Auberlen Gets Second SPEED Touring Car Win in a Row, Sets New Records at Infineon

SONOMA, Calif. (July 17, 2005) - Bill Auberlen, of Rolling Hills
Estates, Calif., shot off the start in his No. 1 Turner Motorsports/H&R
Springs BMW 325i, ripped off the UrbanRacer.com Hot Lap of the Race with
a 1:47.851 (84.449 mph) on the second lap and was never challenged
through the rest of the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring
Car Round Seven race at the Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma Presented by
Ravenswood Winery.  Tri-Point Motorsport teammates Randy Pobst, of
Gainesville, Ga., and Dino Crescentini, of Malibu, Calif., finished
second and third, respectively.  

Auberlen's fast lap set a new SPEED Touring Car record at Infineon, but
it was Auberlen's caution-free, record-breaking average speed of 83.513
mph around the 2.53-mile course that held polesitter Pobst's No. 73
Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsport Mazda 6 at bay. 

As fast as he was, Auberlen said it was the start that determined the
final outcome of the 23-lap, 58.19-mile race.   

"All I was banking on was that that [Mazda] would just light the tires
up on the start," Auberlen said. "I was hoping for that, but this time,
it sounded a lot better and when the lights went off, it took off good.
I thought, 'oh man, this is going to be close,' and I just eeked it out.
That was my break.

"After the start, I just put my head down and I think Randy was caught
up with James [Clay] and it gave me just a little bit of breathing room
to start working. I thought I was going to start driving away, but it
just never happened. If it did, it happened in little chunks, a few
tenths here and there."

Pobst said his start was one of his better ones, but after that, he
didn't have enough to catch up to Auberlen.

"It was a good start for me, and I was pretty pleased about that," Pobst
said. "Billy was able to get by me though, which I was worried about.
The BMWs are a little better on the standing start. The big problem was
that there was a BimmerWorld car [James Clay] that jumped up at the
start and was a big threat. I did everything I could to keep him behind
me, and I slid the car into turn two and it worked fortunately.

"From there on, I said, 'let's see if we can run with Bill,' because I
knew he was going to be fast, and he was. I put my head down and drove
as fast as I could, every turn of every lap, but he was just oozing
away, like molasses down hill. I could not get there. I'm real happy for
Tri-Point and Mazda today to have two of us up here."

Sunday marked a first for Crescentini (No. 74
Mazdaspeed/Centric/Tri-Point Mazda 6) as he ascended his first-ever
World Challenge podium, which was also his first professional top-three
finish.

"It's great to be up here. It's the first time I've ever been up here,"
Crescentini said. "I'm almost speechless. I couldn't have done it
without all the help from Tri-Point. They've given me a great car, a lot
of motivation and backed me every step of the way."

Team BimmerWorld took fourth and fifth in Sunday's race as James Clay,
of Blacksburg, Va., started and finished fourth in the No. 36
BimmerWorld/BMW 325i, and "Mad Dog" Matt Richmond, of Mooresville, N.C.,
took fifth in the No. 37 BimmerWorld BMW 325i.  

Bob Stretch, of Dallas, Texas, won the B&M Holeshot Award in the No. 98
Wheels America B5Wheels BMW 325Ci for passing three cars on the opening
lap from his 12th-starting position.  

Seth Thomas, of Cumming, Ga., in the No. 38 BimmerWorld/BMW 325i, earned
the Sunoco Hard Charger Award for finishing eighth after starting 15th.

RealTime Racing principle Peter Cunningham (No. 42 A-SPEC/RealTime
Racing Acura TSX) finished ninth Sunday, which kept him on top of the
SPEED Touring Car Drivers' Championship standings. His 174 points lead
teammate Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla. (168), who finished
sixth.  Pobst's efforts this weekend were rewarded as he jumped from
fifth to third (148) in the points race after earning 27 points for
second place.  Eric Curran, of South Deerfield, Mass., is the third
RealTime driver in the top five at fourth (137), while Pobst's Tri-Point
teammate, Jeff Altenburg, of Ellicott City, Md., dropped from third to
fifth (136) after a mechanical failure.  

RealTime Racing's 19-year old Brandon Davis (No. 44 A-SPEC/RealTime
Racing Acura TSX) went into the Infineon weekend in charge of The
Winning Team Racing Apparel Rookie of the Year race and improved his top
standing as he finished seventh - highest among Touring Car rookies
after charging from 26th on the grid owing to a post-qualifying tire
change.  He leads Rick Snyder, of Arvada, Colo., 124-38.

