Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela won the battle and the war Saturday. The Champion Racing duo won Petit Le Mans and captured their first LMP1 drivers championship together in the American Le Mans Series with a convincing victory at Road Atlanta.

Each have each won previous ALMS titles: Biela in 2003 with Marco Werner, and Pirro in 2001. The No. 2 Champion Racing Audi R8 won for the fourth time this season and has finished in the top three of each ALMS round this year, a model of title-winning consistency.


"All we had to do was keep it on the track," a joyous Pirro said after climbing out of the winning car. "I want to thank our mechanics for a great job. Winning this championship is an absolute dream."

The No. 2 Audi was a 12-lap winner over Chris Dyson and Guy Smith in the No. 20 Dyson Racing Lola. They finished second, followed by the No. 1 Champion Audi of Lehto and Werner. The car was involved in a first-lap accident that collected Lehto and the pole-sitting No. 15 Zytek of Hayanari Shimoda and Tom Chilton.

James Weaver, in the No. 16 Dyson Lola, also was involved in the incident and lost significant time, as well. That left Pirro and Biela up front by themselves.

"For us, its not so easy with such a big lead," Biela said. "Sometimes it's a little bit easier when there's a lot of competition. You're not concentrating on not making mistakes, but having to overtake and keep them behind you. Our guys did a brilliant job. Finally we won it. When we came to Audi this season, all we wanted to do was win. We didn't think we could win here (then), but we did it."

Clint Field is on the verge of becoming the youngest American sports car champion ever as he, father Jon Field and Liz Halliday won in P2 with the No. 37 Intersport Racing B05/40. That victory, combined with a DNF by Miracle Motorsports' No. 10 Courage, launched the 22-year-old into first in the drivers championship standings by 22 points over B-K Motorsports' Guy Cosmo and Jamie Bach, who finished second with Elliott-Forbes Robinson.

Field is four months younger than when John Paul won the 1982 IMSA GTP championship.

"With all that was going on out on the track, it was very satisfying to finish and cross the finish line first," Field said.

Field posted his fifth class victory of the season and fourth in the last five events. Finishing third Saturday was the No. 7 BAT Competition Lola of Mike Johnson, Georges Forgeois and Bob Woodman.

B-K Motorsports' No. 8 Mazda-powered Courage placed second in class. Jamie Bach and Guy Cosmo moved up to second in class past Jeff Bucknum and Chris McMurry from Miracle Motorsports. Finishing third Saturday was the No. 7 BAT Competition Lola of Mike Johnson, Georges Forgeois and Bob Woodman.

In the highly anticipated third meeting between the two, Corvette Racing bested Aston Martin Racing in GT1. Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen won in class for the second straight year in the No. 4 Corvette C6-R. A valiant effort by the No. 57 Aston Martin DBR9 of David Brabham, Darren Turner and Jonny Kane resulted in a second-place finish. The car was heavily damaged during practice Thursday.

"This team is unbelievable. All the pit stops they have done since the beginning, and they've never failed," Beretta said. "They did a fantastic job in preparing the car. Jan and Oliver are very fast and very clever. They know when it's time to push and when it's time to save the car. We want the same thing on the car, and that makes for an easy life on the car."

Third was the No. 63 ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen of Terry Borcheller, Johnny Mowlem and Ralf Kelleners.

Gavin and Beretta now take a 15-point lead into the final round in two weeks at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which pays 23 points to the winner. Their closest challengers, Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell in the No. 3 Corvette C6-R, lost drive and finished sixth.

"The championship is looking good," Gavin said. "We didn't want to get in this position with having something bad happening to the sister car. You want to win it on the track."

1012005221031921_IMAGE3_thumb.jpg ¨ Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister lead the GT2 drivers championship heading into the Monterey Sports Car Championships after winning at Road Atlanta.
In GT2, Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister drove the No. 31 Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Porsche to its third victory in a row and fourth of the season. They now lead Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas, in the No. 23 Alex Job Racing Porsche, by 22 points heading into the season finale.

Bernard and Dumas started on the pole but lost significant time repairing the lower control arm assembly just past the four-hour mark. That left Long and Bergmeister to run their usual consistent race to a victory.

"I can't say enough about this Porsche," Long said. "This car is indestructible. (The points race) is never over until it's over, and we don't talk about it until it's over. Winning Petit Le Mans is a big feather in my cap and the rest of the team."

The final round of the 2005 American Le Mans Series is the Monterey Sports Car Championships on Oct. 15 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The race is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. PDT Oct. 15, with SPEED TV broadcasting the race from 3 to 7 p.m. EDT Oct. 16. Qualifying scheduled for 2:10 p.m. PDT. Oct. 14. American Le Mans Radio, and IMSA Live Timing and Scoring, will be available at www.americanlemans.com.

