Sebring, March 16, 2002
Audi have won the 12 Hours of Sebring, one of the most demanding
motorsport events, for a third time in a row in front of a record crowd of more
than 150,000 spectators. Because of the bumpy Sebring track, the
American endurance classic is known to be a tough test, the 50th running of
the event being even more difficult compared to the recent years: Intense
heat of up to 34 degrees celsius even melted the track´s tarmac at the
opening round of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), requiring repairs at
the beginning of the final third of the race.
The high temperatures and humidity did not affect the winning Infineon Audi
R8. After last year´s “rain battle” at Le Mans the most successful sportscar
of today mastered also the “heat battle” in Florida. Audi is only the fourth
manufacturer that was able to achieve three Sebring victories in a row.
While Rinaldo Capello repeated his victory from last year, Johnny Herbert
and Christian Pescatori managed to win the endurance classic at their first
attempt. Only one incident threatened the win of the Italian-British trio: A
collision in heavy traffic in the hectic early stages damaged the left rear
suspension of the R8. The repair relegated Capello/Herbert/Pescatori
temporarily to third.
Also their team mates Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro,
the 2000 Sebring winners, were involved in a collision which caused a
number of unscheduled pit-stops. Changing the steering, finally took all
chance of victory away from the number one Infineon Audi R8. From 9th
position, Biela/Kristensen/Pirro recovered to fifth place.
Audi´s customer team Champion made it tense during the entire race.
Stefan Johansson, Jan Lammers and Andy Wallace always stayed in touch
with the eventual winners with their 2001-spec R8. Because this Audi was
also running like clockwork, the gap was never bigger than one lap to the
´works´ team. Despite a spin in the final corner, the Champion team
finished second behind the Audi Sport North America team making it an
Audi 1-2.
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