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Audi R15 TDI Wins Debut Race at Sebring

Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen have walked away from the 57th 12 Hours of Sebring with the gold trophy – the all-new Audi R15 TDI’s first competition victory.
The R15 now joins the R8 and R10 in having won its debut race.
After qualifying


Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen have walked away from the 57th 12 Hours of Sebring with the gold trophy - the all-new Audi R15 TDI's first competition victory.

The R15 now joins the R8 and R10 in having won its debut race.

After qualifying second the #2 Audi R15 TDI battled furiously with one of Peugeot's 908 HDi FAP cars, with the lead changing 23 times throughout the race. A nail-biter? You betcha.

However, with just 42 minutes remaining the leading Peugeot 908 driven by Franck Montagny pitted for fuel, giving McNish's R15 a crucial advantage.

A series of increasingly faster laps gave McNish a large enough buffer to pit for fuel - with only 14 minutes to go - without relinquishing the lead.

When the R15 appeared from pit lane, the Peugeot 908 was rounding the back straight. A mere 22.79 seconds separated the two as the chequered flag fell.

Luckily for Audi, there were no yellow flags during the penultimate portions of the race - a situation that would have changed the outcome considerably.

With first and second place wrapped up, it was Audi's #1 R15 TDI that rounded out the top 3. Despite qualifying first, Acura's ARX-02b cars failed to make the podium.

It's an auspicious debut for Audi's latest oil-fed prototype racer, and with Sebring being the chief shakedown round ahead of Le Mans we're sure we'll be hearing of more R15 triumphs in the near future.

For a complete rundown of the race results hit the press release below.

57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida

Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Fla.

Saturday's results

1. (2) Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Tom Kristensen, Denmark; Audi R15 TDI (1, P1), 383.

2. (5) Franck Montagny, Brignoles France; Sebastien Bourdais, France; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (2, P1), 383.

3. (4) Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Audi R15 TDI (3, P1), 381.

4. (7) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 360.

5. (3) Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Christian Klien, Austria; Nicolas Minassian, England; Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (4, P1), 356.

6. (12) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Antonio Garcia, Spain; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 349.

7. (11) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Marcel Fässler, Switzerland; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 348.

8. (27) Mika Salo, Finland; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Pierre Kaffer, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (1, GT2), 332.

9. (15) Gianmaria Bruni, Italy; Mathias Russo, Argentina; Luis Companc, Argentina; Ferrari 430 GT (2, GT2), 330.

10. (17) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Ian James, England; Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford (3, GT2), 329.

11. (14) Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Marc Lieb, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (4, GT2), 326.

12. (24) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (5, GT2), 326.

13. (23) Nic Jonsson, Sweden; Eric van de Poele, Belgium; Tracy Krohn, Houston, TX; Ferrari F430 GT (6, GT2), 325.

14. (16) David Murry, Cumming, GA; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT MK 7 (7, GT2), 303.

15. (6) David Brabham, Australia; Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; Dario Franchitti, Scotland; Acura ARX-02a (5, P1), 302, Drive line.

16. (13) Dirk Werner, Germany; Richard Lietz, Austria; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 274.

17. (19) Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Ritchie Holt, Davie, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (9, GT2), 251, Clutch.

18. (1) Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Scott Dixon, New Zealand; Acura ARX-02a (6, P1), 246, Mechanical.

19. (20) Robert Bell, UK; Paul Drayson, London, UK; Jonny Cocker, UK; Aston Martin Vantage GT2 (10, GT2), 204, Engine.

20. (9) Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Tony Burgess, Canada; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola B06/10 AER (7, P1), 151, Electrical.

21. (10) Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B09 86 Mazda (2, P2), 149, Mechanical.

22. (26) Dirk Müller, Germany; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; BMW E92 M3 (11, GT2), 140.

23. (8) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Andy Lally, New York, NY; Lola B09 86 Mazda (3, P2), 127, Mechanical.

24. (22) Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Eric Curran, Easthampton, MA; Lucas Molo, Brazil; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (12, GT2), 89, Mechanical.

25. (25) Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Chapman Ducote, Miami, FL; Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Lola B06/10 AER (8, P1), 77.

26. (18) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; BMW E92 M3 (13, GT2), 27, Mechanical.

27. (21) Nicky Pastorelli, Netherlands; Hans Stuck, Germany; Johannes Stuck, Austria; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (14, GT2), 0, Withdrawn.

28. (28) Richard Westbrook, England; Marc Basseng, Germany; Lance David, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (15, GT2), 0, Withdrawn.

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