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Editorial Wolfgang Drheimer Sebring moments Sebring 2013 Technical development Facts & figures The circuit Sebring wins 2000 Tom Kristensen 2001 Dindo Capello 2002 Johnny Herbert 2003 Ralf Jttner 2004 Frank Biela 2005 Marco Werner 2006 Ulrich Baretzky 2007 Emanuele Pirro 2009 Allan McNish 2012 Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich Audi in U.S. motor racing Contact details/Imprint

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Editorial

Wolfgang Drheimer Motorsport is part of the Audi DNA and Sebring a unique place for our company.

we have tackled in motorsport has ultimately ended with victories or championship titles. Theyve been frequently associated with enormous pioneering spirit and technical innovations. Be it World Rally Championship, DTM or Le Mans: Audi has written motorsport history over and over again.
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ear motorsport friends: Audi has been active in motorsport for more than 30 years. Whatever

Motorsport is part of the Audi DNA. And for us not just an end in itself. In due course, our customers benet from the successes on the racetrack. Because we attach the greatest value to technology transfer between motorsport and production. Our quattro drive, built until now into more than ve million road cars, is only one of many direct examples. The wealth of experience gathered by our engineers in motor racing and later incorporated into our road cars grows every week.

This is especially true for the LMP1 category, which, as it currently appears, is eligible to start at this years 12-hour race at Sebring for the nal time. Sebring is a unique place for us: Audis remarkable success story with sports prototypes began there in March 1999. At the same venue a year later, we recorded our rst victory in a sports car race. Subsequently, our team has stood on the top step of the podium on ten occasions. And year for year, the track at Sebring, which is extremely demanding for both, men and material, was the perfect location to prepare for the 24-hour race at Le Mans. This is why we join the grid once again at Sebring, even though the race is not a part of the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). Through this event, we wish to thank our motorsport fans in the U.S. and hope that 2013 is not a nal Sebring farewell for us

because we aim to increase our involvement in U. S. racing over the medium-term. And Sebring cannot be missed in a racing schedule because Audi has helped to shape this classic race since 1999. On the following pages, you can discover this for yourselves by taking a brief journey in time through our Sebring history.

Wolfgang Drheimer Member of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, Technical Development
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Sebring moments
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Sebring moments

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Sebring moments

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2000

2005

2006

2007

2009
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2001

2002

2003

2004

Full circle
Sebring 2013 Sebring becomes the home of quattro for the nal appearance of the LMP1 sports prototypes. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro should continue Audis winning streak in the U.S. endurance classic when it contests its rst race in the USA. Audi triumphed ten times up to now.

2012
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The 12-hour race at Sebring has been held since 1952 and becomes the home of quattro in 2013 for the rst time.

time on March 16, 2013. At the same time, it is provisionally the nal appearance of the fascinating LMP1 sports cars in the North American endurance classic.

t is both a debut and farewell: the Audi R18 e-tron quattro contests the 12-hour race at Sebring in the USA for the rst

later presented the brand with its first victory in a sports car race. Le Mans record winner Tom Kristensen is also the most successful driver ever at Sebring with six victories. Marco Werner holds the lap record, the trio of Dindo Capello/Tom Kristensen/Allan McNish the distance record. The legendary racetrack on a former

The 13th race at Sebring holds special significance for Audi: due to the ALMS and GRAND-AM championships merging in the U.S. and the new regulations necessitated by this for 2014, Le Mans Prototypes of the top LMP1 category are no longer allowed to start at this traditional event. As a result, events have come full circle for Audi: in 1999, the brands first sports prototype celebrated its premiere at Sebring now two LMP1 sports cars with the four rings provisionally contest a race here for the final time. Up to now, Audi has claimed 22 podium places at Sebring, including ten overall victories. Three Audi drivers mounted the podium when the brand made its sports car premiere with the Audi R8R on March 20, 1999. The debut of the Audi R8 at the same venue a year
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military airfield becomes the home of quattro this year. For the first time since 1989, when drivers like HansJoachim Stuck and Walter Rhrl raced from victory to victory with the Audi 90 quattro in the IMSA-GTO series,

Marco Werner set the track record at Sebring in 2007 with the Audi R10 TDI a record that still stands today

Audi driver Tom Kristensen is the races most successful driver with six wins to his name

Audi Sport contests a factory event in the USA with a racecar equipped with four-wheel drive. The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the first hybrid sports car to win the LeMans 24 Hours. Its front wheels are powered electrically and thus make the R18 a special type of quattro. Audi traditionally uses its involvement in sports prototypes to test new technologies for future applications in production cars. The fans at Sebring can discover this for themselves by visiting an exhibition and embarking on a journey in time through the brands sports car era. In addition to the factory drivers like Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish who are in action on track, the former Audi drivers and Sebring winners Frank Biela, Dindo Capello, Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner are also present. In this way, Audi thanks the passionate sports car fans in the USA for their long-standing loyalty to the brand. Without a shadow of doubt itll be an emotional race weekend for us, because Sebring and its fantastic fans enjoy a special status in both our motorsport and LMP history, says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr.Wolfgang Ullrich.

