HERTA THIRD AT SONOMA.Byline: Tim Haddock Valencia driver Bryan Herta Bryan Herta (b. May 23 1970, Warren, Michigan) is an American race car driver. He currently drives for Andretti Green Racing, which is co-owned by former CART and IRL driver Michael Andretti, in the ALMS, although his career has primarily been spent in open-wheel cars recorded his first podium finish in sports car endurance racing, and his Panoz Motor Sports team took two of the top three spots in the American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Grand Prix Grand Prix n. pl. Grand Prix Any of several competitive international road races for sports cars of specific engine size over an exacting, usually risky course. of Sonoma. Herta and Panoz teammate Bill Auberlen Bill Auberlen is a race car driver born in Redondo Beach, California, USA on 12 October 1968. He was the Grand-Am GT Series champion in 2002 and 2004. Auberlen currently drives a BMW Riley in the DP class for Sigalsport, a BMW M3 for Turner Motorsport in the Grand-Am finished third in Sunday's endurance race at Sears Point Sears Point is a prominent landform jutting into the historic reaches of San Pablo Bay in Sonoma County, California, USA. This hill is the southernmost peak of the Sonoma Mountains and forms the southwestern ridge above Tolay Lake. Raceway. The race started under rainy conditions, but the rain stopped and the track dried midway through the 2 hour, 45 minute event. Panoz Motor Sports teammates David Brabham David Brabham (born 5 September 1965 in Wimbledon, London) is an Australian former Formula One driver who raced for the Brabham and Simtek teams. He is the youngest son of Sir Jack Brabham, the famous Australian Formula One champion. and Jan Magnussen Jan Magnussen (born July 4 1973 in Roskilde) is a race car driver from Denmark and a GM factory driver. Career history Lower series racing Magnussen had a dominating 1994 British Formula 3 championship with Paul Stewart Racing, winning 12 of the 16 events and won the Grand Prix of Sonoma, the seventh American Le Mans Series victory for Panoz. Both teams drive LMP-900 prototypes, the top class of cars in the American Le Mans Series. ``We faced the same problems with David and Jan when the track dried because of the wet set-up,'' said Herta, a Hart High graduate, ``but we are both delighted with the result. It has really been a fantastic day for the team to take first and third, and hopefully we can build on things from here.'' The Audi R8 team of Johnny Herbert and Tom Kristensen finished second. Brabham and Magnussen won the race by .482 second. ``The car was really good in the wet conditions and I was able to pull away from the Audis,'' Brabham said, ``but when the track started to dry, our set-up was a little soft for the dry conditions. ``Kristensen started to push hard and got past me and I was trying the best I could to try to hold on as we stretched our fuel consumption as far as I could.'' The Panoz team will be heading to France next for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on June 15-16. In preparation for the 24-hour endurance race, the Panoz drivers tested at Crows Landing airstrip in California this week. ``(Sunday) was fantastic for the team, but we still have a lot of work to do to catch Audi at Le Mans,'' team founder Don Panoz said. ``We are delighted with the victory, but everybody knows Le Mans will be a very tough test. The positive aspect is we will head to France in a winning frame of mind and with very high spirits - this is a great morale booster.'' --NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series: M.K. Kanke of Frazier Park and Saugus High graduate Sean Woodside turned in top-five performances in Sunday's Southwest Series 100 at Pikes Peak International Raceway Pikes Peak International Raceway was a one mile oval Auto Racing track located in Fountain, Colorado, south of Colorado Springs and north of Pueblo. Capacity: 42,000 Grandstand seats, 20,000 Infield capacity. in Colorado. Kanke finished third and Woodside was fifth in the quickest Southwest Series race ever at Pikes Peak. Inclement in·clem·ent adj. 1. Stormy: inclement weather. 2. Showing no clemency; unmerciful. in·clem weather conditions led to the record 100-mile race, completed in one hour, one minute, 18 seconds. Eddy McKean of Jerome, Idaho won the first race of his Southwest Series career in the Southwest Series 100. Frank Maronski Jr. of Quartz Hill was sixth. The next race on the Southwest Series is the K&N Filters 150 at Irwindale Speedway on June 8. --Irwindale Speedway: Ben Walker of Santa Clarita won his second NASCAR NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing), organization that sanctions American stock-car races, est. 1948. It held its first race in Daytona Beach, Fla. Super Late Model race at Irwindale Speedway last Saturday night. Walker trails class leader Tony Green of Oak Hills by 22 points. Guy Tripp of Saugus, the defending NASCAR Modified 4s champ, won the 30-lap feature on the third mile. Tripp trails Modified 4s leader Terry Limberopoulus of Long Beach by 13 points in the series standings. Racing continues tonight at Irwindale Speedway with NASCAR Super Late Models, Super Stocks, Legend Cars, Ultra Wheel Super Trucks and Figure 8s. Gates open at 4 p.m. Racing starts at 7. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Bryan Herta teamed with Bill Auberlen to finish third in the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday. Rick Dole/Special to the Daily News |
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