Audi top four in provisional qualifying at Sebring

Sebring, Florida -- The first qualifying session for the Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring could not have been better for Audi: Under the sun of Florida and temperatures of 81 degrees, Emanuele Pirro and Rinaldo Capello set the fastest times with the Team Audi Sport North America's two Infineon Audi R8s. Recording the third and fourth fastest times, the two Audi customer teams of Champion and Johansson proved that last year's R8 is still fully competitive in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).

The final qualifying session at Sebring is scheduled for Thursday at 3:05 p.m. local time, the race starts on Saturday at 10:40 a.m.

Quotes after first qualifying: Emanuele Pirro (#2): "I am really happy. So far it has been a very good weekend for us. All three of us have done very good lap times. We were fastest in almost every session. We just have to keep on going this way. In terms of speed and car handling I am very confident."

Rinaldo Capello (#1): "The car was good, but I did not know how much I could push on new tires because I could not try this before. When I felt I could push more, it was already too late, because with temperatures like this you have to give 100 percent at the first lap. There is no way to improve your time in the second lap."

-Audi