Drivers like Frank Biela have shaped Audi history at Sebring several of them will also attend in 2013 Audi @Sebring 17

Audi R8, Sebring 2000

Vorsprung
accelerated
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Audi R18 e-tron quattro, Sebring 2013

Technical development The Audi R8, which won at Sebring in 2000, was a technical quantum jump. Since then, Audi has shaped the development in sports prototypes with a raft of innovations like no other automobile manufacturer.

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1998
Neustadt in summer 1998: Dindo Capello tests with the rst prototype of the AudiR8

1998
Berlin, December 13, 1998: Audi presents its Le Mans project at the Velodrom in the German capital

1999
Sebring, March 20, 1999: the Audi R8R clinches a podium result in the brands rst sports car race

drom in December 1998, former Chairman of the Board of Directors Franz-Josef Paefgen stuck his neck out a long way: We compete at Le Mans to win!

hen

Audi its

preLe

The

Sebring

International

Raceway

sented

plays a major role in this. From the very beginning, Audi Sport used the challenging and extremely tough track in central Florida for testing and for its sports prototypes to make their race debuts starting with the Audi R8R in March 1999. Audi had to raise the car by 15 millime-

Mans project at the Berlin Velo-

The majority ridiculed Paefgen at that time, as many automobile manufactures had not managed themselves to win the worlds most famous endurance race despite making several attempts. However, after taking third place on its debut in 1999, Audi managed it a year later and since then eleven times. No other automobile manufacturer has made such an impact on the Le Mans 24 Hours and the development of the technically highly demanding sports prototypes in the last two decades like Audi.

ters for its race debut, otherwise the front splitter would not have lasted more than 15 laps around the bumpy circuit. Although the performance suffered massively as a result, Audi claimed third and fifth places first time out in the race and the team from Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm learnt quickly. The R8 was unveiled as successor to the R8R a year later. When Don Panoz, founder of the American Le Mans Series, first laid eyes on the car in Miami, he was flabbergasted: The R8 is such a technical quantum jump that Audi will dominate the prototype scene for years to come! His prediction proved to be correct: at Sebring, the R8 was over five seconds quicker than the R8R had been just twelve months before. Audi celebrated 63 wins from 80 starts with it, including six wins at Sebring. The face of endurance racing changed because of Audi: despite its speed, the R8 was so reliable that Le Mans was transformed into a 24-hour sprint and it was no longer sufficient just to bring a car to the finish. Both the Audi R10 TDI and the R15 TDI also recorded victorious debuts at Sebring. The Audi R18 TDI only added its name to the winners list last year however, it was tested like its predecessors at

TFSI just one example of the successful technology transfer between motorsport and production.
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2000
Miami, March 11, 2000: Allan McNish drives the new Audi R8 along Ocean Drive in South Beach to the Hotel Tides then a week later at Sebring Audi clinches its rst victory in a sports car race

2006
Sebring, March 18, 2006: Audi claims a historic victory in the 12-hour race at Sebring with the rst win for a diesel sports car

2009
Sebring, March 21, 2009: the R15 TDI follows in the tire tracks of the R8 and R10 TDI by winning on its debut at Sebring

Sebring. Audi Sport Team Joest remains at Sebring the week after the race again this year to put the latest version of the Audi R18 e-tron quattro through its paces. The cumulative expertise gleaned from 14 years of sports prototypes was put into the first hybrid racecar to win the Le Mans 24 Hours. Audi deliberately selected this category in order to test new technologies and develop existing ones in motorsport. The combination of direct injection and turbo charging in the Audi R8 was a prime example of this today it has become indispensable in sporty Audi production models. Audi revolutionized endurance racing in 2006 for a second time with the introduction of TDI engines. VTG turbochargers, downsizing, ultra lightweight design or currently hybrid and quattro drive: no other automobile manufacturer can boast such an abundance of innovations.

Through the development of innovative LMP1 sports cars, Audi accelerates its technical advantage with the aid of motorsport. This will also not diminish in the future on the contrary: the new regulations, which come into force in 2014, give the engineers even more creative latitude, and focus on the subject of energy efficiency. Audi will do everything in its power to maintain its leading role and certainly continue testing at Sebring.

