Tag: Sebring 12 Hours

Busy warmup
In the 20-minute warmup for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, all but seven cars turned laps to get ready for the 10:10am start of the race, most of them well below race pace. Mathieu Jaminet led GTP in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963. Other quickest laps were Mikkel Jensen in LMP2 (No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA); Dan Goldburg in LMP3 (No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Duqueine); Jordan Taylor in GTD PRO (No. 3 Corvette Racing); and Antonio Fuoco in GTD (No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296).

Qualification penalties
Two Mercedes-AMG entries failed to meet the ride-height requirements in post-qualifying technical inspection. The GTD PRO-class No. 79 WeatherTech Racing entry and the GTD-class No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG will be moved to the back of the GTD PRO/GTD category.

LMP2 set through 2025
IMSA released a memo confirming that the LMP2 class in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will continue with current-generation cars through the end of the 2025 season. The series did not announce its plans for future LMP3 eligibility, indicating that a decision will be reached by June 1.

Auberlen to make 100th start since merge
Bill Auberlen continues to rack up the milestones. When he takes the green in the No. 95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3, Auberlen will have made his 100th IMSA start since reunification in 2014.

Tire allocation
For the GTP cars, IMSA has allowed 11 sets of tires for qualifying and race, which should be more than enough for a 12-hour race. Both Acura teams, though — Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing — used two sets in qualifying, reducing their sets of stickers for the race. It’s likely not something that will make a big difference, but something to pay attention to. Neither team was able to really use the second set due to the red flag brought out by Campbell’s crash in the No. 7 Porsche 963.

Sebring? “It’s mega!”
Glenn van Berlo is racing at Sebring International Raceway for the first time, but managed to set a new LMP3 record in the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier and take the pole by a big margin. So what does he think of the track?
“It’s different than every other racetrack and especially with low fuel and qualifying, it’s mega! I would like to do this 24/7, like qually laps on low fuel. It’s unbelievable. It’s really nice.”

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LMP2 traffic issues
Traffic is always an issue, and often the key to victory, in the Twelve Hours of Sebring, but there’s some concern that with the new 35mm restrictors on the LMP2 cars implemented this year to provide more speed differential between GTP and LMP2 could create more problems than it solves as it makes it harder for LMP2s to pass LMP3 and GTD cars. Ryan Dalziel, driver of the No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA, has voiced the concerns that many drivers have about the new LMP2 BoP and the issues it can cause in traffic.

“I said it at Daytona — I was pretty vocal about it — and it’s going to be 10 times worse at Sebring,” he said. “The potential of a P2 car ruining somebody’s day is quite high, and that could go for the pro or the bronze drivers. It’s just we have zero power in the infield. And it’s going to be extremely tough with the amount of cars we’re going to have. Two-thirds of the grid is cars slower than us. I think that’s where the problem for all the cars in P2 is going to come, trying to navigate traffic without losing a whole lap stuck behind a GT car and risk over reward. And obviously the, you know, least experienced guys have a tougher time with that.”

Saluting Terry Jackson
The Jackson Motorsports team, the distributor for the Michelin Tires used in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, will be wearing black armbands for this weekend’s 12 Hours of Sebring in tribute to the founder and chairman Larry Jackson who passed away earlier this week.

There are 38 Jackson associates on site handling tire inventory, mounting, balancing, release to the IMSA teams, and communications for the largest event in Michelin Motorsport’s history

Qualifying warmup
IMSA ran a short warmup session prior to qualifying, allowing teams to check setups prior to qualifying. Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports was quickest, with a time less than four hundredths off the fastest time turned in a WeatherTech SportsCar Championship session all weekend. Both Acuras that stopped on track completed the session.

Pit now! Which pit?
Racing in two different series on the same weekend isn’t anything unusual for sports car drivers. But there’s a twist at Sebring: just as a driver doing both IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta must use two different pit lanes, so do the drivers doubling up in the WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring. And at Sebring, they’re in very different places — IWSC competitors enter out of Turn 17, while WEC competitors enter at Turn 15, and heading for the wrong pit lane could be disastrous.

If a driver is in a completely different car in the two races, that makes it a bit easier to remember. But if the cars are the same, such as Dane Cameron jumping between Porsche Penske 963s, it can get a little more confusing.

“I’ve done a double before, but to do it in the same car that looks almost identical from inside is a little different,” says Cameron. “Luckily, the voice is a little different on the radio, so that makes for a bit of a help. And the cars that you’re seeing on track are different, right? We’re seeing GT3s vs. GTEs so it’s a couple of little cues.”

Still, he’s not taking any chances.

“I’ve just told everybody here, ‘Treat me like I don’t know anything.’ I’d rather have that reminder of, ‘IMSA pit lane,’ ‘WEC pit lane.’ I’m asking for more help in particular this weekend to make sure I don’t do something silly. Just tell me where I need to be and what’s happening and really relying on the team. But yeah, managing your time is the most difficult thing, trying to get your debriefs, be in the right place, wear the right suit at the right time is the most challenging, But at least at least the Nomex and the shoes are the same, so one less thing to swap.”

