FIA WEC/ALMS, 12 Hours of Sebring - Hour Twelve GT is shaping up for a titanic finish, so too is LMP2 as Barbosa fights back and is looking to get by Pla for second in class, 6th overall. It's a BMW 1,2 at present but the M3s need to stop again, the Vettes and the Beretta Ferrari should make it The #155 BMW pits from the lead - tyres are ready - Jorg Muller stays aboard - a brief stall and away, Hand now pits from the lead in the sister #56 BMW - This will soon wind out into a race to the flag. Pescarolo have pitted for a scheduled stop, Bouillon aboard and now behind the battling LMP2 pack. The #3 Audi is reported slow on track but pits. It's a longer than normal stop for the Audi and Pagenaud is but a single lap behind - The HPD though pits too (and it has a problem too!) The LMP2 lead pack are pitting too - more routine stops for them though = Pla and Sarrazin pit first - Barbosa leads LMP2 again and is 4th overall - He pits though next time around - This race is not done yet - We could get an LMP2 (or even two) on the overall podium!! In GT its Beretta from Hand and Magnussen, Ferrari, BMW, Corvette all within a couple of seconds - Then Muller and Gavin are a further 20 seconds back. All three in the lead group though may have to take a splash of fuel!! The #16 Pescarolo is in the mix here too - Bouillon is catching the LMP2s ahead, the #3 Audi re-joins but the HPD is still pit bound - potential heartbreak for the #6 crew when second beckoned (fuel feed!!) The #3 Audi had contact, the team changed front suspension in super quick time. The Muscle Milk Fuelling inlet issue might mean the end of the road for the #6 car - astonishing! Sarrazin, Barbosa, Bouillon and Pla are about to demote the gallant #6 car way down the order! The team want to take the car behind the wall but its already out of the top 10 - Worse still it falls behind the Dyson Lola in the ALMS stakes! Better news is that the #12 Rebellion has got back, has been fixed and is back into the race! Hand retakes the GT lead - 28 minutes remaining, he's pulling clear of Beretta's #71 Ferrari John Dagys is in full Crazy Horse mode - He correctly tells DSC that if things stay as they are Starworks' drivers will sit in second place in the WEC Drivers standings, the #3 car is not nominated for driver's points and the driver's standings use the overall order!! 24 minutes remaining and the top ten overall are: #2 Audi, #3 Audi, #44 Starworks HPD, ##055 Level 5 HPD, #16 Pescarolo, ##24 Oak Morgan, #49 Pecom Oreca, #016 Dyson Lola, #41 Greaves Zytek and #21 Strakka HPD. The #6 car is back on pitlane from the paddock and its fuelled and released - now though 13th overall! Beretta is closing back in on Hand for the GT lead. McNish meanwhile, lest we forget, is 5 laps clear in the overall lead. Beretta now right with the class leader - 18 minutes remaining Bouillon pits - Pla takes 5th - it's an LMP2 3rd, 4th, 5th in the overall standings. 16 minutes remaining and there are multiple potential combinations for the top 5 involving fuel, pace and inter team rivalry! Lamy is off the track in the GTE Am leading #50 Larbre Vette - Ruberti leads that class for Felbermayr Proton! In GTC meanwhile AJR are 1,2 in GTC - #023 leads #022 12 minutes left Muller is reeling in a fuel saving Mags for third - 2:00 dead for the BMW as his team mate ahead watches Beretta trying an outbraking manoeuvre into the Hairpin, Beretta though skids wide and Hand retakes the lead. The #6 has pitted again - a heartbreaking last hour for the team that could have repeated Highcroft's 2011 result. Muller is still catching Magnussen, but he is being reeled in, albeit a little slower, by Gavin - There are dramas left in this one yet! Lets not forget the Aston Martin meanwhile - The #97 lies third in the WEC GTE Pro order 5 minutes remaining - Magnussen now able to hold off Muller it seems - Has the fuel saving strategy paid dividends? Beretta meanwhile is closing fast again on the leader. 2 minutes left - Pla seems to be struggling for pace now, Bouillon closing in fast for 5th Last lap - but still a lap and a bit for the GT leaders, Tracy Krohn baulking the leader and Bruni unlaps himself at the top of the Ullmann Straight, Hand though outdrags him into T1 on the final lap, the #51 Ferrari though tags the BMW in T3 and the M3 is off the track - Beretta though has had trouble too, #71 spins in avoidance of Hand and has a puncture - Hand passes the punctured but lapped #51 through the final turn and Magnussen comes home second after passing the spun #71 at T3. A quite fantastic drive from Hand to keep his cool under that level of pressure. Yet again the GT cars dole out a fabulous Sebring finish.
