POMPANO BEACH (May 17, 2005) – Team ADT Champion Racing enters the third round of the American Le Mans Series at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio facing two challenges: 1) continue their winning streak in the American Le Mans Series and 2) utilize this weekend’s track time to simultaneously prepare for the upcoming 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in June.
Defending ALMS Driver Champions and current LMP 1 point leaders JJ Lehto (Finland) and Marco Werner (Germany), will focus primarily on continuing their winning streak in the No.1 Audi R8. With the recent win at Road Atlanta, Lehto matched the winning record previously set by Sascha Maasen for the most wins in ALMS history, 22. A victory at Mid-Ohio would make Lehto the all time winningest driver in ALMS history. Lehto’s teammate, Marco Werner, also has created quite a stir in the series as Werner made history by earning the best winning percentage (13 wins in 20 events) of any driver who has run more than one season in the American Le Mans Series. A win at Mid-Ohio would run Champion Audi No. 1's streak to three and place them among the favorites going into the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro drivers of the No. 2 Audi R8, hope to break their streak of bad luck and effectively challenge the sister car on the 2.25 mile, 13-turn road course. The No. 2 Audi R8 has just been shy of a win in the previous two races and now looks to earn their first victory in order to keep Biela and Pirro’s hopes alive for this year’s ALMS Driver Championship. It is just a matter of time and a little bit of good luck until the talented and skilled duo of Biela and Pirro prevails and brings home the checkered flag.
Two Audi Stars and Cars promotions will be held prior to the weekend race schedule. Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro will meet Audi guests at Sunnyside Audi on Wednesday, May 18th and JJ Lehto and Marco Werner appear Thursday, May 19th at Fred Baker Audi. Both Audi dealerships are located in the Cleveland area. For more information on these promotions, please contact Sunnyside Audi at 440-243-5588 and Fred Baker Audi at 440-232-4700.
The American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio is set for noon EDT May 22 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. CBS Sports will broadcast the event from 1 to 3 p.m. EDT, and live coverage will be available on American Le Mans Series Radio 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:
One pole: Sebring Two wins: Sebring and Road Atlanta
“Mid-Ohio is a great circuit. I like it very much as I have raced both formula cars (former CART series) and sports cars there. We won last year so obviously we’d like to repeat that this year. The Dyson team is always strong there so we will need to do a little bit better than last year in performance to beat them again.”
Marco Werner (D). Age: 38. Born: Dortmund, Germany. Lives: Ermatingen, Switzerland: Two wins: Sebring and Road Atlanta
“Dyson won the pole and was on the front row last year. So I expect it will be the same situation this year. We are not the quickest car on the track so like Road Atlanta, the teamwork and pit stops will be very important. We cannot make any mistakes. Since this is only my second time driving at Mid-Ohio it would be great to first earn the pole and then win the race. That is my aim.”
TEAM ADT CHAMPION RACING AUDI R8 #2
Frank Biela (D). Age: 40. Born: Neuss, Germany. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco:
2nd place finish: Sebring 3rd place finish: Road Atlanta
“While Mid-Ohio is a nice circuit, it is also difficult to drive because of the bumps and tight corners. The car gets very light in some places and therefore is very challenging. It is also a short track so you do lots of laps and there is no strait to rest. It is also time to change the winning order. It is time for us (No. 2 car) to see the checkered flag. This is very important if Emanuele and I are to stay in the Driver Championship fight. Of course the main goal is for Champion Racing to win but the internal fight for the Driver’s Championship is also important to me.”
Emanuele Pirro (It). Age: 43. Born: Rome, Italy. Lives: Monte Carlo, Monaco:
2nd place finish: Sebring 3rd place finish: Road Atlanta
“Mid-Ohio is another beautiful race track. This is the third event in the Driver Championship which still has not seen the No. 2 car first. I want to see that at Mid-Ohio so our target is to win the race and keep our Championship hope alive. We will try our best to achieve the best possible result.”
For more information on Audi motorsports visit www.audiusa.com. For more information on Champion Racing, visit www.championracing.net. |
