The Oreca-Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi FAP shared by Frenchmen Nico Lapierre, Loïc Duval and Olivier Panis at Sebring last weekend featured a sticker which read: “I love US racing”. “A good result here calls for a blend of speed, patience and a mistake-free run,” observed the team’s boss, Hugues de Chaunac, after the finish. “My guys did a fantastic job, both on the track and in the pits, and the car itself was perfectly reliable. It was a great result which effaces the memory of our misfortunes in 2010, notably at Le Mans. Along with our victory at Daytona, this is undoubtedly one of Oreca’s finest successes.”

The 59th annual 12 Hours of Sebring produced a 13th straight win for MICHELIN, a score which equals Porsche’s record at Sebring. The race also saw two “privateer” cars finish ahead of the factory entries. The HPD-ARX 01e (2nd) was astonishingly reliable, despite only running for the first time a week before the race. It was the only petrol-fuelled prototype to mix it with the diesel runners, too, since neither the Muscle Milk Lola-Aston Martin (engine cooling) nor Rebellion’s Lola-Toyota was able to mix it with the diesel-engined front-runners. It is difficult to draw any conclusions concerning the equivalency of the two fuel types, but the HPD did prove a real match…

The new Peugeot 908 turned out to be competitive after a discreet showing in free practice. Sarrazin qualified the N°8 machine on pole position and the car could have challenged for the win had its run not been troubled by several minor setbacks (spin, nose change). However, the N°8 car covered up to four laps less than the Oreca car and the HPD on a full tank. Meanwhile, the Audi R15 TDi’s bid to win its last race was thwarted by two punctures (N°1 car), a tangle (N°2 car) and several strategy errors during safety-car interventions.

In the GT class, Porsche failed to make any sort of a mark. The BMWs promise to be strong again this year, but the factory Corvettes and the new Ferrari 458 will be up there as well. The Jaguar and the Ford GT40 seem to be a little less competitive, while the Panoz Abbruzzi only completed 19 laps before being sidelined by an engine failure.

MICHELIN tyres were once again successful at Sebring. They were competitive and consistent, and enabled the prototypes to run double stints on medium rubber, and the HPD-ARX01e even triple-stinted on one occasion. The weekend’s action enabled MICHELIN to validate its 2011 range of endurance racing tyres.

Audi, Oreca, Peugeot, Sebring