CHAMPION RACING: Team ADT Champion Racing wants to continue this impressive winning streak with a driving squad that could hardly be of higher quality. With Frank Biela (Germany), Tom Kristensen (Denmark), Allan McNish (Great Britain), Emanuele Pirro (Italy) and Marco Werner (Germany), Audi loans the American team five of its most successful works drivers, who form a genuine "Dream Team” together with the Finn JJ Lehto. All six Audi drivers have won the 12-hour race at Sebring at least once. With his three overall victories Frank Biela actually tops the "all time winner list” and could become the first driver in history to score a fourth Sebring win.   At Sebring and also at the 24-hour race Le Mans, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro receive support from DTM driver Allan McNish. JJ Lehto and Marco Werner start together with six-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen.   After taking the runners-up spot four times in succession, Team ADT Champion Racing, at home in Pompano Beach, Florida, targets its first win at its "home race” at Sebring and wants, in addition, to become the first American privateer team in history to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans (18/19 June). Dave Maraj’s team receives support from two new partners in their quest: The Danish Jyske Bank, until know personal sponsor of Tom Kristensen, exploits the popularity of the American Le Mans Series and the 24 Hours of Le Mans just as the quattro GmbH for their "S line” sport and tuning kits.   The 12-hour race at Sebring starts on Saturday 19 March at 10:45 a.m. local time. SPEED tv broadcasts the event live in the USA from 10:30 a.m. and Motors TV in Europe (also live). Qualifying is held on Thursday 17 March from 2:45 p.m. to 3:10 p.m. local time.   Quotes before the race   Tom Kristensen (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #1): "I can’t imagine a better place to start the season. The first race of the year is always something very special, but Sebring is one of the genuine classics. It’s about time that Champion Racing finally wins this race. Obviously the same can be said about Le Mans. I will compete in both races for the team and will give everything. I drove in one ALMS race for Champion in 2002, which helped me then to win the title. Perhaps I can give something back to the team that competes in motorsport with so much enthusiasm and passion. I drove together with JJ in 1999. I drive with Marco for the first time – but I know just how quick he is in a sportscar.”                      JJ Lehto (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #1): "I have been with Champion Racing now for two years and we have been so close to winning in Sebring both of those years, but despite being the fastest car on the track, something unexpected has always happened which has robbed us of the top podium position. Hopefully this year with Tom, Marco and I we will be sufficiently strong to pull it off.”   Marco Werner (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #1): "The season kicks off with a highlight and a particularly hard one for us Europeans. We have to get adapted to a possible temperature difference of 35 degrees Celsius. Sebring is also always very strenuous because of the bumpy track. My main target this year is to win Le Mans. However, I would also like to win the ALMS for the third time in succession, and winning at Sebring we would be in a good position. It won’t be easy since we have a second R8 in the team. And if the fast Dyson-Lolas have sorted out their reliability problems they could be a real threat.”   Frank Biela (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #2): "Sebring is without doubt the highlight of the American Le Mans Series and is also rated very highly internationally. It is a very special event with a great atmosphere around the track. Obviously it would be fantastic to become the first drive to win the race four times. But first of all it’s important to set-up the car perfectly for the long race, and then we’ll see how things unfold. We were well sorted at the tests, but it will however be difficult since both cars in our team are very strong, and we should not underestimate the competitors.”   Allan McNish (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #2): "Last year, Sebring was my first race in the Audi R8 since 2000. Winning together with Frank Biela and Pierre Kaffer was the perfect way to return. In principle we have the same chances this time. However it will not only be a very tough race within the Audi team itself. I expect that we will have to pay more attention to the competition than last year since they have improved their cars and now use Michelin tyres just as we do.”   Emanuele Pirro (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #2): "I can hardly wait for the season to start and that I can finally compete in a race with the Audi R8 again.             We had a very good test in Sebring at the beginning of the year. I’ve just completed an intensive fitness training programme together with my team mates Allan and Frank. All three of us are in top form. The main goal this year is to win at Le Mans. But I’d also love to present the Champion team with the first home victory at Sebring.”   Dave Maraj (Team Director Team ADT Champion Racing): "We are really looking forward to seeing how the 2005 season develops and in particularly the first race. We’ve finished second four-times in succession in Sebring. I have the feeling that with our two-car team and six of the world’s best drivers we finally have the chance to win this prestigious event.”   Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "Up till now the Audi R8 remains unbeaten in Sebring and this should also be the case in what is probably its last season. That’s why we have made five of our best works drivers, who all know how to win at Sebring, available for Team ADT Champion Racing. At the same time the team will use this race as preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans – a strategy that has often paid off in the previous years with a victory at Le Mans.”

