SEBRING, Fla. (March 19, 2004)
Defending series Champion Bill Auberlen, of Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., grabbed the first SCCA Pro Racing SPEED Touring Car win of 2004 at Sebring International Raceway, as part of the Mobil 1 52nd Annual 12 Hours of Sebring event. Brazilian Pierre Kleinubing and James Sofronas, of Newport Beach, Calif., completed the top three.
Auberlen, who started from the pole in his No. 1 Turner Motorsport/H&R Springs BMW 325i, allowed Kleinubing to slip by as he and second qualifier Bob Stretch made it three-wide going into turn three on the first lap. Kleinubingis move on the inside dropped Auberlen to third, but Auberlen needed only a few corners to regain second place shortly before the course went full course yellow.
The No. 26 Irish Mikeis Racing machine driven by Michael Flynn brought out the only caution of the day when he hit the tire wall in turn six. After nearly a 25-minute delay and eight laps under caution, due to a wrecker becoming stuck on course, the race went green on lap nine.
On the restart, Auberlen got a run on Kleinubing and was able pass him coming out of turn one and never looked back.
I'm looking at this tow truck stuck in the sand and itis killing me because I can just see the whole race burning away and him [Kleinubing] winning the race and I donit even get a chance to fight for it, Auberlen said of having to wait out the caution. Finally, it [the race] went green and I got a little bit of a run on him. I forgot all about this in-line stuff and I was hanging way to his [Kleinubing] left. I thought, eh, Iim going to get penalized. So, I went right behind him and I think I mashed the throttle maybe just a hair before him. And, I got a good run and went right by him.i
Auberlen set a new fast lap record with a 2:23.640 (92.731 mph) en route to his ninth career SPEED World Challenge win. His margin of victory was 1.821-seconds at an average speed of 74.294 mph on the 17-turn, 3.7-mile circuit.
After the race went green and Kleinubing fell to second, he spent the remainder of the race battling Sofronas for that position. The three-time series Champion pushed his brand new No. 42 A-SPEC/RealTime Racing Acura TSX to the limit trying to keep Sofronas behind him. On lap 13, Sofronas got a run on Kleinubing and was able to briefly take over second place in turn one, but Kleinubing was determined not to let him have that position permanently and passed him two turns later.
I was doing everything I could not to give him [Sofronas] a chance, Kleinubing said. He had little more power and got around me on both straightaways, twice. He got on the brakes a little too late in 17 and gave me a chance to fight back. I kept him on the inside as long as I needed to and then I made a move on the inside. I had a little bit of luck I guess. Otherwise, I was going to settle for third because thatis all I had. I couldnit do any better.
Sofronas, who qualified a career-best fifth, piloted the No. 29 Lectric Air/Techmark Corporation/GMG BMW 325Ci to his first-career podium finish.
I was waiting to see what Pierreis car would do, Sofronas said describing his battle with Kleinubing. It actually looked like he was hurting a little bit on the brakes. So, I could catch him under braking and getting out of the corners. Then, we kind of stayed close. I had a little bit more on the top end, but he was strong in the fast stuff like [turn] 17. It was a good battle. He did not make many mistakes.i
Jeff Altenburg, of Ellicott City, Md., and Justin Marks, of Chico, Calif., finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Rookie Nick Esayian, of Encinitas, Calif., won the Sunoco Hard Charger of the Race award for advancing 11 positions throughout the race. Matt Richmond, of Mooresville, N.C., won the B&M Holeshot award for advancing 10 positions on the first lap of the race.
Auberlen takes the lead in the SPEED Touring Car Driversi Championship with 34 points, followed by Kleinubing (29 points), Sofronas (26), Altenburg (23) and Marks (21).
BMW leads the SPEED Touring Manufacturersi Championship Presented by Racer Magazine with nine points, followed by Acura (seven), Mazda (three).
The SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championships next heads to Road Atlanta for a non-points invitational race April 24-25, as part of the inaugural Drift Atlanta event.
Todayis race will initially air at 12:00 p.m. (EST), March 21 on SPEED Channel.
For more information, visit www.world-challenge.com.
SEBRING, Fla. - Results from Fridayis 17-lap 62.9-mile SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car Championship Round One race, part of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring week at Sebring International Raceway with finishing position, starting position in parentheses, driver, hometown, class, car, laps and reason out (if any).
