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BOWMANVILLE, ONTARIO, CANADA (September 3, 2005) -
Team ADT Champion Racing will start tomorrow's 2:45 minute race from the
second row for the 8th round of the American Le Mans Series race held
this weekend at Mosport International Raceway. Marco Werner qualified
the No. 1 Audi R8 at 1:07.989 seconds and the sister R8 driven by Frank
Biela was just a scant slower coming in fourth position with a time of
1.08.165 seconds.
Mosport holds the distinction of being the fastest American Le Mans
Series venue along the world-class sports car trail. In August of 2002,
Audi R8 pilot Frank Biela established the qualifying mark of 131.793 mph
in a record setting 1.07.169 seconds. Biela has two wins here while
Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner each have one win. Pirro will not soon
forget Mosport after a grinding last lap crash during the race in 2002
and a similar incident in 2001.
Champion Racing has yet to win a race on the notorious 2.459-mile, 10
turn road course and even though JJ Lehto won here in 2001 driving a BMW
M3 in the GT class (currently GT2 class) Lehto has yet to win in a
prototype and specifically, an Audi R8.
The Grand Prix of Mosport is set for 3 p.m. EDT Sept. 4 at Mosport
International Raceway, with live coverage on SPEED Channel. Qualifying
is scheduled for 2:45 p.m. EDT Saturday. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA
Live Timing & 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:
"This is about what we expected. I would have been surprised if we were
in the front row. Two Dyson cars in the front row and then two Audis. We
are where we are and there is very little difference between the cars
anyway as the four LMP1 cars are less than half a second apart. The car
is not perfect so we will work on that tomorrow but we feel good about
our tire choice."
Marco Werner (D). Age: 38. Born: Dortmund, Germany. Lives: Ermatingen,
Switzerland:
"I am happy with the lap time as it was the quickest for us this
weekend. I'm not happy with the position, as it would have been better
to be in the front row between the Dyson cars. James Weaver (Dyson) is
in front of me so that means it will be a hard game at the beginning of
the race. The car is running better and better each time so I am sure it
will be fine tomorrow."
TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #2
Frank Biela (D). Age: 40. Born: Neuss, Germany. Lives: Monte Carlo,
Monaco:
"I'm not very happy because I gave a little bit away in the beginning. A
few hundredths here, a few hundredths there and at the end I couldn't
bring it all together for a good lap. Whether this would have been
enough to beat Marco, I don't know. But as a driver, when you know you
don't get the maximum amount possible from the car, you are
disappointed. Today it was not about the car, it was about me so that is
why I am not very happy."
Emanuele Pirro (It). Age: 43. Born: Rome, Italy. Lives: Monte Carlo,
Monaco:
"I am quite happy because we are very close to the first three cars. We
are used to starting in fourth position so it doesn't bother me at all.
The race is long and position is more a question of pride than anything.
Frank is happy with the car so I feel optimistic. We have in mind that
we don't have to win the race but we have to look for the Championship.
Finishing is most important to us now."
DRIVERS CLASS TEAM TIME DIFF.
3) C.Dyson/A.Wallace LMP1 Dyson Racing 1:07.682
1) J.Weaver/B.Leitzinger LMP1 Dyson Racing 1:07.883 0.201
2 J.Lehto/M.Werner LMP1 ADT Champion Racing 1:07.989 0.307
4) E.Pirro/F.Biela/ LMP1 ADT Champion Racing 1:08.165 0.483
5) C.Field/L.Halliday LMP2 Intersport Racing 1:10.355 2.673 |
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