Biela races to fourth Sebring victory
SEBRING, Fla. (AP) – Frank Biela became the second four-time winner in the history of the Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday, teaming with Emmanuel Pirro and Marco Werner to drive an Audi R10/TDI prototype to a six-lap victory. An Acura prototype finished second in its American Le Mans Series debut.
The winners led from the fifth hour after their sister Audi lost the lead and four laps during a long pit stop to replace the battery, and then the starter, as the crew tried to figure out the electrical problem that plagued the defending champion team.
Biela, the Monte Carlo driver who also won in 2000, 2003 and 2004, joined Audi’s Tom Kristensen as the only four-time winners of America’s most prestigious sports car race. Kristensen shared the 2000 victory with Biela.
The winners completed 364 laps around the 3.7-mile Sebring International Raceway to give Audi its eighth straight victory at Sebring. It was the third Sebring victory for Werner and second for Pirro.
Kristensen teamed with Rinaldo Capello and Allan McNish to finish fourth, 11 laps behind.
Acura made an impressive debut in the American Le Mans Series, with Indy Racing League star Dario Franchitti joining his brother, Marino, and Bryan Herta in the Andretti Green Acura ARX-01a for the grueling 12-hour race. They finished second overall and first in the LMP2 class, and Herta led the race overall in the third hour during an exchange of pit stops with the Audis.
Herta was running just a lap down in the ninth hour when a 40-second penalty because a crew member did not have his goggles on during a pit stop helped the Audi stretch its lead to two full laps. Then the faster Audi pulled away to the final six-lap margin of victory.
Third overall went to another Acura, driven by Adrian Fernandez, Luis Diaz and David Martinez, all of Mexico. They were two laps behind Herta’s Acura at the finish.
The GT1 class battle was a close one between the two factory Corvette C6-Rs. The No. 4 car of Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Max Papis finished seventh overall, 17.8 seconds ahead of the No. 3 car of Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen.
The finish was most exciting in the GT2 where Jamie Melo survived a 20-second penalty during his final pit stop and then a side-by-side collision in his Ferrari 430 G with Jorg Bergmeister’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to win the class by 0.202 seconds. Melo led by more than 30 seconds before his final pit stop, but Bergmeister made a spirited charge in the final half hour. Mika Salo and Johnny Mowlem shared the driving duties with Melo to give Ferrari its first Sebring victory since 1998.