2009 12 Hours of Sebring

Last updated

Track map of the Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway.svg
Track map of the Sebring International Raceway
Tom Kristensen at the wheel of the winning Audi R15 TDI. AudiR15.JPG
Tom Kristensen at the wheel of the winning Audi R15 TDI.

The 2009 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring was the 57th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring and the opening round of the 2009 American Le Mans Series season. It took place at the Sebring International Raceway, Florida on March 21, 2009. Three new cars made their debut at Sebring: Audi's diesel R15 TDI, Acura's first LMP1 entry the ARX-02a, and the return of the BMW M3 to the GT2 category. It was also the last time GT1 category raced at the event.

Contents

Tom Kristensen, Allan McNish, and Rinaldo Capello won, Audi's ninth Sebring victory in eleven attempts, and set several event records in the process. Peugeot fell 22 seconds short of the winning Audi. While Acura's LMP1s failed to survive for twelve hours, their lone LMP2 entry was the sole finisher in the category and earned Fernández Racing their first ALMS victory. The GT1 category was fought amongst only the two Corvette Racing cars, while GT2's battle of manufacturers was won by Ferrari and the Risi Competizione team.

Entry

For the start of the American Le Mans Series season, 28 cars were officially entered, with the bulk of the entries in LMP1 and GT2. The 2008 race winners, Penske Racing Porsche, did not return to defend their title. Four manufacturers were represented in LMP1, including a duo of R15 TDIs, Audi's latest diesel prototype, being entered by Joest Racing. Peugeot returned once more with their 908 HDi FAP, entering two cars compared to last year's single Sebring entry. Acura made their LMP1 debut with the new ARX-02a being run by de Ferran Motorsport and Highcroft Racing, while the remaining two entries were Lola-AERs entered by Intersport Racing and Autocon Motorsports. LMP2 consisted of two teams entering three cars, with Fernández Racing once again running an Acura and Dyson Racing partnering with Mazda for two Lola coupés.

GT1 was once again left to just Corvette Racing with two cars, while GT2 dominated the entry list with 15 cars. Porsche was represented by two cars each from Flying Lizard Motorsports and VICI Racing, as well as a single entry for Farnbacher-Loles Racing. Ferrari once again aligned with Risi Competizione for two cars, while the Italian-Argentinian Advanced Engineering PeCom team also represents the brand. BMW made their return to the series with two M3 E92s for Rahal Letterman Racing. The rest of the GT2 field was made of a mix of teams and automotive brands, including LG Motorsport's Chevrolet Corvette, PTG's Panoz, Primetime's Dodge Viper, Robertson's Ford GT, and Drayson's Aston Martin.

Report

Qualifying

Held on Thursday, March 19, two 15-minute qualifying sessions were held to determine the starting grid. The two GT categories qualified in the first session, led by the two GT1 Corvettes. Only setting a few laps, the #4 Corvette of Oliver Gavin out qualified his teammate, Jan Magnussen. In GT2 Porsche locked in the first two spots on the grid, led by Dirk Werner of Farnbacher-Loles. Advanced Engineering PeCom led Ferrari with a third place spot, while Robertson Racing's Ford GT earned fifth. BMW's debut was hampered by mechanical problems for the #92 car, while the #90 of Bill Auberlen qualified seventh. [1]

In the LMP qualifying session, Acura was able to upset both Audi and Peugeot by earning pole position in their LMP1 debut. De Ferran Motorsports' driver Scott Dixon outpaced Tom Kristensen's Audi by less than a tenth of a second, while Christian Klien led Peugeot to third. Acura earned a second pole position in the session as Fernández Racing led the LMP2 category, nearly two seconds ahead of the fastest Dyson Lola-Mazda. [1]

After qualifying the VICI team, who had one qualifier, withdrew from the event. This decreased the starting grid to 26 cars. [2]

Qualifying result

Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold. [3]

