Dindo Capello powers out of the hairpin in the Audi R15. [Photo by Jack Webster]
By Jack Webster & Eddie LePine
Dr. Ullrich and Ralf Jüttner give thumbs up to our petition. [Photo by Eddie LePine]
The Sebring Hall of Fame was established during Sebring’s 50th anniversary in 2002. Since that time, a number of legendary drivers have been inducted, including Mario Andretti, Derek Bell, Vic Elford, Juan Manuel Fangio, John Fitch, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert, Stirling Moss, Brian Redman, Hans Stuck and Tom Kristensen among many others.
We believe it is time to put forth the name of another driver who certainly belongs in the Sebring Hall of Fame. As we stated earlier, the Sebring Hall of Fame was established during Sebring’s 50th anniversary year of 2002. The race winner of that 50th anniversary race is who we would like to see inducted. Rinaldo Capello. Known to his legion of fans around the world as simply Dindo.
Capello has had an outstanding career and has always been a fan favorite in the US. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, Petit Le Mans five times (more than any other driver) and he won the 12 Hours of Sebring five times as well.
He was also the American Le Mans Series champion in 2006 and 2007, driving for Audi as he did in his entire sports car racing career.
His five Sebring wins came in all of Audi’s winning prototypes: the R8, R10, R15 and R18 models. In his eleven years of running at Sebring in world’s toughest endurance race, he not only won five times, he finished on the podium a staggering ten times as well.
Dindo Capello retired from Audi’s prototype ranks at the end of the 2012 season, but continues to this day as an excellent ambassador to the sport for Audi. Always a fan and media favorite, Dindo always took time to answer questions, sign autographs and pose for photos with his many fans.
We decided that Dindo Capello needed to be inducted into the Hall of Fame at Sebring and wrote up a nomination for his induction that we took to a couple of races this season so we could ask a few of his fellow drivers and other motorsports professionals to sign it to show their support. They all had Dindo stories to tell.
The results were overwhelming. Dindo is highly respected by his peers and everyone we asked gladly signed the nominating petition. Here are just a few of the signers: Lucas Luhr, Jan Magnussen, Andrew Davis, Alex Job, Toni Vilander, Giancarlo Fisichella, Dirk Werner, Oliver Gavin, Ron Fellows, Doug Fehan, and Dan Binks.
Not to be excluded, his teammates and fellow professionals from Audi Motorsport showed their support for Dindo as well, including the following petition signers: Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Ralf Jüttner, Brad Kettler, Marcel Fassler, Andre Lotterer, Loic Duval, Oliver Jarvis, Benoit Treluyer, Lucas di Grassi, Emanuele Pirro, Allan McNish and of course, Tom Kristensen.
If you were ever thrilled by watching Dindo race at Sebring, or had a chat with him in the paddock or had him pose for a photo with you or sign an autograph, please share this story and your memories on Facebook so we can continue this quest to get Dindo the recognition he deserves by having him inducted into the Sebring Hall of Fame class of 2018.
He would love to come back to Sebring to see you all again.
Jack Webster has been shooting motorsports since the early 1970’s, covering Formula One, CanAm, F5000, TransAm, GrandAm and American Le Mans races, among others. In addition to his photography, he has also worked on racing teams, both in IMSA and IndyCar, so has a complete knowledge of the inner workings of motorsport. Both his photography and writing can be seen here on racingnation.com. Eddie LePine has been involved in motorsports for over 30 years as photographer, columnist, and driver. Eddie also is now a retired racer (well, retired unless a good ride pops up). You can usually find Eddie in the paddock area, deep in conversation with a driver.
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