An introduction for this great motor race, quoted in part, from the one and the only, Sam Posey.
"This is central Florida. Flat, featureless, and far from the crowded coasts. Downtown here, Spanish moss hangs from the limbs of hundred-year-old trees, and shuffleboard is every day's game. But, once a year, at the airport five miles away, there's competition of a different sort. A 12-hour race that has made this unassuming town famous around the world. The town, Sebring. It's a race, but also, a happening. Hardcore fans making the pilgrimage to be a part of a history that stretches back, 70 years. College kids deserting the beaches, flocking inland for a day of excess of hot sun and cold six packs. The thrill of vicarious danger. A day of shattering noise, barbecues, orange blossoms, and motor oil, that is the Sebring experience.
12 hours. Day into night. Glaring noontime light softening at sunset, then folding into a velvet blackness, as the race rushes towards it's climax. Dynasties have come and gone at Sebring, each defining the race in a different way. The Ferrari's and Maserati's came first, bright red against the white concrete runways and the impenetrable blue Florida sky. Next, it was Porsche, winning it's first major race here, and following that with 17 more. A dominant force without equal in the sport. Audi won here a total of 11 times and Ferrari, a dozen. The prototypes, including the Daytona Prototype International entries that will race here for the final time, before a new era dawns next year, are as unobtanium as they are astonishing.
It is the GT classes (GT Daytona Pro and regular GT Daytona), that connect with the dreams and aspirations of the crowd. In the early years, Jaguar's, MG's, Austin Healey's. Today, Corvette's, Porsche's Ferrari's, BMW's and Lamborghini's. Sebring, renown from the beginning as a tough track. Reinvigorated and reconfigured in the late 1990s under the inspiration and leadership of the late, great Dr. Don Panoz. The rough runways still tear at your drivetrain. The notorious last turn at Sunset Bend is still bumpy, fast, and maybe, just wide enough for three abreast. The Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the longest half day in racing, is... next!"
We're ready for a start. Seven decades ago, a man went and said we need a Le Mans race in the states. Here we go. Green flag. We're underway! Punch it! Sebastien Bourdais leads the motor race. Pipo Derani to second and Ricky Taylor moves around Alex Lynn. Three former winners to the front. LMP3 cars locking the brakes. Here come the GTD Pro and GTD cars. Daniel Serra leads in the Ferrari over Mirko Bortolotti. Pipo Derani is now chasing Sebastien Bourdais. Derani takes the lead from Sebastien Bourdais. Pipo Derani does not hesitate. Bourdais might have troubles with tire pressure.
Maybe the gearbox or the electronics are playing up in the #01. Now, Ganassi Racing will go to work. Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, and Ryan Hunter-Reay on the driver's strength. Seb Bourdais says he has to use the clutch after every shift. The gearbox is playing up for Ganassi Racing. So, Pipo Derani sharing with Tristan Nunez and Mike Conway is going to the front. It is at the front as we speak. Another pit stop for the #32 Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes of Mike Skeen serves a drive through penalty for changing tires on the grid. Daniel Serra leads over Mirko Bortolotti. Risi Competizione vs. TR3 Racing. Ferrari vs. Lamborghini.
Risi Competizione based in Houston, Texas, and Giuseppe Risi is here. LMP3 car off the road. The #33 Sean Creech Motorsports entry of Dr. Lance Willsey. Mechanical woes for Jarett Andretti in the #36 Andretti Autosport car. Second spot now for Harry Gottsacker in the #6 machine for Muehlner Motorsports America, sharing with Alec Udell and Ugo de Wilde. So, Pipo Derani leads Ricky Taylor, Tom Blomqvist, and Alex Lynn. An oil leak, perhaps, for the Aston Martin for The Heart of Racing, car #23 of Alex Riberas. Riberas sharing with Ross Gunn and Maxime Martin. LMP2 is currently led by Ben Keating as Sebastien Bourdais is back on track.
Bourdais says he is still having shifting issues and he is righ foot braking. In the DPi cars you left foot brake and use the clutch. That's a bear. Car #8 is off the road. That is John Farano in the Tower Motorsport Oreca sharing with Rui Andrade and Louis Deletraz. Brake issues early in the game for the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen, and Zacharie Robichon sharing the car. The suspension is crabbing and the car revs up strangely on shifting. From the onboard camera, we can hear the car not shifting properly and maybe it has a broken half shaft. This is not a solid rear axle. This is bizarre as the #16 is back on the road. Well, well, well. Such are the perils of Sebring.
