LE MANS, France. (June 5, 2005) - Team ADT
Champion Racing (Pompano Beach, FL) had their work cut out for
them today during the traditional pre-practice test for the 73rd
running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite this year's
handicaps to both Audi R8's (50 additional kilograms of weight,
power reduced by 30hp), the team managed to use the practice
session to find the best set-up to maneuver the 8.625-mile
circuit de la Sarthe.
Piloting the No. 3 Audi R8, drivers JJ Lehto and Marco Werner
managed a best time of 3:38.719 placing them in the fourth
fastest position of the 50 cars that tested. This year's time is
4.5 seconds slower than last year's practice time of 3:34:176
due solely to the additional weight and the reduced engine
power.
After a rough morning session, the No. 2 Audi, the sister car
driven by three time Le Mans winners Frank Biela and Emanule
Pirro, finished their day under wet conditions and found
themselves eighth in order with a time of 3:39.418.
Missing from today's practice session was the third driver for
each car, Tom Kristensen who will join the No. 3 Audi with Lehto
and Werner and Allan McNish who will team up with the No. 2 car
with drivers Pirro and Biela. Both Kristensen and McNish could
not attend the test session as they were competing in the DTM
race that was held in the Czech Republic.
Despite the new regulations, the goal for Team ADT Champion
Racing is the same: to clinch their first 24 Hours of Le Mans
victory and give Audi it's fifth Le Mans victory. This won't be
easy due to the handicaps however the R8's reliability, ease of
servicing the car and the low fuel consumption of the Turbo FSI
engine should give Champion Racing a good chance. Most important
this year will be the performance by the teams and the drivers.
Perfection will be the essential.
The 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most
famous endurance race, will be run June 18-19 at the Circuit de
La Sarthe in Le Mans, France. SPEED Channel will provide TV
coverage starting at 10:00 am EDT on June 18.
DRIVER QUOTES:
TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #1
JJ Lehto (Fin). Age: 39. Born: Espoo, Finland. Lives: Monte
Carlo, Monaco:
"Today is what we expected. We knew we were going to be slow
although six seconds is quite a lot. But that's one lap time and
the race is 24 hours so will need to rely on the reliability of
the R8, not the speed. But everything else has to go right as
well. The car is running as good as it can under the
circumstances so team work and strategy and finishing the full
24 hours will be what will help us to win."
Marco Werner (D). Age: 38. Born: Dortmund, Germany. Lives:
Ermatingen, Switzerland:
"We are happy for the moment to be in the 4th position. We
thought before that we might be as far back as 6th or 7th
position but despite some of our struggles, we managed a good
position. We hope that we can find a little bit more during the
practice of race week and we can make a little step forward. We
have more work to do as this is not our best."
DRIVERS CAR TIME DIFF.
1) E.Collard/JC.Boullion/E.Comas Pescarolo Judd 3:32.468
2) S.Loeb/E.Helary/S.Ayari Pescarolo Juded 3:35.893 3.425
3) J.Cochet/S.Nakano/B.Jouanny Courage Judd 3:37.674 5.206
4) JJ.Lehto/M.Werner Audi R8 3:38.719 6.251
5) R.Michigami/S.Ara/K.Kaneishi Dome Mugen 3:38.875 6.407
6) M.Short/J.Barbosa/V.Ickx Dallara Judd 3:38.976 6.508
7) F.Montagny/JM.Gounon/S.Oretelli Audi R8 3:39.060 6.592
8) E.Pirro/F.Biela Audi R8 3:39.418 6.950
