SEBRING, Fl — Allan McNish waited less than one minute to begin the retirement party for the Audi R18 TDI — as he grabbed the lead to the start the second lap of the 60th 12 Hours of Sebring and spent the majority of the next 12 hours playing tag with his Audi mates before taking the checkered flag. The No. 3 Audi was second while the No. 1 Audi lost time to the front runners when it had to put with an issue with shifter electronics. Third place overall went to the Starworks Motorsports HPD (Honda) ARX-03b also the winner of the P2 category.

The victory for McNish, Dindo Capello, and Tom Kristensen washed away two years of frustration in which they have suffered through a series of crashes and car issues that has kept them from the victory circle. McNish cast away these ghosts of past in a thrilling drive at the 24 Hours of Dayton where he and his team finished second four or five seconds from victory. It was two years ago the McNish, nicknamed by fans “Bulldog”, bulled his way to a narrow victory at this same race, beating the at the time arch-rival Peugeot to the checkered flag.

But Peugeot found hard times financially and pulled the plug on its Le Mans team leaving the race at Sebring ostensibly to the Audi team. Audi did not disappoint as it qualified one, two, and three and when the white flag dropped split from the field. The three Audis took turns trading the lead between pit stops and yellow flags until the No. 1 Audi which had turned the best time in qualifying had an extended stay in the pits due to an issue with the electronics that help shift the car. That cost the defending 24 Hours of Le Mans winner 17 minutes, pretty much putting them out of a chance for the win.

However, the No. 3 car with Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, and Loic Duval kept the pressure on the No. 2 car  and it appeared as if the race was setting up for a classic down to the wire finish. But with 23 laps left in the race the No. 3 car tangled with a slower car and in its next pit stop (lap 302) took on fuel, tires, and a new set of tail feathers, which virtually gave the race to the McNish and the No. 2 Audi, who finished with a four lap advantage.

SEBRING, Fl — While the official count has not been released by ALMS / WEC officials, the race here  has to be at least coming up on a record for laps under the yellow flag. The number of accidents has reduced the field and also slowed the average spec. At the 10 hour point in the race, the No. 2 Audi has the lead with its sister ship the No. 3 Audi in second place about a minute off the pace. In third place is Lucas Luhr in the Muscle Milk HPD Honda just slightly a lap off the lead.

We post a win story and additional pictures a little later.

SEBRING, Fl — With four hours under complete, the Audis, as expected hold the top three positions at the 60th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The No. 2 Audi (Capello, McNish, and Kristensen) are the current leaders by just under a second. In fact the two cars have seemingly been playing tag around the 3.740 mile course while the No. 3 car is a bit off the pace, nearly 30 seconds behind second place.

In the P2 class, the team if Tucker, Diaz, Hunter-Reay are leading and in a tight battle with three other teams, all who are on the same lap. The GT Pro class is a dogfight between the Vettes and the Ferraris — but it is still a but presumptive to talk about winners and losers. Well post more at the eight hour mark.