THE AUDI R15 WILL MAKE ITS RACE DEBUT AT SEBRING MARCH 18-22 2009

AUDI R15 TDI DURING TEST DRIVES BEFORE THE 2009 SEASON
courtesy: Audi Motorsport

2009 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida Sebring International Raceway March 18 - 21, 2009 Entry List as of 03/14/2009

P1
  1 Lucas Luhr / Kublenz, Germany                  Audi Sport North America
    Mike Rockenfeller / Neuwied, Germany           Audi R15 TDI
    Marco Werner / Kreuzlingen, Switzerland
  2 Rinaldo Capello / Canelli, Italy               Audi Sport Team Joest
    Tom Kristensen / Hobro, Denmark                Audi R15 TDI
    Allan McNish / Dumfries, Scotland
  9 David Brabham / Henley-on-Thames, UK           Patron Highcroft Racing
    Scott Sharp / Jupiter, FL                      Acura ARX-02a
    Dario Franchitti / Edinburgh, Scotland
 12 Bryan Willman / Seattle, WA                    Autocon Motorsports
    Chris McMurry / Phoenix, AZ                    Lola B06/10 AER
    Tony Burgess / Toronto, Canada
 37 Jon Field / Dublin, OH                         Intersoprt Racing
    Clint Field / Dublin, OH                       Lola B06/10 AER
    Chapman Ducote / Miami, FL
 66 Gil de Ferran / Ft. Lauderdale, FL             de Ferran Motorsports
    Simon Pagenaud / Montmorillon, France          Acura ARX-02a
    Scott Dixon / Auckland, New Zealand
 07 Nicolas Minassian / Marseille, France          Team Peugeot Total
    Pedro Lamy / Lisbon, Portugal                  Peugeot 908 HDI FAP
    Christian Klein / Vienna, Austria
 08 Stephane Sarrazin / Ales, France               Team Peugeot Total
    Franck Montagny / Feurs, France                Peugeot 908 HDI FAP
    Sebastien Bourdais / Le Mans, France
   
P2
 15 Adrian Fernandez / Mexico City, Mexico Lowe's  Fernandez Racing
    Luis Diaz / Mexico City, Mexico                Acura ARX-01B
 16 Chris Dyson / Pleasant Valley, NY              Dyson Racing Team, Inc
    Guy Smith / Yorkshire, UK                      Lola B09 86  Mazda
 20 Butch Leitzinger / Rebersburg, PA              Dyson Racing Team, Inc
    Marino Franchitti / Edinburgh, Scotland        Lola B09 86  Mazda
    Ben Devlin / Norwich, UK
   
GT1
  3 Jan Magnussen / Roslilde, Denmark              Corvette Racing
    Johnny O'Connell / Oakwood, GA                 Chevrolet Corvette C6-R
    Antonio Garcia / Canillo, Spain
  4 Olivier Berretta / Monaco                      Corvette Racing
    Oliver Gavin / Northhampton, UK                Chevrolet Corvette C6-R
    Marcel Fassler / Switzerland
    
GT2
  5 Richard Westbrook / London, England            VICI Racing
    Marc Basseng / Leutenbach, Germany             Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
    Lance David Arnold / Germany
 11 Joel Feinberg / Ft. Lauderdale, FL             Prime Time Race Group
    Chris Hall / Daytona, FL                       Dodge Viper Competition
    Ritchie Holt / Davie, FL                       Coupe
 18 Nicky Pastorelli / The Hague, Netherlands      VICI Racing
    Johannes Stuck / Austria                       Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
    Hans Joachim Stuck / Austria
 21 Dominik Farnbacher / Lichtenau, Germany        Panoz Team PTG
    Ian James / Phoenix, AZ                        Panoz Esperante GTLM Ford
 28 Lou Gigliotti / Dallas, TX                     LG Motorsports
    Eric Curan / East Hampton, MA                  Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6
    Lucas Molo / Rio de Jineiro, Brazil
 40 David Robertson / Ray, MI                      Robertson Racing, LLC
    Andrea Robertson / Ray, MI                     Doran Designs,Inc Ford GT MK 7
    David Murry / Atlanta, GA                      Roush-Yates Engines
 44 Darren Law / Phoenix, AZ                       Flying Lizard Motorsports
    Seth Neiman / San Francisco, CA                Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
    Johannes van Overbeek / Oakland, CA
 45 Jorg Bergmeister / Langenfeld, Germany         Flying Lizard Motorsports
    Patrick Long / Belleair, FL                    Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
    Marc Lieb / Ludwigsburg, Germany
 61 Tracy Krohn / Houston, TX                      Risi Competizione
    Nic Jonsson / Atlanta, GA                      Ferrari 430 GT
    Eric van de Poele / Brussels, Belgium
 62 Jaime Melo / Casavel, Brazil                   Risi Competizione
    Pierre Kaffer / Salenstein, Switzerland        Ferrari 430 GT
    Mika Salo / Helsinki, Finland
 87 Wolf Henzler / Nurtingen, Germany              Farnbacher Loles Racing
    Dirk Werner / Kissenbruck, Germany             Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
    Richard Lietz / Ybbsitz, Austria
 90 Joey Hand / Sacramento, CA                     Rahal Letterman Racing Team
    Bill Auberlen / Redondo Beach, CA              BMW E92 M3
 92 Dirk Muller / Monte Carlo, Monaco              Rahal Letterman Racing Team
    Tommy Milner / Leesburg, VA                    BMW E92 M3
 95 Luis Companc / Buenos Aires, Argentina         Advanced Engineering
    Mathias Russo / Parana, Argentina              Pecom Racing Team
    Gianmaria Bruni / Rome, Italy                  Ferrari 430 GT
007 Paul Drayson / Gloucestershire, UK             Drayson Racing
    Jonny Cocker / Guisborough, UK                 Aston Martin Vantage GT2
    Robert Bell / Northampton, UK
    

