[Racer Duck]

The following from Yahoo! Mar 13, 6:55 pm EDT


SEBRING, Fla. (AP)—The anticipated diesel duel between Peugeot and Audi at the Twelve Hours of Sebring took an unusual turn Thursday during a qualifying session that was red-flagged and eventually abandoned because of an accident.

Because the qualifying session was disregarded, the starting lineup for Saturday’s season-opening American Le Mans Series race will be determined by the best lap posted during the three previous practice sessions. That puts Allan McNish in the No. 1 Audi AG R10/TDI Diesel in the top starting position, ahead of the No. 07 Peugeot 908 that had a record qualifying run Thursday disallowed.

Stephane Sarrazin of France shattered Audi driver Marco Werner’s year-old Sebring International Raceway record by more than two mph with a lap of 129.174 mph, but the qualifying session was red-flagged when England’s Ben Devlin crashed his Mazda Lola heavily in the first turn, ending on top of the tire wall. The clock continued to tick, and time ran out on the 25-minute session.

Because the session ran less than 10 minutes under green, IMSA Rule 9.9.3 was invoked, thereby disregarding the entire qualifying session. IMSA Rule 9.9.4 set the starting grid according to best practice laps. The Peugeot will start second in Saturday’s 12-hour race that will start at 10:05 a.m.
Both the Audi R10 and the Peugeot 908 are powered by diesel technology, and the 12 Hours of Sebring marks the first time Peugeot has entered an ALMS race. They battled last year in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Audi winning over Peugeot. Audi has won the 12 Hours of Sebring eight straight years, the last two with the R10/TDI diesel.

[DOF_power]

LMP1: Audis vs. Peugeots
LMP2: Acuras vs. Porsches
GT-1: Vettes vs. Astons
GT-2: Vipers vs. Vettes. vs. Ferraris vs. Porsches vs. Astons (soon vs. BMWs too)


It's ON
just like God intended sportcar-endurance racing to be.

[Racer Duck]

Marco Andretti is an early surprise (to me anyway.) We'll see how he fares this afternoon and evening.

The TV announcers said France and, in essence, a small village put up at the track for their guests and media. I guess they're making a big deal out of the race back in France...

[DOF_power]

Well the hole point ALMS and its sister series LMS and Japan LMS is the 24 hours of Le Mans.Just wish there would be a world championship like the old FIA World Sportcar Championship with Le Mans as its crown jewel, comprissed of the best offered in LMS, ALMS and JLMS.