SONOMA, CA. (July 16, 2005) - Today's twenty-minute American Le Mans Series qualifying session for the Infineon Technologies Grand Prix of Sonoma took place under extreme heat conditions. Outside air temperature was 101 degrees and the track temperature was a fiery 145 degrees. Despite the debilitating conditions, JJ Lehto, qualifier for the No. 1 Audi R8, managed to break last year's qualifying record set by his teammate Marco Werner, but found himself shy by 0.073 of a second from pole setter Andy Wallace from Dyson Racing. The No. 2 Champion Racing Audi R8 driven by Emanuele Pirro also beat last year's qualifying record but will start fourth tomorrow on the grid.

Defending race and series champions JJ Lehto and Marco Werner, teammates in the No. 1 Champion Racing Audi R8, are on a two-race winning streak in the Audi, having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the New England Grand Prix two weeks ago at Lime Rock Park. Lehto is also going for his fourth career American Le Mans victory at Infineon Raceway. He won last year with Werner in the Audi R8, in 2001 with Jorg Muller in a BMW M3 GTR and in 1999 with Steve Soper in a BMW V12 LMR.

The No. 2 Champion Racing Audi R8 of Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela posted the fastest time during two of three practice sessions but opted to qualify on race tires set up for tomorrow's expected cooler temperatures versus a different set of tires that might have given them a faster time but not the longevity needed for the 2:45 minute race. The duo has yet to achieve a victory in the first five rounds of the American Le Mans Series and anxiously looks forward to tomorrow's race to showcase their winning talents.

"We had some very good sessions prior to qualifying and then during qualifying the balance of the car shifted too much," said Graham Taylor, Race Engineer for the No. 2 Audi R8. "We wanted to compete for the front row but it was a difficult choice for tires because qualifying was at 4:00 p.m. and the race will start tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. and there is going to be something like 30 degrees difference in track temperature. I do believe we have an excellent race car and we proved at Lime Rock that we can make the right strategy calls."

DRIVER QUOTES:

TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #1

JJ Lehto (Fin). Age: 39. Born: Espoo, Finland. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco:

"We had a lot of problems yesterday with the car. A lot of under steering and we were out of balance so we have been working really hard since then to correct the problems. I do think we chose the right tires for the race. For sure they were not the best for the qualifying but they will work for the race. They will give us good consistency. We still will need to work during tomorrow's practice session on set-up but no one can deny that today's qualifying time was very good."

Marco Werner (D). Age: 38. Born: Dortmund, Germany. Lives: Ermatingen, Switzerland:

"I watched the qualifying session from the outside of the track at the Carousel. I didn't know the lap times but I could see that JJ was pushing hard. It was close but not enough to get the pole but still, he did a great job. It's not a shame to be second."

TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #2

Frank Biela (D). Age: 40. Born: Neuss, Germany. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco:

"I think after the three good practice sessions we had we cannot say we are happy with today's qualifying time. The car has been very good but we chose different tires for the qualifying session. The problem is that tomorrow morning it will be much cooler so we had to find a compromise between today's heat and tomorrow's cooler temperatures. In the end though, we will have a good tire for tomorrow's race."

Emanuele Pirro (It). Age: 43. Born: Rome, Italy. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco:

"The qualifying times are very close so I am a little disappointed with the position. I was not expecting at all to do as fast of a time as I did. We made a tire choice in function for the race, not the qualifying session. I still believe that our tire choice is a good choice for the race and we have a good shot for the win."

DRIVERS CLASS TEAM TIME DIFF.

1) C.Dyson/A.Wallace LMP1 Dyson Racing 1:21.688*

2) J.Lehto/M.Werner LMP1 ADT Champion Racing 1:21.761 0.073

3) J.Weaver/B.Leitzinger LMP1 Dyson Racing 1:21.981 0.293

4) E.Pirro/F.Biela/ LMP1 ADT Champion Racing 1:22.056 0.368

5) C.Field/L.Halliday LMP2 Intersport Racing 1:25.290 3.602

*New qualifying record

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MEDIA CONTACT: Melissa Grunnah, Audi Sport North America Public Relations

(678) 556-0611

Melissa Grunnah

Press Officer

Audi Sport North America/Champion Racing Tel. (678) 556-0611 Fax (678) 556-0785 Cell (678) 642-5795 mgrunnah@charter.net