Intersport Racing Wins Detroit Sports Car Challenge

photo by John Thawley

Detroit (Aug. 30) – Intersport Racing broke Audi's stranglehold in the LMP1 category Saturday to take the class victory in the Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch, the ninth round of the American Le Mans Series. The No. 37 Very Berry Exotics Lola B06/10 AER of Jon and Clint Field and Richard Berry took the top spot when the No. 1 Audi R10 TDI failed to meet the minimum weight in post-race technical inspection. The win was Intersport's first in the Series since Portland 2006, and its maiden LMP1 victory. It also ended Audi's 30-race class winning streak that dated back to Sebring in 2006. Intersport Racing is the American Le Mans Series longest participating privateer team having competed throughout the Series' 10-year history.

"While this is not exactly how we had hoped to claim our first LMP1 win, we'll take it anyway," said team owner and former American Le Mans LMP2 Champion, Clint. "A win is a win. We admire and respect our friends at Audi. We race them hard and fair every time out. It is a huge challenge for a small privateer like Intersport to go out there and compete with a team of Audi's caliber. This is great for our guys. The whole crew works so hard every week, and we're really happy to share this with them."

"This is a great day for everyone associated with the Intersport Racing team," Jon said. "My last win came at Sebring nearly three years ago, so it's great to have another one under my belt. We are appreciative of the victory, but like Clint said, regardless of the circumstances, a win is a win. We've shown that we have we have the pace to beat the Audis at other tracks. Though I think everyone had difficulty setting up their cars here this weekend because of the lack of track time."

All competitors faced difficult challenges at Belle Isle, as rain dampened most of the activities on Friday. While some teams elected to go out in the morning practice session on wet tires, Intersport played it smart and kept its AER-powered prototype parked in the paddock. In the second practice, Clint and Richard ventured out, completing a handful of laps and acclimating themselves to the tricky 14-turn, 2.07 mile temporary street circuit. In the warm-up on race day, Jon got some time behind the wheel, in what was the first real dry session of the weekend.

The call to preserve the car and not rack up miles in the wet proved to be one of the keys to finishing. Just over 30 minutes into the race, the pole sitter, Lucas Luhr, spun due to the bumps. A few laps later, the German had a second, but race-ending trip into the tire barriers. This immediately put Intersport's Very Berry Exotics Lola into second in class. Jon kept the car solidly in the top-10 overall and on the lead lap through out his double-stint before handing over to son, Clint. Late in the race Richard took over the reigns of the Lola and brought home the win.

"We overcame a few challenges during the race and hung in there at the end," said team manager Brian Alder. "And today, that's what mattered. We're thrilled to have taken the win, although we'd like to have done on the track. I have to thank the entire team that always sticks with us, and also our partners and supporters that never give up. Hopefully this momentum will ride with us into the final two races."

The next round of the American Le Mans Series is the 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans powered by the Totally new Mazda6. The Series' cornerstone round is set for 11:15 a.m. ET on Saturday, October 4 from Road Atlanta. SPEED will televise the race live with XM Satellite Radio airing live race coverage throughout the day. Live coverage from American Le Mans Radio will be available at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

Very Berry Exotics specializes in buying and selling some of the world's more exotics and hard to find automobiles. Not only do they sell cars already in the inventory, Very Berry Exotics will search for automobiles that are their customer's dream cars. Company owner Richard Berry founded Very Berry Exotics in 2004 and is himself a racer.

The American Le Mans Series is the premium brand of motorsport in North America, featuring high-tech sports cars from the most prestigious automobile manufacturers in the world. With its direct link to the world famous 24 Hours of Le Mans in France, its unique four classes of competition showcase exotic prototypes (LMP1 and LMP2 classes) and sophisticated production-based GT cars (GT1 and GT2 classes), all competing on the track at the same time. With a 12-race schedule in 2008, the American Le Mans Series competes at premier road racing tracks across North America and at selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets. With a television package that includes five network broadcasts on ABC and NBC as well as seven live telecasts on SPEED, plus live broadcasts across Europe, the Series delivers a global marketing platform that is unmatched in motorsports. The Series, founded in 1999 by Georgia entrepreneur Don Panoz, represents a mirror image to the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most famous and authentic automobile race. The American Le Mans Series features elite marques such as Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, Ford, Mazda, Panoz and Porsche, and premium brands such as Michelin, Yokohama, Kumho, Lowe's, EPIC, Shell, DHL, Hyatt Hotels, XM Radio and many others. The teams competing in the Series range from top professional teams such as Penske Racing, Andretti Green Racing and Rahal Letterman Racing to top-level independent teams such as Dyson Racing and Intersport Racing.

The American Le Mans Series features technical rules that not only allow new technology, but actually encourage auto manufacturers to introduce new innovations into the racing environment as a means of rapid development for production car application. The Series is the only motorsports body in the world that features multiple street-legal alternative fuel sources - clean diesel, E10 gasoline and E85 cellulosic (non-feedstock) ethanol. Through partnerships with diesel fuel supplier Shell, VP Racing Fuels and EPIC (Ethanol Promotion and Information Council), the American Le Mans Series has taken the global leadership role in motorsports for the development of alternative fuel technology and its practical use in production cars.