Here are the highlights of the 62nd running of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, yesterday.
This is the revival of one of the great races in sports cars. This is a historic venue. Juan Fangio, Dan Gurney, Mario Andretti, and Phil Hill, have raced here. Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, and Corvette, have been some of the winners. This is the first time for the Tudor United Sports Car Championship, at Sebring. They'll fight through the heat of the day, and the dark of night.
Who will be champion of this race? It's going to be awesome, fans. Stand by. On New Year's Eve in 1950, Sebring hosted it's first race, and it used to be called Hendricks Field. This is also round two of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup. Sebring is a living racing museum. This track has remained unchanged for so many years. You have a love/hate relationship with Sebring as a driver. It's an all day sucker. You have to be patient as a driver. The evening hours, are where things come alive. This is the toughest endurance race. The bumps are so severe, they make drivers sore, and they can knock the wind out of you.
On pole, is the #5 Action Express Corvette prototype, who won the Rolex 24. Sebastien Bourdais, set the pole time. It's tough to compare the two races. There's no rest. Bumps everywhere. The Oak Racing Morgan Nissan is going to be competitive. Alex Brundle, will share with Olivier Pla and Gustavo Yacaman. We've got 66 cars in this race. Since 2000, there have been just over 40 cars that have started. It's going to be hot, slick, and wild. Let's go.
The command to fire engines has been given. We're ready to race, at Sebring. The cars are on track. In GT Le Mans, it's again going to be a battle between Corvette, BMW, Viper, and Porsche. The winner at the Rolex 24 was Porsche. Porsche has not won at Sebring in GT since 2008. Michael Christensen put the #912 factory Porsche 911 RSR on pole, sharing with Patrick Long and Jorg Bergmeister. Dane Cameron in the #94 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4, is on pole in GT Daytona. But, they'll start from pit lane.
Cameron shares with Paul Dalla Lana. The cars come down the Ulmann straight, named after Alec Ulmann who had the idea to start this race and created it. Here we go.
At the start, Joao Barbosa leads and Ricky Taylor tries to pass Olivier Pla. Now the track narrows. The Daytona Prototypes are heavier. The tires will come in quicker, than the lighter P2 cars, coming to the hairpin for the first time. Keep it clean. Tire pressure and temperature has to increase. They are braking for turn ten. Two Ganassi cars race at Sebring, like Daytona. Ganassi had a tough time at Daytona with their new Ford V6 motors. The cars run through Le Mans corner, and onto the back straight. The pavement is over 70 years old.
Lap one, done and dusted. Joao Barbosa leads, after winning Daytona seven weeks ago. Turn one is totally blind, and it's fast. The #10 Corvette DP had electrical issues. But, they seem to be cleared up. The p2 cars are more durable, because the DP cars have not run here at Sebring before, whereas the P2's have. Parts will brak at Sebring where they don't break anywhere else. It's Michael Christensen in the Porsche vs. Oliver Gavin in the Corvette, for GT LM honors.
Gavin shares with Robin Liddell and Tommy Milner. Teams come here and test, because it's so tough. Porsche and Audi, were at Sebring, testing for the FIA World Endurance Championship, weeks ago. Nick Tandy in the first factory Porsche, battles the factory BMW Z4 for third in class. The #94 GT Daytona BMW Z4 of Dane Cameron is back in pit lane. He's called into the penalty box, six minutes into this race. The factory car is shared by Dirk Muller, Dirk Werner, and John Edwards.
A battle is on between Ganassi and Extreme Speed Motorsports. In the two ESM cars, it's the same team of drivers that ran at Daytona, with David Brabham, Ryan Dalziel, and Scott Sharp, in car #1... while in #2, it's Ed Brown, Simon Pagenaud, and Johannes van Overbeek. Joao Barbosa continues to lead this race. The town and the track, are right in the middle of the state of Florida. 3.74 miles. 17 turns. The original configuration was five miles, and very wide, using the actual old runways.
Planes would fly in and out of the track during the race. Watch out for the bumps. Watch out for traffic. The unknown is how the cars stack up. The Daytona Prototype cars are running here for the first time. We watch the #009 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of TRG AMR driven by Brandon Davis, Kris Wilson, and Max Riddle. Check that, it's the #007 team car of David Block, James Davison and other drivers. Not sure of the whole lineup.
