Sebring, March 16, 2005


Qualifying cancelled due to rain JJ Lehto fastest in practice
The farewell tour of the Audi R8 could hardly start better: Team ADT Champion Racing’s two Audi R8 sports cars will start Saturday’s Sebring 12-hour race from the front row of the grid (10:45 a.m. local time). Thus, the most successful Le Mans prototype ever captured pole position also in its sixth and presumably last Sebring entry.

Just as last year, Finland’s JJ Lehto took the best place on the grid – this time however not during qualifying, which was cancelled due to extreme rain. The starting grid was made up by the times of the free practice sessions. JJ Lehto set the fastest time in 1m 49.723s Wednesday morning – just 0.332 seconds ahead of Emanuele Pirro in the other Audi R8.

JJ Lehto contests the Sebring 12-hour race together with Tom Kristensen and Marco Werner. Emanuele Pirro will be partnered by Frank Biela and Allan McNish. Dry weather is expected for Friday’s final practice session which will mainly see Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen in action. Both arrived in Florida only Wednesday evening.

Quotes after practice

Tom Kristensen (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #1)
"Obviously I am very happy we are on pole. I know Sebring well. We’ve tested here earlier this year and I had so many miles in the R8 that I don’t see it as a problem I wont have too many laps before the race. I know that Marco, JJ and Team Champion have prepared a good car."

JJ Lehto (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #1)
"I got pole at Sebring for two years in a row now. We were a bit lucky this time, but we would have been able to achieve this also in qualifying. Conditions have been very difficult so far. The track has been bad as never before in the previous years and we don’t know yet how the rain will affect the track. But I am pretty confident. The car is good and I am happy I have such a good team around me.”

Marco Werner (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #1)
"Today we’ve seen again how important it is to give 100 percent anytime you are in the car – even in a free practice session. This gave us pole position. The first place on the grid is not so important in a 12-hour race. But two Audi R8 cars on the front row make up a nice picture when the race starts.”

Frank Biela (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #2)
"Things are looking good for Audi and for the Champion team. But it is difficult to judge where we are really standing because track conditions kept changing all the time. Once, there was more grip, the next time less – and on top of that the rain on Thursday. I think, the situation has never been so open before the start of the race.”

Allan McNish (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #2)
"I know the Audi R8 very well and I know Sebring very well. Losing track time because of the weather doesn’t affect me as much as it would other drivers. When I did the installation lap this morning it was too wet to go full throttle. From that point of view it was the right decision to cancel qualifying.”

Emanuele Pirro (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #2)
"Normally at Sebring there is every day more rubber on the track and you get more and more grip. This time this was not the case due to the changing weather conditions. We had to modify the set-up a little bit and I am very happy with the work we did. Both our cars very equally fast in all the sessions. We have a very good setup for the race, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Dave Maraj (Team Director Team ADT Champion Racing)
"It is a very good feeling to have both cars on the front row of the grid, especially as all the AUDI AG board members are coming to see the race. We are well prepared, the cars are running well, we are in a good position and hope to have a nice clean race.”

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport)
"2005 is most likely the last season for the Audi R8. Seeing two of our R8 sports cars start from the front row of the grid at Sebring at the beginning of this season, makes me especially happy as the R8 started its winning streak at Sebring exactly five years ago.”

The starting grid at Sebring

1. JJ Lehto, Marco Werner, Tom Kristensen 

2. Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro,  Allan McNish

3. Chris Dyson, Guy Smith, 

4. James Weaver,  Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace

5. Jon Field, Duncan Dayton, Gregor Fisken

6. Ian James, Chris McMurry, Jeff Bucknum,

7. Phillip Bennett,  Ian Mitchell, Harold Primat

8. Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta,  Jan Magnussen

9. Ron Fellows, Johnny O'Connell, Max Papis

10. Michael Lewis,  Tomy Drissi,  Bryan Willman,

11. Terry Borcheller, Johnny Mowlem, Ralf Kelleners

12. Joao Barbosa,  Didier Theys,  Michael Krumm

13. Peter Kox, Pedro Lamy, Stephane Sarrazin

14. David Brabham,  Darren Turner, Stephane Ortelli

15. Alex Figgie, David Empringham, Ryan Dalziel

16. Tom Weickardt, Jean-Philippe Belloc, Michele Rugulo

17. Sebastien Bourdais, Christophe Bouchut, Fabricio Gollin

18. William Binnie, Adam Sharpe, Robert Julien

19. Andrea Bertolini, Fabio Babini, Fabrizio De Simone

20. Lucas Luhr,  Jorg Bergmeister

21. Bill Auberlen, Robin Liddell,  Emanuele Naspetti

22. Timo Bernhard,  Romain Dumas, Sascha Maassen

23. Johannes van Overbeek, Jon Fogarty, Darren Law

24. Gunnar Jeannette, Scott Maxwell, Bryan Sellers

25. Randy Pobst, Ian Baas, Brian Cunningham

26. Lonnie Pechnik, Seth Neiman, David Murry

27. Pierre Ehret, Kevin Buckler, Andrew Davis

28. Tony Burgess, Mike Rockenfeller, Martin Jensen

29. Justin Jackson, Tim Sugden, Nic Jonsson

30. Rick Sutherland, Nigel Smith,

31. Marc Hynes, Richard Dean, Patrick Pearce

32. Warren Hughes, Jonny Kane, Lawrence Tomilson

33. Juan Barazi,  Michael Vergers,  Andrew Thompson

34. Tracy Krohn, Marc Sluszny,  Michael Cawley

35. Clint Field, Gareth Ridpath, Liz Halliday

36. Tom Coronel, Marc Goosens, Donny Crevels

37. Steve Ivankovich, Spencer Pumpelly, Andy Lally

38. Peter van Merkensteyn, Munsterhuis, Marino Franchitti

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