With less than an hour to go before the start of Sebring's 60th anniversary race and the opening of the new FIA World Endurance Championship 2012, race fans at the track and around the world have much to look forward to.

Will the new Audis run away from the rest of the field? Allan McNish threw down the gauntlet at the end of this morning’s warm up session with a 1.50.8 three quarters of a second quicker that the other Audi’s and the rest of the field. It appears that the Audi’s will be as quick as expected in race trim but can they get the cars through the pack and to the end of the race. It really is Audi’s race to lose.

After the warm-up the #2 Capello/Kristensen/McNish Audi R18 followed by #3 Bernhard/Dumas/Duval Audi R18 and the #1 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer is this Audi’s warning the rest of the field look out here we come!

With Peugeots withdrawal from endurance racing, and Toyota not yet engaged, are there any real challengers? Will the rule changes make the petrol cars more competitive or will the nature of the 12 hours cause Audi to falter, as the maxim says “To finish first, first you have to finish”. At Le Mans in 2011 Audi proved their tenacity and staying power, after losing two cars to massive accidents the team kept plugging away, maybe not the fastest car lap on lap but the fastest overall package for Sebring, the 24 hours of Le Mans and in the rest of endurance racing that’s all that matters. 

Sebring is not Le Mans, it is “only” 12 hours but 12 hours of a bumpy hard track; some say that the race is actually harder than Le Mans. The Sebring former airfield track is a car breaker the last turn has a very large bump just after the bridge as the pit entry goes off to the right, we saw one of the Audi’s spin there in qualifying yesterday so it even catches the pro’s out. Drivers and cars that complete the 12 hours know they have been in a race!

The LMP2 battle appears close also with just over eight tenths of a second separating the first four cars the first of those being the #44 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin car HPD ARX 03b, then #49 Companc/Kaffer/Ayari Oreca 03 and #23 Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard Oreca 03.

In the smaller classes we appear to have very tight races with races, the GT battle appears to be a battle of the manufacturers Chevrolet, Porsche and Ferrari with only half a second between the first 3! It’s lining up to be a great race!  

Anita Williams

Photo : SEBRING (FLORIDA, USA), SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, SEBRING 12 HOURS, SATURDAY 17th MARCH 2012, The fans at Turn 10 take race spectating seriously, and they add to the unique atmosphere of the race.