Altenburg leading the race	Auberlen takes the championship

For: Immediate Release     Date: October 18, 2004    Contact: Duane Sampson

October 18, 2004—Torrance, Calif—In the final round of the 2004 SCCA SPEED World Challenge Touring Car series at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, StopTech-shod cars clinched the Championship and won the event.

Through an action-packed race full of deft maneuvering and friendly nudges, Jeff Altenburg piloted his #72 Tri-Point Mazda 6 to the winner’s circle and the #1 Turner Motorsport/StopTech BMW 325i driven by Bill Auberlen scored the points needed to capture the 2004 World Challenge Touring Car Championship. Dino Crescentini also in a Turner Motorsport BMW ended the season with the Rookie of the Year title.

Altenburg was vying for the top position for a majority of the race, closing in on the leader Pierre Kleinubing under braking lap after lap. His opportunity for the win came on lap 21, when Kleinubing went a little wide in Turn 11 and Altenburg was able to brake later and make the pass.

“I had TONS of brakes,” said Altenburg. “That was how I was catching Pierre (Kleinubing) and that is how I passed him in Turn 11.”

The win was the first for the new Mazda 6 and Altenburg’s second win in the series. In addition, Altenburg set the fastest lap time of 1:39.446, breaking the record by more than five seconds, which earned him the UrbanRacer.com Hot Lap Award.

With critical wins early in the season at Sebring, Lime Rock and Infineon Raceway, Auberlen took the early lead in the championship. In the ultra-competitive Touring Car series, the championship came down to the last race. Driving a smart and conservative race, Auberlen always kept himself in a position (finishing in eighth place) that would take him to his second consecutive Touring Car championship.

“I needed consistent and reliable equipment to win this championship,” said Auberlen. “And that is exactly what StopTech gave me. During the year StopTech worked closely with our team to give us an edge in braking. I won the Championship running the same StopTech brake system you can purchase for your street car.”

Turner Motorsport StopTech-equipped hot shoe, Justin Marks, driving the #2 BMW 325i moved up from his eighth place grid position to as high as third in a competitive battle with the other top drivers, ultimately finishing in fifth place. Justin finished 6th overall in the series with his strong effort at Laguna Seca.

Despite some bad luck with multiple contacts during the race, StopTech-equipped Dino Crescentini at the wheel of the #3 BMW 325i held on to finish 20th and lock up the Rookie of the Year and finish 10th in the overall standings.

James Clay driving the #36 BimmerWorld BMW started ninth on the grid and fought a hard race for all 26 laps moving up to sixth at one point and finishing ninth.

Shauna Marinus put in a strong qualifying run with her #71 Tri-Point Mazda 6 earning her an impressive second place start on the grid. Marinus dropped back in the pack due to a brief off-track excursion. Undeterred, Marinus fought through the field and eventually made her way up to 13th place.

The #13 Circuit City Mazda Protégé of Scott Bradley won the B&M Holeshot Award for advancing nine positions on the start.

StopTech would like to congratulate all of our SCCA World Challenge customers for their outstanding performance during the year and congratulate all competitors for providing the most exciting production-based road racing in the North America. StopTech will continue as a sponsor of SCCA SPEED World Challenge and looks forward to the 2005 season.

StopTech LLC, located in Torrance, California, manufactures high performance brake systems and components for production and production-based racecars. StopTech is the leader in Balanced Brake Systems™ for production cars, and holds three patents in basic brake technology with one pending. StopTech has a worldwide network of resellers. For more information on Stoptech, visit www.stoptech.com

For more information call Duane Sampson at (310) 325-4799 x 103 or email at dsampson@stoptech.com.