Robichon is being passed left, right, and center, hand over fist. These boys at Wright Motorsports were favorites for this event. Meantime, Jarett Andretti runs wide and he has smoke billowing out the exhaust. Good grief. The car is overheating. Gabby Chaves, one of the co-drivers says the thing overheated and popped off a radiator hose. So, that is something we missed on the warmup laps. Yours truly just made it to the party as the race began. Zach Robichon is just doing the enduros with Wright Motorsports. Their star driver, Patrick Long, retired at the end of 2021. To the garage goes the #16. The pit crew can get all hands on deck in the garage.
So, taking advantage is Robby Foley in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4. Bill Auberlen is making his 500th IMSA start today. Michael Dinan is next up. Paul Mller Racing next in the serial also has a BMW M4 GT3 and they are making their first start of the year with this car after missing the Rolex 24. Bryan Sellers sharing with Madison Snow and Sweden's Erik Johansson. Penalty served by the #20 High Class Racing LMP2 car for making contact with the #8 car that spun. Dennis Andersen at the controls. Spin for the #74 Riley Motorsports LMP3 and he almost got tagged! The #22 LMP2 entry of Jim McGuire is stopped on the road. This is the United Autosport Oreca of Jim McGuire . The #5 JDC-Miller Mustang Sampling entry of Tristan Vautier, the defending race champions, are on pit lane too.
Tristan Vautier sharing with Richard Westbrook, and Loic Duval. Vautier went off the road in turn one in qualifying and walloped the barrier. Pipo Derani still leads Ricky Taylor by 2.7 seconds. Cold tires for Vautier as he continues. We've had a wild and wooly 20 minutes so far. More woes for the #36 Andretti Autosport entry and it could be game over for that motorcar. Josh Burdon, Gabby Chaves, and Jarett Andretti as we watch Alex Lynn chasing Ricky Taylor, they were teammates for Wayne Taylor Racing, winning in 2017 in a Cadillac DPi. They won the first five races of the 2017 season. Daytona, Sebring, Long Beach, and more. That was five years ago. Holy smokes. Time flies. The Cadillac can be on edge and lacks rear grip sometimes, rotating through the turns, but also handling the bumps.
Maybe the Acura's have better traction. But at night, they might get back to the fore. The Acura's are not as stable over the bumps, but the Acura is dependent on aerodynamics. Every driver in this field wants to see the "Happy Hour" in the last quarter of the race. In the afternoon, this circuit will become very greasy. Riley Motorsports are confident in LMP3. Gar Robinson sharing with Felipe Fraga and Porsche Cup North America star Kay van Berlo. BMW will cut back to one BMW M4 GT3 for the rest of 2022 to focus on the BMW LMDh project for 2023. Connor De Philippi and Augusto Farfus will share the car for the sprint races. We have another LMP3 spin, look, going into turn 17 at Sunset Bend.
Turn 17 is a bugaboo. It is calamity corner. Orey Fidani gets pinched by the Inception McLaren. Fidani sharing with Kuno Wittmer and Lars Kern. The GT Daytona cars deal with the bumps far better with antilock brakes. Daniel Serra leads Mirko Bortolotti in GTD Pro. Bortolotti was strong in open wheel racing and then changed over to GT's and has had myriads of success. Daniel Serra is running with different team mates today after James Calado and Alessandro Pier Guidi raced for AF Corse in World Endurance yesterday. Eddie Cheever III. and Davide Rigon are the other drivers as Dennis Andersen squeezes Ricky Taylor in the esses! Yikes!
More troubles for the #13 AWA Duquiene Nissan. He noses it into the tires. Pit stop time for the #10 Konica Minolta Acura. Pipo Derani leads Alex Lynn, Tom Bolmqvist, Mike Rockenfeller, and the rest. #13 is back on the road. Pipo Derani now leads Alex Lynn by 6.3 seconds. Beau Barfield, IMSA Race Director plans to see if a stranded car can move and get back to the pit lane or if anyone dives into the lane to protect the leader and not go Full Course Yellow immediately. This event started as a six hour race in 1950 on New Year's Eve. This is the 70th anniversary edition of a classic enduro. Great atmosphere here for the fans.
The marshals are working to keep this motor race under green like we saw for a good chunk of the World Endurance event yesterday. For the #01, they are cycling the power on the car with the electrical system. Sebastien Bourdais says the issue is not cured. The local yellow flag is out and Alex Lynn passes under a local yellow. You are forbidden from doing that. That is when the #22 United Autosport entry was stranded. Now, will Lynn cop a penalty? It sounds like he will have to do a drive through penalty. Lynn sharing with Earl Bamber and Neel Jani. With the #02, Ganassi Racing felt their penalty was unjustified. The #10 Acura probably also passed under that local yellow but we have not heard if Ricky Taylor has been pinged for it. Taylor sharing with Filipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens. 53 cars started the motor race.