Ben Keating is racing the #33 GT Daytona SRT Viper, with Ben Keating at the controls. Keating shares with Sebastian and Jeroen Bleekemolen. Bruno Junquiera and Tom Kimber-Smith battle each other for the class lead in Prototype Challenge. Here's a dilemma. Prototypes are catching GT cars already. Ricky Taylor and Olivier Pla, as well as Scott Sharp, are in traffic, in this first hour of the race. David Cheng spins the #8 Prototype Challenge car. He got tapped by the #31 Marsh Racing Corvette DP.
Cheng shares with Renger van der Zande and Martin Fuentes. There is a local yellow on that corner. The #31 Whelen Corvette DP has Guy Cosmo, Eric Curran, and Boris Said on the driver's strength. Because of this spin, there's a full course yellow, and pit stops are coming. An hour was spent under yellow, as Ben Keating's Viprr caught fire. Keating tired reaching in to shut off the electronics to the fuel pump. This fed the fire. Keating got out, unhurt.
This was indeed a fuel fire. The Deltawing of Andy Meyrick now leads overall. He shares with Gabby Chaves and Katherine Legge. The cars run back through the hairpin. Andy Meyrick is flying right now. No catching the Deltawing right now, even though it's setup won't work for Sebring because it's flat, and not as fdast. Lucas Luhr is now third, behind Joao Barbosa. The Deltawing is a lov it or hate it design. But, there are fans who love it. The #60 Need For Speed Michael Shank Racing car is running well. Scott Pruett is coming up through the order.
It is his first race at Sebring in over 25 years. The Corvtte is pushing it's way through the GT Daytona cars. The #3 is coming from behind, with Ryan Briscoe, Antonio Garcia, and Jan Magnussen, sharing. The #81 GT Daytona Porsche has a big off. The road was taken away froim him,. and he spins into a sign. This is the #81 GB Autosport Porsche 911 GT America of Bob Faieta, Damien Faulkner, and Patrick Huisman. The #44 Magnus Racing Flex Box Porsche 911 RSR of John Potter is also off. He got nudged into the dirt, in a big way, by a GT Daytona BMW.
Now, an hour and a half in, the #22 Alex Job Racing Porsche blows a tire and can get to the pit quickly, as it was done in turn 17. No contact marks. Not sure how the incident happened. Cooper MacNeil is at the controls, sharing with Leh Keen. Tire strategy is a big deal here, because of the new rules, for the tire compounds, and the fact that tires and fuel are done at the sam time. Lucas Luhr gets into the Muscle Milk Oreca Nissan on their pit stop. Luhr shares with Klaus Graf and Jann Mardenborough.
We're coming to the end of the second hour of twelve. Half these teams have not raced here at Sebring for over 15 years. Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing both pit. Two Corvette prototypes. The fuel mileage and tire data is starting to get cleared up. Fuel numbers will be skewed. Driver changes are taking place as Joao Barbosa takes over the #5 from Sebastien Bourdais. There was no change in the #10. Ricky Taylor is still in the car.
One of the Prototype Challenge cars has spun in turn 17. The #31 Whelen Corvette DP pits. They are having issues with bodywork and tape to hold it together. The front end dive planes are damaged. The #38 Prototype Challenge car has tire trouble on it's stop. The #02 Riley Ford for Ganassi also pits, with Scott Dixon at the controls. Klaus Graf was ahead of the #10 car, and Max Angelelli has taken over the #10 machine now that the second hour is coming to a close.
The #8 car went unsighted and didn't see the Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GTE. David Cheng, in the #8 Prototype Challenge car, is having a fraught race. Now, we're under yellow. 63 cars started this race. The #3 Corvette had their own problems. Five or six cars have gone off the road. One of the factory GT Porsche's went off the road. Klaus Graf had to srve a penalty. The #62 Ferrari 458 Italia spun, and there was a big crash, too, for the #56 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE. Matteo Malucelli, fortunately did not have a big wreck, like he did at Daytona.
Sebastien Bourdais continues to lead sharing with Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa. Corvette leads GT LM. The Rum Bum Porsche of Jan Heylen, Matt Plumb, Hugh Plumb, and Nick Longhi, is running well. Sebastien Bourdais, and Indycar rookie Sage Karam, are battling for the race lead, three hours and 49 minutes in. Points will be awarded for the NAEC in eleven minutes, at the 1/3rd mark, or four hours. The Flying Lizard Audi R8 LMS spins. Nort sure which one. Ooh! A Porsche is in the way.
