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FIRST PLACE - Sunday, June 27, 2004
at 17:47
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LEXINGTON, OH. (June 27, 2004) - JJ Lehto, the "Flying Finn" and Marco Werner "Rising Star" gave Dave Maraj and Team ADT Champion Racing their first place win of the season today during the 2:45 minute American Le Mans Series race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Werner driving the #38 Audi R8 started in second position on the grid. As the 26 cars headed toward the green flag, pole sitter Butch Leitzinger's MG Lola experienced engine problems and pulled off course prior to reaching the green flag. Werner quickly moved in and claimed the lead. Twenty-three minutes later, Werner was passed by his only remaining rival on the track, the sister Dyson car driven by Andy Wallace.
As Werner was chasing the leader through traffic, his LMP1 Prototype came into contact with a slower LMP2 prototype. Werner and the Audi R8 managed to come through that incident unscathed. "I went outside and he came too much to the outside, my outside," said Werner. "He spun into me but luckily my car was still okay."
Just a few laps later both teams would pit. Thanks to the experienced and talented crew of Champion Racing, Lehto left the pits in first position. Lehto drove a consistent race all the way to the checkered flag giving his team the first win of the season, as well as earning himself his 15th career win.
The team will quickly pack up and head to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut to compete just one week from today. Lime Rock will be another new circuit for Marco Werner as well as for his teammate, JJ Lehto.
Marco Werner (Germany). "The team did a great job, just like they did in Sebring and in Le Mans. But this weekend we were a little more lucky which is an important thing in racing. I hope we can do the same next weekend at Lime Rock."
JJ Lehto (Finland). "It's nice because we have been a little bit unlucky the last couple of races. It was nice to win and now the guys know how to win again and everybody is really happy and looking forward to going to Lime Rock. It was tough racing in the beginning and unfortunately the Dyson car (#16) had some problems and couldn't give us the challenge we know they could give us. For sure it will be much tougher in Lime Rock."
Brad Kettler (Technical Director). "This is wonderful for the guys, really wonderful for the whole team. Especially after being a little bit disappointed with what happened at Le Mans. It's good to come here back to our own Championship and be victorious. We really saw a lot out of the Dyson cars today and we know we're going to have to fight them hard for anything we get from here on out. It was a little unfortunate that the #16 car (Dyson) couldn't race with us because it would have really been a great race for the spectators. I'm extremely excited."
1) J. Lehto/M. Werner ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 LMP1
2) C. Dyson/A. Wallace Dyson Racing Lola EX257 LMP1
3) R. Fellows/J. O'Connell Corvette Racing Corvette C5-R GTS
5) O. Gavin/O. Beretta Corvette Racing Corvette C5-R GTS
5) C. Field/R. Liddell Intersport Racing Lola B2K/40 LMP2
For more information on Audi's motorsports program, visit www.audiusa.com. For more information on Champion Racing, visit www.championracing.net.
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