LEHTO, WERNER SEEK TO BECOME FIRST TWO-TIME OVERALL WINNERS AT MID-OHIO
Of the nine tracks on the American Le Mans Series' schedule for 2005, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a rarity. Since the first ALMS race there in 2001, no driver has won more than one overall title. With the American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio set for May 20-22, JJ Lehto and Marco Werner have their chance to break the string.
The Champion Audi duo are 2-for-2 in the ALMS this year in their No. 1 Audi R8. In addition, they have won eight of the last 10 series races dating back to last year's event at Mid-Ohio. The task won't be easy with challenges coming from the two-car Dyson Racing team and a factory Zytek from the U.K. entered for the two-hour, 45-minute race.
"Dyson won the pole and was on the front row last year. So I expect it will be the same situation this year," said Werner, who has won 13 races in 20 starts. "We are not the quickest car on the track so like Road Atlanta, the teamwork and pit stops will be very important. We cannot make any mistakes."
CORVETTES RIGHT AT HOME: On the other end of the scale, Corvette Racing teammates Johnny O'Connell and Ron Fellows are unbeaten in GT1 at Mid-Ohio. This will be their first race there in the new No. 3 Corvette C6-R.
With another victory, the duo will match their record of having won four times at the same venue. O'Connell and Fellows also are four-time winners at Infineon Raceway in California, site of Round 5 of the ALMS in July.
"A lot of it is that we've been able to do the race (at Mid-Ohio) there without mistakes. That's the reason we've had so much success everywhere else," O'Connell said. "The Saleen in past years has done very well there, and I see them as the biggest threat. That car in the medium speed corners is extremely quick."
SHIMODA GOING FOR 2: Hayanari Shimoda, who will drive the No. 15 factor Zytek prototype, is seeking his second podium finish in as many ALMS events. In 2003, he drove a Zytek DBA4-03S to a third-place finish at Sebring with John Nielsen. The pair also was part of the team that won a 1,000-kilometer race at Spa in April.
Shimoda is the fourth Japanese driver to race with the ALMS since it was founded in 1999. Yukihiro Hane finished eighth in GT1 at the 1999 Petit Le Mans, Yojiro Terada was third in LMP2 at Sebring in 2002 and the '03 Petit Le Mans, and Hiroki Katoh ran a full season with Panoz Motor Sports in 2000.
At Mid-Ohio, Shimoda will team with Tom Chilton, a British Touring Car Championship veteran. Both are just 20 years old.
OHIO ON THEIR MINDS: Mid-Ohio is a familiar place for many ALMS drivers. The track has a long history of playing host to SCCA, Formula and other forms of racing. The track also is the site of the annual SCCA Runoffs, which should attract upwards of 700 club racers to the Mid-Ohio in September.
"It's a well known course for guys who got their start in SCCA or Mazda Pro Series," said B-K Motorsports driver Jamie Bach, who won in the 2002 Runoffs at Mid-Ohio in Formula Mazda addition to two other victories that year and a pair of Star Mazda regional races in 2004 at Mid-Ohio. "Any American driver has been there once or twice, and likely even more than that."
TEST TIME: On-track testing isn't a foreign concept to many ALMS drivers. Off-track testing is another matter. Bach, though, is doing just that this week as he winds down the spring semester at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Bach took two exams Tuesday afternoon and has one more scheduled for Wednesday afternoon before heading off to Mid-Ohio. He's majoring in mechanical engineering, by the way.
"It kind of correlates with what we're doing with automobile setup and the car," he said. "I've got a couple of more years to go."
The American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio is set for noon EDT May 22 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. CBS Sports will broadcast the event from 1 to 3 p.m. EDT, and live coverage will be available on American Le Mans Series Radio at americanlemans.com.