The Audi R18 e-tron quattro is the rst hybrid racecar to win the Le Mans 24 Hours it was also tested at Sebring

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Sebring at high-speed
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Vehicle Engine Motor power (approx) Particularities

R8R V8 3.6 T 550 hp First sports car race for Audi

R8 V8 3.6 TFSI 610 hp Debut of Audi R8 and rst victory for Audi in a sports car race 610 hp 610 hp First Sebring win with TFSI technology 550 hp 550 hp

Fastest Audi driver in qualifying Grid position Time (minutes)

1.55 1.54 1.53 1.52 1.51 1.50 1.49 1.48 1.47 1.46 1.45 1.44

Emanuele Pirro 11

Frank Biela 1

Emanuele Pirro 1

Frank Biela 1

Frank Biela 1

JJ Lehto 1

Restrictions imposed by the regulations

Smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine

Smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine

Narrower rear wing

Best Audi in the race Chassis number of race winning Audi Start number of race winningAudi Winners

3.

1. R8-402 78 Biela Kristensen Pirro

1. R8-502 1 Aiello Alboreto Capello

1. R8-602 2 Capello Herbert Pescatori

1. R8-604 1 Biela Peter Werner

1. R8-603 28 Biela Kaer McNish

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Facts & gures R8R, R8, R10, R15, R18 Audi elded ve dierent prototypes at Sebring. Technical innovations reduced lap times, the rule makers continually dampened performance.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

R10 V12 5.5 TDI 520 hp 650 hp First race for the R10 TDI and rst victory for a diesel powered sports car 650 hp Current qualifying lap record 650 hp Qualifying cancelled grid formed from the best times set in free practice

R15 V10 5.5 TDI 600 hp Debut of Audi R15 TDI, distance record No Audi entry at Sebring, only testing 500 hp VTG turbocharger

R18 V6 3.7 TDI 510 hp First Sebring race with a closed car, mono-turbocharger, 10th Sebring win for Audi

JJ Lehto 1

Allan McNish 1

Marco Werner 1

Dindo Capello 2

Tom Kristensen 2

Romain Dumas 2

Andr Lotterer 1

Smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine, higher weight

Reduced fuel tank capacity

Reduced boost pressure, smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine, narrower rear wing, more ground clearance 3. (1. LMP1) 1. R15-102 2 Capello Kristensen McNish * not classied

Reduced boost pressure, smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine

Reduced boost pressure, smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine, reduced fuel tank capacity

Reduced boost pressure, smaller diameter air restrictor for the engine, reduced fuel tank capacity

1. R8-605 1 Kristensen Lehto Werner

1. R10-101 2 Capello Kristensen McNish

1. R10-202 2 Biela Pirro Werner

4.

1. R18-102 2 Capello Kristensen McNish

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Acid test ...

The circuit The track built on a former military aireld in central Florida is regarded as the ultimate test of endurance for man and machine. Audi has used the circuit since 1999 to test its sports prototypes. The fans and parties at Sebring are also legendary.

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Typical features of every Sebring winning car: dirt, tire debris and the remains of countless insects

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... and big party

The legendary Zoo at Sebring is an absolute must see it also lures the drivers.

Far more than 100,000 fans visit Sebring every year and are unrivalled when it comes to creativity

Turn 1 at Sebring: a corner that sets the pulses racing of both fans and drivers alike

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Party zone: the fans in the Zoo between turns 3 and 13 are unique

and team members of the Audi sports car squad have witnessed at Sebring since 1999 would ll several volumes. Sebring is one of the worlds most fascinating car races held on a brutal circuit, which with its bumps, concrete slabs and generally excessive heat makes demands of man and machine like hardly any other. However, Sebring is in keeping with Spring Break in Florida also a gigantic party. My team-mates warned me beforehand that the circuit is very bumpy and physically extremely strenuous, remembers Audi factory driver Oliver Jarvis. Even so, my first laps in the Audi R18 were just incredible beforehand, Id never needed so much time on a racetrack to get up to speed. Sebring has ballsy corners like Turn 1 with its near blind entry or the final corner Turn 17, which five-time Sebring winner Dindo Capello simply describes as Hammer: You approach at 275 km/h. The tarmac is

f you take a trip, then youll experience something this sentence is especially pertinent for Sebring: what drivers

somewhat strange and despite the width, there is only one fast line. Thats typical of Sebring. Timo Bernhard had a major accident here while testing last year. Others like Alexandre Prmat somersaulted over the guardrails. Audi has tested the safety of its new sports prototypes on more than one occasion while testing at Sebring by involuntarily subjecting the cars to crash tests. The wear and tear on parts during the race at Sebring is also unusually high. Whoever visits Sebring always has something to say: from crocodiles in the lake behind the teams hotel Inn on the Lake. From the giant alligators run over on the highway. From the Sebring winner who was stopped by the Sheriff for exceeding the speed limit on the way back to the hotel, but escaped his ransom by signing an autograph. From the asphalt breaking up due to the heat, and which had to be patched up during the race. From violent thunderstorms and flooding in the team awning. From innumerable nightshifts to make newly developed sports prototypes fit for 12 hours and more specifically Sebring resistant. From two Le Mans winners, who tired on the rather monotonous journey to Sebring and slept in the car. From spare parts in the hand luggage. Or from the PR man who was arrested on the way to the Zoo for staging a race in a golf buggy with Miss Sebring. The Zoo in the circuits infield is shrouded in legend. It is Sebrings notorious social dis-

