Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello win Sebring 12 Hours for Audi

The trio notched up their third victory together in the US enduro with a faultless performance aboard their Audi R18. They led for much of the distance on the way to a four-lap victory over team-mates Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Loic Duval.

The second-placed Audi remained in the hunt in the hands of the Bernhard into the closing stages of the race before a handling problem dropped the car off the lead lap. A clash with a slower car subsequently cost the car three laps to repair.

McNish said: "This is a fantastic result for Tom, Dindo and I. We had a tough year in 2011, so to start the new world championship with a victory is superb."

The third Audi, shared by Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler dropped out of contention late in the sixth hour when problems with the electrical gearshift stranded the car in third gear. The car had to return to the paddock for repairs and ended up 15 laps down in 16th place.

The Muscle Milk Honda Performance Development ARX-03a looked safe in third place as the race drew to its conclusion. A refueling valve failure however meant the car could not take on petrol, which despite Heath Robinson repairs eventually forced the retirement of the car driven by Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr and Simon Pagenaud.

The JRM-Racing HPD had challenged the Muscle Milk entry for third place prior to suspension problems. A failure meant the car driven by David Brabham, Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok could finish no better than 17th.

Problems for the LMP1 privateers allowed the LMP2 class winner to finish on the overall podium. Stephane Sarrazin came out on top in a thrilling battle between two HPD ARX-03bs, the Frenchman getting the better of Level 5 Motorsports driver Joao Barbosa in the closing stages.

The GT class was won by the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing BMW driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Jonathan Summerton. Hand came out on top in a thrilling final-hour battle with Olivier Beretta's AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia.

Beretta, who was on fresh tyres, appeared to have the pace to overtake the double-stinting BMW, but locked up at the hairpin when he made his move in the dying stages.

Both the BMW and the Ferrari were involved in a last lap melee and went off the track. Hand held on to take the victory, but Beretta lost second to the the Chevrolet Corvette driven by Jan Magnussen.


Pos  Cl      Drivers                        Team/Car                Laps
 1.  P1      McNish/Kristensen/Capello      Audi                    325
 2.  P1      Bernhard/Dumas/Duval           Audi                    321
 3.  P2      Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin   Starworks HPD           319
 4.  P2      Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa         Level 5 HPD             319
 5.  P2      Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla             OAK Morgan-Judd         318
 6.  P1      Collard/Boullion/Jousse        Pescarolo-Judd          318
 7.  P2      Companc/Kaffer/Ayari           Pecom ORECA-Nissan      317
 8.  P1      Dyson/Smith/Kane               Dyson Lola-Mazda        317
 9.  P2      Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian          Greaves Zytek-Nissan    316
10.  P1      Leventis/Watts/Kane            Strakka HPD             316
11.  P2      Martin/Kerr/Graves             ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan  315
12.  PC      Popow/Viso/Friselle            CORE FLM                312
13.  PC      Leitzinger/Dobson/Junco        PR1 FLM                 311
14.  P2      Holzer/Shultis/Moro            Lotus Lola              310
15.  PC      Bennett/Braun/Lux              CORE FLM                310
16.  P1      Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler      Audi                    310
17.  P1      Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck      JRM HPD                 309
18.  GT      Hand/Müller/Summerton          RLL BMW                 307
19.  GT      Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor        Corvette                307
20.  GT      Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci        AF Corse Ferrari        307
21.  GT      Gavin/Milner/Westbrook         Corvette                307
22.  GT      Müller/Auberlen/Alzen          RLL BMW                 307
23.  GT      Lietz/Lieb/Pilet               Felbermayr Porsche      306
24.  GT      Miller/Maassen/Bell            Miller Porsche          303
25.  PC      Ducote/Echeverria/Sanchez      Merchant FLM            303
26.  GT      Law/Neiman/Lally               Flying Lizard Porsche   303
27.  GT      Brown/Segal/Lazzaro            Extreme Speed Ferrari   303
28.  P1      Luhr/Graf/Pagenaud             Pickett HPD             302
29.  GTE-AM  Ried/Roda/Ruberti              Felbermayr Porsche      298
30.  P2      Pappas/Curtis/Fogarty          Black Swan Lola-HPD     298
31.  GTE-AM  Bourret/Gibon/Belloc           Larbre Corvette         297
32.  P1      Prost/Jani/Heidfeld            Rebellion Lola-Toyota   296
33.  GTC     Sweedler/Bell/von Moltke       Alex Job Porsche        292
34.  GT      Mucke/Fernandez/Turner         Aston Martin            292
35.  GTC     MacNeil/Keen/Dumoulin          Alex Job Porsche        291
36.  P1      Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen    Rebellion Lola-Toyota   291
37.  GTC     LeSaffre/Faulkner/Bleekemolen  Green Hornet Porsche    290
38.  GT      Henzler/Sellers/Ragginger      Falken Porsche          290
39.  GTE-AM  Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy          Larbre Corvette         288
40.  GTC     Pumpelly/di Guida/Bunting      TRG Porsche             287
41.  GTE-AM  Kauffman/Waltrip/Aguas         AF Corse Ferrari        283
42.  PC      Guasch/Gidley/Wills            Pickett FLM             282
43.  GTC     Cumming/Bullitt/Estre          JDX Porsche             282
44.  P2      Plowman/Hansson/Dracone        Conquest Morgan-Judd    281
45.  GTC     Faieta/Avenatti/Wagner         Competition Porsche     279
46.  GT      Sharp/van Overbeek/Cosmo       Extreme Speed Ferrari   278
47.  P2      Giroix/Jousse/Johansson        Gulf Lola-Nissan        277
48.  GTC     Sofronas/Welch/Villeneuve      GMC Porsche             276
49.  PC      Nicolosi/Vera/Matos            Performance Tech FLM    274
50.  GTE-AM  Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo           Krohn Ferrari           265
51.  PC      Junqueira/Drissi/Gonzalez      RSR FLM                 255
52.  GTE-AM  Binnie/Palttala/Camathias      JWA-Avila Porsche       252
53.  GT      Bergmeister/Long/Holzer        Flying Lizard Porsche   251
54.  GTC     Benitez/Benitez/Thiim          NGT Porsche             236
55.  P1      Moreau/Baguette/Kraihamer      OAK Pescarolo-Judd      233
56.  GT      Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander      AF Corse Ferrari        215
57.  GTC     Cisneros/Edwards/Kauffmann     NGT Porsche             205
58.  PC      Richard/Ende/Cameron           Dempsey FLM             173
59.  P2      Tucker/Diaz/Hunter-Reay        Level 5 HPD              85
60.  P2      Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard       Signatech ORECA-Nissan   85
61.  GT      Makowiecki/Melo/Vernay         Luxury Ferrari           83
62.  PC      Marcelli/Downs/Stirling        Merchant FLM             38
63.  GTE-AM  Ehret/Farnbacher/Jakubowski    Luxury Ferrari            0

DNS. P2      Fatien/Ihara/Deletraz          Gulf Lola-Nissan