SEBRING, Fl — The smell of racing is in the air here at the old bomber airport in central Florida as the 60th annual 12 Hours of Sebring get ready to kick-off with more than 60 cars readying for the drop of the green flag 10:30 am on March 17. The race here will have a new wrinkle this year as it will also kick off the FIA World Endurance Championship, the international endurance series that is the result of the FIA and the ACO putting their heads together.

Leading the entries here is the vaunted Audi team with three of the diesel-powered R18s. Rather then the typical diesel shootout, the R18s will be free to roam the 4.7 mile track at will since the Peugeot pulled out of racing in a bomb-shell announcement in February. Left to contest the fastest class here are a small number of P1 teams. When the series resumes in Belgium at Spa next month, the Toyota Hybrid team will join the series to give the Audis a run. At that time Audi will also bring to the series their newly announced (formally) R18 e-tron hybrid car.

In the mean time the race here appears to be Audi’s to lose with a trio of HPD ARX-03a Hondas, a pair of Toyotas, and a pair of Judd[powered cars to do battle with the Audi team.

In early testing at the track the Audis posted the fastest times of the early periods at the historic track; these early times may reflect overall speed on the track, the real sorting out will be reflected in the work that is to be done on the track today, tomorrow (in qualifying), and Saturday in the race. And know that the teams from Honda, Toyota, and Judd did not make the trip to Sebring just for the sunshine.

The race in the other categories promises to be as competitive as ever, particularly in the GT class where there are a plethora of cars including Corvette, Ferrari, BMW,  and Porsche.