<p class="story_page_headline" style="PADDING-LEFT: 0px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" align="left"><span id="title">The Generac 500 at Road America, Round 7 of the 2006 American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT on Sunday, August 20. The race will be televised live by SPEED at 3 p.m. EDT, and MotorsTV will broadcast the race live to Europe from 9 p.m. to midnight CET. [/quote]
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<p class="story_page_headline" style="PADDING-LEFT: 0px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span>RECORDS FALL AS MCNISH DOMINATES AT ROAD AMERICA[/quote]



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<div class="story_photocaption" align="center"><span id="image1Caption">Allan McNish took the pole in his first try at the Generac 500 at Road America.[/quote]</div>
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<span id="introduction">Elkhart Lake, Wis. &ndash; It seems there is no satisfying Allan McNish. The Scot turned in fast lap after fast lap in qualifying Saturday, finally settling on a 1:49.181 for Sunday's Generac 500 at Road America, the seventh round of the American Le Mans Series. McNish's time was one of four qualifying records that were broken in the 20-minute sessions.[/quote]



<span id="section1Text">McNish and his diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI are making their first stop at the classic road course. Obviously, both have had little trouble catching on. The Series' LMP1 championship co-leader has been the fastest driver in each track session except one during the weekend. As he has all year, he'll team with fellow championship leader Dindo Capello on Sunday.



'It was very good right from the start,' McNish said. 'We struggled with balance (in the morning session) but achieved the result we wanted by qualifying. The front of the car hooked up very well and the rear was stable. I don't think I could have gone quicker if I had done 250 laps.



'It's important to have a little knowledge because the first time you're here you're blind in the corners,' he added. 'It was helpful. The car yesterday was good straight out of the box, which allowed me to concentrate on my driving. It was quite nice.'



McNish was an astounding 1.386 seconds ahead of Frank Biela in the sister Audi prototype. Next in P1 and fourth overall was Dyson Racing's No. 16 Lola B06/10-AER of James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger at 1:51.292. All five P1s that turned in times, and Penske Racing's two Porsche RS Spyders, were under Leitzinger's old record of 1:51.893.



After watching the Dyson Lolas take the front row in the last round at Portland, the Audis have reclaimed the top two spots on the grid. And as far as team orders go on the start, McNish said there is just one.



'We're told we can race, no questions about it,' he said. 'The other thing we're told is that we're not allowed to take the other car off. Frankie and I have a great understanding. When the flag goes up, that's when the race starts as far as I'm concerned.'[/quote]



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<div class="story_photocaption" align="center"><span id="image2Caption">Lucas Luhr won his third career Road America pole on Saturday but first in LMP2.[/quote]</div>
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<span id="section2Text">Lucas Luhr is no stranger to Road America, but that didn't diminish his record-breaking lap in LMP2. The Porsche factory pilot turned in a time of 1:51.199 in the No. 7 Penske Porsche prototype to eclipse James Weaver's mark by 0.443 seconds. Luhr earned his third career pole at Road America, the first two coming in 2002 and 2003 in a Porsche GT2 car.



'Road America is one of my favorite tracks. I'm really happy that it worked out good,' said Luhr, who will team for the first time with Romain Dumas this weekend. 'At this track, the key to being successful is being on the power as long as possible and off the brake as long as possible. What I like is that there is a natural flow. You don't have a lot of first-gear, 90-degree turns. It's more fun here than my last time here in a GT2 car.'



Luhr's regular teammate Sascha Maassen, in the No. 6 sister car, was second in class at 1:51.393, ahead of Jon Field in the Intersport Lola B05/40-AER. Penske leads the P2 team championship, but Intersport's Clint Field and Liz Halliday lead the drivers title chase over Maassen and Luhr by 5 points with four rounds remaining. With Luhr switching spots with Timo Bernhard in the No. 7 car, Penske and Porsche are trying to give themselves the best chance to sweep the class championship.



'We decided we would split the leading guys to maximize our chance,' Luhr said. 'At the beginning, I didn't really like it but it makes sense if you think about it. Our target is winning the championship. We're all in the same boat, so we have to do our best.'



Stephane Sarrazin put Aston Martin Racing on the GT1 pole for the fifth time in seven races with a 1:59.638, the second class pole for the No. 009 Aston Martin DBR9 this year. The Frenchman earned his first fast qualifier award in the Series by 0.167 seconds over Ron Fellows in Corvette Racing's No. 3 Corvette C6.R.



