Sebring: Series hour nine report

KRISTENSEN LEADING CLOSE AUDI 1-2 AFTER NINE HOURS

The all-out sprint at Sebring was still going strong as the 57th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida entered the last quarter of the race. Tom Kristensen in the lead Audi R15 TDI led teammate Mike Rockenfeller by 18 seconds at the nine-hour mark in the season opener for the 2009 American Le Mans Series.

Peugeot's Sebastien Bourdais was a minute behind Kristensen, the largest gap by far between the lead Audi and the lead Peugeot.

The two diesel-powered manufacturers have been running nose-to-tail all day although on different strategies. Audi's plan has been to change its Michelin tires each stop while Peugeot has double-stinted its Michelins. However the Audi was able to make up time with its brand new prototype and precision use of traffic.

The two leading cars along with the second Audi were on the lead lap and separated by just 19 seconds.

Luis Diaz led LMP2 for Lowe's Fernandez Racing and Acura. Diaz was running sixth overall with Adrian Fernandez in the team's Acura ARX-01b. The duo is shooting for its first victory in the Series.

Corvette Racing's two Corvette C6.Rs were within 17 seconds of each other in GT1. Jan Magnussen led Oliver Gavin in the Corvette's final GT1 race at Sebring.

Risi Competizione entered its seventh hour in the lead of GT2 with Jaime Melo behind the wheel of the team's first Ferrari F430 GT. Melo was a lap ahead of Advanced Engineering Pecom Racing's Gianmaria Bruni and another lap ahead of Dominik Farnbacher in Panoz Team PTG's Panoz Esperante GTLM.

The Risi entry had to start the race from the back of the grid after Melo missed the required Thursday night practice.

-credit: alms