Motorsports: 12 Hours of Sebring celebrates 60 years with exciting finish

[Haltech]

Filed under: Motorsports, Audi, BMW



The inaugural 12 Hours of Sebring was held 60 years ago in 1952. Ferrari was the first to build a dynasty of overall wins, followed by Ford, then Porsche, then Nissan, and today we live in the era of Audi. With its main rival, Peugeot, having pulled out of endurance racing altogether this year, the only manufacturer that could prevent Audi from claiming its tenth overall victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring was Audi itself.

That was unlikely to happen, especially considering that Audi chose to field three teams, each driving the very capable R18 in the car's last appearance before being replaced by the R18 Ultra and R18 e-tron quattro. Yes, the result in the fastest LMP1 class was a forgone conclusion, and Audi delivered, claiming the first and second steps of the podium. The winning R18 was car #2 driven by Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. Kristensen, who holds the record for most overall wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, also now has a record six overall victories at Sebring. It was Capello's fifth win at Sebring and McNish's fourth. The team of veterans completed 301 laps of the 5.4-mile track and amazingly finished with no evidence of body contact with another car.Continue reading 12 Hours of Sebring celebrates 60 years with exciting finish

12 Hours of Sebring celebrates 60 years with exciting finish originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 18 Mar 2012 15:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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