Also a part of Sebring: pretty women with lots of naked skin

trict, in which the creativity of the fans knows no bounds. I expect that every team member and every driver was there at least once, believes Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich. Its absolutely incredible what happens there, confirms Allan McNish. Fans run a club at Turn 10, which you can only enter with a special Club Card. They have their own restaurant, a bar and build their own grandstand with scaffolding on which they put chairs its these fans that make Sebring so special. And they return every year. It is exactly these spectators that Audi wishes to give something back to by racing at Sebring in 2013. Secretly everybody probably hopes that it is not a last farewell.

Typical USA: the fans are even allowed on the grid Audi @Sebring 27

2000
Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro, Tom Kristensen

2001
Laurent Aiello, Dindo Capello, Michele Alboreto

2002
Christian Pescatori, Johnny Herbert, Dindo Capello

2003
Philipp Peter, Frank Biela, Marco Werner

2004
Allan McNish, Pierre Kaer, Frank Biela

2005
Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto, Marco Werner

2006
Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello
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2007
Frank Biela, Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro

10 x 1 = Audi
Sebring wins Audi has won the 12-hour race at Sebring no less than ten times between 1999 and 2012. For each of the ten victories there are interesting stories, anecdotes and facts.

2009
Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello

2012
Tom Kristensen, Dindo Capello, Allan McNish
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2000
Tom Kristensen The debut of the Audi R8 at Sebring ended with a one-two nish. Remarkably, it was only Audis third sports car race. The Le Mans record winner and six-time Sebring victor reminisces.
wheel under braking and landed in the tire barrier right under the watchful eyes of my new boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich ... Frank (Biela) put the repaired car on After my victorious debut the year before, 2000 was my rst race for Audi and the rst for the Audi R8, which went on to become a legendary and mega successful sports car. I had tested an interim car during the winter, half R8R and half R8. The new R8 was presented to the worlds press on Ocean Drive in Miami just a few days before testing started at Sebring. I still remember the headline well, The fastest Cabrio in Miami Beach. I was fastest in free practice and wanted to post a good time right at the beginning of first qualifying. But a slower car emerged from the pits; it hindered me and disturbed my rhythm. I locked the front left
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pole position the following day. I took over the car twice from him in the race, and despite several problems with the brakes we were able to win the race by a margin of almost 40 seconds from our sister car. It was the first victory in a sports car race for Audi and the start of an incredibly successful chapter for the brand with the four rings. I have been lucky enough to win Sebring six times so far. Another special win was that in 2005, when I had a hard fight with Allan McNish all the way to the checker. On this day, our fathers decided while having a beer that Dr. Ullrich should better put us in the same car. And this is what happened.

Excitement all the way to the ag: Sebring 2000 was marked by a thrilling duel with the previous years winner BMW

Seat tting: Sebring 2000 was the rst race that Tom Kristensen contested for Audi

Bad hair day: in rst qualifying Tom Kristensen landed in the tire barrier with the winning car

A tire failure cost start number 77 crucial time.

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Sebring 2001 was the last race and nal win for the unforgotten Michele Alboreto.

In the thick of the action: Alf, from the TV series with the same name was the Joest teams and its Technical Director (R)alf Jttners mascot in the days of the R8

A stop-and-go penalty just before the end of the race prevented the red R8 from winning again

A special feature of the R8 was its gearbox, which could be changed complete with the entire rear end in less than four minutes

The rst customer teams competed with the Audi R8 during the 2001 season. They rounded out the top four positions for Audi

