After each round of the FIA World Endurance Championship a leading sports journalist will give us their thoughts on the event. Having recently returned from the Sebring 12 Hours, Anne Giuntini, leading F1 reporter for the French daily sports paper L’Equipe, shares her personal impressions:

The 12 Hours of Sebring was "my first time". My first foray into the world of endurance racing, shame on me!

This was not so much through lack of desire, as lack of time. For twenty-five years I was devoured whole by Formula 1. I utilized this salutary sabbatical to finally immerse myself in that other world. That world of long distance races, which were the dreams of my childhood. I remember Jacky Ickx conscientiously buckling his harness at Le Mans, Henri Pescarolo racing in the rain, at night, without windscreen wipers. I remember the legend surrounding Masten Gregory jumping from his moving car, and the prowess that American darling of the French, Dan Gurney.

This time, I saw with my own eyes – not Le Mans, not yet. But I saw Sebring, its beautifully anachronistic track, that separates the weak from the strong, however, it has not aged a bit.

My five senses discovered; the smell of orange blossoms in spring that surrounds the circuit and the region. The warm wind moved by the cars that can be observed from the the edge of the track. Because, yes, we still have this rare privilege, on “old fashioned” circuits to be close to the action. My ears were pleased to hear the diversity of sounds, the rumble of the Corvettes growling at the Ferrari 458, as they pass by, and of course, by the poignant whisper of the Audi Diesel. What a sight to see these monsters at night as they streak almost silently and glued to the ground, their powerful ''eyes” tearing into the dark ... And in less time than it takes to locate them, they have eaten up the space before them and are far away in the distance. A fan of science fiction would be overwhelmed, because there you can touch the future at first hand.

I confess that I was fascinated by the subtle marriage on which endurance racing rests securely, that of the cordial and fruitful alliance between tradition and high technology. Celebrating the past does not exclude looking forward to the future. There is no inconsistency between visionary desires and commitment to respecting a rich sporting heritage.

Yes, endurance racing merits a World Championship. I tasted the flavour of that first round in Florida. A friendly atmosphere in the paddock. It is good to see drivers who are opponents on the track, visit each other's trucks chatting away! How nice to see the public wander through the teams area with no security guards to repel them. The spectators at Sebring, observing but not intruding, show exemplary behaviour, respectful of the teams at work.

To summarize, I enjoyed everything! 'L’Endurance' struck me as motor racing from another time; and of our time.

Anne Giuntini

Photo: SEBRING (FLORIDA, UNITED STATES), SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, 12 HOURS OF SEBRING, SATURDAY 17 MARCH 2012, RACE. #2 Audi with Allan McNish at the wheel, took an early pit stop during the safety car period.