Allan McNish – Audi Sport Team Joest – #2 Audi R15 TDI (1st LMP1)
“Our brand new R15 TDI was faultless throughout and allowed Audi to secure another Sebring victory. This must go down in the history books as one of the best Sebring 12 Hour races ever when you take in to account our competition, the intensity from start to finish making it a sprint race, with the final two hours especially typifying what Audi Sport is all about: grit and determination. When I got the call Bourdais did a 43.2 I thought it would be tough because I did a 44.6 flat out. But I kept the gap. Technically the R15 is different with the V10 engine, and the aerodynamics is very different. But it’s the same because its designed by the same people and it wins, so that’s the part I like the most. We could be consistent throughout the stint. And it held up exceptionally. I had seen in Tom’s stint that at the beginning the 07 was very, very, fast and then they tailed off. Certainly the actual surprise of it was they didn’t maintain the pace a wee bit longer.”
Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich – Head of Audi Motorsport
“This is a great result for a brand new car which came to Sebring with less mileage under its wheels than we had planned. We’ve seen not only the fastest 12-hour race in Sebring history, but also one of the most exciting with so many lead changes and a very tight battle between Audi and Peugeot – and this in the 100th ALMS race since 1999. I can remember that four cars have been setting almost identical lap times at Sebring for such a long time. Little things have been decisive in the end. It’s a shame that our second car, which was also running at the front for most of the race, lost some time at the end. I’m very happy with the debut of our new Audi R15 TDI and I would like to say a big thank you to everybody who made this success possible.”
Franck Montagny – Team Peugeot Total – # 08 908 HDi FAP (2nd LMP1)
“The result is disappointing, but I am still happy because we have worked very well. We learnt from a difficult track. 12 Hours here are worth 24 Hours at Le Mans! We were close to the new Audi, on a track which is against the 908. The team has worked hard the whole winter and that’s what makes me optimistic for the future.”
Olivier Quesnel, Head of Peugeot Sport (2nd LMP1)
“It is a bitter second. It is infuriating to miss the victory so closely. The slow puncture probably costs us the victory. The 908 HDi FAP was fast and as quick as its competitors. The team has worked hard with a good strategy. It is a good way to get ready for Le Mans, but we still had some problems that should not arise again.”
Mike Rockenfeller – Audi Sport North America – # 1 Audi R15 TDI (3rd LMP1)
“I’ve been in the car for three times and basically things went well every time. I could almost match the times of our sister car. Unfortunately we could not finish better than third in the end but I’m happy with my performance. The car was running well. It’s a shame that Marco (Werner) was injured, but it was no real problem for us to finish the race with just two drivers. Congratulations to our sister car and Audi. Many have come to Sebring with a new car but we can be proud of completing the distance with both cars basically without any problems and we can build on this for Le Mans.”
Adrian Fernandez – Lowe’s Fernandez Racing – # 15 Acura ARX-01B (1st LMP2)
“It was a perfectly executed race for the whole team. We had no problems at all and Luis drove a great race. It was a shame the Mazdas were not there for a fight but we tried to perform to the best of our abilities. We wanted to just have a time with no major problems and we are very happy. It’s great to start the season like this and I’m happy for Lowe’s to start out like this. This is good for us – a perfect race we could put on paper. “This is a team that has been finishing races and with good results. We should have won two or three races last year, and I feel really good about this win today. We have to focus on what we’re doing as a team. I did Le Mans two years ago and we were the fastest car out there but we went out with some mechanical problems. So we needed to finish. You can’t relax too much so we tried to keep a good pace without being too conservative. After eight hours I kept trying to push it and learn what we could from the car. This is the third year Luis and I did it on our own, so the last stint for Luis was three hours so it shows his endurance and fitness. “We started pushing at the end too because we didn’t know if the LMP1s would be able to finish so the goal became to finish on the overall podium. But the car was coming apart at the end, much like all the cars. I went down the backstraight and I saw a part on the side that had Lowe’s on it but I thought, ‘Wow the car still feels really good.”
Tom Anderson – Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Team Co-Owner/Managing Director
“Our win today was the perfect storm. We had the combination of two years of a lot of hard work by a lot of people from Acura, Wirth Research, Andretti Green, Highcroft and de Ferran Motorsports, who combined to make the ARX-01b the fantastic car that it is this year. We are in a position to reap the benefits of all the hard work by everybody in this program. With the support of Lowe’s, I believe we are going to be a force to be reckoned with as we now have the ultimate combination. Adrian and Luis did a fantastic job today. They never put a wheel wrong. It was just a perfect job by everybody today – the pit stop crew and the guys that put the car together.”
Johnny O’Connell – Corvette Racing – # 3 Corvette C6-R (1st GT1)
“It was a really good battle. The 4 car had a better setup for qualifying, but we improved our car some and both cars were within 20-30 seconds. I beat Olivier on his out lap after the first pit, and we didn’t hit. So that was fun. We closed up during some cautions, our crew did a great job. The 4 car is fighters and they kept pushing every bit. This is a special race and you always want to do good. And now we have Antonio with us who is a talented driver and we look forward to go to Le Mans and improve on our race from the last few years. We pit first, then Olivier came out on stickers. We I made the move on the outside in 10, I was just returning the favor that he gave me at Laguna last year. He keeps telling me I’m old, but those elephants don’t forget.”
Doug Fehan – Corvette Racing program manager
“In our final race in the GT1 class at Sebring, I think we raised the bar high by setting an all-time laps completed record and running a flawless race. Today was an example of what we’ve done since the inception of this program – continuous improvement. This gives us a solid foundation for going to the 24 Hours of Le Mans and completing our mission over there.”
Olivier Beretta – Racing – # 4 Corvette C6-R (2nd GT1)
“It was a good race, but we just had some little issues and some bad luck on the pace car. Congratulations to the No. 3 Corvette, they did a perfect race. We are leaving Sebring with two cars in perfect condition, and that is the most important thing.”
Mika Salo – Risi Competizione – # 62 Ferrari F430 GT (1st GT2)
“This was tough cause Jamie arrived late and we started from the back, but it’s ok because the we won last time from the back. And there weren’t too many cars this time and the GT cars can get spread out so you could do 2 or 3 laps by yourself so it’s really hard to keep a good pace. Winning is good, you always want it close but a win is great. All the guys out there are real professionals but they don’t always drive these kind of cars and sometimes they don’t know where the line is or how to keep the same braking, so there are some close calls where they would brake and turn in front of us and take our air so we could not brake. Some laps the new Porsches could not keep it consistent, but we saw in the week they can do really quick laps but in the long run we can beat them.”
Guiseppe Risi – Risi Competizione’s Team Principal
“It always takes a while for this kind of thing to sink in, especially when you mentally prepare yourself for the worst. We dominated the race, had absolutely no technical problems at all with either of the cars so it was a perfect result, and the team did a fantastic job right from the get-go. All six drivers did a superb job and it’s a perfect start to the season. I’m also proud to say that three Ferraris started and three finished, all in the top six which is a testament to the product and how these cars are prepared. I’m very happy.”
Cécile Bonardel