Braselton, 12 October, 2002
The new ALMS (American Le Mans Series) Champion is Tom Kristensen.
As it was already clear before the final round at Road Atlanta, that only Audi
drivers could achieve this years’ title, the 35-year-old Dane together with
partner Rinaldo Capello won the classic “Petit Le Mans” to clinch the title
and follow in the wheeltracks of Allan McNish and Emanuele Pirro. The
companion Infineon Audi R8 of Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro dropped
back after a collision and the resulting lengthy repair stop but ultimately
fought back to sixth position.
The race over 1000 miles in the US state of Georgia delivered all the
ingredients of a real motorsport classic: Several safety-car-periods brought
the 50 car field together again and again, the fight of the sport prototypes
when lapping slower cars on the 2.540 mile long circuit added extra
tension to the race. Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen kept clear of
every fight during the entire 9:27 race, chosing the right strategy with their
pitstops to win by a 59.972s margin ahead of the 2001-spec Champion
Audi R8.
Frank Biela, who had slim title hopes before the final round, and Emanuele
Pirro, had less luck at Road Atlanta. On lap 150 of the 394 lap race, the
Italian couldn’t avoid a collision with another car after its engine blew and
seized. In record time, the Team Audi Sport North America changed the
front left suspension as well as the front splitter and sent the Infineon Audi
R8 back on the track after 26 minutes. Although their championship was
over, the German-Italian duo recovered well and finally finished sixth.
After third place in the 2001 “Petit Le Mans“, the Champion team this year
fought for the victory until they crossed the finish line. Even during the last
hour of racing, the two leaders were seperated by only a few seconds. Only
after the final pitstops it was clear that Johnny Herbert and Stefan
Johansson had to be satisfied with second place. Herbert thus takes fifth
position in the Driver’s championship just behind the Audi works drivers
Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro.
With victory at Road Atlanta, one of the most successful years in Audi’s
motorsport histoy comes to an end. For the third time in a row the Team
Audi Sport North America has clinched the Driver’s, Teams’ and
Manufacturers’ titles in the American Le Mans Series. This season, Audi
drivers have conquered pole position at every race and brought home eight
victories in a total of ten races. Highlight of the year 2002 remains the triple
victory at the Le Mans 24 Hour race, which Audi won for the third
consecutive time with the same driver pairing.
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