| Finishing position | Starting position | Driver | Hometown | Class | Car | Laps | Reason out (if any) |
| 1 | (1) | Bill Auberlen | Rolling Hills Est | Calif. | BMW 325i | 17. | |
| 2 | (3) | Pierre Kleinubing | Ft. Lauderdale | Fla. | Acura TSX | 17, -1.821. | |
| 3 | (5) | James Sofronas | Newport Beach | Calif. | BMW 325Ci | 17, -2.108. | |
| 4 | (6) | Jeff Altenburg | Ellicott City | Md. | Mazda ProtegeES | 17, -2.375. | |
| 5 | (8) | Justin Marks | Chico | Calif. | BMW 325i | 17, -9.728. | |
| 6 | (9) | Shauna Marinus | Folsom | Calif. | Mazda ProtegeES | 17, -10.319. | |
| 7 | (4) | Nic Jonsson | Buford | Ga. | BMW 325Ci | 17, -10.588. | |
| 8 | (11) | Matt Plumb | Newport | R.I. | Acura RSX | 17, -22.358. | |
| 9 | (15) | Dino Crescentini(R) | Malibu | Calif. | BMW 325i | 17, -23.616. | |
| 10 | (17) | Scott Fredricksen(R) | Gastonia | N.C. | Mazda ProtegeES | 17, -29.987. | |
| 11 | (12) | Scott Poirier(R) | Deerfield | Fla. | Mercedes C230 | 17, -30.53. | |
| 12 | (10) | Victor Gonzalez(R) | San Juan | Puerto Rico | Acura RSX | 17, -33.517. | |
| 13 | (7) | Peter Cunningham | W. Bend | Wis. | Sentra SE-R | 17, -34.538. | |
| 14 | (14) | Jon Prall | Cupertino | Calif. | BMW 328i | 17, -44.055. | |
| 15 | (19) | Andrew Monterrubio | Red Bluff | Calif. | Acura Integra R | 17, -52.842. | |
| 16 | (25) | Tom Stewart | Purcellville | Va. | Honda Civic Si | 17, -54.832. | |
| 17 | (26) | Phil Parlato | Commack | N.Y. | BMW 325i | 17, -1:22.738. | |
| 18 | (29) | Nick Esayian(R) | Encinitas | Calif. | Acura Integra R | 17, -1:27.019. | |
| 19 | (28) | Ken Payson | Worcester | Mass. | Mazda Protege ES | 17,-1:50.298. | |
| 20 | (31) | Mark German | Pittsburgh | Pa. | Mazda 626 | 17, -1:52.231. | |
| 21 | (27) | Scott Galaba(R) | Chicago | Ill. | BMW 325Ci | 17, -2:19.821. | |
| 22 | (22) | Ryan Pilla(R) | Amagansett | N.Y. | Mazda ProtegeES | 16 | Mech. |
| 23 | (33) | Seth Thomas(R) | Cumming | Ga. | BMW 325i | 16 | -1 laps. |
| 24 | (13) | Jim Osborn | Ooltewah | Tenn. | BMW 325Ci | 15 | Mech. |
| 25 | (18) | Kevin McKee | San Francisco | Calif. | BMW 325Ci | 14 | -3 laps. |
| 26 | (20) | Peter Lockhart | | Canada | Mercedes C230 | 13 | Mech. |
| 27 | (24) | Scott Bradley | Mountain View | Calif. | Mazda ProtegeES | 13 | Mech. |
| 28 | (23) | James Clay | Blacksburg | Va. | BMW 325i | 12 | Mech. |
| 29 | (35) | Matt Richmond | Mooresville | N.C. | BMW 325i | 12 | Mech. |
| 30 | (16) | Chip Herr(R) | Lititz | Pa. | Mazda Protege ES | 10 | Mech. |
| 31 | (32) | Chris Tindol(R) | Gastonia | N.C. | Mazda Protege ES | 10 | Elect. |
| 32 | (2) | Bob Stretch | Dallas | Texas | BMW 325Ci | 9 | Mech. |
| 33 | (21) | Eric Curran | S. Deerfield | Mass. | BMW 325Ci | 8 | Mech. |
| 34 | (30) | Michael Flynn | Orlando | Fla. | Subaru Impreza | 0 | Crash. |
| 35 | (34) | Mark Hein | Clearwater | Fla. | Honda Civic SiR | 0 | DNS. |
| Time of race: | 50 minutes, 47.892 seconds. |
| Average speed: | 74.294 mph |
| Margin of victory: | 1.821 seconds |
| Lap leaders: | Laps 1-8, #42 Pierre Kleinubing; laps 9-17, #1 Bill Auberlen |
| Fastest race lap: | #1 Bill Auberlen, 2:23.640 (92.731 mph) |
| Fastest qualifier: | #1 Bill Auberlen, 2:23.199 (93.017 mph) |
| B&M Holeshot Award: | #37 Matt Richmond improved 10 positions on lap one |
| Sunoco Hard Charger Award: | #46 Nick Esayian(R) improved 11 positions overall. |
Adam Horn
Public Relations Manager
Sports Car Club of America
SCCA Pro Racing
P.O. Box 19400
Topeka, KS 66619-0400
785.862.7156 direct line
800.770.2055 toll free ext. 356
660.864.8927 mobile
785.233.7223 fax
ahorn@sccapro.com