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Braselton, Ga. – Audi won the battle and the war Saturday night at Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7. Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello won for the seventh time this season in the American Le Mans Series, setting an LMP1 class record in the process.

McNish and Capello, who clinched the class championship at Mosport, gave Audi Sport North America the team title and Audi the class manufacturers crown. The dynamic duo finished four laps ahead of Stefan Johansson, Johnny Mowlem and Haruki Kurosawa in the Zytek 06S. Audi now has won 10 straight Road Atlanta races and seven straight at Petit Le Mans.

“We knew we were only two drivers so it would be a tough race for us,” Capello said. “Road Atlanta is a different track. You have to be full concentration. It was a tough race for us. We did a good job as a team all together and with the strategy. But if you look at the speed of the Zytek, I think without their problems it would have been really, really, tough for us.”

Capello and McNish led for the final three hours of a race that was intensely competitive in the opening. Audi, Zytek, Creation and Porsche each led early before Audi took over with typical efficiency on the track and in the pits. That left the Zytek and Highcroft Racing Lola of Duncan Dayton, Vitor Meira and Memo Gidley to battle for the other two podium spots.

“We were losing ground at the beginning of the race so we were trying hard to keep up,” McNish said. “I was stressing the car more than I would have liked to. It might have looked easy but I can tell you from the cockpit it was really hard. As the race went on and the temperature went down the car came to us. Fortunately it went that way.”

Penske Racing wrapped up the LMP2 team championship, and Porsche won the class manufacturer’s title as Sascha Maassen, Timo Bernhard and Emmanuel Collard won by a lap in the No. 6 Porsche RS Spyder. The trio finished ahead of the No. 7 sister car of Lucas Luhr, Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller.

The winning trio capitalized on the steering trouble of Intersport Racing, which suffered steering rack issues that forced it to lose precious laps late while leading.

“We definitely had some concerns,” Maassen said. “They were doing a great job the whole year. We knew we had to push and had a little bit of luck and yellows to catch them. We were running only 1.5 seconds ahead of them. We were happy they were having a problem and it made it easier for us.”

The most thrilling battle of the race was a 30-minute duel between Bernhard and Intersport’s Jon Field. Bernhard stayed in the veteran’s tire tracks in attempt to get a lap back near the midway point. Bernhard’s patience paid off as he finally got by, and Intersport’s trouble struck soon after.

“It was really hard behind him because when he had new tires he was quite quick,” Bernhard said. “He had good traction in Turn 7 and I had to wait for a mistake and saw in my mirrors the No. 9 Highcroft car. At the time we were two or three laps behind, and I knew I had to get around him to make up some time. Then finally after 25 laps or something he made a mistake out of Turn 10B and I was able to sneak by him.”

Maassen heads into the final round at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Oct. 21 with a 4-point lead over teammate Lucas Luhr, who finished second Saturday with Romain Dumas and Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 7 entry.

Aston Martin Racing tightened the GT1 championship battle thanks to a victory by Tomas Enge and Darren Turner in the No. 007 Aston Martin DBR9. They finished a lap up on teammates Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy and two laps on the No. 4 Corvette C6.R of Oliver Gavin, Olivier Beretta and Jan Magnussen.

“It was quite an exciting race from the word go,” Turner said. “In the first 30 minutes we were aware of how good the Corvettes were. It seemed strange that at the same time the prototypes were lapping us, we were lapping the GT2 cars, which made it exciting.”

Both teams ran a relatively trouble-free race. The Corvettes lost some time in the pits by changing brake cylinders and rotors late in the race, which sealed the win for Aston Martin. Corvette Racing still leads the team championship by 7 points heading to Monterey, with the same difference in the manufacturers championship.

“I have to say that we had a really great preparation here last weekend,” said Enge, who moved into second place in the class drivers championship. “We’ve done a lot of laps. But it paid off. We had a great setup and tires for this race. We are pushing to make something better happen every race. We were very equal with the Corvettes. The whole race we were battling quite closely.”

Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing tightened the GT2 championship battle as Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister drove their Porsche to a two-lap victory over the Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GT. It didn’t come without suspense, though. Bergmeister spun in the esses during his opening stint, missing the walls and other cars flying by. He also suffered a tire puncture in the third hour coming down the long backstretch, saving the car from another impact with the wall.