The sixth yellow happened with David Ostella rips the front end off his Prototype Challenge car, and fellow Prototype Challenge driver Frankie Montecalvo plows into him! Fortunately,l this was not as bad as the savage crash at the Rolex 24 between the Risi Ferrari and the Gainsco Corvette. Gidley is in rehab at a facility in California, and is out of the hospital. He was interviewed on the Fox Sports broadcast, by Bob Varsha, lead race commentator, and color commentators Calvin Fish and Dorsey Schroeder, saying, he's feeling OK.
At four hours, the #02 car has the lead in DP, the #52 in Prototype Challenge, the #91 SRT Viper in GT LM, and the #94 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4, all lead their classes, and would earn bonus points for the North American Endurance Cup, in round two of that championship, with two more left, at Watkins Glen International Raceway in the Six Hours of the Glen in late June, and, the Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, in mid October, to finish off the season.
Later on, Simon Pagenaud takes the lead. Alex Tagliani in the #08 Prototype Challenge car gets clouted! Big wreck! This is six hours into the race. ESM and the Ganassi Riley Ford thread the needle around a GT Daytona Audi R8 LMS. Pagenaud leads. James Gue leads Prototype Challenge for CORE Autosport. AIM Autosport leads GT Daytona. Not sure who is leading GT LM right now. We are coming to halfway in this race, six hours.
James Gue shares with Jon Bennett. Corvette Racing nhad a transmissionj issue at the Rolex 24, and the #3 car had a crash here, too. But they got it fixed and are running strongly now. The #555 Ferrari 458 Italia has Jeff Segal at this point. They have energy absorbing foam in the car for comfort and safety. It's not required by IMSA. But, it should be. The #42 Oak Racing prototype is running well, and in GT LM, Falken Tire Racing is fourth in class.
Kuno Wittmer in one of the SRT Viper's is running well, and BMW is running decently in both GT LM and GT Daytona. But the #94 GT Daytona BMW, has damage. The track is getting really dirty offline. More to come, folks. Hang in there. After their monstrous wreck at Daytona, Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing, and their Corvette prototype, will not compete in the rest of the Tudor United Sports Car Racing season, this year. Will they be back? Time will tell.
We look for a gorgeous sunset. Now, let's fast forward to the eight hour mark. Three hours and 42 minutes to go. Christian Fittipaldi leads Prototype. James Gue leads Prototype Challenge over David Heinemeier Hanson. Oliver Gavin in the #4 Corvette leads GT LM and Paul Dalla Lana leads GT Daytona in the #94 BMW. Now, Johannes van Overbeek has spun off the road, after Bryce Miller, in the #48 Audi R8 LMS, spins, and collects the prototype. There's no way, with the sun, that Bryce Miller, would have seen the prototype coming, or going.
The blazing sun, is, boom!, right in your face. Before you know it, it'll be dark. Christian Fittipaldi pits. Joao Barbosa takes over from Christian Fittipaldi. Fuel and tires are added to the car, and the windscreen and grille, are cleaned. Fittipaldi has just run a triple stint. Fittipaldi says the advantage that the Daytona Prototypes had over P2 cars at Daytona, has vanished, at Sebring. The P2 cars are strong in the late afternoon twilight. When darkness comes, the Daytona Prototypes will come to the fore.
A left front tire is coming off the #009 GT Daytona Aston Martin, and it loses the brake rotor, too. He's got no brakes, no tire, and no steering.
This is our ninth full course yellow, with three and a half hours left in the race now. Last year, in the final American Le Mans Series sanctioned 12 Hours, there were just four yellows. It'll get more dramatic, as the night draws nearer. The sunset at Sebring, is gorgeous. No wonder, turn 17 at Sebring, is called Sunset Bend. Three hours and ten minutes left. The #3 Corvette C-7-R- is having fuel pump issues. The second segment of the North American Endurance Cup, is wrapped, in this race.
The #3 Corvette is still in pit lane. The #911 factory Porsche is held for one minute, twenty seconds. Patrick Pilet will fall down from ninth, where he lies, currently. Scott Pruett is a second a half off of the ESM HPD prototype. Ganassi and Scott Pruett, are running to a pace at the moment. Many naysayers at Daytona, were upset about the performance disparity between the Daytona Prototype and P2 machines. But, things seem to be working well. Jorg Bergmeister in the sister factory GT Porsche, battles with Kuno Wittmer in the SRT Viper.
