Galati, Bell race report

Sonoma, Calif. -- Michael Galati finished fourth in the Champion Audi/Audi S4 Competition and teammate Derek Bell crossed the line in sixth in the Legends of Motorsport/Audi S4 Competition in the SCCA Pro Racing Speedvision GT race at Sears Point.

Bell was able to get a good start moving up to fourth from his seventh place qualifying position. Galati fell back to fifth from his third place grid position after the car cutout on acceleration.

Midway through the one-hour event, Galati was able to race into fourth by making competitive passes. Bell spent his race in an exciting battle with the Fitzgerald Porsche. His sixth place finish equals his best result ever in the Audi S4.

With his fourth place, Galati retains his Speedvision GT driver's points lead with 16 over second place.

Michael Galati, Champion Audi/Audi S4 Competition: "I had a small miss at the start and a few cars passed me. I was able to get them back a couple laps later, but we had a big push in the car making it hard to really attack the front three. The car was good through the hairpin and really fast through turn one."

Derek Bell, Legends of Motorsport/Audi S4 Competition: "I had a great start and was able to pick up three positions before turn two. I had a fun race with the Porsche. I was able to get beside him a couple of times going into turn two, but couldn't complete the pass."

Rod Bymaster, manager Audi Sport North America: "Michael had a difficult start, but made a nice run to the front to get to fourth position. Derek had a great start and an exciting battle with the Porsche. The cars picked up a push, so we will have to work on that for Portland."

The Speedvision GT race from Sears Point will be televised on Friday, August 10 at 9:00 p.m. EST on Speedvision. The next race for the Audi S4 Competition team will be at Portland on August 5th.

-Audi