16.07.2004 KROHN BARBOUR RACING ARE UP TO FULLY STRENGTH THIS WEEKEND AT SEARS POINT WITH THEIR SECOND LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO R-GT NOW FULLY REBUILT AFTER ITS MID OHIO DEBUT ACCIDENT

NASCAR stars usually battle bumper-to-bumper and fender-to-fender but 2004 Nextel Cup frontrunner Dale Earnhardt Jr will find that the close competition has an Italian flavour when he and team-mate Boris Said come up against two Krohn-Barbour Lamborghini Murcielago R-GTs at Sears Point this weekend.

Earnhardt is making a rare appearance in the American Le Mans Series, and will wheel a third Chevrolet Corvette in the GTS class that also features the new-for-2005 Krohn-Barbour Lamborghinis.

The Italian supercar made its ALMS debut at Mid-Ohio just three weeks ago, but the team's entry was reduced to one car almost immediately following a testing accident involving co-owner Tracy Krohn.

Since then, however, the crew has been hard at work rebuilding the car around a new chassis so that the no 5 entry driven by David Brabham and Peter Kox will have some support over the rest of the season. Tracy Krohn will share the 'new' car with Canada's Scott Maxwell.

Brabham and Kox challenged for third place in GTS on the car's debut at Mid-Ohio, only missing on the glory of a podium position by less than seven-tenths of a second after the Australian was powerless to hold off friend and rival Johnny Mowlem's Saleen on the penultimate lap.

The Lamborghini again challenged for third place at Lime Rock two weeks ago, especially when the track surface was made greasy by rain, but the car subsequently lost an hour in the pits after Kox was blamelessly side-swiped by the same S7-R.

“We're very excited about having our new team up to full strength and, for the first time, fans will be able to see not just one Lamborghini racing, but two," team manager Dick Barbour said, "The car's gone that little bit faster every time it's hit the track, and I'm sure we'll make more progress this weekend.

"At the same time, we have to be realistic, this weekend will be the 50th ALMS race that the Corvettes have taken part in, and it's only the Lamborghini's third. We still have plenty of work to do to get the car fully up to speed, but we will be trying.”