P1 = 8 P2 = 3 GT1 = 2 GT2 = 15 Total = 28

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THE 2009 57th MOBIL 1 TWELVE HOURS OF SEBRING RACE RESULTS, MARCH 21, 2009

POS  CAR CLS   DRIVERS             TEAM                       CAR       LAPS
 1    2   P1   R.Capello           Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R15   383
               T.Kristensen
               A.McNish
 2   08   P1   S.Sarrazin          Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot    383
               F.Montagny
               S.Bourdais
 3    1   P1   L.Luhr              Audi Sport North America   Audi R15   381
               M.Rockenfeller
               M.Werner
 4   15   P2   A.Fernandez         Lowe's Fernandez Racing    Acura      360
               L.Diaz
 5   07   P1   N.Minassian         Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot    356
               P.Lamy
               C.Klien
 6    3  GT1   J.Magnussen         Corvette Racing            Corvette   349
               J.O'Connell
               A.Garcia
 7    4  GT1   O.Beretta           Corvette Racing            Corvette   348
               O.Gavin
               M.Fassler
 8   62  GT2   J.Melo              Risi Competizione          Ferrari    332
               P.Kaffer
               M.Salo 
 9   95  GT2   L.Companc           Advanced Engineering       Ferrari    330
               M.Russo
               G.Bruni
10   21  GT2   D.Farnbacher        Panoz Team PTG             Panoz      329
               I.James
11   45  GT2   J.Bergmeister       Flying Lizard Motorsports  Porsche    326
               P.Long
               M.Lieb
12   44  GT2   D.Law               Flying Lizard Motorsports  Porsche    326
               S.Neiman
               J.van Overbeek
13   61  GT2   T.Krohn             Risi Competizione          Ferrari    325
               N.Jonsson
               E.van de Poele
14   40  GT2   D.Robertson         Robertson Racing           Ford GT    303
               A.Robertson
               D.Murry
15    9   P1   D.Brabham           Patron Highcroft Racing    Acura      302
               S.Sharp
               D.Franchitti
16   87  GT2   W.Henzler           Farnbacher Loles Racing    Porsche    274
               D.Werner
               R.Lietz
17   11  GT2   J.Feinberg          Primetime Race Group       Viper      251
               C.Hall
               R.Holt
18   66   P1   G.de Ferran         de Ferran Motorsports      Acura      246
               S.Pagenaud
               S.Dixon
19  007  GT2   P.Drayson           Drayson Racing           Aston Martin 204
               J.Cocker
               R.Bell
20   12   P1   B.Willman           Autocon Motorsports        Lola /AER  151
               C.McMurry
               Tony Burgess
21   20   P2   B.Leitzinger        Dyson Racing Team          Lola/Mazda 149
               M.Franchitti
               B.Devlin
22   92  GT2   D.Mueller           BMW Rahal Letterman        BMW M3     140
               T.Milner
23   16   P2   C.Dyson             Dyson Racing Team          Lola/Mazda 127
               G.Smith
               A.Lally
24   28  GT2   L.Gigliotti         LG Motorsports             Corvette    89
               E.Curan
               L.Molo
25   37   P1   J.Field             Intersport Racing          Lola /AER   77
               A.Field
               C.Ducote
26   90  GT2   J.Hand              BMW Rahal Letterman        BMW M3      27
               B.Auberlen

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PERFECT DEBUT FOR THE AUDI R15 TDI

Ingolstadt/Sebring - The Audi R15 TDI has defeated its competition in its debut race: Dindo Capello (Italy), Tom Kristensen (Denmark) and Allan McNish (Scotland) achieved a historic victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring (US state of Florida) with the new diesel-powered sports car of AUDI AG. The Audi drivers completed 383 laps - beating the previous distance record by an impressive 13 laps.

