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 3 Aug -
Reigning Speed GT World
Challenge champion Michael Galati upheld Champion Racing’s honor in
an eventful seventh round of the Speed GT World Challenge today at
Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis.
Galati
steered his Audi RS 6 Competition home in to a fine second place -
his best result of the season - just 1.1-secs behind winner Mike
Fitzgerald (Porsche) in the 18-lap race which finished under full
course yellow.
Meanwhile team-mate
Randy Pobst, who had
led the early laps around the famous 4.048-mile, 14-turn track, was
registered with 21st position - four laps down - after a
steering problem dropped him out of third place. Pobst drops from
second to third in the standings.
 Randy started
the 72-mile race third on the 24-car grid with Galati on the fourth
row but Pobst blasted his way in to the lead at the green light and
led until Fitzgerald, Bill Auberlen (BMW), and Hans Stuck (BMW)
muscled past on lap six dropping him to fourth, two places ahead of
Galati.
Pobst slipped
ahead of Stuck on the next lap but Randy went wide and in to the
gravel at Turn 12 on the 11th lap. He returned to the
pits for repairs but the hood then worked loose as Pobst exited the
pits, necessitating Randy to get out of his car to secure it
himself.
Galati was
sixth at the re-start but benefited when first Stuck lost places on
lap 16, then when Auberlen, still running second to Fitzgerald, was
given a stop-go penalty for a re-start infringement. Michael then
demoted Michael McCann (Viper) and Phil McClure (Corvette) on the
penultimate lap.
The 10-race
series takes a one-month break before the next race at Laguna Seca,
Monterey, CA., on 7 September.
 Michael Galati:
“That was one
incredible race. I made a good start but the brakes had lost their
bite by one-third distance and I went in to the gravel at one
stage. But thankfully the full course yellow allowed me to cool off
the brakes and I got past McCann and then McClure. We’re getting
there and the Audi has bags more potential.”
Randy Pobst:
“The Audi’s quattro traction
allowed me to take the lead but the other guys quickly caught me.
Then something caused me to go straight-on at Canada Corner. I got
back to the pits where the boys made repairs only for the hood to
fly open. I secured that myself but then had to make another stop.”
2003 Speed GT World Challenge
– Driver’s Standings (after 7 races)
1 Bill Auberlen (BMW M3),
181-points
2 Phil McClure
(Corvette Z06), 163
3 Randy Pobst (Audi RS 6
Competition), 160
4 Mike Fitzgerald (Porsche
911), 136
5 Hans Stuck (BMW M3), 134
6 Boris Said (BMW M3), 128
9 Michael Galati (Audi RS 6
Competition), 94
2003 Speed GT World Challenge
– Manufacturers’ Standings (after 7 races)
1 BMW, 43
2 Audi, 35
3 Porsche, 28
4 Chevrolet,
27
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