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2001
Dindo Capello The Italian celebrated the rst of his ve Sebring victories with Audi in 2001. However, he also has fond memories of the previous two years.
sports car podium. It was a strange feeling for me: Michele and Stefan had both raced Formula 1 for Ferrari and were my idols only a few years before. Suddenly I was their team-mate. Ill also remember Sebring for a completely different reason: it was the first time that I had ever used a washing machine! Normally I had my overalls Ill never forget the 2001 Sebring race: it was Micheles (Alboreto) last race and his last win before we so tragically lost him in a testing accident. I will always treasure the picture of him with Laurent Aiello and myself on the Podium at Sebring. By the way, a reminder of Sebring now In 2001, I also took the first of my five Sebring race wins, which was especially sweet after having lost a possible victory within sight of the flag due to brake problems the year before. At that time, I actually had to steer the car into the pit wall after the race to stop the car! I have loads of memories of Sebring. I drove my first endurance race here in 1999 with Michele and Stefan Johansson and in fact took Audis first ever
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washed at home between races. But after the race in 2000 we stayed at Sebring to test and I had to wash my overalls. Allan (McNish) showed me how to do it another premiere

stands in one of my Audi Centers in Italy: as a parting gesture to mark my time as an Audi factory driver, Audi Sport gave me the original Sebring race-winning car from 2012 on permanent loan nobody could have given me a better present because Sebring means so much to me.

Customer team Champion Racing took second place in 2002

The winners of a sizzling battle, during which the tarmac had to be repaired in nal third of the race

2002
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Johnny Herbert On his rst outing for the Audi factory team the ex-Formula 1 driver won the sizzling battle of 2002 despite a rather sleepless night before the race.
Both factory Audis were involved in collisions. While the steering rack had to be changed on the red R8, the yellow R8 escaped relatively unscathed with just repairs to the rear suspension

Id heard many rumors about Sebring, about the track, the history and of course about the notorious ineld and its fans. Sebring is very crazy and yet marvelous at the same time. It was a fantastic experience to compete for the Audi factory team in 2002 at Sebring and LeMans. I knew that I could be successful with this team. However, I didnt know much about my two Italian teammates Dindo Capello and Christian Pescatori, and especially Christian. Both turned out to be lovely blokes who were great fun to work with. We got on famously and found a good compromise for the set-up of our Audi R8. After qualifying, we were all a little mystified by the big gap in time to the sister car driven by Frank (Biela). However, the tide turned to our advantage in the race and I could win Sebring on my Audi debut. We lost time in the early on because the rear suspension had to be repaired after a collision, but this was the only setback.

Race day didnt get off to the best of starts or better said the night before. I shared my room with a friend from England and he snored like crazy. The noise was terrible. I woke him up repeatedly, but he fell asleep immediately and started to snore again. So, I grabbed the mattress and a couple of blankets and slept in the bathroom with the door closed. At least I got some sleep, but Im sure you can imagine it wasnt the best way to prepare for an extremely hot 12-hour race, during which the tarmac even broke up.

Audi won for the rst time in 2002 with a TFSI engine a technology that also established itself in production cars.
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2003
Joest Audi bests Joest Bentley: Audi left its customer teams to race the R8 between 2003 and 2005

Ralf Jttner The Audi Sport Team Joests Technical Director celebrated many victories at Sebring. He stood in another pit however when his team won in 2003.

Our rst Sebring race with Audi was in 1999. I can still clearly remember telling our electrician before the race to make sure that the headlights in both
Small and sweet: the victorious Joest squad at Sebring in 2003 without Ralf Jttner 36 Audi @Sebring

our Audi R8R were correctly adjusted. He laughed at me and asked: Do you really think that well still be running when its dark? In the end, I had the last laugh as we nished third and fth in Audis rst sports car race at Sebring.

An additional driver change just before the nish denied the Champion R8 of any chance of victory.

Tumultuous celebration: a thrilling battle between the Audi customer teams saw Joest prevail against Champion Racing

2003 was a strange year for me at Sebring. We ran a privately entered customer Audi R8 for Marco Werner, Frank Biela and Philipp Peter. But I wore a green jacket just like Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich because we supported Team Bentley at the other end of the pit lane. The Joest Audi went on to win narrowly from the Champion Audi after an extremely exciting race. I obviously had to stay in the Bentley pit, even when it was clear that we had no chance of winning and were four laps behind the two R8 prototypes. But, the closer we got to the finish the more I cheered on our guys in the Joest pit and thought about their strategy. It was tough but funny at the same time. Weve gone on to celebrate many more victories at Sebring and at Audi we always viewed the race as excellent preparation for Le Mans. But it is also a unique sports car race on an unusual circuit and always with a good atmosphere. It really is a great pity that we will race for the last time here with the LMP1 sports cars.
Audi @Sebring 37 Perfect strategy: Team Boss Reinhold Joest made his R8 run triple stints without changing tires this saved crucial time in the pits

Never before had a racing car celebrated ve consecutive victories at Sebring. The Audi R8 achieved this and even grabbed a sixth.

