Dear Ultimatecarpage.com visitor,

This past Saturday the 2009 American Le Mans Series kicked off with the 57th annual Sebring 12 Hours race. 'Sebring' is the most legendary of the American road races and not surprisingly attracted an all-star grid. Present this year were manufacturers like Peugeot, Audi, Ferrari, Acura, BMW and Porsche and drivers like Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti and current Formula 1 star Sebastien Bourdais.
Providing even more excitement was the debut of no fewer than three brand new racing cars; the Audi R15 TDI and Acura ARX-02a LMP1 cars and the BMW M3 GTR GT2 machine. While built to exactly the same regulations the Audi and Acura represent two completely different philosophies and still clocked similar times, very competitive in most sessions. The BMW struggled to find the pace and eventually did not have the reliability to make up for it.
Patron Highcroft Acura racer David Brabham celebrated his father's Formula 1 Championship winning effort at Sebring 50 years ago by driving Sir Jack's old Cooper T51 around the track.
After the green flag dropped on Saturday morning, the Sebring 12 Hours once again showed why it holds a legendary status. The very close fight for the overall lead was only settled in the dying minutes of the race. Sebring's reputation for being tough on men and machine was underlined; only 14 cars managed to cross the finish at 10:30 pm.
We were present for every session of the 2009 Sebring 12 Hours race. It was our first ever visit to the American Le Mans Series and hopefully not the last. The results of our labor can be found in this detailed report and an exclusive 160-shot gallery. We also added five of our favorite shots to the wallpaper section.

Enjoy the links:

2009 Sebring 12 Hours report and slideshow

Wallpaper Section

Regards,
Wouter Melissen