Sebring 12 hour race in 2003

The Bentley Speed ​​8 with starting number 8; Tom Kristensen , Guy Smith and Rinaldo Capello finished the race in fourth place in the overall standings with this car

TVR Tuscan T400R

The 51st Sebring 12 Hours of Sebring , also the 51st Annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, Sebring International Raceway , took place on March 15, 2003 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the first race of the 2003 ALMS season .

Before the race

The 2002 ALMS season ended in the LMP900 class and thus in the overall standings with the victory of Dane Tom Kristensen for Audi Sport North America . As in the previous year, this season began with the Sebring 12-hour race.

The race

In 2003, Bentley's 12-hour race was the test run for that year's Le Mans 24-hour race . If the flat and complex Speed ​​8 could hold out the race on the bumpy and uneven racetrack at Sebring, it would be a good test for the 24-hour race in France.

The Bentley Speed ​​8 was a racing car of the prototype class LMGTP built according to the regulations of the ACO , which was supposed to win the prestigious Le Mans 24 hour race . Under the direction of chief designer Peter Elleray, the car was further developed from the plans of the Audi R8C , a closed variant of the Audi R8 that had only been used in a race once and which Audi had dropped again. The Bentley EXP Speed ​​8 made its debut on June 16 and 17, 2001 with drivers Andy Wallace , Butch Leitzinger and Eric van de Poele at Le Mans , where it was able to achieve third place behind the open-top Audi R8s, which were then considered unbeatable. This ended Bentley's 73-year absence as a works team in motorsport. The Bentley was completely redesigned for the 2003 season. The two emergency vehicles received a 4-liter V8 engine from Audi and greatly improved aerodynamics.

