It seemed an unlikely beginning to the season, given Audi's newly developed R15 TDI diesel race machine pitted against a potent field of contenders like Acura's new LMP1 and the always quick and stylish Peugeot 908 HDI at the hands of Formula One drivers no less. Still, Audi has a record of winning out of the box and put in its usual ho-hum, but somehow exciting, performance at the historic 12 Hours of Sebring this past weekend.
Audi emerged victorious at the 12 Hours of Sebring tonight with their new R15 TDI racer piloted by Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen, taking the checkered flag 22.279 seconds ahead of Peugeot.
Audi's brand new R15 TDI whomped on the French with a 1st place finish over the 2nd place Peugeot 908
HDI. It was an epic battle between the two diesel powers and McNish in
the #2 car was able to take the lead around the 42-minute mark when
Peugeot driver, Montagny, made a final fuel-only pit stop. McNish was
able to maintain his overall lead, clicking off faster and faster laps
that allowed him to gain enough of a gap to eventually win the 100th
ALMS race, the 57th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.
Can they repeat this epic win in Le Mans? We're sure that Peugeot
will bring their A-game, but with Audi's amazing performance today,
we're not so sure it the French will win on their home turf.
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Porsche did not have a great day at this weekend's 12 Hours of Sebring, but at least they can kick back and relish their past glories in sportscar racing.
from Autoblog by
Sam Abuelsamid
Click above for a high-res gallery of the Porsche 917
Forty years ago this week at the
Geneva Motor Show,
Porsche rolled out what would become one of the most successful racing
cars of all time. The Porsche 917 was born of new FIA homologation
rules that required a "production" run of at least 25 examples before
the car could take to the track. Over the next several years, 917
variants in several different body styles including short- and
long-tail closed coupes and open-top "spyder" models would win wherever
they went, including Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring and the Can-Am series.
All
65 examples that were ultimately built were powered by an air-cooled
flat twelve-cylinder. The first coupes used a 4.5-liter normally
aspirated 520 horsepower engine while the penultimate example was the
917/30 spyder. This 1,200-hp turbocharged beast swept Can-Am in the
hands of Mark Donohue, bringing the series to a climax in 1973 before
the combination of the economy and Middle East oil embargo caused most
major teams to withdraw. Seven of the 917s can now be seen in
Porsche's new Stuttgart museum.