Audi drops America's Cup team sponsorship

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- Audi, which dropped out of the American Le Mans Series last week, has also pulled out of the troubled sailing project Team Germany that had been hoping to challenge in the America's Cup.

The project's leader, former Olympic champion and Alinghi helmsman Jochen Schuemann, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper he was looking for new sponsors.

Schuemann said he got a call from Audi last week, calling off a meeting that was supposed to discuss the details of the deal.

Schuemann needs a sponsor to build a new boat. Team Germany's interim boat, Platoon, has been sold after its withdrawal from the Pacific Series in Auckland in February.

Alinghi and the American Oracle-BMW Racing team have been engaged in a long court battle over the next format of the America's Cup.

Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.