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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">21/03/2004</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Biela, O'Connell Make Sebring History</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">McNish Makes Triumphant Return As Audi UK Team Veloqx Wins </FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/audi-88-sebring-r-04.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"><B>Biela, O'Connell Make Sebring History, McNish Makes Triumphant Return As Audi UK Team Veloqx Wins </B><BR> <BR> Frank Biela joined an elite club and Allan McNish made a triumphant return to sports car racing Saturday as Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx won the 52nd annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the opening race of the 2004 American Le Mans Series season. <BR> <BR> Meanwhile, Johnny O'Connell became the first driver to score six class wins in the legendary Sebring event as he drove a Corvette to his third straight GTS class win. <BR> <BR> <IMG border="1" SRC="../Championships/Storage/night-rear-sebring-r-04.jpg" hspace="9 "align="left">Biela, McNish and Pierre Kaffer drove a flawless race, winning overall in America's oldest and most prestigious sports car race in front of more than 100,000 fans. Biela became only the fifth driver to score three overall Sebring wins, joining Motorsports legends Mario Andretti, Phil Hill, Hans Stuck and Olivier Gendebien. In addition, Biela became the most winning Prototype driver in ALMS history with his 15th career win. <BR> <BR> "I am very proud to join such a group of great drivers," said Biela, who also won in 2000 and 2003. "This is my third Sebring victory in the last five years while an Audi R8 has now won five times in a row - a fantastic achievement for this sports prototype. This is a perfect way to start off my 2004 season." <BR> <BR> The Audi R8 became the first car to win five straight times at Sebring, and Audi joined Porsche as the only manufacturer to win five straight. <BR> <BR> McNish, the 2000 American Le Mans Series champion, returned to sports car racing with a victory after spending the past three seasons in Formula One. <BR> <BR> "Coming back to Audi and scoring this victory is amazing," said McNish. "It's like a great homecoming; they are truly fantastic people. I really enjoyed this win, made especially sweet after narrowly missing out here four years ago." <BR> <BR> The ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 finished second, driven by JJ Lehto, Marco Werner and Emanuele Pirro. The Champion car had battled the two Audi UK entries until tangling with a lapped car, causing damage that led to a short stay behind the wall. The car roared back to finish second. <BR> <BR> The other Audi UK entry driven by Johnny Herbert, Jamie Davies and Guy Smith finished 12 laps down in third place after having to go behind the wall for repairs to a malfunctioning rear end. The car had led some of the race and was solidly in contention prior to the mechanical problem. <BR> <BR> O'Connell teamed with Ron Fellows and Max Papis to take the GTS class win in a Chevrolet Corvette C5-R, finishing fourth overall and winning the class by 22 laps. "It's amazing," he said. "I've been fortunate to have excellent cars. The C5-R is one of the most important cars in history, and our new Michelin tyres made a huge difference." <BR> <BR> "Fourth overall is pretty impressive," said Fellows. "Pit stops in the are were flawless. Sebring is a tough race, but we've learned how to win. We were more careful getting out of the pits after the clutch problem on the No.4 car. We have to say thanks to Michelin, we couldn't have done this without them. We need them to win Le Mans, it is part of the evolution of the program." <BR> <BR> <center><IMG border="1" SRC="../Championships/Storage/corvettes-sebring-r-04.jpg" hspace="9 "></center><BR> <BR> Finishing second in the GTS class was the Barron Connor Racing Ferrari 575 GTC of Danny Sullivan, John Bosch and Thomas Biagi, followed by the ACEMCO Saleen S7R of Terry Borcheller, Johnny Mowlem and David Brabham. <BR> <BR> With his victory in the GT class, Sascha Maassen won for the fourth straight year at Sebring and joined former teammate Lucas Luhr and legendary driver Bob Holbert as the only drivers ever to take four straight class wins. Maassen, who is the most winning driver in the history of the American Le Mans Series, won for the 21st time in ALMS competition. He co-drove with Timo Bernhard in a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR from Alex Job Racing. The Job team also recorded its fourth straight Sebring win. <BR> <BR> "Yes it was four straight, but I would like to mention our teammate Jorg Bergmeister who is not with us," said Maassen of the driver who had been slated to co-drive with Maassen and Bernhard. "We hope he stays well and recovers. During the last practice on Thursday he had a high fever and the decision not to race him was made late. Sebring is the toughest race. I've done it with Lucas (Luhr) before and we said next time we'd do it with three (drivers)." <BR> <BR> The other Job entry finished second in the GT class, driven by Romain Dumas, Marc Lieb and Luhr, while finishing third was the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche of David Murry and Craig Stanton. <BR> <BR> <center><IMG border="1" SRC="../Championships/Storage/audi-28-sebring-pit-r-04.jpg" hspace="9 "></center><BR> <BR> The LMP2 class produced new winners in both the driver and entrant category as Mike Borkowski, John Macaluso and Ian James drove a Lola B2K/40-Nissan to victory for American Spirit Racing. The win was the first in the ALMS for team owner Jon Lewis. <BR> <BR> "As you come up through the ranks and see all the big races like Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans, it's a thrill to be now a Sebring winner," said James. "This team was born just three weeks ago. Jon deserves this win. We got the car so late we put a fresh engine in at the first of the week. We were crossing our fingers it would last." <BR> <BR> Mike Fitzgerald, James Gue and Bill Rand finished second in class in the Rand Racing Lola-Nissan, followed by the Intersport Racing Lola-Judd of Clint Field, William Binnie and Rick Sutherland. <BR> <BR> <center><IMG border="1" SRC="../Championships/Storage/ferrari-35-sebring-r-04.jpg" hspace="9 "></center><BR> <BR> 1. (2) Allan McNish; Pierre Kaffer; Frank Biela; Audi R8 (LMP1), 350. <BR> 2. (1) JJ Lehto; Emanuele Pirro; Marco Werner; Audi R8 (LMP1), 345. <BR> 3. (4) Johnny Herbert; Jamie Davies; Guy Smith; Audi R8 (LMP1), 338. <BR> 4. (10) Ron Fellows; Johnny O'Connell; Max Papis; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS), 329. <BR> 5. (6) Joao Barbosa; Rob Barff; Martin Short; Dallara-Judd LMP1), 326. <BR> 6. (3) James Weaver; Butch Leitzinger; Andy Wallace; Lola-EX257-AER/MG (LMP1), 323. <BR> 7. (9) Tomy Drissi; Vic Rice; Michael Lewis; Riley & Scott MkIIIC-Elan LMP1), 321. <BR> 8. (20) Timo Bernhard; Sascha Maassen; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 317. <BR> 9. (11) Christophe Bouchut; Jean-Luc Blanchemain; Roland Berville; Panoz GTR1-Elan (LMP1), 317. <BR> 10. (44) Romain Dumas; Lucas Luhr; Marc Lieb; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 317. <BR> 11. (24) David Murry; Craig Stanton; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 311. <BR> 12. (22) Johannes van Overbeek; Darren Law; Jon Fogarty; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 311. <BR> 13. (43) Mike Rockenfeller; Leo Hindery; Peter Baron; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 309. <BR> 14. (28) Justin Jackson; Tim Sudgen; Brian Cunningham; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 307. <BR> 15. (17) Danny Sullivan; Thomas Biagi; John Bosch; Ferrari 575 GTC (GTS), 307. <BR> 16. (23) Ralf Kelleners; Anthony Lazzaro; Matteo Bobbi; Ferrari 360 Modena (GT), 304. <BR> 17. (5) Jon Field; Duncan Dayton; Larry Connor; Lola B160-Judd (LMP1), 302, Engine. <BR> 18. (21) Patrick Long; Cort Wagner; Kelly Collins; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 302. <BR> 19. (31) Piers Masarati; Ian Donaldson; Gregor Fisken; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 299. <BR> 20. (33) Neil Cunningham; Keith Ahlers; Adam Sharpe; Morgan Aero 8 (GT), 281. <BR> 21. (26) Romeo Kapudija; Nic Jonsson; Dorsey Porter; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 275. <BR> 22. (15) Justin Wilson; Milka Duno; Phil Andrews; Lola B2K/10-Judd (LMP1), 270, Driveline. <BR> 23. (16) Ian James; Mike Borkowski; John Macaluso; Lola B2K/40-Nissan (LMP2), 264. <BR> 24. (32) Christopher Stockton; Gareth Evans; Amanda Stretton; TVR 400R (GT), 262. <BR> 25. (41) Terry Borcheller; Johnny Mowlem; David Brabham; Saleen S7R (GTS), 257. <BR> 26. (18) Mike Fitzgerald; James Gue; Bill Rand; Lola B2K/40-Nissan (LMP2), 248. <BR> 27. (13) Clint Field; William Binnie; Rick Sutherland; Lola B2K/40-Judd (LMP2), 232. <BR> 28. (35) Rob Wilson; Frank Mountain; Robert Brooks; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 215, accident. <BR> 29. (37) Alex Caffi; David Warnock; Tracy Kohn; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 214. <BR> 30. (42) Jeff Bucknum; Chris McMurry; Bryan Willman; Pilbeam MP91/Nissan (LMP2), 181. <BR> 31. (27) Robin Liddell; Peter Boss; Hugh Plumb; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 167, Drive shaft. <BR> 32. (40) Jean-Philippe Belloc; Kevin Allen; Tom Weickardt; Dodge Viper GTS-R (GTS), 121, Accident. <BR> 33. (29) Michael Caine; Lee Caroline; Bob Berridge; TVR 400R (GT), 120, Electrical. <BR> 34. (19) Jason Workman; Bobby Sak, ; Scott Bradley; Lola B2K/40-Nissan (LMP2), 108, Gearbox. <BR> 35. (7) Chris Dyson; Didier de Radigues; Jan Lammers; Lola EX257-AER/MG (LMP1), 106, Driveline. <BR> 36. (14) Mike Hezemans; Ange Barde; Jean-Denis Deletraz; Ferrari 575 GTC (GTS), 101, Front Suspension. <BR> 37. (25) Lonnie Pechnik; Seth Neiman, ; Peter Cunningham; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT), 100, CV Joint. <BR> 38. (38) Marc Bunting; Pierre Ehret; Jim Matthews; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 94, Accident. <BR> 39. (39) Oliver Gavin; Olivier Beretta; Jan Magnussen; Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (GTS), 83, Clutch. <BR> 40. (8) Michael Durand; Chad Block; Georges Forgeois; Riley & Scott MKIIIC-Elan (LMP1), 62, Drive Shaft. <BR> 41. (36) Tony Burgess; Philip Collin; Grady Willingham; Porsche 911 GT3 RS (GT), 47, Engine. <BR> 42. (12) Marino Franchitti; Derek Hill; Andy Lally; Lola B2K/40-Nissan (LMP2), 12, Transmission. <BR> 43. (30) Jay Cochran; Ed Zabinski; Damien Faulkner; Lotus Elise (LMP1), 7, Transmission. <BR> 44. (34) Gunnar Van der SteurD; Eric Van der Steur; Lola B2K/40-Nissan LMP2), 2, CV Joint.<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>