PosClassTeamQualifying DriverLap Time
1LMP1#66 de Ferran Motorsports Scott Dixon 1:45.278
2LMP1#2 Audi Sport Team Joest Tom Kristensen 1:45.360
3LMP1#07 Team Peugeot Total Christian Klien 1:45.462
4LMP1#1 Audi Sport North America Mike Rockenfeller 1:45.551
5LMP1#08 Team Peugeot Total Sébastien Bourdais 1:45.559
6LMP1#9 Patrón Highcroft Racing David Brabham 1:46.504
7LMP2#15 Lowe's Fernández Racing Adrian Fernández 1:49.686
8LMP2#16 Dyson Racing Team Chris Dyson 1:51.534
9LMP1#12 Autocon MotorsportsChris McMurry1:51.598
10LMP2#20 Dyson Racing Team Butch Leitzinger 1:51.840
11GT1#4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin 1:57.882
12GT1#3 Corvette Racing Jan Magnussen 1:58.203
13GT2#87 Farnbacher-Loles Racing Dirk Werner 2:03.051
14GT2#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Jörg Bergmeister 2:03.433
15GT2#95 Advanced Engineering PeCom Gianmaria Bruni 2:03.487
16GT2#62 Risi Competizione Mika Salo 2:03.829
17GT2#40 Robertson RacingDavid Murry2:04.333
18GT2#21 Panoz Team PTG Dominik Farnbacher 2:04.437
19GT2#90 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Bill Auberlen 2:04.566
20GT2#11 Primetime Race GroupChris Hall2:05.619
21GT2#007 Drayson Racing Jonny Cocker2:05.692
22GT2#18 VICI Racing Nicky Pastorelli 2:05.805
23GT2#28 LG MotorsportsLou Giglotti2:06.678
24GT2#61 Risi Competizione/Krohn Tracy Krohn 2:08.386
25GT2#44 Flying Lizard Motorsports Darren Law2:10.912
26LMP1#37 Intersport Racing Did Not Participate
27GT2#92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Did Not Participate

Race

The field crossed the starting line to begin the 12 Hours of Sebring at 10:30 am EST. Although the de Ferran Acura led from pole position, the lead of the race was quickly taken by Audi before the first turn, followed by Peugeot. The #08 Peugeot started at the tail of the field due to power steering problems forcing it to begin from pit lane. One of the two Rahal Letterman BMW's also suffered problems on the grid and had to be taken to the garage, finally starting the race nearly an hour late. An early on track incident was a collision between the #40 Robertson Ford and the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche, with the Porsche requiring extensive repairs. [4]

During pit stops in the first few hours of the race, Audi changed their Michelin tires at every opportunity while Peugeot opted to change tires at every other pit stop. [4] This allowed Peugeot to take the lead. The Highcroft Acura suffered a spin in the hands of David Brabham, forcing the Robertson Ford to evade the Acura and hit the wall outside Sunset Bend, bringing out the first full-course caution. [5] A second caution was required an hour later to retrieve the Intersport Lola-AER after its engine failed while on the circuit. [6]

While Sébastien Bourdais led the race in Peugeot #08, he suffered a spin on Sunset Bend while diminished his lead by 20 seconds, but he was able to continue. The #07 Peugeot however came to the pits for a lengthy stop to repair an air conditioning fan in the cockpit, dropping it from contention. [7] Meanwhile, the Dyson Racing Team retired their two cars from the event, as did the remaining Rahal Letterman BMW, all due to engine failures. [8]

A third caution period came out when David Brabham once again spun his Highcroft Acura, this time making light contact with a wall. [9] While Peugeot still led in the eighth hour of the race, Audi began to double stint their tires for the first time when Lucas Luhr brought the third place Audi in for a scheduled stop but did not change tires. This aided Audi in retaking the lead from Peugeot during the race's ninth hour. [10] Peugeot #08 then suffered a small leak in a rear tire, requiring the team to make an unscheduled pit stop to replace it. [11] The two LMP1 Acuras meanwhile suffered mechanical problems, eventually leading to the retirement of both de Ferran and Highcroft.

