Audi Nurburgring race report

Nurburgring, Germany, The Audi R8 of Beila/Pirro raced to a rain soaked third place finish at the ALMS Bitburger/AVD 1000 km at the Nurburgring.

Emanuele Pirro driving the number 78 R8 drove over three hours in the cold and driving rain to place the Audi third. "I spun early in my stint. I had trouble starting the car after the spin and thought our race was over. We have a winning car in the dry, the turbo makes it difficult in the wet. We are not far away in the championship and that is the goal," commented Pirro.

The number 77 of McNish/Pirro went out on lap 88 after a high-speed spin. "Very disappointing. When I took over from Rinaldo it took a while to get used to the conditions and level of tire grip. I spun and couldn't get the car started, which lost us time. Once I was able to get heat in to the tires and therefore grip, I was the fastest car on the track, but I aqua-planned off at the high-speed right hander. I slid across the grass then hit a rut, which damaged the floor and radiator duct meaning instant retirement. It's been one of those problematic days," said McNish.

"The conditions were absolutely treacherous. The rain and cold really played havoc on the race. We were extremely fortunate to come out with a third place finish," said Len Hunt, head of Audi Sport North America. "We are anxious for the series to return to the states."

<pre> Top 10 Finishers for the Nurburgring Bitburger/AVD 1000km 1 Brabham/Magnussen Panoz 185 laps 42 Lehto/Muller BMW 185 78 Biela/Pirro Audi 182 2 Katoh/O'Connell Panoz 181 32 Montagny/Gossens Cadillac 181 53 Kelleners/Policand ROC VW 180 (P2) 18 Lavaggi/Filliberti Ferrari 177 91 Berretta/Wendlinger Viper 175 54 J.C. Boullion/Gene ROC VW 174 (P2) 43 Auberlen/Gounon BMW 170

The ALMS series now travels to California wine country and the Sears Pointe Raceway on July 23.