CROSS-COUNTRY BIKE TRIP 'VERY GOOD SO FAR' FOR BIELA, LEHTO
Braselton, Ga. - No traffic, no weather, no problems, no worries. That was the report from Frank Biela and JJ Lehto on Thursday, the third day of their cross-country trip on motorcycle from Connecticut to California. The two Champion Racing Audi drivers are making the 3,000-mile journey in a week from Lime Rock Park to San Francisco, where they will stay for the Infineon Technologies Grand Prix of Sonoma Presented by Ravenswood Winery, Round 5 of the 2005 American Le Mans Series.
"It's very good so far. We've done 1,100 miles," Biela said as the two were stopped near Des Moines, Iowa, for a short break. "We did 318 on Tuesday and 670 Wednesday. It's going really well. No pain, no problems on the bike."
Biela and Lehto are trying to do an average of 400-500 miles per day. They were hoping to hit the halfway point late Thursday and dine with other members of the Champion Racing crew, who are driving team transporters to Infineon.
"We just wanted to do some serious miles in the beginning and see what's possible to do," Lehto said. "We did 14 hours running yesterday, and I thought I had messed up a coil or plug on the bike. But it's running well."
Biela and Lehto have seen sleepy little villages and have gone through major cities like Cleveland and Chicago. They were struck by the changes in landscape along the route of their journey.
"Chicago was a mess. We got lucky with the traffic and didn't get caught up in that," Lehto said. "Connecticut and Pennsylvania have a lot of mountains and green. Now it's really flat in Iowa."
The next race for the American Le Mans Series is the Infineon Technologies Grand Prix of Sonoma presented by Ravenswood Winery, set for 11 a.m. PDT on July 17 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif. CBS Sports will have television coverage from 3 to 5 p.m. EDT. American Le Mans Radio and Live Timing and Scoring can be found at www.americanlemans.com.