Miami
ALMS, 27th September 2003
Race
Victory
keeps title hopes alive
 Champion
Racing Press Release, Florida, 27th September 2003: Brentwood-born
Johnny Herbert and JJ Lehto swept their ADT Champion Audi to
a tense third American Le Mans Series victory on the streets
of Miami (SAT) to keep alive their title hopes.
The
Anglo-Finnish combination came out on top of a race-long 165-minute
duel with the similar Audi of series leaders Frank Biela and
Marco Werner.
Lehto
started the penultimate ALMS race of the season from pole-position
for the first time this year and led until he handed over to
co-driver Herbert after 43-minutes despite intense pressure
from Werner.
But
as mechanics re-fuelled the car, fuel spilt on to the hot exhaust
causing a brief flash fire forcing mechanics to let off their
fire extinguishers.
Werner
snatched the lead before his first scheduled pit-stop while
five full course yellow caution periods around the ultra-tight
and narrow 1.12-mile temporary street track unusually allowed
both Audis to complete the race on just one stop for fuel. Herbert
expertly nursed the ADT Champion Audi home over the final 45-minutes
to conserve fuel, aided by the caution periods, and eventually
took the chequered flag 40-seconds ahead of Biela after a nerve-wracking
battle.
"Our
pit-stop was a bit dramatic when spilt fuel caught fire momentarily
which delayed JJ strapping me in,” reflected Herbert. “It
also caused me to get a little hot while I also breathed in
some fire extinguisher vapour.
"I
had to save fuel whenever possible in the closing stages and
we just made it – we had enough fuel left for just two more
laps at the finish. “It’s been a perfect weekend having started
from outright pole-position for the first time this season,
won the Champion team’s ‘local’ race, set the fastest race
lap and have moved closer to the leaders in the championship."
The
result means that Lehto and the Florida-based Champion team
have a mathematical chance of claiming the Driver’s and Teams’
ALMS titles in the final round of the nine-race series, the
1,000-mile “Petit Le Mans” race at Road Atlanta (18 Oct) - the
Georgia track that witnessed Champion’s maiden ALMS victory
three months ago.
Driver’s
Standings (after 8 races)
1=
Frank Biela (D)/Marco Werner (D), 151
3 JJ Lehto (Fin), 137
4 Johnny Herbert (GB), 134
Teams’
Standings (after 8 races)
1 Infineon Team Joest, 151
2 Team ADT Champion Racing, 137
Qualifying
Pole
position!
 Champion
Racing Press Release, Florida, 26th September 2003: The
Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 of Johnny Herbert and JJ Lehto
starts the Grand Prix Americas from pole-position on the 37-car
grid in Downtown Miami.
Lehto
stopped the clock at 47.848secs in the shortened qualifying
session around the 1.15-mile temporary street circuit.
Champion
Racing and Lehto lie second and third in the Teams' and Driver's
standings respectively with just one race remaining after the
165-minute Miami race in the nine-event North American sportscar
endurance series.
Lehto
set the “pole” time on his very last flying lap before the time
trial was curtailed early. JJ’s time was a mere 0.039secs faster
than the similar Audi R8 of Marco Werner but earns the Champion
squad its first pole of the season.
"I’m
delighted to have rewarded the team with its first ALMS pole
of the year – especially considering it’s Champion’s home
race," JJ said. "We’ve got ourselves a good car
for the race but it will be very tough – lapping the backmarkers
will be incredible for over two hours on such a tight and
narrow track.
"Last
year’s Miami race was my best ALMS event of the year finishing
second, just 14-seconds behind the winning ‘factory’ Audi
of Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro, and I’m hoping to go one better
this time for Team ADT Champion Racing especially after getting
this pole."
For
Team ADT Champion Racing, the Miami race is very much a “home”
event, the Pompano Beach outfit based less than 40-miles north
up the I-95. The Florida team, which finished third in the 24
Hours of Le Mans in June, is bidding to score its third ALMS
race victory of the season.
