BOWMANVILLE,
Ontario - With victory in the eighth race of the season at
Mosport (Canada), Allan McNish (Scotland) and Dindo Capello
(Italy) in their Audi R10 TDI clinched the LM-P1 title in the
American Le Mans Series ahead of time. With their fifth outright
race victory of the season, the two Audi "works"
drivers now have an unassailable championship lead with the
final two races at Road Atlanta and Laguna Seca remaining. The
Audi R10 TDI, that celebrated a race-winning debut at Sebring in
March and then won the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, remains
unbeaten and is the first diesel-powered sportscar to win an
important championship. After the success with the legendary R8,
it is the seventh title in the prototype class for Audi. While
Allan McNish was already ALMS champion in 2000, his co-driver
Dindo Capello wins the championship for the first time on this
occasion.
After
qualifying on Saturday was cancelled due to heavy rain, it
remained dry during the race on Sunday. Dindo Capello, who
started next to Butch Leitzinger (Lola-AER) from the first row,
had an exciting duel with Leitzinger on the 2.5 mile-long
course, the fastest ALMS track of the season. Invariably the two
prototypes were only separated by a few seconds. Capello handed
over his leading Audi R10 TDI to his co-driver Allan McNish in
the 73rd minute. After various lead changes, McNish won with a
gap of 2.79 seconds ahead of the two Dyson Lolas of Chris
Dyson/Guy Smith and James Weaver/Butch Leitzinger.
After
the times of the free practice sessions on Friday and Saturday
were taken into account, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro started
the second Audi R10 TDI from the third row of the grid and
finished the race in fourth place.
Quotes
after the race at Mosport
Dr
Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "By prematurely
clinching the drivers' title in the American Le Mans Series with
the R10 TDI, Audi has yet again demonstrated 'Vorsprung durch
Technik' on the race track. Bringing new technology in to a
racing series and immediately clinching the title is a
tremendous achievement. It also shows how quickly the team has
got used to the diesel engine.
Congratulations to the team of
Audi Sport North America and of course to Dindo (Capello) and
Allan (McNish), who withstood enormous pressure from the Dyson
Lolas at Mosport and have earned the title!"
Dindo
Capello (Audi R10 TDI #2): "I managed to get past the Dyson
on the straight when he was slowed in traffic but I collected a
lot of 'pick-up' on the tires by going 'off line' to overtake
which caused me to immediately run wide in Turn 1 and I lost the
lead. Once I had overtaken him for a second time I managed to
pull away. Allan drove a great second part of the race which was
good because Guy Smith was driving very fast. Having finished
second in the ALMS championship in 2000 and 2002, I'm very proud
to have finally won the Drivers' title and that it was decided
in such a close race which required us to push hard from start
to finish."
Allan
McNish (Audi R10 TDI #2): "I had a good race with Butch [Leitzinger]
after I took over from Dindo, but I ran wide due to 'pick up'
and he slipped ahead but almost immediately I had the
opportunity to re-take the lead. The Dyson Lolas were quicker
than us today and we had to rely on good pit and race strategy.
I'm very pleased to have wrapped up the Drivers' title in such a
hard race and ultimately a victory. Audi's diesel sportscar made
history when Dindo, Tom [Kristensen] and I won at Sebring, Frank
[Biela], Emanuele [Pirro] and Marco [Werner] made history by
winning Le Mans and now Dindo and I have made history by winning
an international championship with a diesel which makes me
proud. I'm also very happy for Dindo who missed out on the ALMS
title with me in 2000."
Frank
Biela (Audi R10 TDI #1): "I am not happy with fourth place.
My car was understeering and oversteering today, the tires had a
lot of 'pick-up'. I don't know what I did wrong today, because
it went well for my teammates. Once I had to lock up the brakes
when another car pulled over in front of me and after that I had
vibrations. I hope it will be better in Atlanta where I won last
year with Emanuele."
Emanuele
Pirro (Audi R10 TDI #1): "It's a great day for Audi Sport
North America. Dindo and Allan did a very good race. It was very
exciting and I congratulate them. I was happy with my race; I
followed Dindo and had to be careful not to disturb him."
Dave
Maraj (Team Director Team Audi Sport North America): "It's
a great day for Allan and Dindo and of course Audi after
developing revolutionary diesel technology. But we shouldn't
forget that we relied on the Audi R8 for three races and the
'old girl' did us proud. On this occasion, it was a difficult
race for the #1 Audi. The Dysons were very quick today which is
underlined by Guy Smith's fastest race lap. It is good to have
won the Drivers' title and that Audi Sport North America has
captured the Teams' championship. In the final two races, we
will concentrate on winning the Manufacturers title for Audi for
the seventh consecutive year."
