Audi dominates Sebring 12 Hours
Posted 18th March, 2012 in Audi, Motorsport | Leave a comment
Audi enjoyed a commanding victory at this weekend’s Sebring 12 Hours, securing its tenth win at this classic race in Florida; a perfect start to the World Endurance Championship and farewell performance of the Audi R18 TDI.
Audi’s stranglehold on the weekend was evident after André Lotterer took pole position in the #1 car, which started strongly, but dropped down the field after losing 17 laps due to a problematic electrical shifting unit which led to to an unscheduled stop for repairs. It was then up to car #2, driven by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish, to fight it out with Loïc Duval, Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard in #3. The cars became increasingly closer, thanks partly to the safety car’s repeated introduction, until #3 suffered body contact with another, recovering well to take the second step of the podium.
“I’m very proud of the team. We worked very hard for this victory. Together with the engineers and the mechanics Tom, Dindo and I invested a lot of time in working out the optimal race setup. That paid off because I think we had the best race car today. The new world championship couldn’t have started better for us than with a victory,” said a jubilant Allan McNish.
Audi’s recently revealed four-wheel drive diesel hybrid R18 e-tron quattro, which will be making its race début at Spa on May 5, was also on display for the motorsport fans.
Results: Sebring 12 Hours
1 Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R18 TDI) 325 laps
2 Bernhard/Dumas/Duval (Audi R18 TDI) – 4 laps
3 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin (HPD-Honda) – 6 laps
4 Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa (HPD-Honda) – 6 laps
5 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla (Morgan-Judd) – 7 laps
6 Collard/Boullion/Jousse (Pescarolo-Judd) – 7 laps
7 Perez Companc/Kaffer/Ayari (Oreca) – 8 laps
8 Dyson/Smith/Kane (Lola-Mazda) – 8 laps
9 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian (Zytek) – 9 laps
10 Leventis/Watts/Kane (HPD-Honda) – 9 laps
[Source: Audi Motorsport]
