Rockenfeller to deputise for Pirro

Pirro was forced to sit out the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta after he sustained whiplash in a heavy accident in practice, and the Italian has not been cleared to get back in the Audi R10 just two weeks after his accident.

Audi's head of motorsport Wolfgang Ullrich said: "Our doctors have stated that allowing Emanuele to race only two weeks after such an accident would represent a significant risk to his health.

"This would also be unnecessary as the championship has already been decided."

The ALMS finale will be Rockenfeller's second race in the Audi R10, and he will be hoping that there is no repeat of his error that caused him to crash in the early stages of the Le Mans 24 hours in June.

Rockenfeller's fellow DTM racer Lucas Luhr was impressive when he stood in for Pirro at Road Atlanta, but Audi have decided to use this race as an opportunity to give their other new signing from Porsche some more time in the R10.

"I'm really looking forward to making the most of this opportunity following the somewhat unlucky retirement at Le Mans," said Rockenfeller. "I aim to be as good a stand-in for Emanuele as Lucas was at Road Atlanta."