Le Mans and Sebring, 24 hours and 12 hours, 80 races and 60 years, two legends of motorsport have left a mark in the heart both cities, especially at Sebring.

At Le Mans, shoppers in the city centre walk past hand-prints of race winners. At Sebring, in a residential area, located between Schumacher Road and Thunderbird Road, a catalogue of unusual street names. To excite the imagination: what car would you possibly want to mess around?

So imagine cruising down the Le Mans Drive, in a Porsche (car recommended: Porsche 911 GT2 - 530hp - 2008), to remember that the German marque holds the record for victories in both races, 16 wins at Le Mans, and 18 at Sebring. For the Ferrari Drive, the road version of the 458 Italia, the overwhelming favourite in both LM GTE Pro and Am, if we are to believe the result of the first free practice sessions. But the longest avenue in this neighborhood of Sebring is named after Corvette... nothing could be better than to cruising in the legendary Sting Ray of 1968, and the convertible version of course to enjoy the Florida sunshine. You can be sure that this Saturday, March 17th, the factory Corvette (LM GTE Pro) and Larbre Competition (LM GTE Am) will take the challenge to Ferrari in the big race.

In this neighborhood, street names are a real dictionary of manufacturers in endurance racing (Lola, Lotus, Mercedes, Maserati, Aston Martin, Lancia, Riley ...), and also the sportscars of the fifties and sixties (Austin Healey, Triumph). Cooper Drive (to cruise with the Mini Cooper, of course) is a reminder of 1959, and the inaugural F1 Grand Prix of the United States held at Sebring, that was won by Bruce McLaren in a Cooper-Climax, the first rear-engined car to be World Champion in the discipline.

French manufacturers are also represented: Citroen, Renault, Alpine, and Peugeot ... and even before Peugeot won at Sebring in 2010 and 2011! To explore the 'French' streets I recommend the Citroen DS, the Renault 5 imported to the United States under the name of "The Car" in the late 70s, the Alpine A110 Berlinetta or Peugeot 504 V6 Pininfarina... But on this journey, there was a notable absence of a street dedicated to Audi, competing this Saturday, March 17 aiming for a tenth win at Sebring. But no reason not to cruise the Audi style (after a preliminary glance at Google Maps) in the district, driving the Audi R8 supersport.

Jean-Philippe Doret

Photo: SEBRING (FLORIDA, USA), SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, 12 HOURS OF SEBRING, PRIVATE TEST, March 13, 2012. Could a possible tenth victory earn Audi a street name in the city of Sebring? We will find out under the chequered flag on the 17th March!