In the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car Manufacturers' Championship
Presented by Racer Magazine, Acura maintains a slight lead over Mazda
(49-45), while BMW (38) sliced a sizable portion off of Acura's
advantage on the strength of Auberlen's back-to-back wins.

For more information about Round Seven from Infineon Raceway, or for
Round Eight's July 29-31 Grand Prix of Portland, visit 
www.world-challenge.com <http://www.world-challenge.com/> .   

SONOMA, Calif. - Results from Sunday's 23-lap, 58.19-mile SCCA Pro
Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round Seven Race,
part of the Infineon Grand Prix of Sonoma Presented by Ravenswood with
finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown,
car, laps, gap behind leader and reason out (if any).

1. (2), Bill Auberlen, Rolling Hills Est., Calif., BMW 325i, 23.

2. (1), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 23, -1.781.

3. (3), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 23, -17.204.

4. (4), James Clay, Blacksburg, Va., BMW 325i, 23, -26.675.

5. (5), Matt Richmond, Mooresville, N.C., BMW 325i, 23, -27.791.

6. (7), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 23, -40.129.

7. (26), Brandon Davis(R), Huntington Bch, Calif., Acura TSX, 23,
-40.259.

8. (15), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 23, -53.217.

9. (10), Peter Cunningham, W. Bend, Wis., Acura TSX, 23, -53.852.

10. (6), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 23, -56.934.

11. (12), Bob Stretch, Dallas, Texas, BMW 325Ci, 23, -59.301.

12. (11), Eric Curran, S. Deerfield, Mass., Acura RSX, 23, -1:10.054.

13. (18), Rick Maki, Los Angeles, Calif., Audi A4, 23, -1:15.106.

14. (17), Peter Lockhart, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Mercedes C230, 23,
-1:21.640.

15. (14), Scott Bradley, San Jose, Calif., Mazda 6, 23, -1:26.236.

16. (16), Paul Lambert, Sonoma, Calif., Audi A4, 23, -1:30.471.

17. (19), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 23, -1:35.055.

18. (22), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda Protege, 22, -1 lap.

19. (27), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Ford Focus, 22, -1 lap.

20. (23), Rick Snyder(R), Arvada, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 22, -1 lap.

21. (20), Kevin McKee, San Francisco, Calif., BMW 325i, 22, -1 lap.

22. (13), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 22, -1 lap.

23. (24), Andrie Hartanto(R), San Francisco, Calif., Honda Civic Si, 22,
-1 lap.

24. (21), Seth Neiman, Woodside, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 18, Mech.

25. (8), Michael Galati, Olmsted, Ohio, Mercedes C230, 14, Mech.

26. (9), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 13, Mech.

27. (25), Kenny Yim(R), Hong Kong, China, Honda Civic, 3, Engine.

28. (29), Peter Bovenberg, Campbell, Calif., Honda Civic Si, 0, DNS.

29. (28), Ted May(R), San Jose, Calif., Dodge SRT-4, 0, DNQ.

Time of race: 41 minutes, 48.395 seconds.

Average speed: 83.513 mph, Record

Margin of victory: 1.781 Seconds

Lap leaders: Laps 1-23, #1 Bill Auberlen

Urbanracer.com Hot Lap: #1 Bill Auberlen, 1:47.851 (84.449 mph), Record

U.S. Air Force Reserve Pole Position: #73 Randy Pobst, 1:46.315 (85.670
mph), Record

Cautions: None

B&M Holeshot Award Winner: #98 Bob Stretch advanced three positions on
lap one

Sunoco Hard Charger: #38 Seth Thomas advanced seven positions

 

SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Drivers' Points

After Seven of 11 races

Pos., Driver, Car, Points (Wins)

1, Peter Cunningham, Acura TSX, 174 (1)

2, Pierre Kleinubing, Acura TSX, 168 (3)

3, Randy Pobst, Mazda 6, 148 (1)

4, Eric Curran, Acura RSX, 137

5, Jeff Altenburg, Mazda 6, 136

6, Brandon Davis(R), Acura TSX, 124

7, Matt Richmond, BMW 325i, 118

8, James Clay, BMW 325i, 113

9, Charles Espenlaub, Mazda 6, 110

10, Bill Auberlen, BMW 325i, 95 (2)

 

SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Manufacturers Championship
Presented by RACER Magazine

Pos., Manufacturer, Points (Wins)

1, Acura, 49 (4)

2, Mazda, 45 (1)

3, BMW, 38 (2)

4, Ford, 1