Since Audi did not compete in Le Mans this year at the factory, the race in Sebring was the only meeting between the Audi R8s of the Audi factory team Joest Racing and the Bentley's. At the finish the best Bentley was four laps behind the victorious Joest-R8. There was a very close race between the Audis from Joest and Champion Rating. When the checkered flag fell, the car of Frank Biela , Marco Werner and Philipp Peter was only 13 seconds ahead of the champion R8 of Emanuele Pirro , JJ Lehto and Stefan Johansson .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	LMP900	1	Infineon Team Joest	Frank Biela Marco Werner Philipp Peter	Audi R8	367
2	LMP900	38	Champion Racing	Emanuele Pirro JJ Lehto Stefan Johansson	Audi R8	367
3	LMP900	8th	Team Bentley	Johnny Herbert David Brabham Mark Blundell	Bentley Speed ​​8	363
4th	LMP900	7th	Team Bentley	Tom Kristensen Guy Smith Rinaldo Capello	Bentley Speed ​​8	362
5	LMP900	10	JML	Olivier Beretta Massimiliano Papis Gunnar Jeannette	Panoz LMP01	352
6th	LMP900	9	Audi Sport UK	Mika Salo Jonny Kane Perry McCarthy	Audi R8	351
7th	LMP900	27	Doran Lista Racing	Didier Theys Eric van de Poele Fredy Lienhard	Dallara LMP	336
8th	GTS	3	Corvette Racing	Ron Fellows Johnny O'Connell Franck Fréon	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R	332
9	LMP900	11	JML	Scott Maxwell John Graham Benjamin Leuenberger	Panoz LMP01	324
10	GT	23	Alex Job Racing	Sascha Maassen Lucas Luhr	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	320
11	GT	31	White Lightning	Johnny Mowlem Niclas Jönsson Craig Stanton	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	319
12	LMP900	12	American Spirit Racing	Michael Lewis Tomy Drissi Guy Cosmo	Riley & Scott Mk IIIC	318
13	GTS	80	Veloqx Prodrive Racing	Darren Turner Anthony Davidson Kelvin Burt	Ferrari 550 Maranello	316
14th	GT	53	Seikel Motorsport	Alex Caffi Gabrio Rosa Andrea Chiesa	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	312
15th	GT	28	JMB Racing USA	Stéphan Grégoire Fabio Babini Christian Pescatori	Ferrari 360 Modena N-GT	311
16	LMP900	77	Taurus Sports Racing	Phil Andrews Justin Keen Larry Oberto	Lola B2K / 10B	307
17th	GT	24	Alex Job Racing	Timo Bernhard Jörg Bergmeister	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	307
18th	LMP675	18th	Dyson Racing	Didier de Radiguès Chad Block Chris Dyson	MG-Lola EX257	306
19th	GT	68	The Racer's Group	Cort Wagner Marc Bunting Chris Gleason	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	299
20th	GT	41	DeWalt Racesport Salisbury	Rob Barff Richard Hay Richard Stanton	TVR Tuscan T400R	297
21st	GT	66	The Racer's Group	Kevin Buckler Jim Pace Eliseo Salazar	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	293
22nd	GT	42	Orbit Racing	Joe Policastro Joe Policastro junior Mike Fitzgerald	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	292
23	GT	33	ZIP racing	Spencer Pumpelly Andy Lally Steven Ivankovich	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	290
24	GT	67	The Racer's Group	Michael Schrom Pierre Ehret Vic Rice	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	288
25th	GT	29	JMB Racing USA	Stephen Earle Andrea Garbagnati Ludovico Manfredi	Ferrari 360 Modena N-GT	283
26th	GT	52	Seikel Motorsport	Philip Collin John Lloyd David Shep	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	278
27	LMP675	37	Intersport Racing	Jon Field Duncan Dayton Mike Durand	MG-Lola EX257	266
28	GTS	2	Konrad Motorsport	Franz Konrad Robert Nearn Toni Seiler	Saleen S7-R	249
29	GT	61	PK Sport	Ian Donaldson Bart Hayden Gregor Fisken	Porsche 911 GT3-R	240
Disqualified
30th	LMP900	30th	Intersport Racing	Clint Field Rick Sutherland John Macaluso	Lola B2K / 10B	196
Failed
31	LMP900	36	Jim Matthews Racing	Marc Goossens Jan Magnussen Jim Matthews	Riley & Scott Mk IIIC	284
32	GTS	4th	Corvette Racing	Oliver Gavin Kelly Collins Andy Pilgrim	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R	283
33	GTS	71	Carsport America	Jean-Philippe Belloc Jeff Altenburg Tom Weickardt	Dodge Viper GTS-R	280
34	GT	78	T2M motorsport	Georges Forgeois Derek Clark Chip Vance	Porsche 911 GT3-R	263
35	GTS	88	Veloqx Prodrive Racing	Tomáš Enge Peter Kox Jamie Davies	Ferrari 550 Maranello	245
36	GT	34	Risi Competizione	Marino Franchitti Kevin McGarrity	Ferrari 360 Modena GT	243
37	GT	63	ACEMCO Motorsports	BJ Zacharias Andrew Davis Shane Lewis	Ferrari 360 Modena GT	233
38	GT	40	Alegra Motorsports	Boris Said III Catersby Jones Carlos DeQuesada	BMW M3 E46	141
39	GT	03	Hyper sports	Joe Foster Brad Nyberg Rick Skelton	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	125
40	GT	48	Spyker Squadron	Norman Simon Hans Hugenholtz Junior Patrick van Schoote	Spyker C8 Double 12R	103
41	GTS	83	Graham Nash Motorsport	Thomas Erdos Pedro Chaves Gavin Pickering	Saleen S7-R	97
42	GT	60	PK Sport	Robin Liddell Piers Masarati David Warnock	Porsche 911 GT3-R	74
43	LMP675	15th	RN Motorsports	Hayanari Shimoda John Nielsen	DBA 4-03S	73
44	LMP900	87	Sezio Florida Racing Team	Patrice Roussel Ian James Allan Ziegelman	Norma M-2000-02	71
45	GT	07	RWS-Yukos Motorsport	Stéphane Daoudi Walter Lechner junior Nikolai Fomenko	Porsche 911 GT3-R	70
46	GTS	0	Team Olive Garden	Emanuele Naspetti Domenico Schiattarella Johnny Cecotto	Ferrari 550 Maranello	59
47	GT	79	J-3 Racing	David Murry Brian Cunningham Justin Jackson	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	57
48	LMP675	18th	Marshall Cooke Racing	Ben Devlin Jason Workman Melanie Paterson	Lola B2K / 40	50
49	GT	35	Risi Competizione	Ralf Kellener's Anthony Lazzaro Terry Borcheller	Ferrari 360 Modena GT	39
50	LMP675	16	Dyson Racing	James Weaver Butch Leitzinger Andy Wallace	MG-Lola EX257	39
51	LMP675	56	Team Bucknum Racing	Jeff Bucknum Bryan Willman Chris McMurry	Pilbeam MP91	37
52	GT	43	Orbit Racing	Marc Lieb Peter Baron Leo Hindery	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	26th
53	LMP900	01	Team Nasamax	Bryan Herta Romain Dumas Robbie Stirling	Reynard 01Q	14th
54	LMP900	6th	Lister Storm Racing	Jamie Campbell-Walter Ian McKellar	Lister Storm LMP	10
55	GTS	17th	Carsport America	Mike Hezemans Anthony Kumpen	Pagani Zonda GR	6th
Not started
56	GT	39	ZIP racing	Emil Assentato Nick Longhi Brent Sherman	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	1
57	GT	03T	Hyper sports		Panoz Esperante GT-LM	2
58	GT	72	DeWalt Racesport Salisbury		Morgan Aero 8 GTN	3

