AUDI'S WERNER: MID-OHIO DRIVE OF THE RACE

Marco Werner is the recipient of a second 'Drive of the Race' award for 2008.

2008 is shaping up to be the year of Marco Werner in the American Le Mans Series. With four poles and five wins from six Series rounds, "Magic Marco" has built a legion of fans that watch for the incredible and unexpected whenever he's strapped into the No. 2 Audi R10 TDI.

While his German manufacturer is slowly moving toward a youth movement to spearhead its future sports car challenges, the 42-year-old Werner is only matched by Scot Allan McNish for raw pace in the Audi camp. Unlike many of his competitors, Werner actually seems to be getting faster as he gets older.

Qualifying for the last round at the twisting Mid-Ohio circuit saw Werner push his R10 to its absolute limit lap after lap on his way to setting a new LMP1 track record. The headlines spoke of Acuras and Porsches heading the field for the race but the hero of qualifying sat back in fifth place. The Lexington, Ohio track was expected to become an LMP2 playground in the race, yet Werner's superior reads on traffic and sheer determination transformed the race from a P2 party to diesel P1 benefit in the event's opening stanza.

Werner (left) and Lucas Luhr have dominated in LMP1 this year with five class victories (three overall) in six races.

Marco again built a solid lead for teammate Lucas Luhr to manage for the remainder of the Acura Sports Car Challenge, crossing the finish line 7.7 seconds ahead of their sister Audi R10. On the strength of Werner's commanding efforts all weekend, Radio Le Mans host John Hindhaugh, Racecar Engineering Deputy Editor Sam Collins, and SPEEDtv.com awarded Werner the Drive of the Race for Mid-Ohio, his second such award after claiming the honor earlier this year at St. Petersburg. Like Mid-Ohio, Werner also sat on the pole and won in St. Pete, and coincidentally, that race also was sponsored by Acura.

Asked if he believes he's driving at his highest level in his career, Werner admitted he's enjoying life as a premier P1 pilot in 2008. "For sure I'm very happy at the moment. Lucas and I have scored five consecutive LMP1 victories and I'm heading for my third LMP1 title. I've won all titles of my career after I joined Audi in 2002, so this would be another great achievement for me. Normally, I'm not looking so much after statistics but in a few years maybe it will be great to say I've won three titles. Talking about Mid-Ohio, I was really pleased with my qualifying performance. I think this was one of the best qualifying sessions I ever did. Qualifying fifth overall was no big reward, but I really pushed and pulled everything out of the car."

With P2 cars expected to shine at Mid-Ohio, Werner wasn't surprised to see Audi impose its will once the race got under way. "After we saw the small gap to the LMP2 cars in qualifying, I was really expecting that we could win this race. The R10 TDI was very fast, but we still had to consider the handicap of the small fuel tank. We were leading the race also in 2007, but the last pit stop cost us the victory. This year, our two cars started the race with two different strategies. We were helped a little bit by the yellows, but if it had stayed green we might have been able to pull out a gap big enough for a 'splash-and-dash' just before the end of the race. We've seen at Lime Rock and Mid-Ohio that the latest-spec R10 TDI is really fast. We are running parts like the rear bodywork which had been used before in the LMS and at Le Mans. Last but not least, also our tire partner Michelin is doing a great job. Our tires are delivering very good grip this year."

Werner is well on his way to a third Series championship this year to go along with titles in 2003 and 2004.

The pairing of Werner and Luhr has the makings of becoming another famed duo for Audi; like two long distance runners passing a baton, Werner's hard work in qualifying and leading races has been met with equal effort and results whenever he's turned the car over to his teammate.

"The key to success is that Lucas and I are absolutely on the same line regarding the setup of the cars," Werner said. "This was not always the case with my teammates in the past. We both prefer a car which has a good front-bite when entering the corners. We have no real problem with a 'light' rear. This kind of setup is not easy to drive but definitely faster compared to an understeering car. The differences in our preferences are very small. So we do not have to make big compromises. This helps."

As the first two-time winner of the Drive of the Race award, "Magic Marco" hopes to become the first three-time award recipient before the season draws to a close.

"I'm very proud receiving this award for a second time," he said. "This makes this award even more valuable for me. As I told you I felt I had a great performance at Mid-Ohio. It's nice to see that this is recognized and rewarded from other people. I'll continue to do the very best for Audi in the remaining races of the season. I'll try everything in order to be voted for a third time."

With some of the longer track up next on the calendar - tracks that perfectly suit the R10 - we'll go ahead and prepare that third award and will have the fourth on standby...