60th victory for the Audi R8 Audi R8 eligible in the ALMS also in 2006 Audi driver Ekblom now third in the standings Race debut for the new SEAT Léon WTCC 60th victory for the Audi R8 ALMS: The winning streak of the Audi R8 continues: One week after Allan McNish and Stéphane Ortelli won the 1000-kilometre race at Silverstone, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro secured the 60th victory for the most successful Le Mans Prototype at Road America (USA). With their third consecutive victory, Biela/Pirro extended their lead in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS). Their Team ADT Champion Racing team-mates JJ Lehto and Marco Werner were leading the race for a long time but eventually had to settle for third position following a stop-and-go penalty. Biela/Pirro took the lead in the last third of the race during the final sequence of pit-stops. They defended the lead despite a late safety car period reduced their margin from 20 seconds to a single second.Audi R8 eligible in the ALMS also in 2006 ALMS: The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) has decided to extend the eligibility of all current Le Mans Prototypes for another year. This means that the Audi R8 will be allowed to compete in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) also in the 2006 season. At the Le Mans 24 Hours, however, only cars built according to the new Technical Regulations will be eligible. Audi driver Ekblom now third in the standings STCC: In round six of the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) at Karlskoga, Audi driver Fredrik Ekblom improved from seventh to third in the overall standings of the series. The 2003 STCC champion set the fastest time in qualifying, won the first of the two qualifying races and finished fourth in the second heat securing the pole position for the finale. Ekblom was able to keep the two BMW drivers Thed Björk and Richard Göransson behind him for 15 of the 18 laps in the finale. With three laps to go, however, Björk squeezed by allowing also his BMW colleague Göransson to pass Ekblom.

News from the Audi brand group Race debut for the new SEAT Léon WTCC WTCC: Next weekend, the German round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) at the Oschersleben Motorsport Arena will mark the race debut of the new SEAT Léon WTCC. Spain’s Jordi Gené will be at the wheel of the new touring car. His team-mates Rickard Rydell and Peter Terting will once more race the proven Toledo Cupras at Oschersleben. Results and pointsRoad America (USA), 21 August, American Le Mans Series (ALMS) round 71 Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro (Audi R8) 72 laps in 2h 45m 46.441s 2 Chris Dyson/Andy Wallace (Lola-AER) + 3.239s 3 JJ Lehto/Marco Werner (Audi R8) + 3.777s 4 Oliver Gavin/Olivier Beretta (Chevrolet) -1 lap 5 Ron Fellows/Johnny O’Connell (Chevrolet) - 1 lap Positions after 7 of 10 rounds: 1 Biela and Pirro, 124 points; 3 Wallace, 109; 4 Dyson, 106; 5 Lehto and Werner, 100.Next race: Mosport (CDN), 4 September Karlskoga (S), 21 August, Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) round 6 1 Thed Björk (BMW) 18 laps in 21m 12.838s 2 Richard Göransson (BMW) + 0.527s 3 Fredrik Ekblom (Audi A4 STCC) + 2.731s 4 Tomas Engström (Honda) + 2.944s 5 Tommy Rustad (Opel) + 4.219s .. 8 Tommy Kristoffersson (Audi A4 STCC) + 17.097s Positions after 6 of 8 rounds: 1 Göransson, 92 points; 2 Björk, 86; 3 Ekblom and Stureson, 70; 5 Engström, 68; ... 10 Kristoffersson, 25. Next race: Våler banen (N), 4 September Coming up next weekRound 8 of the DTM at Zandvoort (Sunday) ... Rounds 13 and 14 of the FIA World Touring Car Championship at Oschersleben (Sunday) ... Rounds 22, 23 and 24 of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Knockhill (Sunday) .. Round 7 of the FIA GT Championship at Oschersleben (Sunday) ... Rounds 13 and 14 of the German SEAT Leon Supercopa at Zandvoort (Saturday/Sunday) ..