Bowmanville, August 17, 2003

Infineon Team Joest scored Audi a fourth consecutive victory at the ALMS Grand Prix of Mosport (Canada). Driving the Joest Audi R8, Frank Biela and Marco Werner won the race following an almost race-long battle with Team ADT Champion Racing’s Audi R8 (Johnny Herbert/JJ Lehto). The battle was decided 19 minutes from the end of the 2:45-hour race, when Herbert touched a slower GT car clipping the right front suspension of his Audi R8. After repairing the suspension, Champion Racing finished fourth in the LMP900 class scoring precious championship points.

The race at a glance

Weather
dry, very warm
Start
#38 Lehto second, #1 Biela third
Lap 1
#38 Lehto touches #16 Weaver on first corner
Lap 19
#38 Lehto 5.1s behind #16 Weaver, when the Safety Car comes out
Lap 20
#1 Biela refuels and changes tyres, drops to 4th
Lap 23
#38 Lehto refuels and changes tyres, drops to 6th
Lap 24
Restart, #1 Biela third, #38 Lehto 6th
Lap 26
Safety Car
Lap 29
#1 Biela moves to second following pit-stop of #37 Field,
#38 Lehto fifth
Lap 30
#1 Biela takes the lead after pit-stop of #16 Weaver,
#38 Lehto fourth
Lap 35
#1 Biela touched by another car behind Safety Car,
#38 Lehto moves to third after pit-stop of #11 Jeannette
Lap 36
Restart
Lap 42
#38 Lehto takes second from #10 Saelens
Lap 44
#38 Lehto takes lead from #1 Biela
Lap 65
#38 Lehto has to go onto the grass while lapping a slower car, however keeps the lead 11.5s ahead of #1 Biela
Lap 65
Safety Car
Lap 66
#38 Lehto and #1 Biela in the pits at the same time, both Audi teams changing tyres and driver.
#1 Werner rejoins the track as leader ahead of #38 Herbert
Lap 69
Restart
Lap 91
#38 Herbert touches rear of #1 Werner
Lap 100
#38 Herbert runs over a kerb after colliding with a slower car, causing the right front suspension to break
Lap 114
#38 Herbert back on track after front suspension repair
Lap 115
Stop-and-go penalty for #38 Herbert
Finish
Victory for #1 Biela/Werner,
#38 Herbert/Lehto finish 4th in the LMP900 class

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Drivers

1 Frank Biela

1 Marco Werner

3 JJ Lehto

4 Johnny Herbert

5 Olivier Beretta

6 Gunnar Jeannette

7 Didier Theys

8 Scott Maxwell

9 David Saelens

10 Philipp Peter

Chassis Manufacturers

1 Audi

2 Panoz

3 Dallara

4 Lola

5 Riley & Scott

6 Bentley

Frank Biela (Infineon Team Joest Audi R8 #1)
“These were important points, now we can go into the next races with a little bit less pressure. As in the previous races, the Joest team was the key to our success. The crew did a superb job in the pits bringing the car back in front after both pit-stops. Personally, I was not so happy today because the car oversteered a lot which I don’t like. But the most important thing is that we did it.”

Johnny Herbert (Team ADT Champion Racing Audi R8 #38)
“I can’t believe the driving standards of some of these guys. I was comfortable bringing down the gap to Marco (Werner), the car was really good, but each time I hit traffic. The Porsche braked early and wandered across the track, I couldn’t get out of his way. We made contact and I went over the kerb, that caused the damage.”