Alex Job Racing - Mid-Ohio race

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
race, June 30, 2002

hot race

Alex Job Racing finished second and ninth in GT in Sunday's American Le Mans 
Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.  Timo Bernhard and Jörg 
Bergmeister, both rookies on the 2.258-mile road course, were second in 
class.  Lucas Luhr and Sascha Maassen didn't finish the race and were 
classified ninth in class.  The drivers of both cars were hampered by heavy 
oil on the windshields in the first stint, seriously reducing their 
visibility.

Bernhard drove the first 75-minute stint in the No. 22 McKenna Xybernaut 
Porsche, starting and holding fourth place in class.  Bergmeister took over 
after a pitstop delayed by radio communications that cost a position, then 
moved up to finish second, just two seconds from victory, despite overheating 
in the car.

Maassen started from the GT pole in the No. 23 Porsche, but dropped to third 
during a crowded start.  Luhr took over after 75 minutes and the crew's fast 
pitstop moved him to the class lead.  He swapped the lead with Randy Pobst in 
another Porsche until contact between the two cars put Luhr out of the race 
with a broken left-front suspension.

Timo Bernhard  "In the first or second lap the car in front of us spilled oil 
on my windshield, so I couldn't see very much for the whole stint.  I heard 
my crew chief too late to come in, so we had to come in a lap later and it 
was a big problem.  But I'm happy to finish second."

Jörg Bergmeister  "I was in the car for one and one half hours and it was 
getting pretty hot.  Because of the way we were slip-streaming, we had very 
high water temperatures and I was losing power because of that, so it was 
really hard to overtake.  But I'm really happy with second place, it's good 
for the championship."

Lucas Luhr  "Randy I were passing each other, and I left the door open two or 
three times for him because it was really close.  When I went to overtake him 
the first time, he closed the door from the outside to the inside and we 
touched.  And the second time again, from my point of view, it's not so fair 
what he did.  But from his point of view, it's not fair what I did.  It was 
maybe a misunderstanding."

Sascha Maassen  "Right from the start, the windshield was completely full of 
oil.  I couldn't see a thing and it was actually very, very dangerous.  I had 
to follow the cars in front of me so I could see the brake lights.  I 
couldn't overtake because I needed a reference in front of me.  I finished my 
stint and I was just happy I was back in the pits!"

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Sylvia Proudfoot
403 287 3945
spur07@cs.com