1 77 P 1 McNish/Capello Audi R8 Audi Sport North America N_ 2 01:22.86 2 78 P 2 Pirro/Biela Audi R8 Audi Sport North America N_ 4 01:23.15 3 42 P 3 Lehto/Müller BMW V12 LMR BMW Motorsport N_ 4 01:24.94 4 43 P 4 Auberlen/Gounon BMW V12 LMR BMW Motorsport N_ 5 01:25.60 5 1 P 5 Brabham/Magnussen Panoz LMP-1 Panoz Motor Sports N_ 3 01:23.86 6 37 P 6 Field/Sutherland Lola B2K/10/Judd Intersport Racing-Banana JoesY_ 5 01:27.44 7 36 P 7 Johansson/Smith Reynard 2KQ Johansson Matthews Racing N_ 67 01:25.63
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1 Jörg Müller 25 L  27 LM  26 L  27 L  19 124
2 JJ Lehto 25 L  26 L  25   27 L  19 122 -2
3 Jan Magnussen 19 L  23 LF  22 L  31 L  15 110 -14
4 David Brabham 18   22 L  22 L  32 LM  15 109 -15
5 Frank Biela 32 LM 14   15   25 LF  21 107 -17
6 Emanuele Pirro 32 LF  14   15   24   22 L 107 -17
7 Allan McNish 27 L  12   21 LM  11   28 LMF 99 -25
8 Rinaldo Capello 27 L  12   20 L  11 26 L 96 -28



1 77 P 1 McNish/Capello Audi R8 Audi Sport North America N_ 2 01:22.86
2 78 P 2 Pirro/Biela Audi R8 Audi Sport North America N_ 4 01:23.15
3 42 P 3 Lehto/Müller BMW V12 LMR BMW Motorsport N_ 4 01:24.94
4 43 P 4 Auberlen/Gounon BMW V12 LMR BMW Motorsport N_ 5 01:25.60
5 1 P 5 Brabham/Magnussen Panoz LMP-1 Panoz Motor Sports N_ 3 01:23.86
6 37 P 6 Field/Sutherland Lola B2K/10/Judd Intersport Racing-Banana JoesY_ 5 01:27.44
7 36 P 7 Johansson/Smith Reynard 2KQ Johansson Matthews Racing N_ 67 01:25.63
Grand Prix of Sonoma

Sears Point, July 23, 2000

Audi recovers in the point battle of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with a
solid one and two finish at Sears Point. Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello won the
2:45 hour race in California with a start to finish victory over Le Mans winners Frank
Biela and Emanuele Pirro in the companion Audi R8. Audi now assumes second

position in the manufacturers championship.

Almost two hours Allan McNish fought through the field on the narrow track before
handing over to Rinaldo Capello with one lap on the field. At half time of the race
only the two Audi R8’s built at Audi Sport in Ingolstadt (Germany) were running
within one lap. At the beginning of the race Emanuele Pirro and the fastest Panoz

had struggled hard for second position.

For fans and drivers Sears Point Raceway is a very unusual and exciting track.
Situated in the Californian wine country the spectators have a great view all over
the 2.52 miles circuit. For the drivers the narrow track offers a great challenge.
“Sears Point is the Californian Nordschleife“, says Frank Biela, referring to the
famous part of Germany’s Nurburgring. „It is very difficult to find the right line.

Having very little run off areas you must not make any mistakes.”

There is not much time to recover in sunny California for Audi Sport North America:
After further tests in the USA, Audi starts at the sixth round of the ALMS at
Mosport on 6 August. The goal during the only appearance in Canada is to make

up further points in the very close championship.

#77 Rinaldo Capello's Audi R8 on the way to victory
#78 Why do we see sparks close to the right rear tire, is something wrong with the #78 Audi R8 driven by Emanuele Pirro ?
A concentrading Emanuele Pirro
the #1 Lehto/Mueller BMW V12 LMR - which qualified with full tanks ;--)) according to JJ Letho
#43 the Auberlen/Gounon BMW V12 LMR finished 4th #43 the Auberlen/Gounon BMW V12 LMR finished 4th
#43 the Auberlen/Gounon BMW V12 LMR finished 4th
#1 The Brabham/Magnussen Panoz LMP-1 finished 5th with gearbox problems
#37 the Field/Sutherland Lola B2K/10/Judd started from the back of the field since the team started not with the tires used in qualifying
#24 Simo/Matthews Reynard 2KQ/Judd
#2 the O'Connell/Katoh Panoz LMP-1 slided off the track with Katoh on the wheel
#24 Simo/Matthews Reynard 2KQ/Judd
#38 The Porsche powered Schroeder/Weaver Lola B2K/10

Rinaldo Capello (#77)

“To be honest: My stint was not very exciting because Allan already worked out a
big gap. But I tried to keep my concentration to finish the race without mistake,

although in between I sometimes pushed a little bit.”

Allan McNish (#77)

“I am very happy that Audi finished first and second. From the very beginning I gave
everything I could - also to make up for my mishap from the Nurburgring. To come
away with pole position, fastest lap and the race victory is an excellent result for

Rinaldo and myself.”

Frank Biela (#78)

“The second place for us is okay. All weekend Allan was extremely strong. After
only one stint he was so much in front that we couldn’t attack anymore. But I

expected in my drive to have a closer fight with David Brabham in the Panoz.”

Emanuele Pirro (#78)

“At the beginning the race was quite difficult. When I lapped a slower car we made
contact and this damaged the front body work of my R8 a little bit. All over I'm

happy about the second place which also is important for the championship.”

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport

“That was a great start of our chase here in the USA. We lapped everybody else
during the race which I think hasn’t happened for a very long time. But the BMW
team also collected points so the rest of the season will be thrilling and very

difficult for us.”

Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America

“I was very optimistic before the race. We have a fantastic car, a great pit crew and
we got very good tires from Michelin. Furthermore our four drivers performed without

any mistakes. I think we represented Audi in an excellent way here in California.“