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Team ADT Champion Racing
successfully completed their
first practice session for this
weekend’s 53rd running of the 12
Hours of Sebring at Sebring
International Raceway.
While the Audi R8 remained
consistent in performance, track
conditions deteriorated
significantly throughout the
day. High winds, dry
conditions and blowing dust
slowed the pace from the morning
session to the afternoon
session.
JJ Lehto, the ‘Flying Finn”, set
the fastest time of the day in
the morning session with a time
of 1:49.723 (121.397 mph).
The sister car driven by
Emanuele Pirro scored the second
fastest time at 1:50.055
(121.030 mph) during the same
session.
Tom Kristensen (Audi R8 #1) and
Allan McNish (#2) have yet to
have seat time as both Audi
“works” drivers arrive today
from testing in Spain for AUDI
AG’s involvement in DTM, the
German Touring car series.
The 53rd annual Mobil
1 Twelve Hours of Sebring will
get the green flag at 10:45 a.m.
on Saturday, March 19, and will
be televised live from 10:30
a.m. – 11:00 p.m. by SPEED
Channel. The American Le
Mans Series Radio Web will have
also have live coverage online
at www.americanlemans.com.
DRIVER QUOTES FROM PRACTICE:
TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8
#1
JJ Lehto (Fin). Age: 39. Born:
Espoo, Finland. Lives: Monte
Carlo, Monaco:
12 Hours of Sebring – seventh
career appearance including 2005
“The car behaves really well but
we are still waiting for our new
tires from Michelin. The
track is the worse I have ever
seen. It’s really slippery
and especially with this wind,
it really messes up the car and
the balance a lot. But I
really don’t have any complaints
with the car.”
Marco Werner (D). Age: 38.
Born: Dortmund, Germany.
Lives: Kreuzlingen, Switzerland:
12 Hours of Sebring – third
career appearance including 2005
“The car is good but the track
is not, it’s very windy and
dusty today. We are about
three seconds off from the times
we did at testing in February.
We will work on this and see if
we can improve for tomorrow.”
TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8
#2
Frank Biela (D). Age: 40. Born:
Neuss, Germany. Lives: Monte
Carlo, Monaco:
12 Hours of Sebring – seventh
career appearance including 2005
“This is a new team for me,
first test and now first race
with Champion Racing and I can
honestly say I’m quite happy
with everything. The car
seems to be good. It’s
been very difficult to judge as
the conditions keep changing.
It’s been dry a lot, and now
very windy and therefore you
have a lot of dust on the
track.”
Emanuele Pirro (It). Age: 43.
Born: Rome, Italy. Lives: Monte
Carlo, Monaco:
12 Hours of Sebring – seventh
career appearance including 2005
“I’m quite happy so far with how
things are going. We’ve
done some experiments in the car
trying to find a good race
set-up. Frank and I have
similar comments to the car and
the car felt comfortable to
drive. The crew is working
well so I am quite optimistic
right now.”
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