In the closing hours, the #45 Porsche, having rebounded from its incident early in the race, was attempting to pass the PTG Panoz for third place in GT2 when the two came into contact at the exit of Sunset Bend. The Porsche, driven by Marc Lieb, was spun into the concrete wall and required extensive repairs while the Panoz continued on. [12] In the closing hours, Peugeot and Audi traded the lead as each team made their respective pit stops. Peugeot #08 led as it came to the pits for its final stop, but Audi needed only a short refuel on their final stop several laps later. This allowed Audi driver Allan McNish to exit the pits after his final stop ahead of Peugeot with only fifteen minutes remaining. By the race finish the margin of victory between the #2 Audi and #08 Peugeot was 22 seconds. [13]

Tom Kristensen earned his record fifth overall win. The #2 Audi covered a distance of 1,417 mi (2,280 km) at an average speed of 117.986 mph (189.880 km/h), both of which were new event records. The Lowe's Fernández Racing Acura was the sole survivor in LMP2, finishing in fourth overall, while Corvette Racing #3 outperformed its teammate in GT1. The GT2 class was won by the Ferrari of Risi Competizione, while the European Advanced Engineering PeCom Ferrari was second. Panoz completed the GT2 class podium. In the Michelin Green X Challenge, the race winning #2 Audi was the most efficient LMP, while the #3 Corvette lead GTs. [13]

Race result

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC). [14]

PosClassNoTeamDriversChassisTireLaps
Engine
1LMP12 Flag of Germany.svg Audi Sport Team Joest Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Allan McNish
Flag of Italy.svg Rinaldo Capello
Flag of Denmark.svg Tom Kristensen
Audi R15 TDI M 383
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
2LMP108 Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Flag of France.svg Franck Montagny
Flag of France.svg Stéphane Sarrazin
Flag of France.svg Sébastien Bourdais
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 383
Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
3LMP11 Flag of Germany.svg Audi Sport North America Flag of Germany.svg Mike Rockenfeller
Flag of Germany.svg Lucas Luhr
Flag of Germany.svg Marco Werner
Audi R15 TDI M 381
Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V10
(Diesel)
4LMP215 Flag of Mexico.svg Lowe's Fernández Racing Flag of Mexico.svg Adrian Fernández
Flag of Mexico.svg Luis Díaz
Acura ARX-01B M 360
Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8
5LMP107 Flag of France.svg Team Peugeot Total Flag of France.svg Nicolas Minassian
Flag of Portugal.svg Pedro Lamy
Flag of Austria.svg Christian Klien
Peugeot 908 HDi FAP M 356
Peugeot HDI 5.5 L Turbo V12
(Diesel)
6GT13 Flag of the United States.svg Corvette Racing Flag of the United States.svg Johnny O'Connell
Flag of Denmark.svg Jan Magnussen
Flag of Spain.svg Antonio García
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 349
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
(E85 ethanol)
7GT14 Flag of the United States.svg Corvette Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Oliver Gavin
Flag of Monaco.svg Olivier Beretta
Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Marcel Fässler
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 348
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
(E85 ethanol)
8GT262 Flag of the United States.svg Risi Competizione Flag of Brazil.svg Jaime Melo
Flag of Germany.svg Pierre Kaffer
Flag of Finland.svg Mika Salo
Ferrari F430GT M 332
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
9GT295 Flag of Italy.svg Advanced Engineering
Flag of Argentina.svg PeCom Racing Team
Flag of Italy.svg Gianmaria Bruni
Flag of Argentina.svg Matías Russo
Flag of Argentina.svg Luís Pérez Companc
Ferrari F430GT M 330
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
10GT221 Flag of the United States.svg Panoz Team PTG Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ian James
Flag of Germany.svg Dominik Farnbacher
Panoz Esperante GT-LM Y 329
Ford 5.0 L V8
11GT245 Flag of the United States.svg Flying Lizard Motorsports Flag of the United States.svg Patrick Long
Flag of Germany.svg Jörg Bergmeister
Flag of Germany.svg Marc Lieb
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 326
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12GT244 Flag of the United States.svg Flying Lizard Motorsports Flag of the United States.svg Johannes van Overbeek
Flag of the United States.svg Darren Law
Flag of the United States.svg Seth Neiman
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 326
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
13GT261 Flag of the United States.svg Risi Competizione
Flag of the United States.svg Krohn Racing
Flag of the United States.svg Tracy Krohn
Flag of Sweden.svg Niclas Jönsson
Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Eric van de Poele
Ferrari F430GT M 325
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
14GT240 Flag of the United States.svg Robertson Racing Flag of the United States.svg David Robertson
Flag of the United States.svg Andrea Robertson
Flag of the United States.svg David Murry
Ford GT-R Mk. VII D 303
Ford 5.0 L V8
15
DNF
LMP19 Flag of the United States.svg Patrón Highcroft Racing Flag of Australia (converted).svg David Brabham
Flag of the United States.svg Scott Sharp
