Double-Distance Michelins Help Panoz End Audi Win Streak at 14
Double Distance Michelins Help
Panoz End Audi Win Streak at 14
(Portland) Taking advantage of the pit stop time saved by running
their Michelin tires a double distance, David Brabham and Jan Magnussen
teamed to drive their year old #50 Panoz LMP1 Roadster S from the pole
position to take the victory at today's Grand Prix of Portland.
Their margin of victory was a scant .0374 seconds over the #2 Audi R8 of
Emmanuel Pirro and Frank Biela. Third place went to Johnny Herbert and
Andy Wallace in the #38 Champion Audi R8.
Overtaken by Tom Kristensen in the #1 Audi R8 heading into the first
turn, Brabham repassed Kristensen 15 minutes later and led until the first
pit stop at the one hour mark. The Audi team opted to double-stint their
Michelins and emerged from the pit stops with a big 20 second advantage,
but Brabham, steadily whittled the margin to just 3 seconds to set up the
second and final round of pit stops.
When the lead Audi stopped to take on fuel, change tires and drivers,
Brabham was able to hand off the Panoz to Magnussen and regain nearly 15
seconds from their expected pit stop by double stinting their Michelins,
returning to the track several seconds ahead of the #1 Audi. When a
gearbox actuator failed on the pursuing #1 Audi, Magnussen still had to
withstand a pair of late race caution flags that set up a furious dash to
the finish. Magnussen held off Pirro in the #2 Audi for the victory and
the end of a remarkable Audi 14 race victory streak.
.
* Michelin Fitted Porsche and BMW take Podium in GT Class - The #23
Porsche 911 GTR driven by Lucas Luhr and Sasha Maassen took second place
and the #42 BMW of JJ Lehto and Jorg Muller finished third in GT
class.
* Fastest Qualifier - David Brabham took the pole position in the Panoz LMP1-R, marking the first pole in over a year for the front engined brigade.
* Michelin Continues to Lead ALMS Tire Championship - With its victory today, Michelin unofficially extended its lead in the ALMS Tire Championship with 105 points over Goodyear's 34 in the LMP900 category. Michelin has 101 points in the GT category, ahead of Yokohama (87), Dunlop (33) and Goodyear (11). Michelin is the defending ALMS Tire Champion in the LMP900, GTS and GT categories.
* Michelin manufactures and
sells tires for every type of vehicle, including airplanes, automobiles,
bicycles, earthmovers, farm equipment, heavy-duty trucks, motorcycles and
the space shuttle. The company also publishes travel guides, maps and
atlases covering Europe, Asia, Africa and North America.
Headquartered in Greenville, S.C., Michelin North America (www.michelin.com)
employs 26,500 and operates 23 plants in 19 locations.
For more information, contact: Bob Andrew, Event Management Corp. Tel:
313-449-0108;
Cell: 313-510-8454; E-mail: bob@emcpr.com