'It's my first time here, and I like the track a lot,' said Sarrazin, who won at Lime Rock Park with Pedro Lamy and broke Olivier Beretta's class track record Saturday. 'It's very fast and very technical. I was very pleased with the car and we improved each session. I pushed a lot in qualifying. We've started well for the weekend but the race will be difficult with the Corvettes.'



The gap from first to fourth in class was a scant 0.424 seconds, likely a preview of what is to come in the race. Through six rounds this season, Corvette leads in the drivers, team and manufacturers championship with four victories. Aston Martin has taken two of the last three rounds, however. Both Sarrazin and teammate Darren Turner in the No. 007 car are at Road America for the first time, and there is a lot to learn with more than four miles and 14 turns of flowing racetrack.[/quote]



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<div class="story_photocaption" align="center"><span id="image3Caption">Jorg Bergmeister is congratulated by teammate Patrick Long after winning the GT2 pole position.[/quote]</div>
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<span id="section3Text">'There are so many fast corners here that you have to carry enough speed,' he said. 'You have to keep improving and getting more confident. It's quite difficult in The Kink in sixth gear but I will try to push hard in the race tomorrow.'



Jorg Bergmeister broke his own two-year-old qualifying record in GT2 with a lap of 2:07.355 in the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing Porsche. Coincidentally, the 2004 class pole at Road America was Bergmeister's last, and he posted the fast lap of last year's race.



'I really love this track. It has a lot of fast corners, which I like,' said Bergmeister, a three-time winner at Road America. Last year he won with Petersen/White Lightning partner Patrick Long. In 2002 and 2004, he won with Bernhard for Alex Job Racing.



'It's always nice to be on pole,' Bergmeister added. 'On a track like this, it's not that big an advantage because there are so many places to overtake. But we have a really good race setup for tomorrow.'



Bergmeister was 0.130 seconds ahead of Mike Rockenfeller in the Alex Job Porsche. The German marque is unbeaten at Road America, but a serious challenge is expected from the two Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GTs. The lead Ferrari of Mario Dominguez and Stephane Ortelli was qualified third at 2:07.845. Next was the class championship-leading Porsche of Flying Lizard Motorsports and drivers Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler.



The Generac 500 at Road America, Round 7 of the 2006 American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT on Sunday, August 20. The race will be televised live by SPEED at 3 p.m. EDT, and MotorsTV will broadcast the race live to Europe from 9 p.m. to midnight CET. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing &amp; Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com.



1. Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Allan McNish, Scotland; Audi R10 TDI Power (P1), 1:49.181, 133.48

2. Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Frank Biela, Germany; Audi R10 TDI Power (P1), 1:50.567, 131.81

3. Romain Dumas, France; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:51.199, 131.06

4. Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; James Weaver, England; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:51.292, 130.95

5. Duncan Dayton, North Salem, NY; Andy Wallace, England; Lola EX257 AER (P1), 1:51.315, 130.92

6. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Timo Bernhard, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:51.393, 130.83

7. Guy Smith, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:51.640, 130.54

8. Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B05/40 AER (P2), 1:53.453, 128.46

9. Pedro Lamy, Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DB9 (GT1), 1:59.638, 121.82

10. Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny O`Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:59.814, 121.64

11. Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Darren Turner, England; Aston Martin DB9 (GT1), 1:59.972, 121.48

12. Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Oliver Gavin, England; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 2:00.062, 121.39

13. Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:07.355, 114.44

14. Marcel Tiemann, Germany; Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:07.485, 114.32

15. Mario Dominguez, Mexico; Stephane Ortelli, Monaco; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (GT2), 2:07.845, 114.00

16. Wolf Henzler, Germany; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:08.194, 113.69

17. Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 2:08.660, 113.27

18. Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), 2:08.819, 113.13

19. Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 2:08.889, 113.07

20. Toni Vilander, Finland; Marc Gene, Spain; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (GT2), 2:09.199, 112.80

21. Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; Bryan Sellers, Centerville, OH; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), 2:09.353, 112.67

22. Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 2:09.410, 112.62

23. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Lola EX257 AER (P1), No Time[/quote]
<center>Generac 500 at Road America

Elkhart Lake Wis.

Sunday's starting lineup</center>
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Dumas benefited from new teammate Maassen, and will start from the pole in LMP2. (LAT photo)
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