Quotes after the race at Sebring

Dr Wolfgang Ullrich (Head of Audi Motorsport): "The race was very disappointing for us. We had many technical issues we now have to sort out. These problems did not allow us to run at the pace we wanted. Also the drivers and the team were not faultless today which caused some penalties. We’ve simply been not on the level we wanted to be here. We need and will work immediately on that.”

Dindo Capello (Audi R10 TDI #1): "I did not enjoy this race. It started unfortunately with my early penalty stop-go when I couldn’t avoid the Porsche GT2. The car handled okay in the early stages but then it was obvious to me that something was not quite right. My second time in the car was a nightmare – the car was touching the floor and for me the car was undrivable with the brake situation.”

Tom Kristensen (Audi R10 TDI #1): "It was a great, classic race with lots of things happening throughout. We lost time with some problems which cost us a victory. Our friends from France with the Peugeot were very fast and we have to keep our heads down. Congratulations to the ‘Postmen from Stuttgart’ – they didn’t make a mistake so have a deserved victory. We had a great battle and tried everything we could do to come back. But being three laps down was simply too much for the amount of time left.”

Allan McNish (Audi R10 TDI #1): "We had a very fast car but unfortunately had an issue with the right front suspension which had to be rectified and cost us time. Then bizarrely we had to change the brake discs which has never ever happened before with the R10 TDI. This problem cost us more time. So to be three laps down and to ultimately finish on the lead lap the entire Audi team can be proud of a fine recovery.”

The results at Sebring

1 Dumas/Bernhard/Collad (Porsche) 351 laps in 12h 01m 39.587s
2 Franchitti/Leitzinger/Lally (Porsche) + 1m 02.084s
3 Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R10 TDI ) + 1m 07.697s (1st in LM P1)
4 Smith/Dyson (Porsche) - 1 lap
5 Brabham/Sharp/Johansson (Acura/Honda) - 2 laps
6 Luhr/Rockenfeller/Werner (Audi R10 TDI) - 18 laps
7 Lienhard/Theys/Lammers (Porsche) - 18 laps
8 O’Connell/Magnussen/Fellows (Chevrolet) - 23 laps
9 Field/Field/Berry (Lola) - 24 laps (3rd in LM P1)
10 Beretta/Gavin/Papis (Chevrolet) - 31 laps

At the mid-point in the race, the two Audi R10 TDI cars were running in front of the field. Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner had a 40-second lead over their team mates Dindo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen, when the right turbo charger and the front brake discs had to be changed on their R10 TDI. This cost them 16 laps and any chance to fight for victory. An off track excursion at dusk plus two stop-and-go penalties further delayed them.

The number 1 "sister car”, which had started from pole position, lost 30 seconds due to a stop-and-go penalty in the opening stages of the heated battle. At the start of the eighth hour, the push-rod of the right front suspension had to be fixed while less than an hour later, the front brake discs had to be replaced.

Almost four laps down, Dindo Capello, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish impressively fought their way back to the front, making it back onto the lead lap and eventually finishing third overall. They missed the outright victory by just 67 seconds – after losing almost ten minutes in the pits.