Two Audi for ALMS: AUDI AG once again assists the importers’ commitment to sports car prototypes with the loan of their works drivers. Frank Biela (Germany), Emanuele Pirro (Italy) and Marco Werner (Germany) contest the 2005 ALMS. The defending ALMS champion will again team up with Finn JJ Lehto. Lehto/Werner won six of the nine ALMS races last season. Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, one of the ALMS championship’s most successful driver pairs, return to the series: Biela/Pirro celebrated a total of nine ALMS victories together between 2000 and 2002 with the Audi R8.   At the season’s opener at Sebring on 19 March and at Le Mans, Audi strengthens the team with two extra works drivers, who are mainly competing in the DTM this year with the Audi A4 DTM: Allan McNish (Great Britain) and Tom Kristensen (Denmark). Furthermore, the team’s entry at Sebring and Le Mans will be supported by the British Audi importer.   With Biela, Kristensen, Lehto, McNish, Pirro and Werner, Team ADT Champion Racing has a driver squad available that could hardly be of higher calibre: All six Audi drivers have won the Le Mans 24 Hours, the 12-hour race at Sebring or the American Le Mans Series at least once.   The Audi R8 enters its sixth and final season in 2005, before new sports car prototype regulations come into force. It is already the most successful Le Mans prototype of all time with 52 wins from 62 race starts. The R8 remains unbeaten to date in the 12-hour race at Sebring. Audi won the ALMS title five times in succession with the R8, and the Le Mans 24 Hours four times. With its Turbo FSI engine the Audi R8 is again considered the sports car to beat in the forthcoming 2005 season.

Aston Martin Racing: All the drivers came together for the first time on January 31 at the team’s latest test at Sebring, Florida. “It’s great to have such a talented pool of drivers to choose from,” said Aston Martin Racing team principal, George Howard-Chappell. “Having worked with most of them before, we know they will bond as a team and work together to help develop the DBR9.” Aston Martin Racing is a new division of Aston Martin created specifically to race production-based sports cars in international championships around the world. The new division is a partnership with Prodrive, the world’s leading motorsport and automotive technology specialist. Prodrive will be responsible for Aston Martin Racing’s global operations and will play a pivotal role in the plans to see a competitive Aston Martin programme return to the world sports car series.  The racing programme will focus on the new DBR9, which is based on the DB9 production car. Starting in 2005, Aston Martin Racing will run a number of Works DBR9s in sports car races around the world. Over the coming years, Aston Martin Racing will build 12 individually numbered Works cars, which will be run by three Works teams in the major international GT series. Twenty cars will also be built and made available for private individuals to race or collect. Aston Martin Racing will confirm at a later date which of the contracted drivers will compete at each event during the 2005 season.

Sebring Facts: The Porsche Streak At least one Porsche has competed in every Sebring 12-hour race since 1953 - a streak of 51 consecutive races. Porsche boasts 17 victories, 61 class wins, nine poles, and 14 fast lap performances. Leader of the Pack Porsche also leads the list of manufacturers with the most overall wins at Sebring. That list is a virtual "who's who" of world class sports car racing: Porsche 17 Ferrari 12 Audi 5 Nissan 4 Ford 3 BMW 2 Toyota 2 1 each for Maserati, Riley & Scott, Chaparral, OSCA, Cunningham, and Fraser Nash Lap Leaders Among the 29 manufacturers that have led at least one lap of any event, Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, and Nissan rank at the top: Porsche 3,997 laps 19,233.7 miles Ferrari 2,743 laps 13,099.1 miles Audi 1,762 laps 6,539.4 miles Nissan 1,111 laps 2,478.6 miles The closest Sebring finish in history came in 1999 when only 9.2 seconds separated the winning BMW (JJ Lehto, Tom Kristensen, Jorg Muller) and second place. The 2001 margin of less than one second was a team-managed finish by Audi. 102 drivers have won the 12 Hours of Sebring - 24 drivers remain active in motorsports; 51 have retired; 27 are deceased. 3,251 cars have started the 12 Hours of Sebring and more than 2,700 drivers have competed. Gone But Not Forgotten Audi Team Joest became the first team in history to win five consecutive Sebring races (2000-2004). It is not competing this year. Famous Sebring competitors from other walks of life include actors Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, James Brolin, Gene Hackman, Craig T. Nelson, David Carradine, Dick Smothers, and Lorenzo Lamas; journalist Walter Cronkite; astronaut Pete Conrad; and stock car racers Fireball Roberts, Curtis Turner, Bill Elliott, Ricky Rudd and Terry Labonte, who won the GT class in 1984. More Famous Names Take Their Turns Many of the names of the turns at Sebring are in honor of sports car racing legends: Cunningham Corner - Briggs Cunningham (3-time Sebring winning car owner) Collier Curve - Miles & Sam Collier were pioneers of American road racing. The first Sebring race ever in 1950 was named in Sam Collier's honor after he was killed at Watkins' Glen in 1949. Bishop Bend - John Bishop, founder of the International Motor Sports Association Fangio Chicane - Named in honor of five-time F1 champion and two-time Sebring winner Juan Manuel Fangio. Gurney Bend - Named in honor of American road racing legend Dan Gurney - Three-time winner Olivier Gendebien Ulmann Straight - Sebring founders Alex and Mary Ulmann Tales, Folklore and Fact The famous B-17 named "Memphis Belle" landed at Hendricks Field on what is now the Ulmann Straight, during a 1944 publicity tour. Former President Jimmy Carter attended Sebring several times as a spectator. His family would travel from Georgia every March to attend the races. Bruce McLaren had a remarkable career at Sebring. He won three times in three completely different races - the 1959 Formula One race, the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1962 GT support race. John Fitch and Phil Waters co-drove a Cunningham to victory at Sebring in 1953. Remarkably, they had something else in common. Both were pilots during WWII, both were shot down and both were in German POW camps at the end of the war. While it has not been uncommon to see cars from Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain, and the USA compete at Sebring, a most unusual entry occurred in 1963 with a Sebra built in Israel. The legendary Juan Manuel Fangio won back-to-back races at Sebring in 1956-57, his only wins on American soil. Ironically, his nephew accomplished the same feat in 1992-93.