Audi and Sebring: a fond farewell
Audi's Le Mans wins are more famous, but the German firm's Sebring success was vital to its sportscar programme. Gary Watkins looks back as a special era comes to an end
Audi's 11th and final victory, at least for the time being, in the Sebring 12 Hours earlier this month cemented a connection between carmaker and motor race that will outlive any race series or organiser.
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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.
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