Race Report: Sebring Double Header

Posted on April 20, 2023.

Report by Keith Bluemel – 03/2023

Sports racing and GT car fans had a spectacular feast of machinery at the Sebring circuit in Florida between the 15-18 March. Not only was there the renowned 12 Hours of Sebring on the Saturday, but this was preceded on the Friday by the first FIA WEC round of the 2023 season, the 1000 Miles of Sebring, making for a great double header event, with 57 entries in the 12 hour race across the five classes, and 38 entries in the FIA WEC 1000 miles across its three classes. As if this wasn’t enough to satisfy the most ardent fan, there were also support races for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, featuring GT4 and TCR specification cars, together with the Porsche Carrera Cup.

FIA WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring

The first round of the 2023 FIA WEC series saw the race debut of a number of new hypercars, the Cadillac V Series R made its series debut, as did the Vanwall Vandervell 680, the Peugeot 9X8 and the Porsche 963. However, the main focus for many was the return of Ferrari as a works team (in association with AF Corse) to the top level of sports car racing, after a 50 year absence, with the 499P Hypercar. The pair of cars entered were finished in red with bright yellow flashes, evoking memories of the successful 312 P(B) model from the early seventies. Unfortunately their #51 example, chassis #6, was a damaged in an accident in the prologue the weekend before the race, so they had to replace it with chassis #4 for the race.

The qualifying session turned out to be a battle for pole position between the Ferraris and the Toyotas, with Ferrari eventually coming out on top, courtesy of Antonio Fuoco in the #50 car, claiming pole position by 0.214sec from the #8 Toyota driven by Brendon Hartley. The #7 Toyota took third place on the grid in the hands of Kamui Kobayashi just ahead of the #51 Ferrari driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi. It was the Cadillac in fifth place with Alex Lynn at the wheel, with Kevin Estre taking sixth place on the grid in a Porsche 963, to make it four different manufacturers in the top six positions, making for an interesting contest in store. In the LMP2 class it was Oliver Jarvis in the #23 United Autosports entered Oreca 07-Gibson that claimed the class pole position, being the only driver in the class to break the 1min 50secs barrier. However, he was closely followed by the #28 JOTA entry driven by Pietro Fittipaldi, just 0.093sec adrift, with Robert Frijns in the #31 Team WRT example taking third spot in the class, whist only 0.3sec covered the top six in the class. In the LMGTE AM class the qualifying honours went to the bright pink #85 Iron Dames entered Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Sarah Bovy. Next up was the #33 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the hands of Ben Keating, with the #25 TF Sport entered Aston Martin Vantage AMR of Ahmad Al Harthy third quickest, the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse entered Ferrari 488 GTE EVO ended up 4^th driven by Luis Perez Companc, to make it four different marques in the top four qualifying places.

The race started at midday on the Friday, and from the start the pole sitting #50 Ferrari driven by Antonio Fuoco led the field through the early stages. However, it wasn’t long before a full course yellow was called. This was on lap five, when the #83 Ferrari 488 GTE EVO driven by Luis Perez Companc had heavy contact with tyre wall in Turn 1, with the car flipping onto its roof after the impact. Fortunately, he emerged unscathed, but it resulted in a lengthy period of full course yellow running, whilst the car was retrieved, and the tyre wall reinstated. The lead #50 Ferrari 499P pitted for fuel and was then given a drive-through penalty, which dropped it down the order and left the pair of Toyotas running at the head of the field. In the LMP2 class it was the pole sitting #23 Oreca driven by Oliver Jarvis that led, chased by the #36 Alpine and the #48 Hertz Team JOTA entered Oreca, whilst in the LMGTE Am class it was again the pole sitting example that led the field, this being the Porsche driven by Sarah Bovy, chased hard by the Corvette of Ben Keating, the only changes at the head of the class coming during pit stops.

