Sebring roll call

Matt-98AHU

Matt-98AHU

Loose Nut Behind the Wheel Vendor
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Location
Gresham, OR
TDI
2001 Golf TDI, 2005 Passat wagon, 2004 Touareg V10.
So, who made the trek to sunny Florida for the classic 12 hour race? I got in Tuesday and am breathing in the wonderful air of orange blossoms and race fuel (both gas/ethanol and diesel)!



One of the R15s getting a bit sideways at turn 5--one of my favorite spots to hang out for snapping photos.
 
GT2

GT2

Veteran Member
Joined
Aug 4, 2008
Location
West Brookfield, MA
TDI
2001 mk4 5-spd conversion from automatic.
Matt-98AHU said:
So, who made the trek to sunny Florida for the classic 12 hour race? I got in Tuesday and am breathing in the wonderful air of orange blossoms and race fuel (both gas/ethanol and diesel)!

I am there in spirit, I will be glued to Speed Channel tomorrow. I wanted to go to this location, maybe next year, No Biycylces allowed at Sebring, whats up with that business? I had a blast at Road Atlanta, those hills got me some serious exercise. Going to LimeRock, Mid Ohio, Road America, Mosport this summer. Hopefully we can meet up. Enjoy. Save some audio , you will be glad you did, near the exit of pit lane is sweet, just when the rev limiters come off, then up thought the gears...
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Harvieux

Harvieux

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Joined
Aug 15, 1998
Location
Whittier,CA-USA
TDI
06 A5 Pkg.2 w/navi & ASEP
Schwimmwagen said:
Thats a wicked pic dude, what are you shooting with and at what speed?
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I was thinking the very same. This is a very, very good picture and wish I had such skills and/or camera for the great ALMS access I have at Laguna Seca. As a matter of fact, if Audi Sport announces that they will participate at this years Laguna Seca ALMS race venue, I will forego my plan to resign as a SCRAMP assistant director race track official. Later!
 
V

VWWV

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Sep 9, 2003
Location
Florida and WV
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passat 96, candy white
How many TDIs at Sebring this year? I heard there were at least 3 racing teams running diesels. Truth or Fiction?
 
Matt-98AHU

Matt-98AHU

Loose Nut Behind the Wheel Vendor
Joined
Apr 23, 2006
Location
Gresham, OR
TDI
2001 Golf TDI, 2005 Passat wagon, 2004 Touareg V10.
Shooting with Canon 20D. That photo was at 1/320th sec. Lens used; Canon EF 70-200mm F4L (no image-stabilizer) with Sigma 1.4x teleconverter. All on top of a very tall Gitzo monopod.

There's 4 diesel cars at Sebring. 2 Audis and 2 Peugeots. Havn't seen any other. There was another diesel car at Sebring last year that did not race. Privateer team that didn't pass tech inspection/didn't have correct papers. Something like that. If there were rumors of that car or another appearing this year.. well, the car is not here.

Top 5 cars in qualifying are separated by less than 0.3 sec. Order is Acura, Audi, Peugeot, Audi, Peugeot. New R15 is a bit livlier in the corners according to Allan McNish. Smaller, lighter weight engine, a bit shorter wheelbase too, I think. Radically different aerodynamics. But this is also likely the stiffest competition Audi has ever had here. It'll be a heckuva show!
 
El Dobro

El Dobro

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Joined
Feb 21, 2006
Location
NJ
TDI
2017 Bolt EV Premier, 2023 Bolt EUV Premier
Harvieux said:
I was thinking the very same. This is a very, very good picture and wish I had such skills and/or camera for the great ALMS access I have at Laguna Seca. As a matter of fact, if Audi Sport announces that they will participate at this years Laguna Seca ALMS race venue, I will forego my plan to resign as a SCRAMP assistant director race track official. Later!
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In the latest issue of Autoweek, Rupert Stadler said at the Geneva auto show that the R15 will be at Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca. Wolfgang Ullrich denied this to Autoweek and claimed that Stadler's comments were misinterpreted.
 
TornadoRed

TornadoRed

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West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
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One TV was on the blink Saturday, so the big-screen unit had to perform double duty, switching back and forth between Sebring and the NCAA men's BB tourney.

No matter which games were playing, if the Sebring coverage was on the LMP1 action then that's what I was watching. When they switched to GT1 or GT2, I watched for a bit then switched to basketball.

I was especially impressed by the driving of Allan McNish for Audi and Sebastien Bourdais for Peugeot. I'll be watching Bourdais again this Saturday night when he competes in the Grand Prix of Australia.
 
S

Smithers

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Location
Lower Slobovia
I was there. Great race again. Great weather too, except for the sprinkle on Thursday.

McNish is a bulldog. Peugeot put up a much better fight than it looked like they would Saturday morning. To get the number 8 908 out there turning the laps it did was impressive.
 
Harvieux

Harvieux

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Smithers said:
I was there. Great race again. Great weather too, except for the sprinkle on Thursday.

McNish is a bulldog. Peugeot put up a much better fight than it looked like they would Saturday morning. To get the number 8 908 out there turning the laps it did was impressive.
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Yea, in the last 1 1/2 hours or so in the race, McNish was piling on such a dominating lead of 2 to 4 seconds per lap on the Peugeot. I thought it was absolutely incredible to be able to go in the pits for that 8 second splash of fuel at about the 14 minute mark and still come out of the pits ahead of the Peugeot by about 24 seconds. That my friends is sheer dominance if there ever was. Later!
 
TornadoRed

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
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Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Harvieux said:
Yea, in the last 1 1/2 hours or so in the race, McNish was piling on such a dominating lead of 2 to 4 seconds per lap on the Peugeot. I thought it was absolutely incredible to be able to go in the pits for that 8 second splash of fuel at about the 14 minute mark and still come out of the pits ahead of the Peugeot by about 24 seconds. That my friends is sheer dominance if there ever was. Later!
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McNish was racing against Franck Montagny those last couple hours. Earlier, when Bourdais was in the seat of the #8 Peugeot, he was as fast or faster than any of the Audi drivers.

IMO the Peugeot 908 is just as fast as the Audi R15. Audi still has the best drivers. And in a 24-hour race Audi may have a reliability advantage too.

What happened to Acura? And does anyone care?
 
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