Johansson pledges to defeat works Audis

The Swede, who both runs and drives the Gulf-backed Audi R8 in the American and European Le Mans Series, says it's a tough task to beat the dominant force, which won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the American Le Mans Series last year.

"I know everyone in this business is an eternal optimist but we're not a million miles away at the moment," said Johansson. "You've got to say that they're probably the best team that's every been in sportscar racing by a lot chalk, in terms of how the car is built and all the preparation that goes into it.

"It's not easy to move up to that level. As it stands today, we're effectively a team that's only done two sportscar races, so I'm pretty proud of what we've achieved already. It's a big task to get past them, though."

Johansson's driving partner Guy Smith struck a blow for the team with a stunning pass on the works car of Emanuele Pirro at Donington on Saturday, although the Humbersider fell behind the Italian again by the end of the race when he had to make a splash 'n' dash pit stop.

"The car was good and I put him under pressure for a couple of laps and he made a little mistake coming out of the chicane," said Smith. "I got a run on him and passed him with a great move under braking. I was hoping we wouldn't have to stop again, but I'd already done two laps on the reserve tank and it was starting to cut-out.

"That cost us second place, but at least we're pushing them and making them work for it. Hopefully, at Jarama, we can beat them."