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Dario Franchitti
Acura ARX-02a M 302
Acura AR7 4.0 L V8
16GT287 Flag of the United States.svg Farnbacher-Loles Motorsports Flag of Germany.svg Wolf Henzler
Flag of Germany.svg Dirk Werner
Flag of Austria.svg Richard Lietz
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 274
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
17
DNF
GT211 Flag of the United States.svg Primetime Race Group Flag of the United States.svg Joel Feinberg
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Chris Hall
Flag of the United States.svg Ritchie Holt
Dodge Viper Competition Coupe D 251
Dodge 8.3 L V10
18
DNF
LMP166 Flag of the United States.svg de Ferran Motorsports Flag of Brazil.svg Gil de Ferran
Flag of France.svg Simon Pagenaud
Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon
Acura ARX-02a M 246
Acura AR7 4.0 L V8
19
DNF
GT2007 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Drayson Racing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Paul Drayson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jonny Cocker
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Rob Bell
Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 M 204
Aston Martin 4.5 L V8
(E85 ethanol)
20
DNF
LMP112 Flag of the United States.svg Autocon Motorsports Flag of the United States.svg Chris McMurry
Flag of the United States.svg Bryan Willman
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Tony Burgess
Lola B06/10 D 151
AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8
21
DNF
LMP220 Flag of the United States.svg Dyson Racing Team Flag of the United States.svg Butch Leitzinger
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Marino Franchitti
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Ben Devlin
Lola B08/86 M 149
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
22
DNF
GT292 Flag of the United States.svg BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Flag of the United States.svg Tommy Milner
Flag of Germany.svg Dirk Müller
BMW M3 GT2 D 140
BMW 4.0 L V8
23
DNF
LMP216 Flag of the United States.svg Dyson Racing Team Flag of the United States.svg Chris Dyson
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Guy Smith
Flag of the United States.svg Andy Lally
Lola B09/86 M 127
Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
24
DNF
GT228 Flag of the United States.svg LG Motorsports Flag of the United States.svg Lou Giglotti
Flag of the United States.svg Eric Curan
Flag of Brazil.svg Lucas Molo
Chevrolet Corvette C6 D 89
Chevrolet LS3 6.0 L V8
25
DNF
LMP137 Flag of the United States.svg Intersport Racing Flag of the United States.svg Jon Field
Flag of the United States.svg Clint Field
Flag of the United States.svg Chapman Ducote
Lola B06/10 D 77
AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8
26
DNF
GT290 Flag of the United States.svg BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Flag of the United States.svg Bill Auberlen
Flag of the United States.svg Joey Hand
BMW M3 GT2 D 27
BMW 4.0 L V8
DNSGT218 Flag of Germany.svg VICI Racing Flag of Germany.svg Hans-Joachim Stuck
Flag of Germany.svg Johannes Stuck
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Nicky Pastorelli
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6

References

  1. 1 2 "Sebring Shocker: Dixon claims Pole for Acura". American Le Mans Series. March 19, 2009. Archived from the original on March 20, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  2. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Warm-Up Report". PlanetLeMans.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
  3. "ALMS Qualifying" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. March 19, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 19, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 1 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  5. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 2 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  6. "Peugeots sit 1–2 after three hours of racing". American Le Mans Series. March 21, 2009. Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  7. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 5 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  8. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 6 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  9. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 7 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  10. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 9 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Archived from the original on March 25, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  11. "A slow puncture deprives Peugeot of victory". Endurance-Info.com. March 22, 2009. Archived from the original on July 31, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  12. Marcel ten Caat (March 21, 2009). "Sebring 12 Hours – Hour 10 Update". PlanetLeMans.com. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  13. 1 2 "Another Debut, Another Audi Victory at Sebring". American Le Mans Series. March 21, 2009. Archived from the original on March 23, 2009. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
  14. "ALMS Final Race Report" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. March 22, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 26, 2009. Retrieved March 21, 2009.
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