¹ Accident in training ² not trained ³ not trained

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
59	GTS	02	Konrad Motorsport	Jean-François Yvon	Saleen S7-R
60	GT	5	MCR	Bob Mazzuoccola Shane Lewis	Chevrolet Corvette C5-RGT
61	LMP675	13	Archangel Motorsports Services Inc.		Reynard 01Q
62	LMP675	19th	Marshall Cooke Racing Ltd.		Lola B2K / 40
63	GT	21st	Perspective Racing	Thierry Perrier Angelo Barretto Michel Neugarten	Porsche 911 GT3-RS
64	GT	32	Ayrton Intermotor	Jesús Diez de Villarroel	Porsche 911 GT3-RS
65	LMP675	46	RML-MG Sport & Racing		MG-Lola EX257
66	LMP675	55	Verte Competition idea	Sylvain Boulay	WR
67	LMP675	77	AB Motorsport	Joe Blacker Orlam Sonora	Pilbeam MP84
68	GT	90	Vici Racing	Ronny Meixner Joseph Safina Cristiano Piquet	Lamborghini Diablo GT

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
LMP900	Frank Biela	Marco Werner	Philipp Peter	Audi R8	Overall victory
LMP675	Didier de Radiguès	Chad Block	Chris Dyson	MG-Lola EX257	Rank 18
GTS	Ron Fellows	Johnny O'Connell	Franck Fréon	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R	Rank 8
GT	Sascha Maassen	Lucas Luhr		Porsche 911 GT3-RS	Rank 10

Racing data

• Registered: 68
• Started: 55
• Rated: 29
• Race classes: 4
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: hot and dry
• Route length: 5.955 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:00: 23.360 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 367
• Total distance of the winning team: 2185.328 km
• Winner's average: 182.012 km / h
• Pole position: Frank Biela - Audi R8 (# 1) - 1: 48.826 - 196.979 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Tom Kristensen - Bentley Speed ​​8 (# 7) - 1.49.521 - 195.730 km / h
• Racing series: 1st run for the 2003 ALMS season

Web links

• Race results at Racing Sports Cars

Predecessor race Petit Le Mans 2002

American Le Mans Series

Succession race 2.45-hour race at Road Atlanta in 2003