SEBRING, Fl — It will be three heavyweights Audi, Puegeot, and Acura against the field at the 57th running of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida next weekend in a race that will answer a number of questions about the 2009 endurance racing season, and more specifically the 24 hours of Le Mans that will kick-off in about 90 days. The race also kicks off the 2009 American Le Mans series.
The Wildcard in the threesome is the Acura team, which debuts a new prototype with two teams, Highcroft Racing and de Ferran Motorsports managing the cars. These two team boasts both star power and winning team members. The two teams will feature feature Indy 500 winners Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Gil de Ferran behind the wheel.
Thus far the Acura’s, according to several reports have been quick around the Sebring race course, with the LMP1 car turning a 1:44:814 lap, averaging 126.723 mph around Sebring’s 3.7-mile, 17-turn road circuit, which is quicker than Marco Werner’s standing qualifying record, set in 2007 in an Audi R10 TDI.
Even Luis Diaz, in the Lowe Fernandez racing Acura ARX-01b LMP2 was fast in testing, with a lap nearly as quick as the big brother LMP2 car.\
Of course testing is one thing, but the proof is in being fast on race day and both Peugeot and the Audi have proven themselves in the toughest test of endurance racing, the 24 hours of Le Mans. Last season it was Audi, by the grace of racing gods and a rain storm, earning the victory at the famed circuit in France. But it was also at Le Mans last year that Peugeot served notice to the vanunted team from Ingolstadt.
While the Peugeot suffered through some teething issues at Sebring last year, at Le Mans the French lion proved a fierce competitor, taking the top three spots in qualifying and running laps in competition that were faster than the Audi ran in qualifying. The Ingoldstadt armada answered with a new car for 2009 — one that will only run this season and which will not even be legal in the future, since the ACO will require all cars to have enclosed cockpits.
Peugeot returns to Sebring and the endurance racing wars with its stable of 908 HDi turbodiesel Le Mans prototypes — which are now proven contenders on the circuit — but which are lacking one thing — a win at a major event like Sebring or the grand daddy of endurance racing — Le Mans.
To this end Peugeot will be fielding three cars at Sebring this year to the single car that finished 11th last year in Florida. Peugeot also raced against Audi at the 2008 Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, and finished second (the same results at Le Mans). It is a broken record that the French are tired of listening to.
Audi’s new racer, the R-15, is an open cockpit racer that is smaller than the previous model and powered by the V-10 TDI diesel engine that has won at Le Mans the last three years. Sebring looks to test the car with respect to whether it is fast enough to run with both the Peugeot and the Acura — and also last for the 12 hours on a track that is known for its unforgiving treatment of equipment.
Audi’s team brings the most experience to the endurance racing circuit. The new R15 TDI features a completely new body style with a V-10 diesel engine producing 600 hp. Numerous new technical features are included within the electrical system and chassis.
Leading the two-car Audi team will be veterans Tom Kristensen, Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish in the #1 Audi. Kristensen will be gunning to become the first driver to win five times overall at Sebring (he and Frank Biela are tied with four victories). The #1 Audi will be driven by Lucas Luhr, Marco Werner and Mike Rockenfeller.
Although Audi won the LMP1 class here last year the team finished third overall behind two Porsche Spyders, at least partially due to some bad luck trackside that put the team in the pits for nearly 30 minutes. Most who witnessed the Sebring event last year could see the Peugeot was quicker around the race track than the Audi. The Peugeot also suffered from mechanical issues that kept it from really racing.
Sebring has a storied history and this is one chapter that is certain to have many contributors writing laps on the asphalt and concrete of central Florida.
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