BRASELTON,
Ga. (September 24, 2004) - The Audi Certified Champion RS 6 and S4
team gave their best efforts during today's 50-minute SPEED World
Challenge GT sprint race but nothing the crew nor drivers did could
overcome the recent restrictions put upon the Champion Racing team
from Pompano Beach, FL
Michael Galati and Peter Cunningham, drivers
of the Audi RS 6s, were grid 12th and 13th for the standing start.
Galati, empowering the all-wheel-drive quattro traction system, dove
to the outside and used the grassy strip to make up some much needed
positioning. Cunningham followed suit and both went into Turn 1 side
by side with Galati finally taking the advantage. The two would
maintain their positions throughout much of the race and actually gain
a few spots due to attrition. The ultimate result was one of the
lowest finishes for Audi and Champion Racing in the SPEED World
Challenge GT Series in their five year history.
Randy Pobst, grid last due to a mistake in
weight adjustment, fought his way up from 30th position to 13th
position. The Audi S4 was fast in the straights but since the car has
sat idle for nearly two years, it lacked sufficient suspension
performance.
Galati is still lead in the lead for the
Driver Championship by three points and Audi and Cadillac are now tied
at 48 points for the Manufacturers' Championship.
Today's
race will air at 1:00 pm (EDT), Sunday, September 26 on SPEED Channel.
Round Ten of the SCCA SPEED GT Championship
heads to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Oct. 15-17, as part of Fry's
Electronics Sports Car Championships.
Michael Galati (Olmstead, OH). "I had a great
start and then after that I was just trying to survive. I mean the
difference in speed, I felt like a Touring car on the straights. I
pushed real hard throughout the race. It was just too much for us to
overcome."
Randy Pobst (Gainesville, GA). "We brought
out the S4 as our secret weapon and while it performed extremely well,
it's still two years behind in suspension development. It still
however, was a pleasure to drive. The starts are still the same
though, great traction from the Audis."
Peter
Cunningham (West Bend, WI). "The Audi RS 6 handled great. We were just
in a whole different zip code when it came to the straights. Guys that
we were beating in the corners would come back and beat us down the
straight-aways. It was very frustrating. Otherwise the car braked
great and went around the corners great. The quattro traction is
amazing!"
2) Robin Liddell/Edinburgh Scotland Porsche
911 Cup 29 +.243
3) Lou Gigliotti/Dallas/TX Corvette Z06 29
+7.801
4) Phil McClure/Floris/IA Corvette Z06 29
+8.104
5) Tommy Archer/Duluth/MN Viper CompCoupe 29
+10.99
11) Peter Cunningham/W. Bend/WIAudi RS 6
29 +28.687
12) Michael Galati/Olmsted/OH Audi RS 6 29
+29.435
13) Randy Pobst/Gainesville/GA Audi RS 6
29 +30.562
Margin of Victory: 00.243 Seconds
Fastest Race Lap: Car #72 Phil McClure
01:29.374 102.311 MPH Overall Race: 49:11.379 73.66 Miles 89.848 MPH
