Texas Motor Speedway, Sunday, 4 March
Andy Wallace and Dorsey Schroeder brought Champion
Racing's Audi R8 Le Mans Prototype home to 4th place overall Sunday at the American
Le Mans Series season-opener at Texas Motor Speedway, barely one week after
the car arrived in the United States.
Wallace had qualified the colorful 2000-spec Audi in 4th spot, during cold and
damp conditions, but race day dawned sunny and much warmer than it had been
all week. He had a quick and steady run in the early going, holding off Frank
Biela in the 2001 Joest Audi for many laps, as Biela charged through the field
from last place, where the car had started due to its qualifying time being
disallowed.
Later in the exciting race, Andy had quite a running battle with the 2001-spec
Panoz of Jan Magnussen, and later in the race Dorsey did a superb job of maintaining
position against the onslaught of two different Panoz's. A late-race pitstop
for fuel on Brabham's Panoz nearly allowed Dorsey to get past into third (and
possibly an Audi 1-2-3 race finish), but Brabham's stop was quick enough that
he returned to the track just yards ahead of the charging Schroeder, and the
Panoz held on for the third podium spot.
Andy Wallace's comments after the race, "It was a great experience
to drive the Champion Audi R8. It's a superb machine, and although we hadn't
had an oportunity to try the car before arriving at the Texas track, we were
immediately competitive. Of course it would have been nice to have scored a
podium position in the race, but considering our lack of experience with the
car, 4th place was an excellent result. The Team got to grips with their new
machine very well, and I can't wait until the Sebring 12 hours next week!"
Team-owner, Dave Maraj, and the whole Champion crew are quite pleased
with the good Texas finish, particularly with such a new and unfamiliar (to
us) car, which ran nearly trouble-free. The team and drivers alike have learned
a tremendous amount about the car now that they've actually raced it, and everyone
has their list of tasks to be completed once the car returns to Champion's south-Florida
shops. Just a few days to do it all though, as technical inspections for the
next round, the 12 Hours of Sebring, get underway at the end of this week.
With Sebring being Champion's "home track", the team will be working harder
than ever to secure a podium spot in the very demanding enduro on the rough
Sebring circuit. This year's 12 Hours will be broadcast live, flag-to-flag,
on Speedvision.
Andy Wallace and Dorsey Schroeder brought Champion
Racing's Audi R8 Le Mans Prototype home to 4th place overall Sunday at the American
Le Mans Series season-opener at Texas Motor Speedway, barely one week after
the car arrived in the United States.
Wallace had qualified the colorful 2000-spec Audi in 4th spot, during cold and
damp conditions, but race day dawned sunny and much warmer than it had been
all week. He had a quick and steady run in the early going, holding off Frank
Biela in the 2001 Joest Audi for many laps, as Biela charged through the field
from last place, where the car had started due to its qualifying time being
disallowed.
Later in the exciting race, Andy had quite a running battle with the 2001-spec
Panoz of Jan Magnussen, and later in the race Dorsey did a superb job of maintaining
position against the onslaught of two different Panoz's. A late-race pitstop
for fuel on Brabham's Panoz nearly allowed Dorsey to get past into third (and
possibly an Audi 1-2-3 race finish), but Brabham's stop was quick enough that
he returned to the track just yards ahead of the charging Schroeder, and the
Panoz held on for the third podium spot.
Andy Wallace's comments after the race, "It was a great experience
to drive the Champion Audi R8. It's a superb machine, and although we hadn't
had an oportunity to try the car before arriving at the Texas track, we were
immediately competitive. Of course it would have been nice to have scored a
podium position in the race, but considering our lack of experience with the
car, 4th place was an excellent result. The Team got to grips with their new
machine very well, and I can't wait until the Sebring 12 hours next week!"
Team-owner, Dave Maraj, and the whole Champion crew are quite pleased
with the good Texas finish, particularly with such a new and unfamiliar (to
us) car, which ran nearly trouble-free. The team and drivers alike have learned
a tremendous amount about the car now that they've actually raced it, and everyone
has their list of tasks to be completed once the car returns to Champion's south-Florida
shops. Just a few days to do it all though, as technical inspections for the
next round, the 12 Hours of Sebring, get underway at the end of this week.
With Sebring being Champion's "home track", the team will be working harder
than ever to secure a podium spot in the very demanding enduro on the rough
Sebring circuit. This year's 12 Hours will be broadcast live, flag-to-flag,
on Speedvision.
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Under pressure from Panoz