The 60th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring

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As expected, the Audi R18's led from start to finish. The team did battle hard amongst themselves, and when the no. 1 car had a lengthy stop for electrical problems, Audi was denied the podium sweep.

LMP1

The Audi R18’s qualified 1-2-3, and finished 1-2-16. The no. 2 car of Kristensen / McNish / Capello took the victory – Kristensen’s sixth and Capello’s fifth at Sebring. Although the three Audi’s were light years ahead of the rest of the P1 cars, the three team cars battled hard for team honors until the no. 1 car lost 30 minutes in the pits with an electrical issue.

From that point on, the no. 3 car of Bernhard / Dumas / Duval pushed the no. 2 car hard until contact with another car cost them four laps to repair rear end damage.

There was heartbreak for the Muscle Milk HPD. While running third overall and poised for the win in ALMS P1, a problem with the fuel rig meant it went behind the wall – losing third and the class win.

Early in the race, the Muscle Milk Pickett Racing team, with the no. 6 HPD ARX-03a driven by Graf/Luhr/Pagenaud, had a good battle for the unofficial honors of Best Petrol car with the no.12 Rebellion Lola-Toyota of Heidfeld/Prost/Jani and the no.22 JRM HPD ARX-03a of Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbrek. The Rebellion car would encounter problems, while the Muscle Milk car would move up to third when the no. 1 Audi went behind the wall.

Dyson Racing's brand new Lola-Mazda (they received the car only 12 days before the race) inherited the ALMS P1 victory.

Although they were unable to match the pace of the Audi’s, the Muscle Milk had no troubles throughout the race and were poised for a finish of 3rd overall, and a win in the ALMS P1 class. When the car came into the pits for its final pit stop, however, a problem with the team’s fueling rig meant the car could not be refueled, and was out on the spot.

This moved the no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd of Collard / Boullion / Jousse to third overall in P1, while the no. 016 Dyson Lola-Mazda of Dyson/Smith/Kane would inherit the ALMS P1 win.

American-based team Starworks Motorsport took the P2 class win. So strong was their performance, they were third OVERALL, only six laps behind the winning Audi R18.

LMP2

The American-based Starworks Motorsport team, with Sarrazin/Daliziel/Potolicchio driving the no. 44 HPD ARX-03b, took the overall honors in the LMP2 category, finishing just ahead of the no. 055 Level 5 HPD ARX-03b of Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa. However, the Level 5 team also took class honors as the first car in the ALMS’ P2 class. Very impressive was the fact that the two P2-spec HPD’s finished the race in third and fourth overall, just six laps behind the race-winning Audi R18.

Only one lap behind the pair was the OAK Morgan-Judd of Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla, with fourth in overall LMP2 honors going to Companc/Kaffer/Ayari in the Pecon ORECA-Nissan. In ALMS P2, Black Swan Racing’s Lola-Honda was second, with Conquest’s Morgan-Judd in third.

A trouble-free run gave the no. 06 CORE Autosport car the victory in the spec Prototype Challenge class.

Prototype Challenge

A very competitive class saw the CORE Autosport team take first and third places on the podium. The winning car, with drivers Viso/Frisselle/Popow, finished a strong 12th overall and only one lap ahead of the second-placed PR1 Motorsports entry of Leitzinger/Dobson/Junco. One lap adrift was the other CORE Autosport car of Bennette/Braun/Lux.

The ALMS-only class was filled with drama throughout the 12 hours, as polesitter’s RSR Racing (Junquiera/Drissi/Gonzalez) fell back with a broken cluch, and the no. 025 Silicon Tech / Dempsey Racing car driven by MotoIQ blogger Duncan Ende, Henri Richard, and Dane Cameron retired in the 8th hour after Richard crashed. 

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