Pierre Kaer celebrated his rst victory at Sebring at the wheel of the Audi R8

Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich was delighted about a onetwo-three nish for his customer teams in 2004 The Champion Audi lost nine laps and any chance of victory in the fourth hour after colliding with a GT car

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2004
Frank Biela The German competed with Pierre Kaer and Allan McNish for the rst time when Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx made its debut. The trio held a ve-lap lead at the nish.
with the R8 for the Audi UK sports car team, and my third victory in Sebring after 2000 and 2003. After Id swapped to the prototypes It was great to race for the British Audi importers at Sebring in 2004. Id raced for Audi Sport UK in the British Touring Car Championship in 1996 and 1997. It was always very enjoyable working with the British guys. My team-mates at Sebring were Allan McNish and Pierre Kaffer. I hadnt really driven much with either of them before. I arrived at the circuit on Thursday evening from a DTM test and jumped into the cockpit for the first time for night practice. The two guys had done a good job with the set-up. The car felt good. Ive always liked this type of motorsport In the end we won comfortably by five laps if I remember correctly. It was a victorious debut in the USA. Its nice to know that nothing has changed in the meantime. with Audi, I learnt a lot of new tracks in North America. They differed enormously and especially Sebring to those that I knew from my touring car days in Europe. It was a great experience, and especially because of the extremely easygoing atmosphere in the paddock. The fans could go everywhere, could see the cars up close and meet the drivers. It was completely different to anything Id experienced before, and especially in Germany where everything is much more strict and less accessible.

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2005
Strong line-up: JJ Lehto, Marco Werner and Tom Kristensen formed the winning team in 2005

Marco Werner The German was one of the three drivers who presented the American team Champion Racing with its rst Sebring win. But he also has fond memories of his rst Sebring race.

Victory in 2005 was my second at Sebring. It was a very hard race over the entire 12 hours, which Tom Kristensen, JJ Lehto and I won by less than seven seconds from our sister car in the Champion Racing team. The race was open until the last corner and the pressure on us all was immense throughout the race.
40 Audi @Sebring Tough business: the two Champion Audis fought all the way to the nal corner for victory in 2005

Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Martin Winterkorn, at that time Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG, waved the green ag as honorary starter in 2005.

But I also have fond memories of my first race at Sebring in 2003. At that time, I was quite new to Team Joest and had only previously contested one race in the Audi R8, namely Le Mans the year before. In 2003, Audi didnt race as a factory in the ALMS and in the season opener at Sebring the center of attention was on
After 12 hours a mere 6.365 seconds separated the two Champion Audis of Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen Third Sebring win: Tom Kristensen withstood the pressure from Allan McNish in the closing stages

Bentley and Champion Audi. Our private Joest Audi was certainly not the favorite for victory, but we still won. I drove two three-hour stints in the race. This helped us to save time at the pit stops and to fight for victory. I had a 15 second lead in my final stint before this was cancelled by another safety car. From then on I had to drive every lap of my first ALMS race like qualifying. My lap times were definitely a big surprise for many people, especially as I was only a Porsche Supercup driver before. I still hold the qualifying record at Sebring that I set in 2007 with the Audi R10 TDI. That was the year of my last victory here. One thing is certain Ill never ever forget Sebring.

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The rst race for a diesel was a pioneering achievement, the rst victory a piece of motorsport history.

False start: instead of starting from pole position, the Audi R10 TDI with start number 2 started from the pit lane

Will it or wont it hold? Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich looks critically at the V12 TDI engine

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2006
Ulrich Baretzky The Head of Engine Development will never forget Sebring 2006: the rst race for a diesel sports car was full of perilous hurdles but still ended with a historical victory.
Winterkorn really tore a strip of me for this sloppiness, even though this was not part of my responsibility. After the warm-up, we had to change the heat-exchanger on the car that should have started the race from pole position. Normally, you need three hours for this, but we had just one and a half hours and managed it just in time. Dindo Capello chased after the Sebring 2006 was one of the most stressful yet exciting races that I have ever experienced. It was our first race with the diesel and Id broken my foot a few weeks before while skiing. I negotiated with the doctors that then should operate on me as soon as possible. After a day and a half they threw me out of the hospital because my bed was covered in documents and my laptop they argued that it is a hospital and not an office ... So, I travelled to Sebring with my crutches, which was anything but pleasant at the racetrack. The entire week was quite stressful for us. We had to change engines several times. It was only later that we discovered that it was just sensors that were mounted incorrectly. Our top manager Professor Martin In spite of all the problems, we still managed to get the car that started from the pit lane to the finish and win the race and, in doing so, write motorsport history with the first win for a diesel-powered sportscar. Ill never forget this! The telemetry hadnt worked on the leading car since the beginning of the race. This is why we couldnt see that the coolers were blocked and the engine overheated. After about four hours we had to stop. The drivers were devastated and completely down, but to compensate they won at Le Mans. field from the pit lane and was already up to second place behind the leading sister car after 30 minutes.

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Emanuele Pirro The Audi R10 TDI recorded its second consecutive Sebring victory despite several performance concessions to the lighter LMP2 cars of the competition.

