Altenburg Leads Morning Practice at Laguna Seca

MONTEREY, Calif., (Oct. 20, 2006) - Jeff Altenburg, of Ellicott, Md., was the fastest SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car in morning practice at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Teammate Randy Pobst, of Gainesville, Ga., and Peter Cunningham, of Grafton, Wis., completed the top three fastest of the session, part of the Monterey Sports Car Championships.

Piloting the No. 72 Mazdaspeed/Tri-Point Motorsports Mazda 6, Altenburg laid down a time of 1:36.942 (83.109 mph) around the 2.238-mile track in the closing minutes of the session, nearly 0.1-second below the current track qualifying record at Laguna Seca, a 1:37.008 (83.053 mph), set last year by Peter Cunningham in an Acura TSX.

"The car is really good," Altenburg said. "We couldn't be happier. The StopTech brakes are awesome, as always. We've been working really hard and the cars are handling the best they ever have."

Fellow Mazda ace Pobst could certainly echo those sentiments, as he turned in a time of 1:36.988 (83.070 mph), behind the wheel of the No.73 Mazda 6, just a hair slower than teammate Altenburg, but still under the current track record.

Current record holder Cunningham completed the top three in his No. 1 Acura Certified Pre-Owned/RealTime Acura TSX, with a time of 1:37.042 (83.023 mph).

RealTime teammate and current SPEED Touring Car point leader Pierre Kleinubing, of Coconut Creek, Fla., was fourth quick in his No. 42 Acura TSX, with a time of 1:37.101 (82.973 mph), followed by the third Tri-Point Mazda 6 car of No. 74 Dino Crescentini, of Malibu, Calif., with a 1:37.122 (82.955 mph).

The final SPEED Touring Car practice will go green Friday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. (Pacific). Sunday's race is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m.

To follow all the action, tune into the SCCA Pit Board featuring live notes and Live Timing & Scoring presented by SRT at www.world-challenge.com.

Results from morning practice for Sunday's SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship part of the Monterey Sports Car Championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, with position, car number in parentheses, driver, hometown, car, fastest lap time, and speed in miles per hour.

1,(72), Jeff Altenburg, Ellicott City, Md., Mazda 6, 1:36.942, 83.109.

2,(73), Randy Pobst, Gainesville, Ga., Mazda 6, 1:36.988, 83.070.

3,(1), Peter Cunningham, Grafton, Wis., Acura TSX, 1:37.042, 83.023.

4,(42), Pierre Kleinubing, Coconut Creek, Fla., Acura TSX, 1:37.101,
82.973.

5,(74), Dino Crescentini, Malibu, Calif., Mazda 6, 1:37.122, 82.955.

6,(34), Nick Esayian, Encinitas, Calif., Acura RSX, 1:37.139, 82.941.

7,(43), Eric Curran, East Hampton, Mass., Acura RSX, 1:37.323, 82.784.

8,(13), Brian Smith(R), Simpsonville, S.C., Dodge SRT-4, 1:37.639,
82.516.

9,(20), Brandon Davis, Denver, Colo., Acura TSX, 1:37.791, 82.388.

10,(17), Chip Herr, Lititz, Pa., Audi A4, 1:38.124, 82.108.

11,(29), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., BMW 325Ci, 1:38.163,
82.075.

12,(97), Charles Espenlaub, Lutz, Fla., Mazda 6, 1:38.306, 81.956.

13,(36), James Clay, Radford, Va., BMW 325i, 1:38.476, 81.814.

14,(06), Kuno Wittmer, Montreal, Canada, Mercedes-Benz C230, 1:38.633,
81.684.

15,(67), Robb Holland(R), Denver, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 1:38.653, 81.668.

16,(66), Dan Aweida(R), Boulder, Colo., Dodge SRT-4, 1:38.882, 81.479.

17,(38), Seth Thomas, Cumming, Ga., BMW 325i, 1:38.959, 81.415.

18,(96), Charlie Putman(R), Mills, Wyo., Mazda 6, 1:39.318, 81.121.

19,(99), Jeff Courtney(R), Slinger, Wis., Audi A4, 1:39.940, 80.616.

20,(27), Jason Martinelli, Woodbury, Conn., BMW 325ci, 1:40.031, 80.543.

21,(25), Christian Miller(R), Newark, Calif., Volkswagen Jetta,
1:40.104, 80.484.

22,(39), Tomy Drissi, Hollywood, Calif., BMW 325i, 1:40.645, 80.051.

23,(2), Lucho deCastro(R), Stone Mountain, Ga., BMW 325i, 1:40.666,
80.035.

24,(88), Andrie Hartanto(R), San Francisco, Calif., Honda Civic Si,
1:40.969, 79.794.

25,(18), Freddy Baker, Bedford, Ohio, Audi A4, 1:41.097, 79.693.

26,(47), Jonathan Meris, Elk Grove, Calif., Honda Civic, 1:48.944,
73.953.

27,(94), Mary Katharine(R), Delray Beach, Fla., Mazda Protege, 1:49.330,
73.692.

28,(86), Kenny Yim, Hong Kong China,   , Honda Civic Si, 1:49.937,
73.285.

29,(21), Seth Neiman, Woodside, Calif., BMW 325Ci, no time.

30,(49), Branden Peterson, Breckenridge, Colo., Honda Civic Si, no time.

31,(70), Marco Ferrera(R), Broomfield, Colo., Honda Civic SI, no time.

32,(95), Billy Johnson(R), San Clement, Calif., Mazda Protege, no time.