Porsche Wins Sebring - Overall!

SEBRING, Florida – March 16 – Porsche, the most storied name in the history of
the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – America’s oldest sports car race – added
to its legacy Saturday with a double victory at the 3.7-miles airport course in
Central Florida.
Scoring its 18th overall win (Ferrari is second with 12 overall victories),
Porsche combined with another classic name in motorsports – Penske Racing – as
Romain Dumas (France), Timo Bernhard (Germany), and Emmanuel Collard (France)
piloted their 3.4-liter, V8 Penske Porsche RS Spyder to a one-minute victory
over the Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder of Butch Leitzinger (USA), Marino
Franchitti (Scotland), and Andy Lally (USA).  Third overall, and first in the
more powerful LMP1 class, was the Audi R10/TDI of Capello/McNish/Kristensen.
The Dyson Racing team Porsche of Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (England)
finished fourth (third in the LMP2 class) after the Fernandez/Diaz Acura crossed
the finish line second, but was excluded for failing the sanctioning body’s
“stall” test in post-race inspection.  
Bernhard and Dumas won 11 of the 12 LMP2 class contests in 2007 en route to last
year’s title, including six races overall.
“This is a great win for Porsche Motorsport and Penske Racing,” said Tim
Cindric, president of Penske Racing.
“To win the Daytona 500 and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring within four
weeks is a tremendous accomplishment for our entire organization, and we are
proud of hard work of drivers, crew, engineers and shop employees that
contributed to these wins.  This is the toughest road race of the year, and we
had not won it on our previous two attempts, so this victory is extra special,”
said Cindric.
The Porsche RS Spyder now has either a class win or an overall victory (or both)
at every American Le Mans Series venue since the car debuted in October, 2005.
“The race presented many challenges for both drivers and crew as we always had
to decide between conserving fuel and maintaining a pre-determined pace, and
charging ahead to catch up or extend a lead.  Sometimes those situations changed
from lap to lap, but Penske Racing was up to the strategy solutions, and my
driving partners Dumas and Collard did their part on the track,” said Bernhard,

who has entered Sebring seven times in GT2 and LMP2, and had only won a single
time.
The team Penske Porsche of Patrick Long (USA), Sascha Maassen (Germany), and
Ryan Briscoe (Australia) was running in the top three early in the event, but a
broken water pump lead to overheating, forcing the car out of the race.  It was
the first time since its debut in 2005 that an RS Spyder did not finish a race
due to mechanical failure.
Fifth in LMP2 was the Swiss-based Horag Racing Porsche RS Spyder of Fredy
Leinhard (Switzerland), Didier Theys (USA) and Jan Lammers (The Netherlands), in
the debut of their entry, which will run the Le Mans Series in Europe this year.  
The car ran consistently in the top six for the whole event, and might have
finished higher had Theys been able to avoid an accident that put the car into
the garage for 30 minutes for repair.
The Butch Leitzinger, Marino Franchitti, and Andy Lally RS Spyder led the race
several times during the last hour, and looked like they might be in position to
win the event overall as the Penske car, the Acura, and Audi all had to stop for
fuel and Leitzinger was set to go the distance.  But the heavy car due to a full
load of fuel, and an exceptionally fast splash-and-go stop from Penske Racing
sent Dumas on to victory.  Still, second and third in class, with the extra
bonus points awarded for the long Sebring event, put the Dyson drivers in good
shape for the season-long points chase.     
In the GT2 class, Porsche debuted its updated version of the GT3 RSR with great
success, with the Flying Lizard Motorsports team taking the top two class
honors.  The #45 Porsche of Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), Marc Lieb (Germany) and
Wolf Henzler (Germany) took the lead a third of the way through the event and
ran a perfect event for the rest of the 12-hour race.  A crash between the
leading Ferrari and the second-place Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
of Dirk Werner (Germany), Bryce Miller (USA) and Marc Basseng (Germany) put both
cars out, ending a promising run for Farnbacher Loles and its new 911.  Once the
Ferrari was out, the Lizard car took the lead and was never headed.
“The Lizards have finished second in GT2 at Sebring two years in a row, but it
did not deter this team from putting forth a superior effort to win this race,
and today we’ve done it,” said Marc Lieb, Porsche factory driver who has joined
the team for long races over the years.
“This was not only great for team principal Seth Neiman and the entire Lizard
organization, but for the updated version of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and all the
engineers at Porsche in Weissach who worked so hard to improve this car over the
winter.  A combination of small improvements such as front-end aerodynamics and
a light gearbox gave us the edge we needed to stay with the Ferraris, and to
triumph in the end,” said Lieb.
The team Lizard Porsche of Seth Neiman (USA), Darren Law (USA) and Alex Davison
(Australia), finished second, giving the team a jump-start toward the 2008 GT2
Championship, especially with the leading Ferrari scoring no points at the
event.  It was also the team’s first one-two finish in the American Le Mans
Series.
The third Flying Lizard Porsche, driven by Patrick Pilet (France), Johannes van
Overbeek (USA), and Richard Lietz (Germany), was hit by one of the Audis only 30
minutes into the race, causing a broken axle, rear bodywork and upper suspension
damage.  The Porsche got back in the race, and ran well for the rest of the

event, but the 34 laps they lost in the garage area relegated them to an eighth-
place finish.  The Audi driver was assessed a stop-and-go penalty, and fined for
avoidable contact.
The German-based VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, with Uwe Alzen (Germany),
Craig Stanton (USA) and Nathan Swartzbaugh (USA) aboard, ran in third and fourth
place during the latter stages of the event until a broken half-shaft pushed
them down in the standings to sixth in class.
PORSCHE SEBRING FACTS (updated March 16, 2008)
Overall Wins: 18 (13-Year Winning Streak – overall, 1976-1988)
1960 – Hans Hermann/Oliver Gendebien Porsche RS60
1968 – Hans Hermann/Jo Siffert – Porsche 907
1971 – Vic Elford/Gerald LaLarrousse – Porsche 917
1973 – Hurley Haywood/Peter Gregg/Dave Helmick – Porsche Carrera
1976 – Al Holbert/Michael Keyser – Porsche Carrera
1977 – George Dyer/Brad Frisselle – Porsche Carrera
1978 – Brian Redman/Charles Mendez/Bob Garretson – Porsche 935
1979 – Bob Akin/Roy Woods/Rob McFarlin – Porsche 935
1980 – Dick Barbour/John Fitzpatrick – Porsche 935 K3
1981 – Hurley Haywood/Al Holbert/Bruce Leven – Porsche 935
1982 – John Paul, Sr./John Paul, Jr. – Porsche 935
1983 – Kees Nierop/Wayne Baker/Jim Mullen – Porsche 934
1984 – Stefan Johansson/Mauricio DeNarvaez/Hans Heyer – Porsche 935
1985 – A.J. Foyt/Bob Wollek – Porsche 962
1986 – Hans Stuck/Bob Akin/Jo Gartner –  Porsche 962
1987 – Bobby Rahal/Jochen Mass – Porsche 962
1988 – Klaus Ludwig/Hans Stuck – Porsche 962
2008 – Romain Dumas, Timo Bernhard, Emmanuel Collard – Porsche RS Spyder
Most top ten overall finishes – 201
Class Wins: 65 (a manufacturer record)
Fastest race lap: 130.707 mph (by Derek Bell in a Porsche 962 – 1986)
Porsche 911 Wins: 29 Overall and Class Victories
GT Class Wins: 26 (since 1979)
At least one Porsche has competed at Sebring every year since 1953 –
54 straight races (there was no race in 1974). No other manufacturer is close to
that record.

Tags: ALMS