A History Of Progress
The entire Audi motorsports history would take volumes to chronicle. Stretching back more than a hundred years, Audi founder August Horch even put himself in the car. Building his vehicles to withstand the endurance rallies of the time, he knew prestige and customers would follow. For this story, we dove into the brand’s collection of experiences at famed Sebring International Raceway in Florida. Beyond the many wins, Sebring served as the ideal proving ground for Audi Sport in the annual quest for victory at Le Mans.
By: Todd Hughes
Photos: AUDI AG
“For Audi racing programs preparing for the Le Mans 24 Hours, a big part of what we did was racing the Sebring 12 hours, giving it everything we had, thankfully winning 11 times, then the next day doing another 12 hours just to make sure we went through the whole process. And that was one of the reasons, in my opinion, why we did so well when we went to the Le Mans 24 Hours.”
- Allan McNish, Audi legend, and 3-time winner of The 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Even the casual fan of sports car racing will be familiar with the successes Audi experienced at Le Mans over the last two decades. With 13 wins in the span of 15 years, the goal and the achievements were clear. What’s much less known, but certainly no less important, is the unique origin of the team’s triumphs. The seeds of success in France were planted every spring amidst the groves of orange trees in Central Florida. This is the story of Audi Sport® at Sebring International Raceway.
Motorsports are part of the Audi DNA. From the very earliest days, Audi raced. In fact, Audi founder August Horch personally took the wheel in competition. His victories in the Austrian Alpine Runs made the company internationally known within a few years. From the Type C and Type D cars of the 1930s to the World Rally Championships all the way to Le Mans, Audi has made racing history time and again. Whatever challenges Audi has faced in the world of motorsports have frequently resulted in championship titles. Often these victories were synonymous with a pioneering spirit and technical innovations.
But racing is much more than a sporting pursuit. Audi owners benefit from success on the racetrack, because technological gains made chasing checkered flags can translate into Audi production vehicles. From quattro® all-wheel drive to TFSI® engines and many more examples, the technologies that have made their way from the track to the street continue to grow all the time. No other automotive manufacturer has made as big of an impact on the development of advanced race cars, or on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in the last two decades as Audi. And the pursuit of wins in France began again each year in the same place—Sebring, Florida.
Sebring International Raceway is certainly no stranger to history. The one-of-a-kind facility, America’s oldest road racing track, has made much history of its own in the annals of American sports car racing. Originally, the site was known as Hendricks Field, a World War II airbase, utilized by the U.S. Army Air Force to train B-17 combat crews. After the war, an entrepreneur and road racing enthusiast named Alec Ulmann laid eyes on Sebring’s long, wide runways and intricate network of access roads and had a big, fast idea. He envisioned, then founded, an endurance race in the spirit of Le Mans. The green flag waved on the first, and oldest, European-style race in America in the early afternoon of Saturday, March 15, 1952. More than sixty years later, the famous race not only endures, it thrives. Sebring International Raceway’s legendary 3.74-mile road course still utilizes portions of the original Hendricks Field concrete taxiways and runways. The track is known as one of the toughest in the world, with wear and tear on parts unusually high.
Sebring is a notoriously difficult challenge for both man and machine. Audi legend, and four-time winner of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Allan McNish explains, “Sebring hasn’t changed very much since the 1950s. The circuit still has the same concrete sections around the final corner and into the very fast first corner to when Stirling Moss won one of the early races. And then after that, it’s got a variety of surfaces all the way through the circuit. And they change grip level, they change consistency, not only with the amount of cars driving around and the rubber that builds up on the track, but also the temperature of the day. And so in the heat of the day on Saturday afternoon is very different to when you get to 9 or 10 o’clock at night when the sun has gone down and the track has cooled down. And so the driver and the team have always got to consider these factors. It’s also rough on you as a driver. With all the bumps, you’re getting kicked and bounced around. You can get a few bruises along the way. As a car, they get roughed up as well. With all the abuse that it gets, it’s a real test.”
Due in no small part to the size of the challenge it presents, Sebring is a special place for Audi Sport. The brand’s remarkable success in prototype racing began there. From the beginning of the Audi sports car program, the track at Sebring International Raceway was the perfect location for Audi to prepare for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. As such, it represents hallowed ground. To win at Sebring means you have accomplished something great. Audi took the overall victory at the Sebring 12 hour race an amazing 11 times in the span of 14 years. Although tempting to relive all 11 triumphs, let’s take a look back at four races that proved to be particularly important, both for their historical meaning, as well as Audi technologies that made their debut.
The 2000 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The first sports car race for Audi took place at Sebring in 1999. That day, the Audi R8R finished on the last step of the podium in third place. Of course, things would be much different a year later. On March 18, 2000, a brand-new Audi R8 racecar made its debut in the 12-hour race. In only the third sports car race ever for the Audi Brand, the team of Frank Biela, Emanuele Pirro and Tom Kristensen took the victory.
Tom Kristensen remembers, “2000 was my first race for Audi—and the first for the Audi R8, which went on to become a legendary and mega successful sports car. 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 start of an incredibly successful chapter for the brand with the four rings.”
The only other car on the lead lap at the finish of the 48th Twelve Hours of Sebring was the only other Audi in the race. The R8 team car driven by Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Michele Alboreto overcame early challenges of its own to join the party on the podium. Both R8 cars were powered by 3.6L Audi V8 engines featuring FSI® technology, an innovation that eventually found its way into Audi street cars.