The differences between GT Daytona and GT Daytona Pro, let's check them out. They are road going race cars. GTD has green number plates and yellow headlights. White headlights and red numbers. The cars are identical. This is all about the drivers for GTD Pro. Most of them have a side hustle as well. All the GTD cars are on the global GT3 platform as readers of this blog well know. Good scrap here, look, between a couple of the BMW's. It is the #96 Turner Motorsports entry of Robby Foley and the #24 BMW M4 GT3 of Nick Yelloly. Routine pit stops are on now. Pipo Derani pits from the lead of the motor race going a lap more on fuel than Tom Blomqvist and the sister #48 Action Express Cadillac of Mike Rockenfeller.
Derani, Blomqvist, Rockenfeller the top three. Can #31 beat the #60 off pit lane? The #60 down the straight with the #48 next up. Blomqvist and company won Daytona for Meyer Shank Racing and here comes Mike Rockenfeller making the move using a GTD Acura NSX as a pick. That is the #93 entry for Racer's Edge Motorsports with WTR. Ashton Harrison sharing with Kyle Marcelli and Tom Long in that Acura. The Meyer Shank Acura that won Daytona has not found the balance here at Sebring. Lots of rubber laid down by the World Endurance cars, also on Michelin tires. Ricky Taylor has passed Pipo Derani for the lead.
We had lots of rain last night during and after the WEC race and so the track is green. Daniel Serra's dad Chico Serra ran British Formula 3 and a little bit of Formula 1. Well, Daniel Serra is running very well aboard the Ferrari #62. Mirko Bortolotti is a tiger and could pounce. But, Bortolotti knows how to race endurance events and will perhaps find a chance to get past the Ferrari as the #48 Action Express/Hendrick Motorsports Ally Cadillac plays it's way through. Bortolotti sharing with Marco Mapelli and Andrea Caldarelli. They've raced together many times beforel, the all-Italian trio. Five classes racing together all at once is standard issue in modern IMSA.
Ben Keating, leading LMP2, a Texas businessman. He raced in World Endurance yesterday and beat many of the pro drivers in that event. Keating and company have won this race four times for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, sharing with Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker. Second place in class, the #81 DragonSpeed Oreca of Henrik Hedman sharing with Juan Pablo Montoya, and Juan Pablo's son, Sebastian Montoya. They are currently second in class as the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac is back in the lane for service. They are going to change the steering wheel to improve the electrical and gear shifting gremlins. Ricky Taylor now leads Pipo Derani by 1.8 seconds. Peter Baron, ace strategist, has been drafted into Chip Ganassi Racing.
The steering wheels of these cars are connected to the brain, to the computer, the ECU of these cars. Engine Control Unit. Good GT Daytona battle here, look, between the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and the #59 Crucial Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3. Jon Miller vs. Ian James. Spin there off Sunset Bend for Dr. Lance Willsey in the Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier sharing with Malthe Jakobsen and Joao Barbosa. Another spin for the #20 High Class Motorsports LMP2 car of Dane Dennis Andersen. Side by side stuff here, look, between Daniel Serra and Mirko Bortolotti as poor old Brendon Iribe is a pick in one of the McLaren's.
Antonio Garcia in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is pushing hard as well. They got a power boost on the Corvette yesterday prior to qualifying. They have been very successful here at Sebring as Serra hits the pit lane. The World Endurance Corvette team finished second yesterday. Rick Mayer, team manager for Risi Competizione has a good strategy game going as well. Davide Rigon will take over from Daniel Serra. We look at the #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 GT3R and the sister #97 Mercedes AMG GT3. Cooper MacNeil is sharing both these automobiles, the Porsche with Frenchman Julien Andlauer and Belgian Alessio Picariello. The Mercedes with Germany's Maro Engel and Frenchman Jules Gounon.
The fans are here in force at Sebring and that is wonderful. This track is a former B-17 and B-24 training base during WW. II. There's wild and crazy scenes in the infield of partygoers and race fans. But that might not be the safest place for the kids to go. Green Park is a legendary place on this course. Five different races during this Super Sebring weekend. We have seen Michelin Pilot, World Endurance, WeatherTech Championship today, and two Porsche Carrera Cup races. Pit stop time for Bortolotti and the #63 TR3 Lamborghini as Marco Mapelli gets into the car. It could be the last race in IMSA for TR3 in 2022. Pit stop time as well for the #27 Heart of Racing Aston. Who will u\you use for drivers when day turns to night? That is a good question.
Ian James is just focusing on being a driver this weekend and is able to turn it on.
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