ALMS: Audi Dominates Sebring

German manufacturer takes 1-2 sweep in first win for hybrid-powered car in American Le Mans Series...

John Dagys | Posted March 16, 2013 Sebring, FL

Audi Sport Team Joest took a dominant victory in the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

While coming as no surprise, Audi recorded a dominant victory in the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The German manufacturer took its pair of R18 e-tron quattros, making their U.S. race debuts, to a convincing 1-2 sweep in the final outing for P1 cars in America’s oldest endurance race.

But the story of the around-the-clock endurance classic, which opened the 15th and final season of the American Le Mans Series, came with late-race battles in three other categories, which saw class wins for Corvette Racing (GT), PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (PC) and Alex Job Racing (GTC). Level 5 Motorsports, meanwhile, claimed the win in P2.

Up front, Benoit Treluyer took the No. 1 Audi to a convincing win, overcoming a broken floor on his 2012-spec Audi, to edge out a 7.679-second margin over six-time Sebring overall winner Tom Kristensen at the line.

"It was tough because Tom was doing very well with the out laps and could warm the tires quicker than me," Treluyer said about the battle following the final pit stop. "After that, I could do it pretty well and bring the car to the end."

Completing 364 laps in total, Treluyer shared the wheel of his 2012-spec R18 e-tron quattro with pole-sitter Marcel Fassler and Sebring rookie Oliver Jarvis, who also scored a class win in January's Rolex 24 at Daytona.

"Winning with Audi at Daytona already was an incredible experience. But now an overall victory on my first run at Sebring on top of that is more than I’d ever dared to hope for," the 29-year-old Briton said.

The No. 1 car was damaged mid-race when it ran over debris, causing the floor to come loose. While the Audi Sport Team Joest mechanics attempted to make repairs while under a yellow, the car continued without any major drama, despite noticeable sparks coming from the rear towards the night-time hours.

 It marked Audi’s 11th overall victory at Sebring, in it's likely final race as a factory prototype entrant in the famed Florida event. The win was also the first for a hybrid-powered car in the ALMS.

Audi's No. 2 entry of Kristensen, Allan McNish and Lucas Di Grassi completed the Audi sweep, in a race that saw more than 20 lead changes.

The No. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola B12/60 Toyota of Neel Jani, Nick Heidfeld and Nicolas Prost completed the overall podium in third, but a hefty five laps behind the winning Audi.

However, with the factory diesel-powered entries not a registered full-season entrant, the result gives the Anglo-Swiss squad an early lead in the ALMS P1 championship race.

Defending series champions Muscle Milk Pickett Racing overcame a dislodged wheel in the second hour and two costly penalties for avoidable contact for a fourth place overall finish for its HPD ARX-03a of Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr and Romain Dumas,

Rebellion’s No. 13 Lola-Toyota completed the top-five overall and in P1, which saw early retirements for the Dyson Racing Lola B12/60 Mazda (electrical) and the DeltaWing (engine), the latter which lasted only 10 laps.

The P2 class saw an equally impressive performance from Level 5 Motorsports, which scored a 1-2 in class with its pair of HPD ARX-03bs.

The No. 551 car of Ryan Briscoe, Marino Franchitti and team owner Scott Tucker took a one-lap victory over the sister No. 552 machine of Tucker, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Simon Pagenaud, which took over the class lead in the sixth hour when the No. 01 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD of David Brabham stopped on-track with gearbox issues.

From there, it gave clear sailing for Level 5, which claimed its fourth straight class victory at Sebring, tying Alex Job Racing (2001-04) for all-time consecutive wins in the American Le Mans Series season-opener.

Additionally, Tucker tied legendary Porsche drivers Bob Holbert (1961-64) and Sascha Maassen (2001-04), along with war hero driver Olivier Gendebien (1961-64) as a four-time consecutive Sebring class winner.

"To come here, with this team Scott has put together, has been great," Briscoe said. "The cars ran flawlessly and the pit stops were absolutely perfect. I don't think any of us put a wheel off today. We didn't want to have an exciting race and just keep it smooth and steady. It all went to plan."

The No. 41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek Z11SN Nissan of Tom Kimber-Smith, Eric Lux and Christian Zugel came home three laps behind in third after briefly leading, but never playing a factor in the outcome.

P2 debutants ESM got both of its HPDs to the finish, although its class-contending No. 01 machine of Brabham, Scott Sharp and Guy Cosmo were more than 80 laps behind after mid-race gearbox problems.

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John Dagys

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