Sears
Point, 27th July 2003
Race
Last
minute podium grab!
Audi Sport UK, 27th July 2003: Johnny Herbert lies fourth
in the American Le Mans Series after finishing third in the
latest race at Sears Point, California today (SUN).
Herbert,
sharing his ADT Champion Audi with fellow ex-Grand Prix driver
JJ Lehto, of Finland, started the 165-minute race fourth on
the 36-car grid. With a little over 20-minutes remaining, Herbert
lay fourth, 21-secs behind the third-placed car. But a stunning
drive and a demon last corner over-taking manoeuvre earned Herbert
a place on the rostrum.
Johnny,
who races in the fourth round of the series at Trois-Rivieres
in Canada next Sunday, commented: “It took me a while to get
in to some kind of rhythm this weekend but it all came together
at the right moment. I went around the outside of a car at
the last corner on the final lap to grab third which was vital
for our championship aspirations.”
AP,
27th June 2003: James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger teamed
up to win the American Le Mans Series Infineon Grand Prix of
Sonoma on Sunday.
The
two made history in the series, becoming the first to win a
race with a car from the smaller Prototype class. They co-drove
a Lola EX257-MG from the LMP 675 class, a lower-cost alternative
to the sleek and exotic Prototype 900 class. Weaver,
who drove the final 90 minutes of the race, passed Marco Werner
in the track's hairpin Turn 11 to take the lead.
Frank
Biela and Werner finished 3.708 seconds back to place second
in an Audi R8, winning the LMP 900 class. Johnny Herbert and
J.J. Lehto finished third in another Audi. .
Qualifying
2nd
row on the grid
Champion Racing, 27th July 2003: The Audi of Johnny Herbert
and JJ Lehto starts the third round of the American Le Mans
Series today (SUN) from the second row of the 37-car grid.
JJ
Lehto set a time of 1min 24.562secs, an average speed of 107.708mph,
around the 2.53-mile, 12-turn Infineon Raceway [Sears Point]
in Sonoma, CA. The Florida-based team is bidding to score a
second consecutive victory after achieving a maiden ALMS win
in the previous race at Road Atlanta last month.
Johnny
said: "I wasn’t expecting Sears to be a breeze despite
winning the last race and that has been the case so far. We
endured a frustrating time in qualifying but I’m certain come
the race, with a few overnight changes to the car, we’ll be
on the pace and can add to the Champion team’s first and second
place finishes in the opening two ALMS races. This is the
venue of my ALMS debut and I’ve finished fourth [2001] and
second [last year] here."
Qualifying
times:
1.
James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA;
Lola EX257/AER MG (P675), 1:23.085, 109.623
2. Andy Wallace, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY;
Lola EX257/AER MG (P675), 1:23.636, 108.900
3. Marco Werner, Germany; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R8 (P900),
1:23.885, 108.577
4. JJ Lehto, Finland; Johnny Herbert, England; Audi R-8 (P900),
1:24.562, 107.708
5. Didier Theys, Belgium; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA;
Dallara MG (P900), 1:25.447, 106.592
6. Olivier Beretta, France; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens,
FL; Panoz LMP01/EPP (P900), 1:25.849, 106.093
Preview
Johnny
& JJ aiming for another win
Champion Racing, 18th July 2003: Johnny Herbert teams-up
with fellow ex-Formula One driver JJ Lehto aiming to win a second
consecutive sportscar endurance ALMS race for Florida-based
Team ADT Champion Racing.
Herbert
made his ALMS début at Sears in 2001 - his second race for Champion
Racing - finishing fourth with Andy Wallace and second last
year from pole-position with Tom Kristensen.
Johnny
said: “I’m not expecting Sears to be a breeze – we all need
to work especially hard to continue our good run. I like Sears
and in the past couple of years have been fortunate to post
good results but with JJ, feel I have an excellent opportunity
of scoring my maiden Sears win. In the one race that I’ve
had with JJ, I already feel very comfortable and have a positive
feeling for the remainder of the ALMS season.”
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