Pireli at Mid-Ohio ALMS Second Season to Get Green Flag This Weekend

Lexington, Ohio, June 25, 2004 - Just like Kobe Bryant's last second basket in game two of the recent NBA finals prevented the Detroit Pistons from sweeping the LA Lakers in four straight or Cal Ripken Jr.'s late-inning home run in his last All Star appearance, some athletes have a flair for the dramatic. You can now count Dublin, Ohio native Clint Field among them. Three days shy of his 21st birthday, Field and teammates Bill Binnie and Rick Sutherland guided their Lola B2K/40 Judd-powered, Pirelli-shod "baby" prototype to the LMP2 class win at the recent running of the world's most famous endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. This was Field's inaugural appearance at the famous circuit de la Sarthe and only the second race for this new car, which also finished third at this year's running of the 12 Hours of Sebring. In Florida, Field's Intersport Lola battled back and forth with the similar Nissan-powered, Pirelli-sponsored LMP2 Lola of Miracle Motorsports, with the latter pulling off a hard-fought victory. This weekend, Field returns to his home track of Mid-Ohio for the start of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) "second season." This Sunday's two-hour 45-minute ALMS race at Mid-Ohio represents the beginning of the "second season" for most teams and the "third season" for those teams that recently returned from the 72nd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Since the season-opening 12-hour enduro at Sebring in March, which almost seems like a season ago, most teams have not been sitting around in the Florida sunshine enjoying an extended vacation. Those teams with aspirations of winning championships this year have been busily testing and developing cars, tires and teamwork at various tracks around the country...or in some cases running round-the-clock durability testing in the middle of France! For Pirelli, which celebrates its 97th year of top-level motorsports competition this year, it's been a very busy three months with tire testing sessions at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, Infineon Raceway at Sears Point and at Portland International Raceway. Focusing on P2, GTS and GT customers during 2004, Pirelli garnered four podium finishes at the Sebring 12 Hours, a first and third in P2 with the previously mentioned Lolas and second and third in GTS. Those four podium finishes Pirelli achieved at Sebring this year and the LMP2 class win at Le Mans certainly represent an excellent start to the 2004 season and are an indicator of even greater success for Pirelli as the teams head into Mid-Ohio. In the P2 prototype class, Clint Field's Intersport Racing will be out to double-up on their Le Mans victory, while Terry Borcheller and Johnny Mowlem are prepared to better their third place finish in GTS at Sebring behind the wheel of the Acemco Motorsports Saleen S7R Some early season gremlins bit the team at Sebring, but the results of recent testing have the team feeling really positive about the Mid-Ohio race. Super shoe David Brabham, who teamed with the Acemco duo in the Saleen S7R at Sebring, is back at Mid-Ohio as a competitor in a pair of brand spanking new Lamborghini Murcielago R-GTs prepared by Krohn-Barbour Racing. Brabham is teamed with Peter Kox while Tracy Krohn and Scott Maxwell will share the other Lambo. Both Mucielago's are also running Pirellis. Dick Barbour, the second half of Krohn-Barbour Racing, will be chasing a unique ALMS record. Barbour could become the first entrant to win championships in three different ALMS classes, having won the GT class in 2000 and the LMP675 class in 2001. Another of the Pirelli-shod entries in GTS waving the stars and stripes is the Carsport America Dodge Viper piloted by Top Weickardt and Jean-Phillipe Belloc. Pirelli's strong bond with Ferrari includes two World Sports Car championships in 1995 and 1998, as well as winning the inaugural Petit Le Mans overall and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the prototype class in the latter year. Pirelli is, therefore, thrilled to be supporting the efforts of the excellent Risi Competizione Ferrari team for the entire 2004 ALMS season. Under the direction of Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro, both highly skilled veterans of the ALMS wars, the Risi Ferrari 360 Modena GTC is out to challenge the dominating Porsche 911 GT3 RSR's in GT. Last year Kelleners and Lazzaro claimed six podium finishes, including four second-place and two third-place postings. A newcomer to the GT ranks this year is the Panoz Motor Sports Esperante GT-LM piloted by Gunnar Jeannette and David Saelens, who also worked as a test driver for the Formula One Minardi team last year. Jeannette and Saelens were teamed last year in the ALMS behind the wheel of the Panoz LMP01 P900 prototype. Returning to the GT ranks for the 2004 ALMS season is the PK Sport team of Mike Pickup, out of London. Last year PK Sport ran the full ALMS season for the first time, campaigning two Pirelli-supported Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs. PK Sport ran two cars at Sebring but will be at Mid-Ohio with only one for Peter Boss and Hugh Plumb. The race will be nationally televised on CBS Sports from 2-4 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, June 27. Race fans can listen to live coverage of the race on the American Le Mans Series Radio Web at www.americanlemans.com. In addition, Pirelli drivers Clint Field and David Brabham will talk live with AmericanLeMans.com visitors in a pair of live chat sessions. Field, from nearby Dublin, Ohio, will be online to answer questions from fans at 5 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, June 24. Brabham, one of the most popular and successful drivers in ALMS history, will be live online to chat at 5 p.m. (EDT) on Friday, June 25.