911 GT3 dino-might
New GTD team AO Racing, whatever success on track awaits them, has already achieved greatness when it comes to liveries. First came the Preston Henn Swap Shop tribute for Daytona. Now, for the rest of the season, the No. 80 Porsche driven at Sebring by PJ Hyett, Seb Priaulx and Gunnar Jeannette will be known as Rexy and carry a bright green livery based on a Tyrannosaurus rex. And at night, a light in the grill shines behind some very sharp teeth.

The inspiration for the design came from team principal and driver Hyett and his children. On his helmet, Hyett sports a T-Rex for his son and unicorn for his daughter.

Rexy is ready for autographs!#IMSA | @AORacingUSA | @sebringraceway pic.twitter.com/j2NDggw1zA

— #IMSA (@IMSA) March 17, 2023

Priaulx has been quick in the car so far at Sebring, putting the car into the top three in GTD in two sessions. However, he may have an unfair advantage; while the other Porsche teams are racing the 911 GT3 R, AO Racing’s model is a GT3 … Rawr!

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First rain race?
Despite the thousands of miles of testing, the GTP manufacturers and teams have had little or no running in the wet. Among official IMSA sessions, only a night session during the Roar Before the 24 experienced wet conditions. So if it rains on Saturday during the Twelve Hours of Sebring, it will be the first time many of the drivers have experienced the LMDh cars in those conditions.

Forecasts currently call for passing thunderstorms during the race on Saturday, although that chance is diminishing as it gets closer. Only Porsche Penske Motorsports with the No. 7 963 and Action Express Racing with the No. 31 Cadillac did any serious running in one wet Roar session. For the others it will be quite educational.

Entry list loses one
The pre-event entry list for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring listed 54 cars; however, the entry for MRS-GT Racing, which had no drivers listed, has withdrawn, bringing the number down to 53.

With a split qualifying session affording the GTP cars a nearly open track, several teams opted for a qualifying simulation at the end of the second practice session for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. In what is seldom the fastest time of day at Sebring, Tom Blomqvist dropped the top time from this morning by more than a second, with the next four cars chasing him within the same second.

Blomqvist’s 1m47.049s (125.77mph) lap in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 topped the second practice session as most of the cars got in a full session, the exception being the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8, which only turned eight laps at the end of the session after changing a faulty torque sensor. It was Acura-Cadillac-Acura-Cadillac followed by the two Porsche Penske Motorsports 963s and the two BMWs.

Sebastien Bourdais fell just 0.026s of besting Blomqvist’s time in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, 0.148s ahead of the No.10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura. Ricky Taylor posted a fast time in that car early to lead most of the session, but Louis Deletraz lowered the time in the final minutes. Pipo Derani was fourth in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac, with Nick Tandy setting the best time for the Porsche drivers to put the No. 7 PPM 963 in fifth.

Tommy Milner posted the best GTD PRO time as Corvette Racing seeks to defend its 2022 title. His 2m1.260s time was third overall among the GT cars, leading Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage by 0.053s. If Milner, Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia were to win, it would be Garcia’s fifth victory, and Corvette’s 13th, at a track Garcia has come to appreciate.

“I think the experience of the drivers, the experience of the team, I would say that’s the biggest thing,” said Garcia of his and the team’s success on the 3.74-mile, 17-turn track. “So when you have a team like Corvette behind you that has done this race for over 20 years now, they must, as a team, or me as a driver … I have almost run every single condition you can find around this track, so that’s pretty big. And then you obviously need to know and like this racetrack, which I do. I find ever since I discovered this racetrack I always find something special about the end of the race finishing up at night.”

Davide Rigon was third in GTD PRO in the No. 61 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 with a 2m01.397s lap. Jack Hawksworth (No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) was fourth, and Patrick Pilet put the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche into fifth.

Era Motorsport was again on top of LMP2, and again it was Christian Rasmussen setting the fast time for the class at 1m50.506s in the No. 18 ORECA. Nolan Siegel was second for CrowdStrike Racing, 0.767s off Rasmussen’s time in the No. 04, with Paul-Loup Chatin third in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, another half-second back.

The top of the LMP3 chart looked familiar as well, Dakota Dickerson posting a 1m56.382 in the No. 30 Ligier to lead for Jr III Racing over Josh Burdon in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier at 1m56.564s. Nico Varrone was third in the No. 17 AWA Duqueine.

Mercedes-AMG took its turn at the top of the GTD times, Russel Ward posting the fast time of 2m01.218s in the No. 57 Winward machine, just edging Sebastian Priaulx in the No. 80 AO Racing Porsche 911, 0.034s short of Ward’s time. Aaron Telitz was third in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus with a 2m01.373s lap. It was seventh place before a marque was repeated in the order, another Mercedes-AMG. After the Lexus in third, it was Patrick Gallagher in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3, Kyle Marcelli in the No. 93 Racers Edge with WTR Acura NSX, and Marco Sorensen in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.

The session was interrupted by two red flags, including one for Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Cadillac lokcing up and going off course at Turn 3.

UP NEXT: A 90-minute night practice at 7:45 p.m. ET. The session is critical not only for setting up the cars to be fast at the finish of the Twelve Hour, but also to get required night practice for many drivers who are required to have some in order to drive at night during the race.

RESULTS