2013 marked the final time that LMP1 will be eligible for the 12 Hours of Sebring and Audi dominated the last race with a historic first victory for a hybrid car at the American classic. The world champions took a 1-2 in Florida followed by the nr12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota to give an FIA WEC lockout of the overall podium. This win also marked Audi’s eleventh victory in fourteen starts at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
The nr1 Audi of Marcel Fässler, Benoit Tréluyer and Oliver Jarvis triumphed over the nr2 car of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Lucas di Grassi. The gap was just 7.6 seconds at the chequered flag making it one of the closest races for many years.
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): “That was a perfect finale! I’m very happy about this one-two victory in a race in which both of our cars battled against each other all the way to the finish and delivered a fantastic show to the many fans. The entire squad worked hard, so winning after a long twelve hours is the sweetest reward. After victories with TFSI and TDI technology, Audi on clinching the win today with a hybrid car has continued the success story at this race.”
Marcel Fässler (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1): “Celebrating Audi’s last race here at Sebring with a victory is simply fantastic. It was an incredibly close race in which both cars would have deserved to win. In the end, we were the slightly more fortunate ones. The pole position yesterday, victory today, great team-mates – things couldn’t be any better today.”
Benoît Tréluyer (Audi R18 e-tron quattro #1): “We won the last race of the LMP1 sports cars at Sebring – we’re very proud of this. I think that the fans witnessed a thrilling race in which we had to give one hundred percent to beat our sister car. For us the American dream has come true today. Thank you to Marcel (Fässler) and Oliver (Jarvis) fora great week here at Sebring. Normally, André (Lotterer) is part of our team as well – I’m sure that he’d have been on top of the podium here too.”
The Rebellion Racing LMP1 of Nicolas Prost, Neel Jani and Nick Heidfeld was five laps behind the triumphant Audis but had to fight hard for the final overall podium position after losing ground to the nr6 Muscle Milk LMP1, their closest rivals in the battle for American Le Mans Series honours. However, the race quickly turned to a game of cat and mouse following a chain of problems and penalties which plagued the nr6 car and kept it chasing the nr12 car throughout the second half of the race.
Neel Jani- Driver Lola-Toyota # 12: “I’m very happy with our start to the season. To get a podium at the first race and to take the most points away is a great feeling. The car was very difficult to drive at the end but the team had worked very hard throughout the race and we could survive it. I’m looking forward to the next race and hope to continue our success through the rest of the season.”
Bart Hayden, REBELLION Racing Team Manager: “Obviously we are delighted. It’s a great reward for all the people in the team, especially the guys based in our workshop who have worked extremely hard over winter to get the cars prepared. The cars were very reliable and the drivers did a great job today. The whole team performed at the top level.”
The nr41 Greaves Motorsport Zytek of Tom Kimber-Smith, Christian Zugel and Eric Lux secured an impressive LMP2 podium finish in 8th overall, four laps adrift of the class winning Level 5 Motorsports HPD-Honda.
Tom Kimber-Smith: “We had a very strong race car at the beginning and I was really able to be competitive in the opening couple of stints. Then Eric took over and he did a fantastic job but when Christian got behind the wheel we struggled with a handling issue and he could not push as hard as he had planned. Then later, after the sun went down, the car came back to us but by then there was too much of a gap to hunt down and catch Level 5. It is always good to finish on the podium but I think we had a car with the potential to win. This of course is down to the hard work and skill of the team and I feel fortunate to be racing for a third season with Greaves Motorsport.”
Team Manger, Jacob Greaves, summed up:“We are pleased to achieve a podium finish, especially at Sebring, acknowledged as one of the toughest races on the calendar. The team worked very hard during the whole time here in Florida and the combination of Nissan power, Zytek chassis and Dunlop tyres gave us a really competitive package to race with. We have the FIA WEC Championship and European Le Mans Series campaigns kicking off next month and this result is a good springboard for the rest of the season.”
Tom Kimber-Smith: “We had a very strong race car at the beginning and I was really able to be competitive in the opening couple of stints. Then Eric took over and he did a fantastic job but when Christian got behind the wheel we struggled with a handling issue and he could not push as hard as he had planned. Then later, after the sun went down, the car came back to us but by then there was too much of a gap to hunt down and catch Level 5. It is always good to finish on the podium but I think we had a car with the potential to win. This of course is down to the hard work and skill of the team and I feel fortunate to be racing for a third season with Greaves Motorsport.”
Team Manger, Jacob Greaves, summed up:“We are pleased to achieve a podium finish, especially at Sebring, acknowledged as one of the toughest races on the calendar. The team worked very hard during the whole time here in Florida and the combination of Nissan power, Zytek chassis and Dunlop tyres gave us a really competitive package to race with. We have the FIA WEC Championship and European Le Mans Series campaigns kicking off next month and this result is a good springboard for the rest of the season.”
Tom Kimber-Smith: “We had a very strong race car at the beginning and I was really able to be competitive in the opening couple of stints. Then Eric took over and he did a fantastic job but when Christian got behind the wheel we struggled with a handling issue and he could not push as hard as he had planned. Then later, after the sun went down, the car came back to us but by then there was too much of a gap to hunt down and catch Level 5. It is always good to finish on the podium but I think we had a car with the potential to win. This of course is down to the hard work and skill of the team and I feel fortunate to be racing for a third season with Greaves Motorsport.”
Greaves Motorsport Team Manager, Jacob Greaves, summed up: “We are pleased to achieve a podium finish, especially at Sebring, acknowledged as one of the toughest races on the calendar. The team worked very hard during the whole time here in Florida and the combination of Nissan power, Zytek chassis and Dunlop tyres gave us a really competitive package to race with. We have the FIA WEC Championship and European Le Mans Series campaigns kicking off next month and this result is a good springboard for the rest of the season.”
The nr97 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 of Darren Turner, Stefan Mucke and Bruno Senna suffered a damaged radiator after a collision early on in the race and after a lengthy repair had to play catchup.
However the car ran strongly to the chequered flag to finish 8th in the GT class and the team were happy with the first competitive test of the new 2013 spec car.
Darren Turner - Driver nr97 AMR Vantage V8: “The start of the race was interesting; the cars bunched up on turn one and I found the car sandwiched in. It settled down a bit but I soon caught up with the traffic. A slower car, surrounded by lots of traffic, braked suddenly and I shunted into the back of it. I thought we’d escaped damage but it turns out it affected the radiator, making the engine overheat.
“The crew did a great job getting it fixed so quickly. We were able to get back out on track and carry on gathering miles on the car ahead of the first round of the WEC at Silverstone next month.”
John Gaw – AMR Team Principal: “It’s unfortunate what happened to Darren but it was totally unavoidable. The team did a great job and we’re pleased that the car has otherwise run faultlessly. The #97 is very well prepared for Silverstone and we’ve had excellent reliability for a car that has a number of new parts."
Jeff Carter
