Portland to Host American Le Mans and Trans-Am

LE MANS WINNING AUDIS TO LEAD GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND; TRANS-AM SERIES RETURNS TO PORTLAND AFTER SIX-YEAR ABSENCE

PORTLAND, Ore. (July 14, 2001) -- The cars that finished 1-2 in the recent 24 Hours of Le Mans and the return of the popular Trans-Am Series will headline the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway Aug. 3-5.

The Audi R8 Prototypes that swept the top two spots at Le Mans for the second straight year will also be the cars to beat as the American Le Mans Series sports car endurance racing series makes its annual stop at the 1.944-mile Portland circuit. The immaculate racing machines are quickly becoming sports car racing legends around the world.

The top sports car racing teams in the world will challenge the Audis in a two-hour, 45-minute timed contest at Portland on Sunday, August 5, beginning at 1 p.m. (PDT).

The weekend of action will also include the Tommy Bahama 125 for the Trans-Am Series on Saturday, August 4, at 1 p.m. The oldest road racing series in America, the Trans-Am Series for the BF Goodrich Tires Cup is in its 36th season in 2001 but has not raced at Portland since 1995.

In the American Le Mans Series race, Le Mans winners Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen will steer the Audis along with current ALMS point leader Rinaldo Capello, who won last year's Portland race. Three-time Formula One winner Johnny Herbert and England's Andy Wallace will compete in the privately-entered Champion Audi.

Two of the popular, rumbling Panoz LMP-1 Roadsters will also challenge the Audis, with drivers David Brabham, Jan Magnussen, Franck Lagorce and Klaus Graf. Other entrants in the four classes of American Le Mans Series competition include those of performance sports cars from BMW, Dodge, Porsche and Saleen, featuring drivers such as legendary endurance racer Hans Stuck, former CART and Formula One driver JJ Lehto and American road racing stars Bill Auberlen, Terry Borcheller and Randy Pobst.

The Trans-Am Series is America's performance car road racing series. Since its inception in 1966, the series has provided a competition arena for stock-appearing touring (sedans) and grand touring (sports) race cars.

The current generation of Trans-Am drivers is led by defending series champion Brian Simo of Carlsbad, Calif., who drives a Qvale Mangusta, and took three wins last year en route to the series championship. The hottest competitor on the series is Jaguar driver Paul Gentilozzi of Lansing, Mich., who won three consecutive races and four straight pole positions earlier this year.

The spectacular weekend of road racing at Portland will also include races for the popular and competitive SPEEDVISION World Challenge GT and Touring Car divisions, as well as the open-wheel Star Mazda Series. Ticket information for the Grand Prix of Portland weekend is available online at www.fastixx.com, or by calling 1-800-922-TIXX.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Hall, American Le Mans Series Director of Media & Communications (317) 295-3500, ext. 31.