ALMS: Michelin-Audi Scores Season-Opening Victory

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

Michelin Quick Facts - Leather Center Grand Prix of Texas
Michelin-shod Audi Scores American Le Mans Series Season-Opening Victory

* Michelin Records Overall Victory - Michelin cars led every one of the 117 laps today en route to scoring the company's 20th overall ALMS victory. Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen, driving an Audi R8 equipped with Michelin tires, scored the victory ahead of teammates Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro. After leading for part of the race, Jan Magnussen and David Brabham finished third in the all-new Michelin-shod Panoz LMP07.

* Michelin Scores GT Victory - Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen led flag-to-flag in the GT category driving their Mullen Porsche fitted with Michelin tires. They finished ahead of their Alex Job Racing teammates Randy Pobst and Christian Menzel, who finished second.

* Tire Temps - Even though it was some 40-degrees Fahrenheit cooler than it was for last summer's ALMS race at Texas, tire temperatures were about the same. "The tires don't know how warm or cool the ambient temperature is," said Jerry Rinaldo, Michelin Racing Manager. "The tire temperatures were measuring over 200-degrees today, just as we expected, with the ambient temperature in the 60-degree range. That's the same as they were last year when the ambient temperature was 100-degrees. We have tires for every condition and they performed just as we expected them to perform."

* Michelin Makes Promising F1 Return - Half a world away in Melbourne, Australia, Michelin made a promising return to Formula One competition after a 16-year absence, but its leading runners Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were denied probable points finishes when their BMW Williams FW23s were thwarted by an accident and an engine problem respectively. Jaguar Racing rookie Luciano Burti was the top Michelin finisher, in eighth place. The race was won by defending World Champion Michael Schumacher.

* ALMS Tire Championship Update - With its victories in the LMP900 and GT categories today, Michelin has taken the early lead in the ALMS Tire Championship. Michelin has 25 points in the LMP900 category. Michelin has 25 points in the GT category, ahead of Yokohama with 19 and Goodyear with 11. Michelin is the defending ALMS tire champion in the LMP900, GTS and GT categories.

* Sports Car Domination - Michelin has won 20 of 21 ALMS races since the series' inception in 1999, as well as the last four 24 Hour of Le Mans races and the two most recent 12 Hours of Sebring events.

* 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 21 plants in 19 locations.

Text Provided Bob Andrew

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