The nal part of the race was very long for Marco Werner: the German was bursting to go to the bathroom ...

Sebring 2007 made amends for the bad memories from the previous year. I dearly wanted to win when our diesel sports car made its world premiere as I had on the debut of the Audi R8 in 2000. Unfortunately, we had a technical problem and retired, which made the victory even sweeter in the 2007 season. Marco Werner set a qualifying lap record on the way to putting our car on pole position. A record that still stands today. However, we didnt just

2007

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Huge interest: Audis diesel sports cars also generated a big buzz at Sebring in the second year

have strong competition from our sister car this year, but also from the 150 kilogram lighter and more agile LMP2 sports cars, as these had been given several performance concessions by the rule makers. It was a fantastic race for us. We had a few small problems at the beginning and were almost two laps behind. But you never give up in such a long race. In the end the fastest and most robust car won, which proved to be our Audi R10 TDI.

My fondest memory of Sebring is without doubt my first win in the year 2000. It was also the first win for the Audi R8, with which we made an enormous step in performance at that time. It was the start of what ultimately became an incredibly long success story for Audi in prototype racing and for me personally. This first win in 2000 still means a great deal to me today. Sebring is a wonderful racetrack, a very special place that provides you with unique moments as a racing driver and a place which I always enjoy visiting. Ihope this place never changes.

In 2007, the regulations restricted the Audi R10 TDI in such a way that the smaller LMP2 cars were also a danger.

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The lead changed hands 22 times between Audi and Peugeot during the fastest Sebring race of all time.

2009
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The Audi R15 TDI was Audis last open sports prototype

Allan McNish The Scotsman was a key to success in many an Audi victory at Sebring and especially when the R15 TDI won on its debut in 2009.

Command center: the smallest strategic mistake would have meant defeat in 2009

The race at Sebring in 2009 was incredibly intense. It was the R15 TDIs race debut. The R8 and R10 TDI had both won their first races at Sebring. To repeat this was hard, because everything was new the car, the concept and the aerodynamics. We were up
The Audi R15 TDI with its innovative aerodynamic concept was unveiled to the public at Sebring

against strong, aggressive competition and especially our old friends from Peugeot. It was nail biting from the first to last lap. There was a lot of overtaking, the lead exchanged hands many times Peugeot overtook us, we got past Peugeot. We fought like crazy for twelve hours. We had to make every pit stop count and every strategy call by the team. The race was decided in the last two or three hours. I have to say they were possibly the best couple of hours Ive ever driven. I extracted the absolute maximum from the car, which was perfectly suited to this track at the time. The R15 TDI was the best car that Id ever driven around Sebring, the balance, feel and control. I could make the car do exactly what I wanted, and so this car also celebrated a debut win at Sebring. The race fans at Sebring are like nowhere else in the world. They have incredible enthusiasm. They dont just come to watch a legendary race; they want to be a part of it. I remember in 2011 when an open-top bus with the shape, design and colors of our Audi R10 TDI from a few years previously appeared in the paddock. Things like this only happen at Sebring.

Allan McNish drove a great race in 2009 at the start as well as in the closing stages

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2012
Downsizing: 2012 was the rst Sebring race with the compact V6 TDI engine

Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich The Head of Audi Motorsport has led the brand with the four rings to all its ten Sebring wins so far and these in just 13 races.

Turn 1 Club: customers and guests from Audi of America could follow the 2012 race from rather unique hospitality facilities at the end of the start-nish straight

Reinhold Joest, who had competed himself at Sebring, told us that the race in Florida is the best preparation for Le Mans. It was good that we listened to his advice. Sebring was always the perfect dress rehearsal for the new season and for the 24-hour race at Le Mans.

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Sebring is a unique racetrack. Hard and demanding for both man and machine whoever survives this 12-hour race without problems is usually well equipped for every other challenge. This is why Sebring has been a fixed date on our sports car calendar every since our sports car program started in 1999. The first victory is always the sweetest. I can still vividly remember the launch of the Audi R8 in Miami Beach in March 2000, and how we won the race at Sebring only a week later. It was just fantastic, particularly as it was only our third sports car race after Sebring and Le Mans in 1999. It was also the start of an incredible winning streak for the Audi R8, which ultimately took 63 wins in 80 races. For me, the worst year was 2010 when we decided during development of the R15 plus not to race at Sebring for logistical reasons. I was there despite this and must say it was hard to watch the race without Audi participation. It was even harder than the defeat in 2011 when we were fast, but unlucky with both cars. In 2012, we succeeded in taking the brands tenth victory when we raced a closed LMP at Sebring for the first time.
The Audi R18 TDI was in a class of its own on its Sebring debut

Sebring 2012 was the beginning of a new era: it was the opening race of the new FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC).

