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Adenau, July 09, 2000

After an exciting sportscar race, Audi achieved a place on the podium. Le
Mans winners Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro finished the 1000 kilometer race
at the Nuerburgring, the fourth round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS),
in third position. The second Audi R8 driven by Rinaldo Capello and Allan

McNish had to retire on the 88th lap after Scotsman McNish spun.

The spectators around the track witnessed a dramatic wet race with a lot of
lead changes, exciting fights for positions and many spins on the slippery
track. Around 30 minutes before the finish, ultimate winners David Brabham
and Jan Magnussen took over the lead with the Panoz. The legendary 1000
kilometer race at the Nuerburgring, which was one of Germany´s most
important motorsport events in the seventies, celebrated a great renaissance

this weekend.

During the first wet race for Audi since the beginning of the sportscar project,
luck was not on the side of Audi Sport North America. Right at the beginning,
Frank Biela got rain tyres but had to pit again very soon to get slicks because
the tricky Eifel weather changed again and again. Then Allan McNish
aquaplaned off, spun and damaged the floor and radiator duct of his Audi R8

and had to retire.

In a few days, Audi Sport North America and the Audi R8s will return to the
United States to prepare for the fifth round of the American Le Mans Series
which will be held on 23 July at Sears Point, California.
Emanuele Pirro in the Audi R8 no. 78
Rinaldo Capello in the Audi R8 no. 77
THe Audis on the grid, Reinhold Joest talking to engineer (red jacket)
Stromlinienrennwagen Auto Union Typ C Avus driven by Michele Alboreto
Stromlinienrennwagen Auto Union Typ C Avus driven by Michele Alboreto
Frank Biela (#78): „Today it was very difficult to predict the weather so we lost
time during tyre changes which is hard to make up again in this strong series.
Nevertheless with third place we collected points. Now I’m looking forward to

the races in the USA, of course we keep hanging on.”

Emanuele Pirro (#78): “The Audi R8 is very easy on the tyres, which is
normally a big advantage, it takes a little bit longer till they get on temperature
and develop grip, but the track temperature was so low, that this never
happend. In this rainy conditions a turbocharged engine, is not easy to tame.
So we did real good. We have a winning car in the dry and our goal is the
championship lead, which is now 20 points away, it will not be easy we have to
win 5 times in a row the be on equal terms with Joerg Mueller and 6 wins to the
championship, assuming he always finishes 2nd and does not score bonus

points for a lead lap, most laps in the lead or for the fastest lap, it will be taff.”

Rinaldo Capello (#77): „At the start I didn’t want to take any risks. When I was
braking for the chicane, I felt something by my feet which turned out to be the
car’s headrest which was between the pedals. I reached down to it but
accidentally touched the pitlane speed regulator button. Two laps later, the

headrest became free and I threw it out of the car.”

Allan McNish (#77): “I’m quite disappointed. It took a while to get used to the
level of tyre grip. I spun which lost us time. Once I had got the heat into the

tyres, I was very fast on the track. But I aquaplaned and went off the track.”


Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Head of Audi Sport: „We had a very exciting race until the
very end but luck was not on our side today. We did not handle the weather
conditions right at every moment. Now we will quietly analyse this weekend

and take the improvements with us to the United States.”

Reinhold Joest, Team Director Audi Sport North America: „After all we went
through during this six hours we are very happy with third place. We collected
points for the series and the spectators saw exciting motorsport. Now we will
keep on working hard and concentrate on the forthcoming races.”
1. Magnussen/Brabham (Panoz) 185 laps
2. Lehto/Müller (BMW) + 1m33.627s
3. Biela/Pirro (Audi R8) - 3 laps
4. Graf/O’Connell/Katoh (Panoz) - 4 laps
5. Montagny/Goossens (Cadillac) - 4 laps
6. Kelleners/Policand (ROC VW) - 5 laps
7. Lavaggi/Filiberti (Ferrari) - 8 laps
8. Beretta/Wendlinger/Duez (Chrysler) - 10 laps
9. Boullion/Gene (ROC VW) - 11 laps
10. Gounon/Auberlen (BMW) - 15 laps

Before the race Michela Alboreto drove a couple of demostartion laps in the
streamline racer Auto Union Typ C Avus.