It was the fifth win for the BMW prototypes in ALMS competition. Jorg Muller of Monaco, drove a double stint at the end. Lehto had put the BMW on the pole position for the race, but was passed by Magnussen in the # 1 Panoz in the early going. The race came down to a battle between the two cars, but the Lehto-Muller team elected to leave Muller in the car on the final pit stop, giving it an edge at the end."It was short, less than 40 laps," Lehto said of his stint. "We planned for me to go out at the end but the yellow changed that. I was just watching at the end and getting nervous. We struggled at Sebring and experienced fierce competition here from both privateer and factory teams."
"Team strategy put us in position at the right time," said Muller. "It was brilliant teamwork. At the end, I wasn't pushing."
Panoz LMP-1 Roadster, #1 was driven to second place by David Brabham, England and Jan Magnussen, Gainesville, Ga. The team was delighted with the performance of the car and look forward to Mario Andretti joining them as one of the drivers in The 24 Heures du Mans, June 17-18. Andretti came out of retirement to seek for the crown he has never before won after test driving the new Panoz machine.
The Rafanelli Lola was just out of the box at Sebring where it suffered some gearbox and electrical problems. The only privateer team on the podium at Charlotte, made owner Gabriele Rafanelli proud of the odd looking, aerodynamically sound vehicle. "We have a long way to go. Sebring was a real test for us, but the team has worked hard and drivers De Radigues and Schiattarella ran an outstanding race here at Charlotte. Things can always happen to race cars and they can be fixed, but if you run out of pasta you are in trouble. " There is not much chance of that happening with Olive Garden as a sponsor.
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