Pirelli Teams Stage Hat Dance at Portland Grand Prix

Weekend Is One of Sports Cars Busiest This Season PORTLAND, Oregon, July 29, 2005 Last year, Pirelli was accustomed to celebrating P2 podiums on a regular basis as Pirelli-shod teams won seven of nine races, including the Grand Prix of Sonoma, and set seven fastest laps in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), winning the coveted ALMS Tire Manufacturers Championship. For 2005, however, Pirelli-shod teams were merely hoping to challenge for podiums in the very competitive GT1 and GT2 classes with Maserati and Panoz respectively. That was until April at Road Atlanta, only the second round of the ALMS season, where Maserati scored its first North American podium in nearly 50 years and the Panoz Esperante upset the dominant Porsches for its first GT2 victory ever. After two disappointing results in a row, though, both the Maserati and Panoz teams are looking for a return to the podium this Saturday at the Grand Prix of Portland…but with a few new faces in the drivers seats. Forty-eight years ago, in 1957, racing legends Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra won the 12 Hours of Sebring with a Pirelli-shod 450S, Maseratis last victory in the U.S. with a factory car. Now, Maserati is back with a factory racing car and re-united with another great racing legendPirelliin its biggest market. In 2005, Maserati will participate in the entire ALMS race calendar with one Maserati MC12 supported by Risi Competizioni of Houston. Ferrari/Maserati factory tester Andrea Bertolini and Fabrizio De Simone have been driving the car for most of the season but Bertolini is participating this weekend at the 24 Hours of Spa where he is amongst the FIA GT points leaders. In his place is Mika Salo of Finland, former Toyota F1 driver, and Bertolinis codriver in Maseratis first two victories last year. In its first full year in the ALMS, the Pirelli-shod Panoz Motor Sports Esperante GTLM team was looking forward to the season with greater expectations. These expectations met with dramatic success at Road Atlanta as Bill Auberlen from Redondo Beach, Calif., first achieved a record-setting pole in qualifying followed by his teammate, Scot Robin Liddell, who held off a major challenge by the #23 AJR Porsche for 90 minutes to claim the teams first victory in the #50 Panoz Esperante. It was Auberlens second class win and Liddells seventh, but first in GT2. Liddell also set a new lap record during the race. More recently, Auberlen, along with Liddell and Canadian Scott Maxwell, further demonstrated the Esperantes potential by managing to lead the classic 24 Hours of Le Mans until mechanical problems put them out of the race. Auberlen also has another racing commitment this weekend so Bryan Sellers of Sacramento, Calif., will move over to join Liddell while Christophe Tinseau of France will share the #51 Panoz with Marino Franchitti of Scotland. Rounding out the Pirelli-equipped teams for Portland will be the #71 Carsport America Viper of team owner Tom Weickardt and young Italian Michele Rugalo in GT1 and the #79 J3 Racing Porsche of Justin Jackson and Michael Galati. The Grand Prix of Portland will get the green flag at 5 p.m. local time on Saturday, July 30, and will be televised live by Speed TV. In addition, all ALMS races will again be televised live in Europe in a television arrangement between the series and MotorsTV, a European television channel dedicated to the world of motorsports. For the third year in a row, all ALMS races will also be covered by the American Forces Network. More information about Pirellis motorsport activities, including the Pirelli Girls, can be found at www.us.pirelli.com.