In the closest finish in race history, the #1 ADT Champion Racing Audi beat its sister car by just over six seconds to claim the first Sebring 12 Hours title for Dave Maraj's team.
The race was too close to call throughout its twelve-hour duration, with either of the white Champion cars in a position to win at any time. Frank Biela, driving the #2 car, was aiming for a record fourth overall victory, but instead it was team-mates Tom Kristensen - for the third time - JJ Lehto and Marco Werner - now with two apiece - who tasted success, after the German suffered a pair of early stop-go penalties for contact with slower cars.
The victory extended Audi's Sebring winning streak to six races, giving no other manufacturer a look-in since Kristensen, Lehto and Jorg Muller took the previous closest run victory, for
BMW, in 1999. Only Porsche has won more consecutive Sebring titles than its German rival.
In the opening stages, the two Audis exchanged the lead with the fastest of the Dyson Lola-MGs, before the German cars' proven reliability again provided the key to success on the machine-wrecking track. As technical problems cost its rivals more and more time, the Champion team simply motored on, eking out a margin that amounted to 20 laps by the chequered flag.
Despite the absence of any outside interference, the Audi crews continued to battle fiercely against each other, with the lead swap throughout. Even the #2's stop-go dramas and a premature driver change for the #1 did not decide the fight, as various caution periods and well-matched crews kept the two leading cars together for the entire distance.
In the final stages, both crews raced for tenths of a second, given their head by the team to each chase victory. Eventually, Kristensen, Lehto and Werner proved to be a little more lucky in traffic, giving Champion its first victory on 'home soil'.
"It was a great race for both Audi teams, which makes the victory even sweeter," Kristensen said after spraying the champagne, "I know how much this means to Dave Maraj.
