Marc Gené continues unstopable in endurance races. After wining in Le Mans 24 Hours last June, Ferrari test driver, won with Wurz and Davidon, the second most important race in this field: Sebing 12 Hours. Peugeot achieved another one-two finish and came back home with plenty of valuable information for this year´s Le Mans. Peugeot 908 HDi FAP is the first French car that wins in Sebring in a race that was inaugurated in 1952.
After the race Marc commented : "This was a great practice ahead of Le Mans, both for the drivers and everyone in the team. It was good training for overtaking round in what is a very demanding circuit. I am glad that we won this mithical race and I feel enthusiastic ahead of Le Mans. We have a great team and car and I am looking forward to the race”.
After starting the 12 Hours of Sebring from the front row of the grid, the two Peugeot 908 HDi FAPs were never separated by more than a handful of seconds, despite the searing heat, omnipresent traffic, safety car appearances and race incidents.Nor were they slowed by the slightest mechanical problem, and the team will be looking to confirm the cars' reliability when it stays on for two more days of testing here in Florida on Monday and Tuesday. At the end of the day, all that split the two machines at the finish were apuncture, two spins and their respective pit stops.
After 12 hours' racing, it was finally the N°07 Peugeot of Marc Gené, Alexander Wurz and Anthony Davidson which took the chequered flag in first place after 367 laps, closely tailed by the sister car in the hands of Sébastien Bourdais, Nicolas Minassian and Pedro Lamy. After the 2009 Le Mans and last autumn's Petit Le Mans, Sebring is Peugeot's third straight one-two finish. It is also the first win for a French car in the American classic and puts an end to 11 years of German domination of the race!
Final positions
1, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 07 (Davidson/Gené/Wurz), 367 laps in 12h 0m 54.362s
2, Peugeot 908 HDi FAP 08 (Bourdais/Lamy/Minassian), +13.817s
3, Lola-Judd (Mucke/Primat/Fernandez), +3 laps
4, Porsche RS Spyder (Pickett/Graf/Maassen), +14 laps
5, Honda (Pagenaud/Brabham/Franchitti), +18 laps
Fastest race lap: S. Bourdais (1m 44.972s)