Audi win the first round of the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship. It's a 1,2 for Audi too with the #3 car following McNish home - The Flying Scotsman, Dindo Capello and Tom Kristensen adding yet more silverware to their huge career records. A massive result too for Starworks, third overall for their new HPD and second overall in the WEC drivers' Championship courtesy of a non championship registered #3 Audi
Top 3 from all 9 Classes WEC LMP1 - #2, 3, 16
ALMS P1 - #016, 6
WEC LMP2 - #44, 24, 49
ALMS P2 - #055, 54, 37
WEC GTE Pro - #71, 77, 97
ALMS GT - #56, 03, 4
WEC GTE Am - #88, 70, 50
ALMS PC - #06, 52, 05
ALMS GTC - #023, 022, 34 Joey Hand: "Did you see how many times we came into the pits second and came in first, a great team effort - I wasn't surprised when he hit me, that's the way he drives, he got caught and we took the win." (Hand, like many others apparently believed he'd been hit by Beretta not Bruni! HPD take 2 class wins, so do Porsche and there are 4 class wins each for Dunlop (ALMS P1, ALMS and WEC P2, ALMS GT) and Michelin (WEC LMP1, WEC GTE Pro, WEC GTE AM and ALMS PC) Lola take a debut win for the 2012 spec Lola Mazda of Dyson Racing, the racing debut of the HPD ARX 03b sees 2 class wins too. A 2007 designed, 2009 built Pescarolo Judd takes a WEC class podium in LMP1 in its final race. Morgan take a pair of podiums in their badging debut in LMP2, Pecom take a podium too in their debut with the Oreca Nissan, Black Swan take a podium on their LMP debut. The 2012 spec Porsche takes a WEC podium on its debut too, as does the 2012 spec Vantage with AMR on their GT comeback. Great runs too from all three new HPD LMP1 teams, in particular Muscle Milk - a rogue fuel inlet robbing them of a second place overall - Congratulations too to JRM, a very new car nearly taking them too to a potential overall podium finish. ADR/ Delta finish on their LMP debut. Hour 12 Summary - Finally in Hand Drama came from near the top in the final hour. The Muscle Milk HPD came in and was unable to refuel because of what appears to be a feeder or pressure problem. It spent an excruciating amount of time on the pit row before heading behind the wall. The team returned briefly but it lost the IMSA P1 lead to the Dyson Racing Lola-Mazda with Chris Dyson taking it to the flag. Dispensing with perhaps the obvious, but very welcome results; Allan McNish took the No. 2 R18 to first overall (partnered by two who also need no introduction, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo the Dingo Capello). While expected this amazingly ending a several year Sebring drought for the revered German manufacturer. WEC LM P2 went to Stephane Sarrazin’s No. 44 Starworks entry (with Enzo Potolicchio and Ryan Dalzeil) and, all things considered, it was a remarkable third overall for a P2 car. The Level Five HPD had an untroubled run to the end under the guidance of Joao Barbosa (partnered by Christophe Bouchut and Scott Tucker). They took maximum points in the ALMS category. The PC class was an odd cookie today. It was long led by No. 9 (RSR). When they faltered it was wide open for a bit before E. J. Viso took control in the No. 06 Core entry (fellow Venezuelan Alex Popow and American Burt Frisselle made up the driving crew). There was late drama in the GTE Am category when the No. 50 Corvette of Pedro Lamy came to a halt and the No. 88 Felbermayr Porsche took over the class lead and win. Its drivers were Christian Ried, Gianluca Roda and Paolo Ruberti). GTC went to Dion von Moltke (with Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler), the AJR car ending without drama after the class provided thrills earlier. Then there is GT. The cast of characters at the end were Joey Hand in the No. 56 RLL BMW, Olivier Beretta starring in the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari, and featuring Jan Magnussen in the No. 03 Corvette. A supporting role was played by Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari. Forget the sub-plots as to which runs in ALMS vs. WEC—it really doesn’t matter. Hand began the period with a strong(-ish) lead over Beretta. The Ferrari gradually reeled the BMW in with Magnussen unable to make much headway from third. The lead group came upon the slow green Ferrari of Tracy Krohn. Beretta used it as a pick and slipped past before Hand again took the lead. Then on the final Bruni came behind and punted Hand into a partial spin. However, Beretta had to slow to take avoidance and Hand was able to continue in the lead. The BMW came around and took the last lap dramatic win. Hand and co-drivers Dirk Müller and Jonathan Summerton had overcome a series of electrical issues in addition to the frenzy of the last laps to take the win. An unwitting victim of the race-ending chaos was Marco Holzer in the No. 31 Lola Coupe. He crashed and was unable to finish, losing his classification according to the more stringent WEC rules. Speaking of which, as we close there were unconfirmed reports that Signor Bruni has been given a bit more than a hand slap with a €15 k for his actions. It wouldn’t be Sebring without some weirdness and there it was. Always an adventure — a true classic. JW | 
