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Sebring 12 Hours

Sebring practice begins

Audi UK motorsport brief, Wednesday 12th March 2003: Ulsterman Jonny Kane “officially” starts practice for the 51st Sebring 12 Hour sportscar endurance race in Florida today (WED) in a confident mood.

The 29-year-old Comber ace is contesting the American event for the newly-formed Audi Sport UK team and Kane, despite only driving the Audi R8 for less than 100 miles, has clocked top-seven fastest times for the past two days.

“I’m pleased with the way testing has gone,” confirmed Kane who partners ex-F1 driver Mika Salo, of Finland and Perry McCarthy, from Brentwood in Essex. “I’ve set the fastest time on each occasion using ‘old’ tyres so there is a lot more time to come from me - and the car once I get a few more miles under my belt.”

Official practice commences today with qualifying for grid positions tomorrow (THURS). The race, featuring over 60 cars, is on Saturday.

Sebring race preview

Audi UK motorsport brief, Wednesday 10th March 2003: Ulsterman Jonny Kane drives a British Audi Sport UK entered R8 sportscar in the Sebring 12 Hours on Saturday (15 March). London-based Kane (29) joins former Grand Prix driver Mika Salo, of Finland, and Perry McCarthy, from Brentwood in Essex, to spearhead Audi Sport UK’s bid for honours in the Sebring race - won by Johnny Herbert driving an Audi 12 months ago.

Kane, originally from Comber near Belfast, Salo (36) and McCarthy (41), have never raced the all-conquering Audi R8 before but none see this as a handicap in a race that will see the winning car clock up over 1,200 miles at an average speed of over 100mph - despite having to make at least 12 pit-stops for fuel, fresh tyres and driver changes. Audi Sport UK’s drivers each had a brief run in the 2002-specification Audi R8 last month (10 Feb) before the car was shipped from Liverpool to New York and then driven down the East coast to Florida.

Unofficial testing commences today (10 Mar) with practice on Wednesday and qualifying for grid positions on Thursday. Saturday’s race starts at 1530 (GMT). Jonny remarked:

“I got out of the Audi R8 after my first drive and thought ‘fantastic’! It doesn’t seem to have any vices, has a beautiful gear-shift and is basically just a very well put together sports racingcar.

“I’ve tested a lot on the short circuit at Sebring when I was racing in the Indy Lights category and then raced on the full Sebring track for the first time with MG last year. It has a very bumpy track surface but I recently watched the TV coverage of last year’s race and one thing that is very clear from watching the footage is that the Audi ‘rides’ the bumps especially well.

“It’s not a particularly difficult track and despite only having driven the ‘long’ circuit once before, it will not be a problem for me or any of my team-mates. There is no reason why we can’t post a top result despite our inexperience in the car. I’m confident of my own ability and that of my team-mates, we’ve got a strong line-up.”

The all-conquering Audi R8, featuring pioneering FSI fuel-saving technology, is today’s most successful sports racing car having won the Le Mans 24 Hours and the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) for the past three years. AUDI AG has restructured its motorsport programme for 2003 which means that the Ingolstadt-based Audi Sport department will support various “customer” teams this year - including the Arena Motorsport-run Audi Sport UK R8.

The “British” Audi, along with an R8 entered by Canon Team Infineon for Frank Biela - who actually races the Audi Sport UK car at Le Mans in place of Kane - Marco Werner and Philipp Peter plus an R8 from the Team ADT Champion Racing Florida-based outfit for Stefan Johansson, JJ Lehto and Emanuele Pirro, will be in a field of over 60 cars to start the Sebring race - the opening round of this year’s American Le Mans Series.

Most cars will have three drivers who will rotate periods behind the steering wheel during the grinding 12-hour endurance event that will test man and machine under the hot Florida sun and then well into darkness. The Audi R8 is powered by a 3.6-litre, twin-turbocharged engine while the series rules now restricts its power output to around 550bhp.