07.21.2002
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 60.000 spectators in the heart of Washington saw an enthusiastic debut of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in the US capital. The main protagonists of the 2:45 hrs long thriller were once again the Infineon Audi R8 sportcars of the Audi Sport North America team and the fastest Panoz of David Brabham and Jan Magnussen. With many lead changes and intensive paint exchange, the outcome was left open until the very last of the 140 race laps. Then Tom Kristensen had to admit defeat to fellow Dane Jan Magnussen and crossed the finish line with a marginal gap of 0.766 seconds in second place.
Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro , who started the fifth round from pole position, completed the three-way battle at the front during the entire race and achieved third place. Again and again, the lead changed on the narrow, concrete wall-lined track in the shadows of the Robert F. Kennedy stadium, the margin between first and second place was never greater than one second. Continuous overtaking action with only centimetres between the dicing trio produced one the most exciting races of this year to the fans in the grandstands.

The Infineon Audi R8 sportscars shared the hectic pursuit of the expected strong Panoz: First Tom Kristensen hunted his opponent around the short 1.661 mile circuit. After the Dane had to pit for a stop-and-go-penalty, which his partner Rinaldo Capello got for a collision with the Champion Audi earlier in the race, Emanuele Pirro took over the pursuit. During the last 45 minutes of racing, it was again the all-Danish duel which excited spectators and teams until the chequered flag came out.
Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson experienced a rather unlucky race weekend in their 2001-spec Champion Audi R8. As Herbert damaged his tyres in an accident during the qualifying session, the team had to put on four new tyres for the race – and due to the ALMS regulations, this meant they must start from last position on the grid. Stefan Johansson fought his way brilliantly through the field after the start and soon reached the top ten. But after two spins, Johnny Herbert and Stefan Johansson had to be satisfied with fifth position.

Rinaldo Capello: “While watching Tom fighting for the victory today I remembered the Mosport race two years ago when the battle ended in a photo finish – on that occasion we won, today we didn’t. We saw a fantastic race with the lead constantly changing. We ‘only’ finished second, but we should not forget this is still a good result.”