Auberlen Takes SCCA SPEED Touring Car Portion of 54th Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

SEBRING, Fla. (March 17, 2006) - Bill Auberlen, of Rolling Hills
Estates, Calif., set a new lap record and won the season-opening round
of the 2006 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car season,
taking the checkered flag by 0.829-sec. in his No. 2 Turner
Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i over Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga.
Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla., finished third.

 

Starting from the pole, Auberlen withstood an immediate, unexpected
charge from Seth Thomas, of Cumming, Ga., who shot from his
fifth-starting position in his No. 38 BimmerWorld Racing/Performance
Friction BMW 325i to challenge for the lead going into the first turn.
Auberlen shut the door without incident and moved away as Thomas battled
for second behind.

 

Thomas then dropped a wheel off the 3.7-mile course on the second lap of
the 17-lap race, which allowed Pobst (No. 73 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point
Motorsports Mazda 6), Kleinubing (No. 42 Acura Certified Pre-Owned
Vehicles/RealTime Acura TSX) and Charles Espenlaub (No. 97
Sparco/Oakley/Tindol Motorsport Mazda 6), to move by him and battle for
second as Auberlen built a two-second lead that he maintained for much
of the race.

 

Pobst made an attempt to catch the quicker Auberlen in the last few
laps, closing the leader's gap to under a second, but wasn't able to
catch up completely.

 

"I think this year at Sebring was very fast compared to other years,"
said Auberlen, who set a new race lap record of 2:20.562 (94.762 mph) on
the fourth lap, after set a new qualifying mark the day before.  "The
weather has been a little cooler, and the track seemed to be a little
quicker.  The car loves Sebring, and I love Sebring."

 

The second-place finish at Sebring was a redemption of sorts for Pobst,
who held a sizable lead well into the 2005 Sebring race before a
malfunctioning fuel pump ended his day.  With Thomas ahead of him off
the start, Pobst said he had to win that battle before he could ever
focus on catching Auberlen.  

 

"It was a priority to get by him," Pobst said.  "Seth was doing a great
job, he qualified well. But, he was a little conservative, and was a
little slow in a couple of corners.  That whole time, he was keeping me,
well, letting Billy start to get a gap between me and Pierre and Charles
and tighten the pack.  Seth made the mistake going into Turn 10, and I
call the pass I made a judo pass, where you use your opponent's momentum
against them.  He just made it easy for me that way."

 

Kleinubing climbed up to third behind Auberlen and Pobst when Thomas
dropped back, and the Brazilian driver was never challenged from behind
for the remainder of the race.  At the post-race press conference,
Kleinubing said that winning in 2006 was going to be a challenge, but
that the change in R.E.W.A.R.D.S weight distribution would hopefully
mean he would be a factor in most of the races.

 

"I think with the maximum weight coming down, we'll at least be able to
race most of the season," Kleinubing said.  "Hopefully, with the weight
where it is now, we'll be able to fight for second, third and fourth."

 

Jeff Altenburg, of Ellicott City, Md., finished fourth in his No. 72
Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda 6 after starting ninth, and
reigning SCCA SPEED Touring Car Drivers' Champion Peter Cunningham was
fifth in his No. 1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles/RealTime Acura
TSX.

 

Jon Prall, of Los Gatos, Calif., earned the season's first B&M Sport
Shifters Hole Shot Award after moving up to 25th from his 32nd starting
position on the first lap in his No. 11 DIG Motorsports/JustRacing.com
BMW 325Ci.

 

Hugh Stewart, of Massapequa, N.Y., won the Sunoco Hard Charger Award at
Sebring, finishing 15th in the No. 22 Speedtechnik Dodge SRT-4 after
starting 31st.

 

Karl Poetl (No. 83 Racer's Edge, Inc./LEDA Suspension BMW 325i) won the
Piloti Rookie of the Race, finishing 14th - first among rookies.

 

The SCCA SPEED Touring Car race, part of the 54th Annual Mobil 1 12
Hours of Sebring, will be broadcast on SPEED Channel at 3 p.m. Sunday,
March 19.  

 

Round Two of the 2006 SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge
Championships is set for March 31-April 2 at the Honda Grand Prix of St.
Petersburg, in St. Petersburg, Fla.

 

For more information, visit www.world-challenge.com.

 

-30-

 

SEBRING, Florida - Results from Friday's 17-lap, 62.9 mile SCCA Pro
Racing SPEED WORLD CHALLENGE SPEED Touring Car Championship Round One
race, part of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International
Raceway, 

with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver,
hometown,  car, laps and reason out (if any).

 

1. (1), Bill Auberlen, Rolling Hills Est., Calif., BMW 325i, 17.

2. (4), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 17, -.829.

3. (3), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 17, -8.668.

4. (9), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 17, -15.437.

5. (6), Peter Cunningham, Grafton, Wis., Acura TSX, 17, -15.933.

6. (5), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 17, -34.706.

7. (8), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 17, -40.636.

8. (15), James Clay, Blacksburg, Va., BMW 325i, 17, -45.870.

9. (10), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Acura TSX, 17, -46.614.

10. (12), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4T, 17, -49.418.

11. (7), Eric Curran, E. Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 17, -49.531.

12. (25), Lance Stewart, Coconut Grove, Fla., Mazda 6, 17, -1:23.251.

13. (27), Karl Poeltl(R), Knoxville, Tenn., BMW 325i, 17, -1:31.478.

14. (31), Hugh Stewart, Massapequa, N.Y., Dodge SRT-4, 17, -1:43.832.

15. (32), Jon Prall, Los Gatos, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 17, -1:44.706.

16. (29), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 17,
-2:01.806.

17. (14), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 17, -2:11.561.

18. (24), Phil Parlato, Commack, N.Y., BMW 325i, 17, -2:28.810.

19. (20), Dan Aweida(R), Boulder, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 16, -1 lap.

20. (11), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 16, -1 lap.

21. (17), Seth Neiman, Woodside, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 16, -1 lap.

22. (23), Brian Smith(R), Simpsonville, S.C., Dodge SRT-4, 16, -1 lap.

23. (16), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 16, -1 lap.

24. (18), Kuno Wittmer, Montreal QB,   , Mercedes-Benz C230, 13, Mech.

25. (21), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta, 11,
Mech.

26. (19), Jim Osborn, Ooltewah, Tenn., BMW 325Ci, 9, Mech.

27. (13), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4T, 9, Mech.

28. (26), Michael Flynn, Orlando, Fla., Subaru WRX, 3, Mech.

29. (22), Justin Hall(R), Davis, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 0, Mech.

30. (30), Paul Goldman(R), Menlo Park, Calif., BMW 325i, 0, Mech.

31. (28), Robb Holland(R), Denver, Colo., Ford Focus, 0, Mech.

32. (2), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 0, Disq.

33. (33), Joe Safina, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Mercedes-Benz C230, 0, DNS.

 

Time of race: 40 minutes, 19.077 seconds.

Average speed: 93.606 mph

Margin of victory: 0.829 Seconds

Lap leaders: Laps 1-17, #2 Bill Auberlen

Fastest race lap: #2 Bill Auberlen, 2:20.562 (94.762 mph)

Fastest qualifier: #2 Bill Auberlen, 2:19.040 (95.799 mph)