The 2002 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
In the 2002 edition of the race, the notoriously difficult conditions were even more challenging than usual. The temperature was exceptionally hot, even for humid Florida. In fact, the tarmac broke up and had to be repaired in the final third of the race. For the Audi factory team, including ex-Formula 1 driver Johnny Herbert, Sebring lived up to its billing.
Herbert said, “I’d heard many rumors about Sebring, about the track, the history and, of course, about the notorious infield and its fans. It was a fantastic experience to compete for the Audi factory team in 2002 at Sebring and Le Mans. After qualifying, we were all mystified by the big gap in time to the sister car driven by Frank Biela. However, the tide turned in the race and I won Sebring on my Audi debut.”
Although the number 1 Audi driven by Biela and Tom Kristensen sat on the pole and posted the fastest lap during the race, the number 2 car piloted by Herbert, Christian Pescatori, and Dindo Capello took the victory. The 2002 race was also notable from a technological standpoint. Audi won for the first time with a TFSI® engine—an advancement that established itself in production cars, and continues to power many Audi vehicles sold to this day. TFSI is just one example of the successful technology transfer between motorsport and production.
The 2006 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Never before had a racing car celebrated five consecutive victories at Sebring. The Audi R8 achieved this in 2005. For 2006, the objective was to break the record the team set a year earlier—with a completely different racecar and powertrain technology. This year Sebring was again the site of motorsport history—the first race and the first win for a diesel-powered car.
Ulrich Baretzky, Head of Engine Development at Audi Sport had this to say, “Sebring 2006 was one of the most stressful yet exciting races that I have ever experienced. During the week we had to change engines several times. In spite of 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 history with the first win for a diesel-powered sportscar. I’ll never forget this!”
In addition to being the first race and the first win for a diesel, the 2006 edition was also notably the first Sebring race in the same car for Audi greats Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish. Legend has it that the famous partnership was suggested to Audi team boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich by each man’s father after the battle they waged against each other at the 2005 contest in Sebring. Dr. Ullrich always knew a good idea when he heard one.
The 2013 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
The cumulative expertise gleaned from 14 years of racing sports prototypes was put into another brand-new car for the 2013 season. The Audi R18 e-tron® quattro®, with its front wheels powered electrically, was a special type of quattro. Customarily, Audi chose Sebring as the site of the debut race for the new vehicle.
On St. Patrick’s Day 2013, two Audi R18 e-tron quattro cars paced the field in Sebring. In fact, no other manufacturers would end up leading a single lap during the race. For 12 hours, the two Audi cars battled back and forth, with the lead changing hands 20 times. Ultimately, car number 1 driven by Marcel Fässler, Benoît Tréluyer and Oliver Jarvis took the checkered flag. It was the first Sebring victory for each driver.
Fässler commented at the time, “Celebrating Audi’s last race here at Sebring with a victory is simply fantastic. It was an incredibly close race in which both cars would have deserved to win. In the end, we were the slightly more fortunate ones. The pole position yesterday, victory today, great teammates—things couldn’t be any better today.” His teammate on the historic day, Benoît Tréluyer, had this to say, “We won the last race of the LMP1 sports cars at Sebring—we’re very proud of this. I think that the fans witnessed a thrilling race in which we had to give one hundred percent to beat our sister car. For us, the American dream has come true today. Thank you to Marcel and Oliver for a great week here at Sebring.”
Thus, the Audi R18 e-tron quattro was the first hybrid to win the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and it was also the first hybrid racecar to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In keeping with tradition, Sebring was again the perfect preparation for France. Due to rules changes and other factors, 2013 proved to be the last race the Audi factory team would contest at Sebring. Most importantly, in addition to claiming the last overall win at Sebring, lessons learned racing the R18 soon made their way to Audi e-tron street cars in the form of breakthrough technologies.
Of course, sports cars bearing the four rings of the Audi Brand continue to grace the hallowed circuit in Sebring, Florida, to this day. Rather than the Audi factory team pacing the field, the honor is now reserved for capable Audi Sport customer racing teams like Stevenson Motorsports. Racing the number 57 Audi R8 LMS GT3 in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, drivers Lawson Aschenbach and Andrew Davis are chasing more championships for Audi. Aschenbach had this to say about Sebring, “There is so much history at Sebring and the 12 hour is one of the crown jewels in sports car racing. It’s a race every manufacturer, team and driver wants to win. When you look down pit lane and see the winner boards that show the year, flag and manufacturer that won overall, it gives you the chills. You realize how important this race is to everyone!” His teammate at Stevenson Motorsports also appreciates the opportunity available in Florida. Davis said, “There is such a rich history in endurance racing, and all the past heroes and champions of the sport have graced the hallowed grounds of Sebring International Raceway. I think it’s very special to be pounding the exact same pavement as the greats.”
The winners list at Sebring is long and storied. True greats of the sport, including Mario Andretti, Stirling Moss, Dan Gurney, Phil Hill, Bobby Rahal, and Audi legends Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen have lifted the trophy. When reflecting on the years Audi competed for overall victory, Sebring International Raceway Communications Director and Track Historian Ken Breslauer had this to say, “The Audi motorsports program at Sebring from 1999 to 2013 was truly remarkable, accounting for 11 overall wins. The level of professionalism and technology was second to none, raising the bar in endurance racing to a level never seen before. This was an era that will go into the history books as one of Sebring’s best.”
Sebring is a place where history seeps from every crack of the famed tarmac. Legends live amidst each of the storied bumps in the track, and it is a place of honor for Audi. For an Audi motorsports fan, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is simply not to be missed. The engines will roar to life again in mid-March for one of the crown jewels of endurance racing, as they have so famously since 1952. Audi, and hopefully you, will be there.