Peugeot Wins 2011 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

Billed as the most open Sebring in years the 2011 edition certainly did not disappoint. An old car won the race, a gasoline powered entry finished second and the fastest car of the race only managed a third place finish. The privateer Oreca Matmut team running the Peugeot 908 HDI FAP won the 59th edition of America's top endurance race Saturday. Using a rule restricted version of the first generation 908 Oreca was not as quick as the brand new factory 908 but Nicolas Lapierre, Loic Duval, and Olivier Panis ran a clean race to take victory. In second place the brand new gasoline Highcroft Racing Honda piloted by David Brabham, Marino Franchitti, and Simon Pagenaud proved that the new ACO rules are fair by running competitive times compared to the diesels. In third the new Peugeot 908 driven by Frank Montagny, Stephane Sarrazin, and Pedro Lamy were only able to manage a third place finish even with the fastest race car on the track. A few minor track and pit stop mistakes were enough to neutralize the factory Peugeot. Along with the factory Peugeots Audi Sport Team Joest was the co-favorite to win the race, but on-track incidents relegated Audi to a fourth and fifth overall in a disappointing race.
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