Full Sebring Coverage

[George@Fourtitude]

This looks to be a great year. The new R10 is strong, and has captured pole position. We fly out to Sebring today, with SpeedArena photographer Jim Sykes already on the ground. Expect full coverage of the event on our front page here....

http://www.fourtitude.com/feat....html

I'll also be posting impressions from the race in this thread.

Update #1 First an apology. I had hoped to be adding some notes from the event live, but some things conspired against me. First was my sheer curiousity to go out and witness more of the the event, either the race itself or the Mad Max antics of cruisers on their way to the Green Zone (the serious party where it is recomended the corporate types keep their distance. Second, open wifi isn't exactly a commodity I foudn in droves. In fact, the only place I did find it was the over-crowded media center. I figured I'd simply take some notes and post them afterward. Maybe I'll need to invest in some mobile connectivity for the future.

SATURDAY

Update #1 - Drive to the Track I get to ride from our hotel in Celebration, FL to the track with a representative from Bosch in an A6 that belongs to them. I'm impressed by the A6, a blue S-line with alcantara inserts and silver stitching on its sport seats. Under the hood is a torque-laden 3.0 TDI.

Even more impressive is my friend from Bosch. We chat for the 1.5 hour drive all about diesel technology and he shows me just how little I know of the technology. He's been in it for over 25 years.

The A6 represents common rail technology. It's more efficient and smoother than the outgoing Pumpe Duse engines such as the V10 in the VW Touareg. Engines so-equipped thus far are the 3.0 and the 4.2 TDI sold in the A8 in Germany.

Update #2 - Arrival at the Track We pull into the Audi Corral at the track and the A6 gets its fair share of stares. My friend from Bosch is immediately mobbed with questions about it.

The Audi Corral is impressively large, and in a good location. Right next to the bridge that leads to the main grandstands, this spot, I'm told, once belonged to Alfa Romeo enthusiasts. Having attended for years, I'm told by Neil McGarry from Audiworld that he was involved with getting Audi to take over the spot. It's run by the Audi Club of North America's Florida chapter, known for their four orange rings with a green stem in the center logo. They're a great group of folks with some cool cars. I hang out a bit, and head out to catch the Audi press conference.

Update #3 - Audi Press Conference - It's always a bit heady to be around the stars of Audi's driving squad. Here you have stars like 7-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen, the flying Scot Alan McNish who shattered the Sebring lap record in qualifying, and Marco Werner who loves prototype racing so much, he rumoredly gave up a seat in the DTM last season to stay in America and compete in the aging R8s. Also there, and I must admit, most impressive to me, are the drivers who dominated touring car with the A4s back in the '90s, with Biela, Pirro and Capello. These guys are legends to me, though hardly look the part of legends as they're still quite young.

So what'd I learn in the conference? Here are a couple interesting bits I'll put in ahead of our own race report.

1) Kristensen just finally got his first real track time in the car on Monday of race week. That's how new this program is. Sure, he got to drive it up streets in Paris for its debut, but that's not exactly practice. It's surprising, though we suspect Kristensen's resume is impressive enough that Audi required no pre-practice.

2) Dindo Capello owns some dealerships in Italy. Great driver and business man... not a bad combination. So who is going to be the first Audi geek to get a Euro plate frame from Dindo's store and put it on their car?

Update #4 - Audi Tent I head over to a large tent that has the Audi rings on signs nearby. Next to it are two nice women selling Audi Collection regalia. Inside are the latest offerings from Audi, the only currently sold car an A3 3.2 S-line. The rest include a US-spec RS 4, S8, S6, and two Q7s. Even better, it turns out the people manning the cars aren't just the normal auto show info-givers. These are some of Audi's Auburn Hills staff who came down to help out and as a perk get to see some of the race.

One is our good friend Chris Bokich. Chris came onto the forums for a 48 hr Q&A session about a year ago as the A4 and S4 product manager. He now oversees RS 4 and now A3 as well. It's good to see him and hear about the promotion.

RACE DAY

Update #1 - Pre-Start I ran into one of the heads of Audi Sport North America in the Audi hospitality tent back by the race trucks. An Audi communications person asks him if things are fine and he says 'yes, everything's good.'

There must have been some extremely strong confidence there as I later learn the Pole-sitting R10 was unable to meet the starting grid schedule so will start from the pits, at the back of the grid and on cold tires (all cars on the grid get a warm-up lap).

Update #2 - Start We watch the start from an observation booth above the Audi pits. It's the perfect vantage to watch the grid breeze past, and the three cars in the pits wait for them to round the track for the warm up. Not long after, the pack hits the front straight, this time at full-speed and led by Frank Biela in one of the R10s.

The field rushes by and the Porsche, R10 and Spyker in pit lane mash the accelerator and do their best to catch up. That R10 would eventually win.

Want more? - We'll be doing our own race review shortly. Keep your eyes on the front page of Fourtitude for the complete story.

[INA]

Quote, originally posted by George@Fourtitude »

This looks to be a great year. The new R10 is strong, and has captured pole position. We fly out to Sebring today, with SpeedArena photographer Jim Sykes already on the ground. Expect full coverage of the event on our front page here.... http://www.fourtitude.com/feat....html I'll also be posting impressions from the race in this thread.

George did you expect anything less of Audi or the 4 rings?

[George@Fourtitude]

I hoped. I'm glad to see they won. This track is more tough, though I fear Pescarolo will give them more of a challenge than they had here. We shall see. I can't wait for June.