Click above for high-res gallery from this week's 12 Hours of Sebring practice
An epic battle is shaping up for this weekend's running of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Audi versus Peugeot. The R10 TDI versus the 908 HDi. Diesel versus diesel. This will be the first and perhaps only time that these two teams race on American soil, though the contest will be repeated many times in the European Le Mans Series this season. Since Monday, Audi and Peugeot have been battling for the best lap times during practice sessions in preparation for this weekend's endurance race at Sebring Raceway, and Peugeot got the upper hand on both Monday and Tuesday. Audi, which is fielding two cars to Peugeot's one, finally fought back today posting the fastest lap time of the week thanks to driver Dindo Capello, who ran a 1:45.491, just 0.017 seconds faster than Stephane Sarrazin in the Peugeot 908.
But Audi and Peugeot in the LMP1 class should be wary of focusing too much on each other, as there are other entrants that could spoil their fun. Marco Andretti, for instance has been blisteringly fast in his Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01b, setting the second fastest lap time overall on Tuesday. As we learned from watching the LMP2 class beat up on Audi last year, Le Mans racing is anyone's game. The nature of endurance racing, however, favors fuel economy, and therefore the diesel-powered R10 TDI and 908 HDi should have the advantage. There will be plenty of great racing in the GT1 and GT2 classes as well, with Aston Martin squaring off against the Corvette Racing Team and Porsche taking on Ferrari, respectively. Stay tuned for race results probably late Saturday or early Sunday, and check out some spectacular images from this week's testing in the gallery below.
[Source: ALMS]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Fatman @ Mar 12th 2008 4:18PM
Gotta love those R10s, the quietiest racecar ever. Not counting Soap Box Derby racers of course.
VinceP @ Mar 12th 2008 4:26PM
Autoblog Racing please.
jayhawker @ Mar 12th 2008 4:50PM
I cant wait to see this race on Saturday! The R10 and RS Spyder are two amazing cars!
pio!pio! @ Mar 12th 2008 5:32PM
too bad the Peugeot did 1:43.302 on Tuesday
montoym @ Mar 12th 2008 6:54PM
It was actually on Monday. They posted a 1:43.710 on Tuesday compared to Audi's 1:44.093. Those are all unofficial times however which is why they weren't cited. Official Practice began today and that's why these times were used.
Tuesday: http://www.americanlemans.com/news/Article.aspx?ID=3978
Monday: http://www.americanlemans.com/news/Article.aspx?ID=3972
Wednesday(Today, which was cited in the original post): http://www.americanlemans.com/news/Article.aspx?ID=3979
gary @ Mar 12th 2008 6:39PM
"The decision to compete at Sebring comes after last month's test session where Stephane Sarrazin set a record 1:42.801 lap time at the Florida track behind the wheel of the Peugeot 908 HDi, beating the previous lap record set by Audi's Marco Werner last year by a full two seconds."
murplepoo @ Mar 12th 2008 6:57PM
why is it that the audi is open top, and the peugeot has a roof?
GTX141 @ Mar 12th 2008 9:01PM
Audi developed the R10 before there were hints that the ACO would switch to closed canopies in 2010. Audi also prefers the open canopy as its easier to do driver changes.
Mr. Neff, keep in mind that the diesel cars have smaller fuel tanks than the gas cars. They will actually have to pit more for fuel during the race than the Acuras and Porches, so there really is no efficiency advantage to diesels with the current rules). The only way they'll truly be able to take advantage of the engines is during yellows, when the V12s actually do consume about 30% less fuel than the gas cars. Under WOT, wich makes up a lot of Sebrings track, that efficiency dwindles to approx 10% at most.
Teh biggest advantage at Sebring for the diesels is the enormous acceleration, which is somewhat negated by their slower cornering speeds. Acura proved that yesterday with the second fastest time.
This race really will be a 4-way battle between Audi, Acura, Porsche, and Peugot
Kiiks @ Mar 13th 2008 4:55AM
I can't wait.
Also - free practice lap times aren't always done when the cars are in racing trim, especially when you're talking a 12 hour run. The ideal setup for the fastest lap time isn't necessarily the optimal setup for an endurance race. My guess is that Audi was just fine-tuning in near-race trim while newcomers Pug and Acura with their new ARX-01b were running the gamut of aero and suspension settings which could explain the really low lap times during open practice. I imagine most of the teams got their specs dialed in to more race-able parameters which is reflected by the much closer lap times at the last practice with Audi in the lead by a hair. That's probably more like how much of the race will look. I think these times are a good gauge of competitiveness between the top-dog teams but nowhere near an indicator of who will win.
I'm a little disappointed in IMSA that they didn't implement all of the ACO's new '08 prototype regulations, as I didn't really like seeing the Porches win overall so often but I can't deny that the fight for the overall win is going to be spectacular. ACO's regulations called for a reduction in P1 weight to 900Kg, an increase in P2 weight to 725Kg as well as a fuel cell reduction for P2 to 80L. As far as I know, IMSA/ALMS only meted out a 25KG weight penalty to the P2 cars for the sake of closer racing. Kinda makes LM Prototype class divisions a moot point. That being said, Penske wants to go out with a bang and once Acura moves up to P1 next year and Creation fixes up Autocon's POS, maybe we'll see better in-class battles up top.
Oh and Porsche should sack up and race P1 too.
The Audi boys must be sh**ing bricks right now.