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SEBRING, Fl. (March 19, 2005)
– Team ADT Champion Racing led, dominated and succeeded in winning one
of the most prestigious sports car races in the world, the 12 Hours of
Sebring. The “privateer” team from Pompano Beach, Florida has been
second the last three years and was 3rd in 2001, their
inaugural year. This year the team commanded the win from start to
finish and in doing so continued the winning streak for the Audi R8 at
Sebring. This dominating win by Team ADT Champion Racing marks the
sixth consecutive victory for the Audi R8 at Sebring as well as the
closest racing finish in the history of the 53-year old race with a
6.365 second finish between the 1st and 2nd place
cars.
“I’m
very proud of the whole team, the drivers, the crew, even the caterers,”
said Dave Maraj, Owner of Champion Racing. “The cars are unbelievable.
Even if they are six years old they are still unbelievable. Thank you
Audi.”
Pole
sitter JJ Lehto led the field of 39 cars today at the season opener of
the 10 race American Le Mans Series. When the green flag was dropped at
10:45 am both Audi R8 cars charged into Turn 1 with Pirro edging out
Lehto for the lead. Pirro held the lead until he had contact with a
slower car, not once but twice during his first stint. “It was an
eventful first stint as a lot of things happened,” commented Pirro. “I
got two black flags which honestly, I did not deserve, especially the
first time. The guy was very wide and really left me a lot of room and
then for some reason he shut the door on me. He was off-line and
therefore you have to go for it.” Pirro was black flagged and served a
“stop and go” penalty for each instance.
Throughout the 12 hour race the Audi R8s performed flawlessly leaving it
up to the drivers and pit crews to decide who would be victorious. Hour
after hour the two teams jockeyed for position often pitting at the same
time. “I think this is indicative of how the season will go,” said Rod
Bymaster, Manager Audi Sport North America. “Those two cars are going
to go at each other for 10 races and it’s going to be a real interesting
season from that perspective because the drivers in both cars are
extremely competitive and they are going to want to win.”
In
the last 1˝ hours of the race, the Audis were a scant 6 seconds to 24
seconds apart. Again, any changes in order were either going to be
determined by the driver or the pit stop. Both teams performed their
pit stops well and the order remained the same. Tom Kristensen with
teammates JJ Lehto and Marco Werner would cross the finish line just
seconds ahead of the sister car. Dave Maraj and Team ADT Champion
Racing finally achieved the coveted top tier of the podium. Let the
celebrations begin…
The second round of
the American Le Mans Series takes place April 15-17 at Road Atlanta in
Braselton, Georgia. The two-hour, 45-minute timed race will be
televised live by CBS Sports. The American Le Mans Series Radio Web,
www.radiolemans.com,
will also supply flag to flag coverage.
TEAM ADT
CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #1
JJ Lehto (Fin). Age: 39. Born: Espoo, Finland. Lives: Monte Carlo,
Monaco:
2-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1999 and 2005)
“I’m so
glad that I was able to give Dave Maraj his first Sebring win. I’ve
been with them now for two years, this year going on three, and we have
been close many, many times here so it was just so perfect. The team
has grown so much since I joined them in 2003. They are getting bigger,
better, more professional. It’s just so nice to see the whole progress
they have been able to make and they really proved that they can be
factory level. They brought two highly competitive cars here and they
ran perfectly. They were so professional. Just what you would expect
from this team.”
Marco Werner (D). Age: 38.
Born: Dortmund, Germany.
Lives: Kreuzlingen, Switzerland:
2-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner (2003 and 2005)
“The first
win was important for me but this second win is important for the team.
I’m very happy that we did it for Champion Racing and for Audi again.
Everybody was great today and the car and tires were perfect. I think
we did everything in the right way and that’s the way you win.”
Tom
Kristensen (Den). Age: 37. Born: Hobro, Denmark. Lives: Monte Carlo,
Monaco:
3-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner (1999, 2000, 2005)
“It’s
Champion’s first win. That’s all that matters. We had a sterling
battle and the No. 2 car can be just as proud for being 2nd
as we are for winning it. It was really tough and in the end the battle
I had with Allan McNish was really good. I just stayed focused and we
got the win.”
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
“I think it’s a very good and important result for the team. It was a
great race, very competitive and good for the fans. At the end of the
day there is only one car that can win and that’s it. Maybe we have
another go next year. The performance of the guys was great. There
were no problems. It should be a very exciting season.”
Emanuele Pirro (It). Age: 43. Born: Rome, Italy. Lives: Monte Carlo,
Monaco:
12
Hours of Sebring – seventh career appearance including 2005
“I’m very
happy for ADT Champion Racing for their 1-2 finish at their home race.
I’m happy because we produced an incredibly competitive race. And I’m
happy because the car No.2 car with new crew and new driver formation
proved to be as competitive as the established car No. 1. It looks very
good for the future.”
Allan McNish (GB). Age: 35. Born: Dumfries, Scotland. Lives: Monte
Carlo, Monaco:
12 Hours of Sebring – third career appearance including 2005
“It was a
fantastic result for Champion Racing, a 1-2 finish. It’s Champion’s
first Sebring victory and I’m proud to be a part of it. It was a hard
fight between the two cars for all 12 hours and that’s the way it’s
supposed to be.”
Brad
Kettler, Technical Director, Team ADT Champion Racing.
“The way that the cars finished as well as they did is a testament to
what Dave Maraj has done. They ran flawlessly all day long. Those two
cars came out of Champion Racing and that just goes to show you the
level of cars that we can build there and the way we can run them. This
two-car team could have beaten any team in the world today. They were
incredible. It was just a little bit of tactic and a little bit of
experience that made the difference. . ”
Dr.
Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Motorsport. “This
was a big achievement today. It was a very special race today because
it was very tough to the very end. I’m very happy for Champion Racing.
They’ve been fighting for it for so long and they deserved this victory
for sure.”
DRIVERS CLASS
TEAM DIFF.
1)
J.Lehto/M.Werner/T.Kristensen LMP1 ADT Champion
Racing
2)
E.Pirro/F.Biela/A.McNish LMP1 ADT Champion Racing
6.365
3)
J.Weaver/A.Wallace/B.Leitzinger LMP1 Dyson
Racing 20 laps
4)
D.Brabham/D.Turner/S.Ortelli GT1 Aston Martin
23 laps
5)
R.Fellows/J.O’Connell/J.Magnussen GT1 Corvette Racing
24 laps
Margin of victory: 6.365
Time
of Race: 12:01:49.211 |
