Audi dominate Sebring practice

Reigning champions Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello, joined for Sebring by Tom Kristensen, topped the timesheets with a 1:45.177 lap, seven-tenths quicker than teammates Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela, and nearly two seconds clear of the rest of the field.

According to Kristensen, the diesel Audi has improved significantly since winning Sebring, Le Mans and the American Le Mans Series title in its inaugural season.

"Visibly you can't see a difference, but because of the diesel engine and to get it driveable, there have been quite a lot of things done to the electronics and taking feedback from the drivers and getting to know the feedback of the different circuit characteristics," said Kristensen.

"We have improved things in terms of springs and roll-bars, and the car is closer to being on the limit."

The lead Dyson Porsche was fastest in the LMP2 class and third overall, but only 0.4 seconds covered this car, the two works Penske Porsches, and the Andretti-Green Courage-Acura.

The times were also close in the tiny GT1 field. Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and Max Papis were fractionally faster than their Corvette teammates and the sole Modena Aston Martin.

Ferraris dominated GT2, where the top Risi entry lapped six-tenths quicker than the two White Lightning 430s.

Testing continues today, with qualifying on Thursday and the race commencing at 10am local time on Saturday.

Leading Monday times:

Pos  Cl   Driver                       Make               Time
 1.  P1   Capello/Kristensen/McNish    Audi R10 TDI       1:45.177
 2.  P1   Pirro/Werner/Biela           Audi R10 TDI       1:45.816
 3.  P2   Wallace/Leitzinger/Lally     Porsche RS Spyder  1:46.703
 4.  P2   Maassen/Briscoe/Collard      Porsche RS Spyder  1:46.988
 5.  P2   Dumas/Bernhard/Castroneves   Porsche RS Spyder  1:47.065
 6.  P2   Herta/Franchitti/Kanaan      Courage Acura      1:47.077
 7.  P2   Dyson/Smith                  Porsche RS Spyder  1:47.477
 8.  P2   Fernandez/Diaz/Martinez      Lola Acura         1:47.544
 9.  P2   Brabham/Johansson/Dayton     Courage Acura      1:48.038
10.  P1   Field/Field/Berry            Creation CA06      1:49.987
11.  P2   Lienhard/Theys/vd Poele      Lola B05/40        1:53.072
12.  GT1  Beretta/Gavin/Papis          Corvette C-6R      1:58.557
13.  GT1  O'Connell/Magnussen/Fellows  Corvette C-6R      1:58.857
14.  GT1  Garcia/Halliday/Turner       Aston Martin DBR9  1:58.929
15.  GT2  Salo/Melo/Mowlem             Ferrari 430        2:02.159
16.  GT2  Mediani/Aguas                Ferrari 430        2:02.746
17.  GT2  Bergmeister/Enge/Gidley      Ferrari 430        2:02.778
18.  GT2  Kelleners/Milner/Rahal       Porsche 911        2:03.623
19.  GT2  van Overbeek/B'meister/Lieb  Porsche 911        2:03.718
20.  GT2  Krohn/Jonsson/Braun          Ferrari 430        2:03.794