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Sears Point: Touring race notes

SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2003) -- Bill Auberlen, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., had an impressive day at Infineon Raceway Sunday winning both the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT Round Six race in the morning and then the SCCA Speed World Challenge Touring ...

Published: Jul 29, 2003, 5:15 AM

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SONOMA, Calif. (July 27, 2003) -- Bill Auberlen, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., had an impressive day at Infineon Raceway Sunday winning both the SCCA Speed World Challenge GT Round Six race in the morning and then the SCCA Speed World Challenge Touring Car Round Five race in the afternoon.

Auberlen's Turner Motorsport/H&R Spring BMW 325i led from start to finish, holding off the No. 40 TriPoint/Mazdaspeed car of Jeff Altenberg, of Ellicott, M.D., by 0.577 seconds. Auberlen's win was his second Touring Car victory in as many races and his third Touring Car victory of 2003.

"When I get into the BMW's I feel like I'm putting on a pair of sox I've owned my entire life," Auberlen said of his two victories. "I can do stuff in it and I feel very confident that I won't make a mistake. To be in a BMW, to be on the pole for two races and to win two different races is fantastic."

Altenberg moved to second when Sweden's Nic Jonsson's No. 27 Tecmark Auto Sport BMW 325Ci's motor expired on lap nine. Altenberg's second-place finish, coupled with teammate, Shauna Marinus', of Folsom, Calif., third-place finish gave the TriPoint/Mazdaspeed team their second, second and third-place finishes in as many races.

"Shauna and I seem to drive in a very similar manner," Altenberg said. "She is great teammate to have because she is very quick. We both try to learn from each other so we don't make the same mistakes on the track."

"It was great to be third again, but I'm starting to get a little greedy," Marinus said of her second consecutive third-place finish. "Now I'm ready for second or first. Hopefully we're headed toward that, but in this series just being on the podium feels like a huge accomplishment. So I am very happy."

Chili Pepper Racing driver Ken Dobson finished fourth and the Nissan/Nismo/TeamRTR Sentra SER Spec V piloted by Peter Cunningham completed the top-five.

Auberlen leads the SCCA Speed World Challenge Touring Car Point Standings with 151 points, followed by Pierre Kleinubing, with 121, Roger Foo, with 95, Dobson, with 94, and Will Turner, with 92.

BMW maintains the SCCA Speed Touring Car Manufacturers' Championship presented by Racer Magazine with 41 points, followed by Acura, with 27, Mazda, with 20, Lexus, with 8, Audi with 7 and Nissan with 3.

The B&M Holeshot award was claimed by Andrew Monterrubio, who advanced nine positions on lap one. Monterrubio also earned the Sunoco Hard Charger award making up 21 positions during the race, as he started 33rd and finished 12th.

SCCA Speed World Challenge Touring Car Championship heads to Mid-Ohio Aug. 8-10 for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio.

Today's race will air at 4:00 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, Aug. 2 on Speed Channel.

For more information, including live timing and scoring, visit www.world-challenge.com.

Race Stats/Notes:

Time of race: 45 minutes, 44.424 seconds.
Average speed: 76.029 mph
Margin of victory: .57700 seconds
Lap leaders: Laps 1-23, #93 Bill Auberlen
Fastest race lap: #93 Bill Auberlen, 1:53.575 (79.876 mph)
Fastest qualifier: #93 Bill Auberlen, 1:52.395 (80.715 mph)
Caution: 1 for 2 laps

# 64 Endicott disqualified at post-race technical inspection for rear wind out of compliance.

-scca pro racing-

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