In the fastest ever Sebring race, Audi Sport Team Joest's pair of Audi R15 TDI prototypes ran the entire distance without technical problems despite the innovative Le Mans prototype having only completed its maiden run in December. Bad weather had hampered Audi Sport's test program and temperatures never exceeded 15 degrees during the tests in Europe.

At Sebring, the Audi crew faced ambient temperatures almost double that and worked day and night to learn more about the new diesel sports car and to adapt it to the extremely bumpy race track in the center of Florida. They were able to solve all minor teething troubles which arose just in time for race day.

In the race the new Audi R15 TDI proved fast from the very beginning: Allan McNish outpaced the pole sitting Acura/Honda at the start completing the first lap with more than five seconds advantage. Later, however, it was not the Acura/Hondas which were the cars to beat but the two Peugeot 908s. The lead swapped no fewer than twelve times among the diesel-powered prototypes from Audi and Peugeot. Over long periods of the race, the four leading prototypes were covered by just a few tenths of a second.

In the exciting final stages of the race Allan McNish was able to fully exploit the optimized weight distribution and the sophisticated aerodynamics of the new R15 TDI compared to its predecessor, the R10 TDI. He was able to open such a big lead that he was able to stop for a 'splash-and-dash' just before the end of the race without losing the lead. He eventually crossed the finish line 22.279 seconds in front of the second placed Peugeot.

It was the ninth overall victory for the Audi brand at Sebring continuing an impressive series: After the Audi R8 (2000) and the Audi R10 TDI (2006) a new Le Mans prototype from Audi drove to victory in its debut race at Sebring for the third time. Tom Kristensen scored his fifth victory in the US endurance classic becoming the most successful driver in the history of the race. Dindo Capello won at Sebring for a fourth time with Allan McNish chalking up his third victory.

The Audi success at Sebring was completed by the three Germans Lucas Luhr, Mike Rockenfeller and Marco Werner finishing third at the wheel of the second Audi R15 TDI. Luhr and Rockenfeller had to complete almost the whole race on their own after Marco Werner had to be sidelined due to a rib injury. They kept contact with the leading sister car for a long time. Only in the final stages did they dropped back due to extreme pick-up on the front right tire which forced Lucas Luhr to pit an extra time just before the end of the race. It was the only unscheduled pit stop of the day for Audi Sport Team Joest.

The Audi R15 TDI was not only the most reliable and fastest prototype on its debut but also the most efficient: Audi celebrated a clear 1-2 victory in the so-called "Michelin Green X Challenge" in which the fuel consumption is measured in relation to the performance.

For Audi, the 12 Hours of Sebring was a dress rehearsal for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in which a total of three new R15 TDI prototypes will compete. An intensive test program is scheduled for Audi Sport Team Joest until the race on June 13/14.

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WINNING TEAMS DRIVER QUOTES AFTER SEBRING RACE

Dindo Capello (Audi R15 TDI #2): "It was a fantastic race and is a fantastic victory for Audi to add to the debut wins already scored here by the R8 (2000) and with the R10 TDI (2006). I honestly did not expect to win with the R15 TDI at Sebring because the car is so new and had little testing in Europe. To go from start to finish without any problems with such a new car is almost unbelievable. It's a dream result and shows the incredible technology that Audi is able to exploit. I'm so proud to be a part of the team and thus the Audi brand, to be driving for Audi Sport and to have two great team-mates in Allan and Tom."

Tom Kristensen (Audi R15 TDI #2): "It's an absolutely fantastic feeling. Wow, what a race - the fastest ever race at Sebring covering a record distance. Winning with such a young car which had completed low testing miles in dry weather before we got here is amazing. I won here on the debut of the R8, then the R10 TDI and now the R15 TDI - thanks to the know how and experience of the crew. Everyone at Audi Sport, and all six drivers here at Sebring, have worked very hard to be in a position to beat Peugeot here at this very difficult track and after an extremely hard fight. I'm proud to be a part of this team - it's a cool feeling."

Allan McNish (Audi R15 TDI #2): "Our brand new R15 TDI was faultless throughout and allowed Audi to secure another Sebring victory. This must go down in the history books as one of the best Sebring 12 Hour races ever when you take in to account our competition, the intensity from start to finish making it a sprint race, with the final two hours especially typifying what Audi Sport is all about: grit and determination - the entire team can be proud in taking the laurels back to Germany."