It has been real cold at Sebring at night, around 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Jeff Segal leads GT Daytona in the Level 5 Ferrari 458 Italia, the sister car to the one that won GT Daytona at the Rolex 24. Markus Palttala is second in GT Daytona. He ran with Maxime Martin in the Blancpain Endurance Series, last year. Scott Pruett tries making a move on Gustavo Yacaman. Pruett leads Brabham, leads Sage Karam. Night is coming. Three hours to go at Sebring.
James Gue passes David Heinemeier Hanson in the Proptotype Challenge class. James Gue, Jon Bennett, and Colin Braun, are running flawlessly. Renger van der Zande is third in class. Kuno Wittmer closes on Jorg Bergmeister. This is the battrle, at sunset, for GT LM honors. Bergmeister's dad had a car dealership. Bergmeister, wanted to go karting. Who did Bergmeister's dad call? Michael Schumacher. We continue to pray for recovery for Michael, as you've no doubt heard if youy've followed the racing press lately.
David Brabham, Scott Pruett, and Sage Karam are battling, and so is the Oak Racing prototype. Bruno Junquiera will finish out the race for RSR Racing. It will be a battle between Junquiera, and Colin Braun. The #01 car still leads. But Scott Pruett is fighting a loose race car. He likes driving a loose car. Dion von Moltke is giving a good ride to the #35 Flying Lizard Audi R8 LMS. Charles Espenlaub in the #46 Fall Line Audi R8 LMS is ahead.
The #55 BMW Z4 is fighting back. The BMW RLL car has had pit lane speed limiter issues in the electronics, with Andy Priaulx at the controls, while Nic Jonsson is fnding off his spot in the Krohn Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. Joao Barbosa is threading his way through these GT cars, and David Brabham is committed to trying to catch him, flying into the orange glow of twilight here at Sebring. Just four tams have won th 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring in the same year. Can Action Express become the fifth one?
Brabham goes to the inside in the esses, and makes the pass! Wow! Brabham releases the brakes and goes by. Sage Karam and Gustavo Yacaman have a good battle going, too, nine hours into this thing. The sun gets lower in the sky, with it's orange hue matching the colors of the fruit in the citrus groves that surround this great race track, and line the city of Sebring, Florida. David Brabham continues leading Joao Barbosa. Action Express wants to make it back-to-back after winning at Daytona back in January.
We now have two hours and 45 minutes left. David Brabham has to win this race, because he wants an overall, as his brothers Gary and Geoff, have both won here. His father, Sir Jack Brabham ran in Formula One at Sebring in 1959 for the U.S. Grand Prix. Brabham was passed for the win by Bruce McLaren who became the youngest F1 champ in history, at that time. Kuno Wittmer passes one of the factory Porsche's after Jorg Bergmeister misses the hairpin.
The GT LM class is a war of tire brands, while everyone else runs spec Continetal tires. There will be a full moon tonight at Sebring. Eek! It's going to be a wild finish, tonight. The sun has set. Or, it's nearly set. The P2 cars double stint their tires. Meanwhile, Sage Karam passes Joao Barbosa, putting the #02 Riley Ford EcoBoost in second place in the overall. That's a V6 turbo motor, of course. Scott Dixon will finish out the race in the #02 machine.
Darkness will beckon quickly. Now, it's go time! It's dark. 38 minutes left. We've come off another yellow. Ryan Dalziel leads Prototype. Bruno Junquiera leads PC but needs pit stop. Kuno Wittmer and company leads GT LM. Porsche leads GT Daytona. Ryan Dalziel takes four tires and fuel. The #5 car gets fuel and new tires, too. The pits are crowded. Headlights on, on every car. Ryan Dalziel has been passed by the Oak Racing #42 car.
We're going to be in for a shootout, now, folks. The green flag will wave, and we'll have a half an hour of racing, to decide the 62nd running of one of the world's great endurance sports car races... and the second round of the North American Endurance Cup. We've now come to just under 25 minutes left in the Sebring 12 Hours. It's going to be epic, everyone. Let's go racing, blokes. Olivier Pla, beat Sebastien Bourdais, off of pit lane.