“At first I felt pretty bad because the team called me in a lap early and I didn’t have a chance to loosen up my belts and suit, so I stayed out one more lap and that’s when the puncture happened,” Bergmeister said. “I was lucky again that I didn’t hit the wall. From then on we just pushed really hard until the end.”

That was the extent of the bad luck, though. As the Petersen/White Lightning team made its way back through the field, misfortune befall the No. 60 Risi Competizione Ferrari (accident), the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche (broken front controller arm) and the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche (suspension).

“Mike (Petersen, team owner) and Dale (White, team manager) come from an off-road background and have told us never to think about what could happen, but just to keep our heads up,” Long said.

With the win, Bergmeister moved within 4 points of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Johannes van Overbeek for the drivers crown. Risi leads Flying Lizard by 6 points for the team championship and Petersen/White Lightning by 10 points.

“We’ve worked well together, and the way we drive the car has become closer and closer,” Long said. “We’re manipulating each other as we go. It’s just been a dream run since the middle of ‘04 when I raced for Petersen/White Lightning at Le Mans. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to continue with Petersen/White Lightning and get this championship sewed up.”

Tickets to the event were still being counted late Saturday. Road Atlanta officials estimated an attendance of more than 90,000 – up 26 percent from 2005.

The final round of the 2006 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at 2:45 p.m. PDT on Saturday, October 21. SPEED will broadcast the race from 8 p.m. to midnight. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage, and IMSA Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.

Petit Le Mans
Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga.
Saturday’s results
1. (2) Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi R10 TDI Power (1, P1), 394.
2. (3) Stefan Johansson, Sweden; Johnny Mowlem, England; Haruki Kurosawa, Japan; Zytek 06S (2, P1), 390.
3. (9) Duncan Dayton, North Salem, NY; Memo Gidley, San Rafael, CA; Vitor Meira, Brazil; Lola EX257 AER (3, P1), 389.
4. (1) Nicola Minassian, England; Harold Primat, Switzerland; Jamie Campbell-Walter, England; Creation CA06/H-01 Judd (4, P1), 388.
5. (6) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Emmanuel Collard, France; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (5, P2), 386.
6. (5) Lucas Luhr, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (6, P2), 385.
7. (4) Marco Werner, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R10 TDI Power (7, P1), 383.
8. (18) Darren Turner, England; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Aston Martin DB9 (8, GT1), 374.
9. (16) Stephane Sarrazin, France; Pedro Lamy, Portugal; Aston Martin DB9 (9, GT1), 373.
10. (15) Oliver Gavin, England; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (10, GT1), 372.
11. (14) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Max Papis, Italy; Corvette C6.R (11, GT1), 371.
12. (13) Didier Theys, Belgium; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Fredy Lienhard Sr., Switzerland; Lola B05/40 Judd (12, P2), 371.
13. (10) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40 AER (13, P2), 357.
14. (20) Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT2), 356.
15. (21) Maurizio Mediani, Italy; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Anthony Lazzaro, Acworth, GA; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (15, GT2), 354.
16. (22) Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Sebastien Bourdais, France; Panoz Esperante GTLM (16, GT2), 352.
17. (24) Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Panoz Esperante GTLM (17, GT2), 351.
18. (25) Marc Lieb, Germany; Johannes vanOverbeek, San Francisco, CA; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT2), 346.
19. (23) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Boris Said, Carlsbad, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E46 M3 (19, GT2), 344.
20. (26) Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (20, GT2), 343.
21. (28) Robin Liddell, Scotland; Marcel Tiemann, Germany; Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (21, GT2), 339.
22. (17) Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Sherrils Ford, NC; Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Courage C65 Mazda (22, P2), 309.
23. (27) Ian James, England; Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; BMW E46 M3 (23, GT2), 304.
24. (7) James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Andy Wallace, England; Lola B06/10 AER (24, P1), 221, Mechanical.
25. (12) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Lola EX257 AER (25, P1), 127, Engine.
26. (8) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Lola B06/10 AER (26, P1), 100, Accident.
27. (19) Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Markus Palttala, Finland; Stephane Ortelli, Monaco; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (27, GT2), 61, Accident.
28. (11) Ben Devlin, England; Tim Greaves, England; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Radical SR 9 AER (28, P2), 6, Engine.