Audi R15 wins debut at 12 Hours of Sebring
by John Neff on Mar 22nd 2009 at 2:41AM 
2009 12 Hours of Sebring – Click above for high-res image gallery
The R8, the R10 and now the R15. Each of Audi's last three prototype Le Mans race cars have won their race debut, with the latest R15 recording its first victory yesterday at the 57th 12 Hours of Sebring. The winning #2 R15 was driving by Audi's dream team of Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen. Of course, Audi's win did not come easy in the top tier Le Mans P1 class. Peugeot was right there the whole time with its pair of diesel-powered 908 HDi cars, swapping the lead with Audi a total of 23 times. In fact, both teams remained on the same lap with each other throughout the entire 12-hour race.
Follow the jump to continue reading Autoblog's run down of the 57th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Gallery: 12 Hours of Sebring - 2009
[Source: AmericanLeMans.com]
It was the last hour, however, that cemented Audi's victory. With 42 minutes remaining, the leading Peugeot driven by Franck Montagny pitted for fuel and gave up the lead to Alan McNish. The flying Scot then proceeded to click off exceedingly faster laps, building up enough of a lead over Montagny and the Peugeot to pit for fuel with 14 minutes remaining. Luck was on Audi's side, however, as a yellow flag would've given Montagny the lead for good after McNish's final pit. When McNish did emerge from pit row for the last time, Montagny was just emerging on the backstretch. The Audi ended up crossing the finish line 22.279 seconds ahead of the Peugeot. Third place in LMP1 went to the #1 Audi R15, while both of the Acura ARX-02b cars failed to make the podium despite one starting the race in pole position.
The next fastest LMP2 class was won by the Acura ARX-01b car of Lowe's Fernandez Racing driven by Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz. The GT1 class was not surprisingly won by Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connel in the Corvette Racing C6.R. This is the last Sebring for the C6.R before the Corvette switches to the GT2 class later this year. The GT2 class at this year's Sebring was won by the Risi Competizione Ferrar F430 GT driven by Pierre Kaffer and Jaime Melo in a decidedly less exciting fashion than two years ago.
57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida
Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.
Saturday's results
1. (2) Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Audi R15 TDI (1, P1), 383.
2. (5) Franck Montagny, Brignoles France; Sebastien Bourdais, France; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (2, P1), 383.
3. (4) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Audi R15 TDI (3, P1), 381.
4. (7) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 360.
5. (3) Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Christian Klien, Austria; Nicolas Minassian, England; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (4, P1), 356.
6. (12) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Antonio Garcia, Spain; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 349.
7. (11) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Marcel Fässler, Switzerland; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 348.
8. (27) Mika Salo, Finland; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Pierre Kaffer, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (1, GT2), 332.
9. (15) Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Mathias Russo, Argentina; Luis Companc, Argentina; Ferrari 430 GT (2, GT2), 330.
10. (17) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ian James, England; Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford (3, GT2), 329.
11. (14) Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Marc Lieb, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT2), 326.
12. (24) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (5, GT2), 326.
13. (23) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Ferrari F430 GT (6, GT2), 325.
14. (16) David Murry, Cumming, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT MK 7 (7, GT2), 303.
15. (6) David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Acura ARX-02a (5, P1), 302, Drive line.
16. (13) Dirk Werner, Germany; Richard Lietz, Austria; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 274.
17. (19) Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Ritchie Holt, Davie, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (9, GT2), 251, Clutch.
18. (1) Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Acura ARX-02a (6, P1), 246, Mechanical.
19. (20) Robert Bell, UK; Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Aston Martin Vantage GT2 (10, GT2), 204, Engine.
20. (9) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Tony Burgess, Canada; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola B06/10 AER (7, P1), 151, Electrical.
21. (10) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B09 86 Mazda (2, P2), 149, Mechanical.
22. (26) Dirk Müller, Germany; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; BMW E92 M3 (11, GT2), 140.
