SEBRING, Fla. — After much speculation, Audi confirmed over the Sebring weekend that it will run two of its R10 turbo diesels in the upcoming American Le Mans Series season, the first with Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr, and the second with Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro.
Both cars will be run through the South Florida-based Champion Racing operation that has dominated the ALMS’s LMP1 division for the past several years.
In making the announcement, Audi Sport boss Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich said, “We want to continue to use this platform and, more specifically, to support the diesel campaign in the United States.”

• The push by the American Le Mans Series to help promote “green energy” in America might have been lost during the excitement of Saturday’s Sebring 12-Hour affair. However, the factory-supported Corvettes used the E85 (85 percent Ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) fuel for the 2008 ALMS season. Both of the General Motors sports cars finished without any engine-related problems. Eventually, the ALMS wants to go to an all-Ethanol fuel, the results from Sebring, seeming to confirm the rational for going in that direction by ALMS officials.

• While the Peugeot 908 Turbo Diesel didn’t finish well at Sebring, the car driven by Nicola Manassian, Stephane Sarrazin and Pedro Lamy did accomplish its mission.
The reported aim of the French car manufacturer was to test its coupe to the limit on the rough, aging Sebring circuit to discover the car’s weak points for this June’s Le Mans 24 Hours, which is a critical event for Peugeot in its battle with Audi and its similar turbo diesel R10.
In terms of speed, the two rivals are about equal, with the Peugeot possibly having a slight edge.
However, at Le Mans in 2007, the 908 had to settle for second behind the Audi because of reliability issues. At Sebring on Saturday, the car spent much of the early hours of the race in the lead before a hydraulic pump in its transmission forced it into the pits for an extended stay. Repaired, the Peugeot returned to the track to claim 11th overall, and more importantly, served its purpose as a test vehicle.
After Sebring, the French team returned to the track for further endurance testing, and reportedly will come back to the ALMS in the fall for its Road Atlanta Petit Le Mans and possibly Laguna Seca rounds, the latter the series’ finale.

• The triumph by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas and Emmanuel Collard at Sebring marked a return to the overall top step of the 12-Hour podium by Porsche, following a 20-year absence. 
The effort by the LMP2 division Penske crew marks the 18th outright victory in the race by Porsche, the 17th such performance coming in 1988 when Klaus Ludwig and Hans Stuck claimed the honors in their Havoline-sponsored Bruce Levin 962.
With the effort by the Penske trio, Porsche increased its winning Sebring margin over Ferrari, which has 12 12-Hour triumphs to its credit. Additionally, the first overall RS Spyder performance is only the second time in Sebring’s long history when a car entered in one of the lesser categories has won over the entire field. The first came in 1983 when a Porsche 934 turbo driven by Wayne Baker, Kees Nierop and Jim Mullen the Porsche 935 of the late Bob Akin, Dale Whittington and John O’Steen to the line.