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ADELAIDE--THE CHAMPIONSHIP

© Bonnie Quick

The Adelaide Race seems straightforward enough and the championship will be determined after that historic contest in "The Race of a Thousand Years" , Dec. 29-31. There are no surprises in the Prototype classes. Audi has won manufacturer, team and driver championships already. The only question is, will it be Capello or McNish? The GTS category seems sewed up by Team Oreca. In the GT race, Sascha Maassen and Bob Wollek, who are teammates, vie for the prize. "Sascha is the best GT driver in the series right now." said Wollek. That is a sterling endorsement from a teammate.

Randy Pobst, from Melbourne, Fla., driving the #23 Porsche 911 with Bruno Lambert have had a recurrence of transmission problems that faced them at Road Atlanta in September, losing time when the drove was stuck in fourth gear. This problem has no doubt cost both Pobst and Lambert some points.

I spoke briefly with Pobst who is presently still very much in contention for the GT driver championship, in fifth place. He plans to go to Adelaide at Christmas to prepare for the race, even though his team, Alex Job Racing, opted out. Pobst is the eternal optimist who pursues life, as he pursues the championship, with wit and grace. He is the first one to tell you that anything can happen in racing. "We've got one more race left down in Australia and we're going to have to win that thing."

"Though Alex Job Racing has decided not to go to Australia, I've got to thank my co-driver Bruno Lambert, Alex and David MacNeil of WeatherTech products for getting me a ride there in the Porsche GT3R of White Lightning Racing," said Pobst. "Porsche Cup winner Mike Fitzgerald will co-drive. I've still got a long shot chance at the championship."

The Points With one event remaining - Dec. 31 in Adelaide, Australia - here are the revised GT points standings: Maassen - 209; Wollek - 207; Muller - 202; Luhr - 195; Pobst - 189; Lambert - 187. As the top ten finishes count for the season championship - and everyone has at least ten finishes, here are the number of points each driver will drop for previous lowest finishes: Maassen - 11; Wollek - 11; Muller - 10; Luhr - 0; Pobst - 7, Lambert - 7.

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