TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING FACES TOUGH COMPETITION DURING QUALIFYING AT LAGUNA SECA
MONTEREY, CA. (October 14, 2005) - New entries in the American Le Mans Series have proven to be a challenge for Team ADT Champion Racing as they contest their 10th and final ALMS race at Laguna Seca Raceway. Frank Biela qualified the No.2 Audi R8 in 4th position while Marco Werner driving the No. 1 Audi qualified in 6th position. The Zytek car from England, which first appeared at Petit Le Mans, returned and once again took the pole position. As expected the very strong Dyson Team claimed the 2nd and 3rd spots on the grid. The unknown this weekend was the factory Porsche car, which split the two Audis. The Porsche RS Spyder is an LMP2 car and is the first car to be purpose built and developed by an automobile manufacturer to suit the new 2006 Sports Prototype regulations. Because it competes in the LMP2 class it is allowed to weigh 150 kilograms less than the multiple winning Audi R8 (class LMP1), which has won 61 of its 74 races to date. The Audi R8 remains unbeaten at Laguna Seca (since 2000) and it is now up to the experience of the drivers coupled with the reliability and consistency of the Audi R8 to continue this important winning streak. Two other important facts are 1) Lehto/Werner are three points behind Lola driver Chris Dyson going into the finale and have a great chance of taking the runner-up spot in the championship and 2) Audi only needs a single point to take the Manufacturers' crown. The final round of the 2005 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships on October 15 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The race is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. PDT October 15, with SPEED TV broadcasting the race from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. EDT October 16. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing and Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com. DRIVER QUOTES: TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #1 JJ Lehto (Fin). Age: 39. Born: Espoo, Finland. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco: "I wasn't really expecting we could go much faster. Marco has been struggling today with the understeering and I guess we had the same problem just now during qualifying. Being 4th and 6th on the grid makes it very interesting. Everybody has been saying they need to penalize the Audi because of the speed but if you look at the other cars and how fast they are during qualifying, it really it should be the other way around. It will be another race where consistency is a major factor in winning." Marco Werner (D). Age: 38. Born: Dortmund, Germany. Lives: Ermatingen, Switzerland: "I'm very disappointed with this position. I've been struggling with the understeering all day today but hopefully we can figure it out before tomorrow's race. It's not been the easiest year for JJ and me this year so a win at Laguna Seca would help redeem our spirits." TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #2 Frank Biela (D). Age: 40. Born: Neuss, Germany. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco: "We did some good set-up work today which really paid off for us. The time gap to the front is of course a little big but we knew the Zytek car would be fast again. It's a long race and I think it looks good for us tomorrow." Emanuele Pirro (It). Age: 43. Born: Rome, Italy. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco: "Frank did a really good job today. The Audi R8 has been performing well all weekend. Again we are not the fastest car but I'm very confident to be good at the end. The R8 has always proven to be a very solid car, which gives us really good hopes for another possible win. We will race with the minds clearer and not under pressure for the Championship so I am looking forward to an enjoyable but tough competition and race." DRIVERS CLASS TEAM TIME DIFF. 1) H.Shimoda/T.Chilton LMP1 Zytek Engineering 1:14.185* 2) J.Weaver/B.Leitzinger LMP1 Dyson Racing 1:14.906 0.721 3) C.Dyson/A.Wallace LMP1 Dyson Racing 1:14.991 0.806 4) E.Pirro/F.Biela/ LMP1 ADT Champion Racing 1:15.392 1.207 5) S.Maassen/L.Luhr LMP2 Penske Motorsports 1:15.606* 1.421 6) J.Lehto/M.Werner LMP1 ADT Champion Racing 1:15.739 1.554 *New qualifying lap record For more information on Audi motorsports visit www.audiusa.com. For more information on Champion Racing, visit www.championracing.net.