23. (8) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Lola B09 86 Mazda (3, P2), 127, Mechanical.
24. (22) Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Eric Curran, Easthampton, MA; Lucas Molo, Brazil; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (12, GT2), 89, Mechanical.
25. (25) Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (8, P1), 77.
26. (18) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (13, GT2), 27, Mechanical.
27. (21) Nicky Pastorelli, Netherlands; Hans Stuck, Germany; Johannes Stuck, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT2), 0, Withdrawn.
28. (28) Richard Westbrook, England; Marc Basseng, Germany; Lance David, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (15, GT2), 0, Withdrawn.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
zamafir 2:53AM (3/22/2009)
Very exciting race, lots of track records set and lots of great driving, this is going to be a very close 24 hours when lemans comes around.
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chewy 3:14AM (3/22/2009)
The race pace was very quick, but the scarcity of cautions that have strangled ALMS racing in the last few years was nice, clinched the distance/speed record.
Audi also got the Michelin Green prize. Awesome debut for the R15, it had the performance and perfect reliability. Acura/Peugeot didn't have that.
zamafir 3:18AM (3/22/2009)
no which was odd given the R15 is younger than the lions' car. very odd.
Mr.Oak 10:57AM (3/22/2009)
Chewey, scarcity of cautions was due to the fact that only 26 cars were in the field.
Fewer cars = few on track incidents = fewer cautions = more laps at racing speed = more distance covered in allotted time.
why not the LS2LS7? 3:18AM (3/23/2009)
The green prize for Audi is a joke. The GTL used in the Audi is terrible on a wheel-to-well energy basis. They are very lucky to get such an advantageous rating for their fuel. Of course, the E10 used in the GT2 cars gets a 91% energy rating, meaning somehow someone out there thinks that making Ethanol only uses 10% as much energy as making gasoline. Another ridiculous rating.
Raz 3:30AM (3/22/2009)
Congrats to Audi and their awesome R15!
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Spencermfi 4:42AM (3/22/2009)
Autoblog should always give a spoiler warning and reveal results only after the jump.
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Micke D 4:19AM (3/22/2009)
gee, thanks for the spoiler warning guys.
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ksmith 10:02AM (3/22/2009)
Agreed. Way to wreck it for some folks autoblog. Neff should know better.
slicecom 11:18AM (3/22/2009)
May I suggest you don't go to car sites if you're trying to avoid spoilers for car related news.
Micke D 12:46PM (3/22/2009)
I didn't specifically go to autoblog, I went to my google reader page and found this at the top. All I'm asking is don't put the result in the headline.
jjmcubed 4:33AM (3/22/2009)
Please tell me that the gallery of pictures from a 12 hour race isn't 13 pictures...
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Pengwin 1:03PM (3/22/2009)
the photographers were given the day off
GeoTracker 5:16AM (3/22/2009)
YOU GUYS F*CKING SUCK!! You just lost a reader.
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ack154 11:44AM (3/22/2009)
And if you didn't know enough to not read car news the day after a big race if you hadn't already seen the results... then they're obviously better off with one less reader.
EJ25RUN 8:06AM (3/22/2009)
The race was the best 12 hour i have ever watched. The final six hours had me jumping of the couch. I remember when Dindo went by rightr before he pitted, wow.
Anyways, to you guys mad about the spoiler, first off, everyone i knew scheduled their week around the race and 2, i download races myself but....12 hours worth of downloading? Comon.
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Mr.Oak 10:58AM (3/22/2009)
Then you probably didn't watch '07.
EJ25RUN 11:51AM (3/22/2009)
I have watched every Sebring 12 live since 2000
Mino 2:11PM (3/23/2009)
the 07 race by far was one of the most exciting races ever!
go youtube 2007 sebring ferrari porsche!
Audi_Sport 9:12AM (3/22/2009)
The slow Acura's shouldnt have bothered entering P1 they just hold up TRAFFIC.
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