Press Snoop: No surprises as Audi wins Infineon.

EMANUELE PIRRO and FRANK BIELA won the American Le Mans Infineon Technologies Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon Raceway Sunday. The pole-sitting Dyson Racing Lola EX257-AER finished 1min 24.572secs behind with ANDY WALLACE and CHRIS DYSON, but still on the same lap. They were the only two cars to finish on the lead lap.

Audi team-mates JJ LEHTO and MARCO WERNER finished third, one lap down. Werner set the overall fastest race lap with a record-breaking 1min 22.041secs. Earlier, he survived a contact with ALEX FIGGE, coming out of the pits and not in Figge's line of sight. Werner sustained front damage, pitted for repairs and continued on. Figge went careening across the grass, continued to the pits and retired. The Pacific Motorsports Corvette finished 21st, sixth in LMGT1. Their contact brought out the second of the two cautions during the race.

The Audis led all but two laps of the 111-lap race. Pole sitter Wallace was beaten on the starting post by Lehto, who led the first 41 laps. He again led for another 38 laps, giving him the most laps led in the race. Pirro and Biela led 28 laps.

Dyson Racing driver BUTCH LEITZINGER took over the lead for two laps after Pirro pitted. Leitzinger and JAMES WEAVER finished third in class, fourth overall. They had power steering problems, with an extra pit-stop and then Weaver stalling on course. He restarted, pitted and switched to manual shifting.

The LMP2 Intersport Racing Lola of CLINT FIELD and LIZ HALLIDAY finished first in class and fourth overall in #37 Very Berry Exotics/Marquis Financial Lola B05/40 AER. They were six laps down. Field also turned the fastest LMP2 race lap of 1min 26.349secs.

Second in P2 were Miracle Motorsports #10 Kuhmo Tires/Slime/Red Line Oil/MB Quart Courage C-65 AER, with JEFF BUCKNUM, owner JOHN MACALUSO and CHRIS McMURRY. They finished sixth overall. Third in class was the only other entry, B-K Motorsports with JAMIE BACH and GUY COSMO in #8 Sportsbook.com Courage Mazda. They finished tenth overall, nine laps down.

The factory Corvettes dominated LMGT1. Polesitter RON FELLOWS and co-driver JOHNNY O'CONNELL won the class race in #3 Compuware Corvette C6-R. They finished seventh overall, seven laps down. Team-mates OLIVER GAVIN and OLIVIER BERETTA finished second in class and Gavin turned the fastest GT1 race lap. It was a record-breaking 1min 28.934secs in #4 Compuware Corvette C6-R. They finished eighth overall, seven laps down.

Third in the class to finish was ACEMCO Motorsports with TERRY BORCHELLER and JOHNNY MOWLEM in #63 ACEMCO Automotive Saleen S7R, ninth overall, seven laps down.

LMGT2 polesitter TIMO BERNHARD with co-driver ROMAIN DUMAS won the class, leading the entire race in #23 Hyatt/Bell/Micro/Michelin/Mobil 1/Puma Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Bernhard turned the fastest lap for the class with a record-breaking 1min 35.112secs. They finished twelfth overall, eleven laps down.

Second in GT2 was Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing with JORG BERGMEISTER, PATRICK LONG and owner MICHAEL PETERSEN in #31 MMPIE/PAWS/Westward Ho Casino Las Vegas Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. They were twelve laps down in 13th place.

WOLF HENZLER and MIKE ROCKENFELLER drove #43 InterMedia Partners/Yokohama Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for BAM! to third in class, finishing 14th overall, twelve laps down.

All 24 entries started the race, and 19 finished. Four of the five DNFs were due to mechanical problems, and the one car which retired due to an accident - Figge - was all right, although he will have a sore back from the rough ride off course. There were two cautions for five laps - one for the Figge/Werner incident, and one for debris on track.

After the race, the winning drivers were asked if Audi had an attitude problem. Pirro was politely but firmly defensive in replying.

"This is an important point," he said, "Those who know us well can say we are everything but aggressive, We are nice outside of the race track. The attitude and rules of this championship, IMSA asks the slower car to keep their lines, it's up to us to go by. Our cars, because of the reduction of their power, have very little acceleration. The only times we have an advantage is under braking. It's not fair to say we are aggressive. We try to represent Audi in a professional way. It's just the way the car is. It's so fast under braking."

American Le Mans Radio signed off the air after the Infineon broadcast, due to cost constraints. It hasn't missed an ALMS since 1998. The talent has been JOE BRADLEY, JOHN HINDHAUGH, and GRAHAM TYLER, all of England. It is down to 700 listeners world wide and wasn't cost-effective. BOB DICKINSON, ALMS vice-president of communications, hopes that it will be back on air for the biggest ALMS race of the season, Petit Le Mans, as well as the season's finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in October.

Infineon Raceway is part of Speedway Corporation, which does not give out attendance figures. Those who noticed felt it was slim, but a good time was had by all who were there - good weather, good racing, and good people.