SEBRING, Fla.—For the eleventh time since American Le Mans Series took over as the sanctioning body of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, a trio of Audi drivers ended up on the top step of the podium.
This time it was Marcel Fässler, Oliver Jarvis, and Benôit Tréluyer in the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro, who covered 364 laps of the 3.74-mile Sebring International Raceway, finishing 7.68 seconds ahead of their team mates Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, and Lucas Di Grassi in the #2 Audi.
Despite Fässler and Tr"elyuer being Le Mans Veterans, their win was a bit if a surprise: Defending champions Kristensen and McNish, multiple Sebring and Le Mans winners both, were in the latest variant of the diesel/electric R18 hybrid, while Fässler et al were driving a 2012 model.
Further, Fässler and Tréluyer’s regular driving partner, André Lotterer, was committed to driving in another series; he was replaced on short notice by GT driver Oliver Jarvis, who had no experience in the big P1 Audi or on the bumpy runways of Sebring.
Nonetheless, the team worked together well, the car ran well (despite a loose compliance panel dangling off the floor and dragging on the track) and even the best efforts of Tom Kristensen could not close the gap in the final stint—though he came close.
Rebellion Racing’s Nicolas Prost, Nick Heidfeld, and Neel Jani finished third in the #12 Lola-Toyota.
Corvette Racing won GT, with the team of Oliver Gavin, Tom Milner, and Richard Westbrook overcoming penalties and a problem with the dashboard electrics to edge the #62 Risi Ferrari by 2.7 seconds.
Scott Tucker, Marino Franchiti, and Ryan Briscoe edged their level 5 team mates by a lap to win in P2.
David Cheng, Mike Guasch, and David Ostella were surprise winners in PC in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Oreca.
Alex Job Racing, fresh off a GT win at the Rolex 24, followed up with a GTC win at Sebring, with Jeroen Bleekemolen, Dion von Moltke, and Cooper MacNeil coming back from two accidents—neither their fault—to beat the potent GTC opposition.
Further reports to follow.
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