This is going to be a hum dinger of a battle. It'll be Scotland vs. France... much like European soccer matches. Watch out for Pla. It's two Scotsmen vs three Frenchmen, and then, New Zealander Scott Dixon. A truly international field, ready to slug it out to the finish at Sebring. Go! Who's tires will warm up? Bourdais is inside Pla, and DFalziel is pushing, too. Bourdais splits Pla, and Pla is going to scrap like no tomorrow. Bourdais is playing the GT classes in traffic, and he's going after Ryan Dalziel and Memo Rojas, who leads.
Less than 20 minutes remain now. Through the Le Mans corner, and onto the back straight, (the Ulmann straight). Ganassi pitted earlier. They don't need a splash and dash, and they get track position, because pit lane is closed. No cars remain between Marino Franchitti, and Ryan Dalziel. It's the battle of the Scotsmen for the win here at Sebring. Jorg Bergmeister and the whole factory Porsche squad have gone to softer tires, which they can do, per the regulations in the GT LM class. Jonathan Bomarito and Joey Hand, keep chase. In GT Daytona, Andy Lally is ahead in the #44 Flex Box Porsche 911 GT America for Magnus Racing.
Marino Franchitti still leads. Fifteen minutes remain, as the Ford V6 whistles through the darkness. Dalziel and Bourdais still battle. But, Bourdais is not as quick as the Honda open cockpit prototype. Franchitti and Dalziel run identical times at 1:53.6. Catching is one thing. Passing, another. Dalziel locks the brakes. Watch for the bump at the end of the straightaway. The parity between the cars, and the Balance of Performance, seem to be working.
Franchitti runs 1:53.3 while Dalziel and Bourdais runs 1:53.6. Ganassi has been a second down all day, but now, theya re right on it. The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, has now become the 12 Minutes of Sebring. The finish, is coming. Marino Franchitti still leads. Ryan Dalziel is putting on the pressure running fast lap at 1:52.6, down by only 5.5 seconds. It's going to be one of, if not the closest finish in Sebring history. Jorg Bergmeister leads in GT LM. Colin Braun leads Prototype Challenge. Andy Lally leads GT Daytona. Less than ten minutes remain.
Porsche has played this one well. Bergmeister is 6/10ths quicker than his next competitor in GT LM. The Porsche factory is running on pace for sure. Jonathan Bomarito and Joey Hand are second and third in class. It's Porsche vs. BMW vs. SRT Viper. Ryan Dalziel is a second quicker than Marino Franchitti. Bruno Junquiera wants to reel in Colin Braun for the Prototype Challenge win. Braun gets loose, losing time on the straight. Dalziel is 3.6 seconds behind Franchitti.
Jonathan Bomarito is eating time out of Jorg Bergmeister's lead. But the Porsche has the advantage over the Viper, still. Andy Lally leads Townsend Bell in GT Daytona, as we're coming to the white flag lap. What a win this will be for everyone involved with the Ford EcoBoost engine project. This is Ganassi's first time competing at Sebring. His team could win on debut, at this track. Franchitti has raced here on numerous occasions before.
Just under two minutes... 17 corners left in this race. Ryan Dalziel will give everything. But he might not be close enough. The WeatherTech GT Daytona Porsche slides out of the way, with Leh Keen driving. The team is giving Franchitti the split times between he and Dalziel on this last lap. The name Franchitti is synonymous with success at Ganassi Racing. Dario Franchitti, has handed the torch to his younger brother. Ganassi wins Sebring!
CORE Autosport, is now two for two, in both PC and GT Le Mans, winning, the 36 Hours of Florida. Ganassi has won their first race at Sebring as a Prototype team. In GT Daytona, it's a win for Magnus Racing and Flex Box with their #44 Porsche 911 GT America, shared by Andy Lally, John Potter, and Marco Seefried.
Overall/Prototype: #01 Pruett/Rojas/Franchitti Riley Ford EcoBoost
Prototype Challenge: #54 Braun/Bennett/Gue Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #912 Long/Christensen/Bergmeister Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #44 Lally/Potter/Seefried Porsche 911 GT America
291 laps completed... 1,076.7 miles. Ford wins their first race at Sebring since 1967, when Bruce McLaren and Mario Andretti took a Ford GT 40 Mk. IV to victory for the factory squad from Ford Motor Company, 47 years ago. The next race, will be a sprint event. It will be on the streets of Long Beach, California. The race will be for just two classes, (Prototype, and GT LM). The race is coming up, in a little less than a month.
We'll see you, for the sprint races, coming up, fans. It's been a great 12 Hours of Sebring. So long, everyone.
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