Petit Le Mans
Road Atlanta, Braselton, Ga.
Saturday's results
1. (3) Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R8 (1, P1), 394.
2. (5) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Lola EX257 AER (2, P1), 382.
3. (11) Oliver Gavin, England; Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6-R (3, GT1), 379.
4. (13) David Brabham, Australia; Darren Turner, England; Jonny Kane, Ireland; Aston Martin DB9 (4, GT1), 378.
5. (6) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40/AER (5, P2), 375.
6. (16) Terry Borcheller, Gainesville, GA; Johnny Mowlem, England; Ralf Kelleners, Germany; Saleen S7R (6, GT1), 372.
7. (2) JJ Lehto, Finland; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi R8 (7, P1), 372.
8. (17) Andrea Bertolini, Italy; Fabrizio de Simone, Italy; Fabio Babini, Italy; Maserati MC12 (8, GT1), 371.
9. (22) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (9, GT2), 364.
10. (24) Emmanuel Collard, France; Ian Baas, Noblesville, IN; Marcel Tiemann, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (10, GT2), 363.
11. (14) Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Peter Kox, The Netherlands; Aston Martin DB9 (11, GT1), 359.
12. (12) Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Max Papis, Italy; Corvette C6-R (12, GT1), 357, Lost Drive.
13. (25) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Jon Fogarty, Palo Alto, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (13, GT2), 356.
14. (18) Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Elliott Forbes-Robinson, Sherrills Ford, NC; Courage Mazda (14, P2), 354.
15. (10) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Riley & Scott MRK IIIC (15, P1), 350.
16. (23) Bob Woodman, Beaufort, SC; Georges Forgeois, New York, NY; Mike Johnson, Atlanta, GA; Lola BK2/40 Nissan (16, P2), 350.
17. (20) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (17, GT2), 349.
18. (21) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Martin Jensen, Denmark; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (18, GT2), 343.
19. (28) Tim Sudgen, England; Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Justin Jackson, Buford, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (19, GT2), 324.
20. (19) Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Michele Rugulo, Italy; Jean-Philippe Belloc, France; Dodge Viper (20, GT1), 303.
21. (29) Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (21, GT2), 258.
22. (30) Michael Cawley, Atlanta, GA; Tony Burgess, Canada; Leh Keen, Dublin, GA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (22, GT2), 253, Accident.
23. (8) Elton Julian, Los Angeles, CA; Phillip Bennett, England; Juan Barazi, Switzerland; Courage C65-AER (23, P2), 225, Engine.
24. (9) Jeff Bucknum, Lake Havasu City, AZ; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; James Gue, Athens, GA; Courage C-65 (24, P2), 197, Gearbox.
25. (7) William Binnie, Portsmouth, NH; Sam Hancock, London, England; Alan Timpany, England; Lola B05/40Nicholson McLaren (25, P2), 195, Engine.
26. (4) James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Andy Wallace, England; Lola EX257 AER (26, P1), 164, Turbo.
27. (26) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Scott Maxwell, Canada; Robin Liddell, Scotland; Panoz Esperante eGTLM (27, GT2), 90.
28. (27) Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; David Murry, Cumming, GA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (28, GT2), 89, Accident.
29. (15) Ben Devlin, England; Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Eric Van der Steur, Spartanburg, SC; Lola B2K/40 AER (29, P2), 7, Collision.
30. (1) Hayanari Shimoda, Japan; Tom Chilton, Horely, UK; Zytek 04S (30, P1), 0, Accident.

Unofficial points
P1
Emanuele Pirro 163
Frank Biela 163
Chris Dyson 138
Marco Werner 135
JJ Lehto 135
Andy Wallace 119
James Weaver 113
Butch Leitzinger 113
Guy Smith 38
Michael Lewis 36
Bryan Willman 36
Tom Kristensen 26
Allan McNish 22
Tom Chilton 10
Hayanari Shimoda 10

P2
Clint Field 122
Jamie Bach 100
Guy Cosmo 100
Jeff Bucknum 98
Chris McMurry 98
Liz Halliday 66
Jon Field 62
Ben Devlin 45
Gunnar van der Steur 32
Ian James 26
Elliott Forbes-Robinson 22
Gregor Fisken 20
Mike Johnson 19
Bob Woodman 19
Georges Forgeois 19
Erik van der Steur 13
Elton Julian 0
Alan Timpany 0
Juan Barazi 0
William Binnie 0
Phillip Bennett 0
James Gue 0
Sam Hancock 0

GT1
Olivier Beretta 173
Oliver Gavin 173br>Ron Fellows 158
Johnny O`Connell 158
Johnny Mowlem 103
Terry Borcheller 103
Michele Rugolo 66
Tom Weickardt 66
Alex Figge 65
Ryan Dalziel 65
Darren Turner 48
David Brabham 48
Jan Magnussen 45
Ralf Kelleners 35
Max Papis 34
Jean-Philippe Belloc 28
Stephane Ortelli 26
Pedro Lamy 23
Peter Kox 23
Johnny Kane 22
Tomas Enge 14
David Empringham 12
Stephane Sarrazin 9
Fabrizio de Simone 0
Andrea Bertolini 0
Fabio Babini 0

GT2
Patrick Long 156
Jorg Bergmeister 156
Romain Dumas 134
Timo Bernhard 134
Jon Fogarty 101
Johannes van Overbeek 101
Tim Sugden 71
Wolf Henzler 68
Ian Baas 67
Robin Liddell 62
Darren Law 62
Justin Jackson 61
Mike Rockenfeller 60
Bill Auberlen 42
Nic Jonsson 40
Seth Neiman 34
Lonnie Pechnik 34
Marino Franchitti 32
Martin Jensen 30
Bryan Sellers 29
Lucas Luhr 26
Marcel Tiemann 22
Emmanuel Collard 22
Randy Pobst 21
Michael Cawley 17
Marc Sluszny 16
Tracy Krohn 16
Andrew Thompson 14
Michael Vergers 14
Juan Barazi 14
Spencer Pumpelly 12
Steve Ivankovich 12
Andy Lally 12
Tony Burgess 12
Christophe Tinseau 8
Michael Galati 6
Scott Maxwell 5
Sascha Maassen 4
Rick Skelton 1
Leh Keen 0
Gunnar Jeannette 0