Dindo Capello received the original racewinning car from 2012 on permanent loan to mark his retirement as Audi factory driver

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Back in the USA

50 Audi @Sebring

Audi in U.S. motor racing Races in North America have always played an important role in Audis successful motorsport history. The brand returns to the racetracks in this important market with the R8 GRAND-AM.

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Based on the GT3 version, the Audi R8 GRAND-AM was developed specically for the U.S. market

Audi won the championship title nine times in succession in the LMP1 category in the American Le Mans Series

customer racing North America in the GRAND-AM series. The USA gains increasingly in importance for Audi. In the 2012 financial year, the brand with the four rings increased its sales in this essential market by 18.5 per cent to 139,310 automobiles. As a result, Audi is growing significantly quicker than the entire market in the United States. The comeback in U.S. motorsport should support this trend. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday Audi has mimicked this slogan originating from the USA repeatedly in the past: during the rally era in the 1980s, the brand triumphed three times in the famous Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado with the Audi quattro. Walter Rhrls record run with the spectacular Audi Sport quattro S1 remains unforgotten. He was the first driver to storm up the summit in less than eleven minutes. In 1988, U.S. racing legend Hurley Haywood won on Audis closed circuit debut in the Trans-Am Series with the Audi 200 quattro. Audi grabbed the headlines a year later as a newcomer claiming seven victories
The further developed Audi R8 GRAND-AM celebrated a one-two nish in the GT class at the 24-hour race at Daytona in January

ack in the USA: Audi signals the return to U.S. motorsport through greater commitment from Audi Sport

in the IMSA-GTO Series. Audi made a lasting impression with its sports prototypes in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) between 2000 and 2008: Audi won the LMP1 championship title nine times in succession, just as often as it has the Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta and the 12 hours of Sebring ten times so far.

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It must be love: the enthusiasm for the brand with the four rings and its produces knows virtually no limits in the USA

near 500 hp mid-engine sports car were revised to great effect. In January, the Audi customer teams Alex Job Racing and APR Motorsport claimed a one-two finish in the GT class with the Audi R8 GRAND-AM in the 24-hour race at Daytona. By racing at Daytona, we wanted to be sure that anybody who contemplates racing in the GT class in the GRAND-AM series thinks about the Audi R8, says Romolo Liebchen, Head of Audi Sport customer racing. We achieved exactly this goal thanks to the strong performance and fantastic result. Audi Sport customer racing North America will support customer teams that choose the Audi R8 GRAND-AM for example, with competitive drivers as was the case at Daytona. What the future holds in the USA remains to be seen. I think that Audi should not be satisfied with fighting for class victories, said Head of Audi Motorsport Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich at Daytona. This was never our strategy.

The Audi brand is growing particularly strongly in the U.S. market the motorsport activities should strengthen this trend.

Audi of America used the American LeMans Series and motorsport to inspire invited dealers and guests for the brand. The call from dealers in the USA for a return to U.S. motorsport gains intensity ever since Audi switched its factory program with sports prototypes to the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). The first step now follows in the GT class of the GRAND-AM series, which merges with the American Le Mans Series in 2014 to form a new U.S. sports car series and therefore gain increasingly in importance. Based on the successful Audi R8 LMS GT3 customer racing racecar, quattro GmbH developed a special U.S. version for the GRAND-AM series. Following initial outings in the 2012 season, many details of the

Audis successful motorsport history in the USA started with several wins at the famous Pikes Peak hill climb

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Your contacts
AUDI AG Communications Motorsport D-85045 Ingolstadt Phone +49 841 8934200 Fax +49 841 8938617 E-mail motorsport-media@audi.de Jrgen Pippig Head of Audi Communications Motorsport Tel. +49 841 8934200 juergen.pippig@audi.de Eva-Maria Veith Communications LMP Tel. +49 841 8933922 eva-maria.veith@audi.de Virginia Brusch Communications Customer racing Tel. +49 841 8941753 virginia.brusch@audi.de Daniel Schuster Communications DTM Tel. +49 841 8938009 daniel2.schuster@audi.de Petra Strack Communications Motorsport Tel. +49 841 8954457 petra.strack@audi.de

Information sources
All text and photographs in this MediaInfo Magazine are available to download online (accreditation required): www.audi-motorsport.info

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Twitter @Audi__Sport

Imprint
AUDI AG D-85045 Ingolstadt Content responsibility Jrgen Pippig, Head of Audi Communications Motorsport I/GP-P4 Editor Thomas Voigt

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www.audi-motorsport.info

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AUDI AG Communications Motorsport D-85045 Ingolstadt Phone Fax E-mail +49 841 8934200 +49 841 8938617 motorsport-media@audi.de

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