also celebrated the start of
the second year of their two-car Audi S4 Competition assault on the Speedvision
World Challenge.
R8 drivers Dorsey Schroeder and Andy
Wallace unveiled Champion's
colorful new R8, and S4 Competition drivers Derek Bell and
Michael
Galati were celebrating the kickoff of their second full year of
competion
in the Speedvision World Challenge GT class, where they had their first
overall
win at Las Vegas in 2000. Champion drivers past and present joined
members of
Audi Sport North America and Champion's full race team and guests as the
cars
competing in both series were unveiled amidst much fanfare.
Audi of America VP Len Hunt was on hand with a major announcement,
that Champion
would join in Audi's assault on the 2001 Le Mans 24-hour race as part of
a three-car
team. Dorsey Schroeder and Andy Wallace will contest the full 2001 ALMS
schedule
beginning with the opening round at Texas on 4th March, and will be
joined by
Ralf Kelleners at Sebring on 17 March. As Wallace has other commitments
for
Le Mans, Schroeder will be joined by Kelleners and Didier Theys for the
renowned
French enduro, to be held on 16-17 June.
Champion's R8 will also be present at the Le Mans pre-tests on 6th
May, where
the final entry and alternates will be selected for this year's race.
Due to
these substantial commitments in the team's first season, no rounds of
the European
Le Mans Series will be contested. Bell and Galati will spearhead the
Speedvision
World Challenge assault, which also begins at Texas on 4th March. Eight
of the
ten so-far announced rounds of the Speedvision World Challenge will run
parallel
with ALMS events this season.
Both Champion Audi Racing programs kick off their 2001 seasons at the
Leather Center
Grand Prix of Texas, 3-4 March, on the 2.323-mile Texas Motor Speedway
oval/road
course. The American Le Mans Series race will be televised live on
Speedvision
starting at 2pm Sunday, 4 March, and the Speedvision World Challenge GT
race
will be shown on Speedvision on a delayed basis, Friday, March 23 at
9pm. This
site will feature daily updates and photos from both race programs
during the
event. Live timing and scoring for the ALMS race can be found at
www.americanlemans.com.
See the Speedvision World Challenge website at
www.speedvisionwc.com
for more information about that series.
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2001 Champion Racing Audi R8