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| SEBRING, FLA. March 20, 1999. A record 30 open-cockpit cars highlighted the list of 63 machines entered in Saturday's 47th annual Superflo 12 Hours at Sebring as teams descended on the legendary 3.7 mile road course in central Florida. The race marks the world debut of the BMW V12 LMR and the Audi R8R and a return to racing for drivers Davy Jones and Juan Manuel Fangio II. A variety of other twists and turns have unfolded as teams unloaded for testing Monday in preparation for the nation's oldest road race and the inaugural event of the American Le Mans Series. The open-cockpit contingent was composed of all the GTP class machines except for the pair of Panoz GTR-1/Fords and the Champion Racing Porsche 911 GT1 EVO. There were 12 cars in the GTS class and 18 in the GT division. BMW Motorsport unveiled a pair of its newly-created BMW V12 LMRs, with Tom Kristensen of Denmark, J.J. Lehto of Finland and Jorg Muller of Germany in one and Joachim Winkelhock of Germany, Pierluigi Martini of Italy and Yannick Dalmas of France in the other. Audi fielded its new R8R machines with Michele Alboreto and Rinaldo Capello of Italy listed in one and Emmanuelle Pirro of Italy and Frank Biela of Germany in the other. The race marked the first official return of a General Motors factory team to Sebring since 1957 with a pair of Corvette C5-Rs. The race was won by the Factory BMW V12 LMR when driver Tom Kristensen crossed the finish line just 9.202 seconds ahead of the second place Dyson prototype. He shared the car with JJ Lehto and Jorg Muller. It was the closest finish in the history of Sebring, beating the record of 22.8 seconds set by Mario Andretti and Steve McQueen in 1970. The BMW diced neck-and-neck with the Dyson Riley & Scott driven by Butch Leizinger for the final stages of the race. Not even the bold move to give R&S ace James Weaver the final stint was enough to halt BMW’s charge. ‘The pace car kept us on our toes - and the team thought it was best for me to drive the final stages of the race,’ said Kristensen. ‘It was difficult; I could see the Dyson car in my mirrors and it was pushing hard.’ But Weaver had problems of his own: ‘It was like Piccadilly Circus when I left the pits for the final stint,’ he said. ‘Then it took me about four laps to make some elbow room and go faster. I couldn’t catch the BMW.’ Third place overall went to the Audi R8 driven by Stefan Johansson and teammates Michele Alboreto and Rinaldo Capello. They finished three laps down, such was the intensity of the battle at the head of the field. The GTS victory went to the Porsche 911 driven by husband and wife team Martin Snow, Melanie Snow and Patrick Huisman. They came home ninth overall, 16 laps adrift of the leader. Their win also marks the first time a husband and wife team has ever won any class at Sebring. The Porsche 911 RSR driven by Darryl Havens, Cort Wagner and Kelly Collins took top spot in the GT class, 21 laps behind. As mentioned, the race marked the return of Davy Jones, the 1996 Le Mans winner and Indianapolis 500 runner-up who returned from injuries suffered in an Indy-car accident at Walt Disney World Speedway in January, 1997. Jones' team, in a Porsche 911 turbo, completed 219 laps and finished 28th despite changing gearboxes. "Mostly, for me, I accomplished a lot," Jones said. "I now know within myself that I have the stamina and endurance to do double stints, which was a question mark going into this race. Everything's there." RCR’ s 02 finally dropped out with engine failure after several unscheduled stops which held the car back. 03, in its first complete race, soldiered on to take seventh in the GT class. Joel Reiser: ” It was an exhausting race and the cars really took a beating, but coming across the finish line after 12 hours of racing -- the fireworks shooting overhead -- was a moment I won’t forget.” Results: 1999 Sebring 12 Hours, top ten finishers 1. Tom Kristensen/JJ Lehto/Jorg Muller BMW V12 LMR 312 laps 2. James Weaver/Butch Leizinger/Elliott Forbes-Robinson Riley & Scott MkIII 3. Michele Alboreto/Ivan Capello/Stefan Johansson Audi R8 4. Thierry Boutsen/Bob Wollek/Dirk Muller Porsche 911 GT1 5. Emanuele Pirro/Frank Biela/Perry McCarthy Audi R8 6. Wayne Taylor/Alex Caffi/Juan Manuel Fangio II Ferrari 333SP 7. Ross Bentley/Chris Bingham/Marc Duez Riley & Scott MkIII 8. Dennis Spencer/Rich Grupp/AJ Smith Kudzu Mazda 9. Martin Snow/Melanie Snow/Patrick Huisman Porsche 911 (GTS) 10.Wolfgang Kaufmann/Michel Ligonnet/Lance Stewart Porsche 911 (GTS) 11. Darryl Havens/Cort Wagner/Kelly Collins Porsche 911 RSR (GT) GT Class: 7. Reiser Callas Rennsport #03 Grady Willingham/Birmingham/AL Craig Stanton/Seal Beach/CA Joel Reiser/Mendon/NY Northstar Motorsports/ Porsche 911 RSR 12 .Reiser Callas Rennsport #02 David Murry/Atlanta/GA Johnny Mowlem/England John Ruther/Chicago/Ill. Metamor Software/ Porsche 911 RSR Race info courtesy of ALMS/Sports Car |
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