Johnny
commented: “In last year’s Miami race our Champion Audi had
looked in good shape after delaying our pit-stop until a caution
period. I pitted and handed over to Stefan [Johansson] in
the lead after 80 minutes but an air hose became tangled around
the Audi’s rear wing as he left our pit resulting in a stop-go
penalty and we eventually finished fifth. I’ve driven on a
number of temporary street circuits in my career but Miami
is extremely narrow featuring very few overtaking opportunities.
JJ and I must win to keep the championship alive.”
Preview
Aiming
for a home run
Champion Racing Press Release, Florida, 19th September 2003:
Team
ADT Champion Racing aims to score a “home run” in Miami on Saturday
(27 Sep) with Johnny Herbert and JJ Lehto desperately needing
to chalk up their third American Le Mans Series victory of the
season for the Florida-based squad.
Champion
Racing and Lehto lie second and third in the Driver’s and Manufacturers’
standings respectively with just one race remaining after Saturday’s
165-minute Miami race in the nine-event North American sportscar
endurance series. With a deficit of 18-points in both championships
and with 20 and 26-points on offer to the Miami and the final
1,000-mile Petit Le Mans Road Atlanta race winners, Herbert,
Lehto and Team ADT Champion Racing face a difficult but not
impossible task to snatch title honors.
For
Team ADT Champion Racing, the Miami race is very much a “home”
event, the Pompano Beach outfit based less than 40-miles north
up the I-95 from the Downtown 1.211-mile, 13-turn Miami street
circuit that has been slightly revised since last year. With
average lap speeds of between 75-80mph expected, the fastest
cars like the ADT Champion Audi R8 will clock up around 200-miles
around the very narrow and incredibly tight, temporary street
circuit.
Sports
car racing returned to the streets of Downtown Miami with the
running of the Grand Prix of the Americas last year in which
Herbert and Stefan Johansson finished a disappointing fifth
after having to serve a stop-go penalty for a pit infringement.
Once the home of some of the world's most successful street
racing events, Miami had not hosted racing since 1995.
The
2002 event marked the first time that ALMS and the CART FedEx
Championship Series had raced together on the same weekend and
that scenario is repeated for this year’s "Blast by the Bay."
"I
stayed out longer than the ‘factory’ Audis before pitting
for fuel in last year’s Miami race hoping for a yellow caution
period which thankfully came after I’d managed to build up
a lead advantage," Johnny said.
"I
pitted and handed over to Stefan [Johansson] in the lead after
80 minutes but an air hose became tangled around our Audi’s
rear wing as he left our pit resulting in a stop-go penalty.
I’ve driven on a number of temporary street circuits in my
career but Miami is extremely narrow featuring very few overtaking
opportunities making it tough to stay out of trouble when
frequently lapping backmarkers."
Champion
Racing Technical Director, Brad Kettler added:
"Our
championship battle looks more difficult than ever. Since
the last race at Laguna Seca, our Audi R8 has undergone an
extensive rebuild. The biggest problem with regards the Miami
race last year was the track surface in that it became extremely
slippery. This year the track is different, which makes it
new for everyone again. I think tire choice will be especially
critical.
"We
will start Friday’s practice sessions with what should be
very close to an ideal set-up. Teams that can quickly find
the optimum race set-up should prevail although on such a
tight circuit, luck will play an important role. After our
Laguna woes, there is a very determined mood at Champion Racing
especially as it's our 'local' race."
Timetable:
Fri
26 Sep:
0745-0845 / 1240-1340 – Practice. 1420-1440
– Qualifying.
Sat
27 Sep:
0850-0920 – Warm-up. 1600-1845 – Race.
Driver’s
Standings (after 7 races)
1=
Frank Biela (D)/Marco Werner (D), 135
3 JJ Lehto (Fin), 117
4 Johnny Herbert (GB), 114
5 Olivier Beretta (MC), 92
6 David Saelens (B), 66 2003
Teams’
Standings (after 7 races)
1
Infineon Team Joest, 135
2 Team ADT Champion Racing, 117
3 JML Team Panoz, 95 .
Every
effort is made to ensure factual accuracy but no
responsibility is accepted for the information on these pages.
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