ALMS (BELLE ISLE) - DETROIT A HOME RACE FOR CORVETTE, AUDI TEAMS

Corvette Racing will race in front of a home crowd of General Motors employees this weekend at Detroit.

Audi Sport North America and Corvette Racing will be the "home teams" this weekend as the American Le Mans Series visits the Motor City for the first time with the inaugural Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch. The 10th round of the 12-race 2007 season, part of the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix weekend, gets the green flag at 3:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 1.

"For Audi Sport North America, it is a little bit of a home race," said Audi's Allan McNish, who will pilot one of the team's diesel-powered Audi R10 TDIs with reigning LMP1 co-champion Dindo Capello. "The car has got a lot of support. Having been to the circuit, Belle Isle is a very historic one and is a well-designed track."

The platform of the American Le Mans Series makes it a natural fit in Detroit. No other major motorsports series in the world can boast the number of manufacturers present in the Series paddock. It also means manufacturers like Audi and General Motors will display their leading-edge innovation in front of many of the same people who use that same technology to produce road cars that are direct descendents of their on-track brethren.

Audi Sport North America will try for its long-awaited first overall Series win since St. Petersburg this weekend in Detroit.

"Racing in Detroit is a really neat deal for us," said Corvette Racing's Johnny O'Connell, who won the GT1 class at Mosport with Jan Magnussen. "The people at GM know about Corvette Racing's accomplishments in the American Le Mans Series and in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but this is our first opportunity to let them see firsthand what we do at the track. We'll be able to show them the incredible technology of the race cars and the fantastic reception that Corvette Racing gets from Corvette owners and race fans at every event. We're going to have everything shined and polished, and I can't wait to show our stuff in Detroit."

"We're looking forward to being the home team for the first American Le Mans Series race in Detroit," said Oliver Gavin, who shares the lead for the GT1 drivers championship with his teammate Beretta in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R. "It's going to be great to race so close to GM headquarters. It will be a very busy week, but I see that as an opportunity to say thank you to the people behind the scenes who make Corvette Racing successful."

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch from Belle Isle in Detroit. The race will begin at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 1. The race will be televised on SPEED from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. ET. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.