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ALMS: Top 5 Audi Sebring Memories
SPEED.com takes a look back at some of Audi’s biggest moments from the Twelve Hours of Sebring...
In only its third sports car race, Audi took its first Sebring victory in 2000. (Photo: Audi Motorsport)
As Audi’s factory LMP1 program bids farewell to the Twelve Hours of Sebring, SPEED.com takes a look back at some of the memorable moments from the German manufacturer’s decade-plus long campaign, which has accounted for ten overall victories in America’s oldest, and arguably toughest endurance race to win.
1999: AUDI’S DEBUT — With an unproven car in its very first race, Audi Sport Team Joest captured a debut podium finish for its No. 77 Audi R8R of Michele Alboreto, Dindo Capello and Stefan Johansson. It proved to be a flawless race, one that not many had expected, according to technical director Ralf Juettner.
“I can still clearly remember telling our electrician before the race to make sure that the headlights in both our Audi R8R were correctly adjusted,” he said. “He laughed at me and asked, ‘Do you really think that we’ll still be running when it’s dark?’ In the end, I had the last laugh as we finished third and fifth in Audi’s first sports car race.”
2000: THE FIRST ONE — Audi crushed the competition with a dominant 1-2 finish to score its first sports car victory in only the brand’s third-ever start. Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen steered the No. 78 Audi R8 to the historic win, bouncing back from a practice accident in the Dane’s Audi debut.
"I locked the front left wheel under braking and landed in the tire barrier, right under the watchful eyes of my new boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich,” Kristensen said. “Frank put the repaired car on pole... and despite several problems with the brakes we were able to win the race by a margin of almost 40 seconds.”
2005: FIGHT TO THE CHECKERED — In one of the most thrilling closing lap duels, Tom Kristensen held off Allan McNish by less than seven seconds to claim victory and lead a 1-2 finish for Champion Racing. Kristensen shared driving duties of the No. 1 Audi R8 with JJ Lehto and Marco Werner, the latter who became a two-time Sebring winner at the time.
“It was a very hard race over the entire 12 hours, which Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and I won by less than seven seconds from our sister car in the Champion Racing team,” Werner said. “The race was open until the last corner and the pressure on us all was immense throughout the race.”
2006: FIRST DIESEL VICTORY — Overcoming various issues, including multiple engine changes in practice and a heat exchanger failure just minutes before the race, the No. 2 Audi R10 TDI of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello rebounded to capture a historic first victory for a diesel-powered sports car.
“In spite of all the problems, we still managed to get the car that started from the pit lane to the finish and win the race and, in doing so, write motorsport history with the first win for a diesel-powered sportscar. I’ll never forget this!” said Ulrich Baretzky, head of engine development for Audi Sport.
2009: AUDI VS PEUGEOT — The debut race for the Audi R15 TDI saw a thrilling battle with fellow diesel rival Peugeot that ran through the closing hours. Allan McNish teamed with Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello, in what the Scot calls his most memorable Sebring ever.
“It was nail biting from the first to last lap,” he said. “There was a lot of overtaking, the lead exchanged hands many times – Peugeot overtook us, we got past Peugeot. We fought like crazy for twelve hours. We had to make every pit stop count and every strategy call by the team.”
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
1999: AUDI’S DEBUT — With an unproven car in its very first race, Audi Sport Team Joest captured a debut podium finish for its No. 77 Audi R8R of Michele Alboreto, Dindo Capello and Stefan Johansson. It proved to be a flawless race, one that not many had expected, according to technical director Ralf Juettner.
“I can still clearly remember telling our electrician before the race to make sure that the headlights in both our Audi R8R were correctly adjusted,” he said. “He laughed at me and asked, ‘Do you really think that we’ll still be running when it’s dark?’ In the end, I had the last laugh as we finished third and fifth in Audi’s first sports car race.”
2000: THE FIRST ONE — Audi crushed the competition with a dominant 1-2 finish to score its first sports car victory in only the brand’s third-ever start. Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen steered the No. 78 Audi R8 to the historic win, bouncing back from a practice accident in the Dane’s Audi debut.
"I locked the front left wheel under braking and landed in the tire barrier, right under the watchful eyes of my new boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich,” Kristensen said. “Frank put the repaired car on pole... and despite several problems with the brakes we were able to win the race by a margin of almost 40 seconds.”
2005: FIGHT TO THE CHECKERED — In one of the most thrilling closing lap duels, Tom Kristensen held off Allan McNish by less than seven seconds to claim victory and lead a 1-2 finish for Champion Racing. Kristensen shared driving duties of the No. 1 Audi R8 with JJ Lehto and Marco Werner, the latter who became a two-time Sebring winner at the time.
“It was a very hard race over the entire 12 hours, which Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and I won by less than seven seconds from our sister car in the Champion Racing team,” Werner said. “The race was open until the last corner and the pressure on us all was immense throughout the race.”
2006: FIRST DIESEL VICTORY — Overcoming various issues, including multiple engine changes in practice and a heat exchanger failure just minutes before the race, the No. 2 Audi R10 TDI of Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish and Dindo Capello rebounded to capture a historic first victory for a diesel-powered sports car.
“In spite of all the problems, we still managed to get the car that started from the pit lane to the finish and win the race and, in doing so, write motorsport history with the first win for a diesel-powered sportscar. I’ll never forget this!” said Ulrich Baretzky, head of engine development for Audi Sport.
2009: AUDI VS PEUGEOT — The debut race for the Audi R15 TDI saw a thrilling battle with fellow diesel rival Peugeot that ran through the closing hours. Allan McNish teamed with Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello, in what the Scot calls his most memorable Sebring ever.
“It was nail biting from the first to last lap,” he said. “There was a lot of overtaking, the lead exchanged hands many times – Peugeot overtook us, we got past Peugeot. We fought like crazy for twelve hours. We had to make every pit stop count and every strategy call by the team.”
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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