Ten Years Ago at Sebring

Subtitle:Audi Won Sixth Straight in 2005

Audi recorded its sixth straight triumph in the 2005 edition of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, as Tom Kristensen, J.J. Lehto and Marco Werner earned a hard-fought victory over the team Audi R8 driven by Allan McNish, Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro.

The final margin between the two R8 LMP1s was only 6.3 seconds as Tom Kristensen set the fastest race lap on the way to his third Sebring victory.

Finishing third was the Dyson Racing MG Lola driven by Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace and James Weaver, which led briefly early in the race.

The real fireworks in the 38-car field came in the GT1 class, where Aston Martin scored an impressive debut win with its new DB9 race team.  Battling two factory Corvette C6.Rs throughout the entire 12 hours, the Aston Martin ended up with a one-lap margin of victory, thanks to drivers David Brabham, Darren Turner and Stephane Ortelli.

Rounding out the GT2 podium were the two Corvettes. Ron Fellows, Johnny O’Connell and Max Papis took second, followed by Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen and Olivier Beretta,

The Peterson Motorsports Porsche won the GT2 class with Patrick Long, Jorg Bergmeister and Lucas Luhr driving.

The P2 class victory went to the Florida-based Miracle Motorsports team of Jeff Bucknum, Ian James and Chris McMurry.