As the race progressed attrition started to take its toll. This transpired to be mainly of either a mechanical or electrical nature in the early stages, with the #94 Peugeot spending a lengthy period in its garage with battery issues, whilst the Glickenhaus 007 Hypercar retired in the fourth hour when it stopped out on track with electrical issues. In the LMP2 class, the leading #23 Oreca stopped out on the track in the fourth hour, which was followed shortly afterwards by its official retirement. This handed the lead to the #63 Prema entered example driven by Doriane Pin, before the final round of pit stops in the first half of the race. In the LMGTE Am class, the #33 Corvette took the lead after Rahel Frey in the #85 Porsche had an off at Turn 1, damaging the rear bodywork, resulting in a lengthy pit stop to effect repairs. Another of the front runners, the #98 Aston Martin suffered a puncture dropping it well down the order. At the halfway point at the head of the field, it was the pair of Toyotas running in the order 1-2, with the #7 example ahead of the #8 sister car, followed by the #50 Ferrari, which had fought its way back up the order after its earlier penalty.

Come the chequered flag, the order at the head of the field was the same as at the halfway point, with Kamui Kobayashi taking the flag first in the #7 Toyota that he shared with Mike Conway and Jose Maria Lopez. Sebastien Buemi, Brendon Hartley and Ryo Hirakawa in the sister #8 car took the runner-up spot, with the #50 Ferrari of Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen completing the podium. As the race approached its conclusion the second #51 Ferrari 499P had been heading for a podium placing, before being clipped by the #54 Ferrari 488 GTE, puncturing a tyre. A lap on the deflated tyre resulted in suspension damage and a lengthy pit stop for repairs. The LMP2 class win went to the #48 Hertz JOTA entered Oreca driven by David Beckmann, Yifei Ye and William Stevens. However, the result was in doubt right up top the chequered flag, as there was only 2.8secs between them and the #22 United Autosports entered example driven by Frederick Lubin, Philip Hanson and Filipe Albuquerque. After the demise of the #85 Porsche to the lower placings after its accident, the #33 Corvette driven by Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone and Nicky Catsburg had a trouble-free run to the LMGTE Am class win. The #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE EVO looked to be heading for 2^nd place until it needed to stop for a late splash-and-dash of fuel, handing the position to the #77 Dempsey-Proton Racing Porsche of Christian Reid, Mikkel Pedersen and Julian Andlauer, but the Ferrari drivers Takashi Kimura, Scott Huffaker and Daniel Serra still finished in the final podium position.                                                              

Class Podiums

Overall & Hypercar Class

1^st – #7, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota GRD10-Hybrid, M. Conway/K. Kobayashi/J.M. Lopez

2^nd – #8, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Toyota GRD10-Hybrid, S. Buemi/B. Hartley/R. Hirakawa

3^rd – #50, Ferrari AF Corse, Ferrari 599P, A. Fuoco/M. Molina/N. Nielsen

LMP2 Class

1^st – #48, Hertz Jota Racing, Oreca 07-Gibson, D. Beckman/Y. Ye/W. Stevens

2^nd – #22, United Autosports, Oreca 07-Gibson, F. Lubin/P. Hanson/F. Albuquerque

3^rd – #83, Prema Racing, Oreca 07-Gibson, D. Pin/M. Bortolotti/D. Kyvat

LMGTE Am Class

1^st – #33, Corvette Racing, Chevrolet Corvette C8.R, B. Keating/N. Varrone./N. Catsburg

2^nd – #77, Dempsey-Proton Racing, Porsche 911 RSR-19, C. Reid/M. Pedersen/A. Landlauer

3^rd – #57, Kessel Racing, Ferrari 488 GTE EVO, T. Kimura/S. Huffaker/D. Serra

In the days leading up to the 12 Hours of Sebring the weather forecast had been for cool temperatures, rain showers and the possibility of thunder storms, fortunately the predictions were incorrect, as race day dawned clear and bright and stayed that way for the day, with high ambient temperatures. The qualifying sessions saw the #31 Whelan Engineering entered Cadillac V Series.R claim the overall and GTP class pole position driven by Pipo Derani, with the #01 Cadillac Racing entry driven by Sebastien Bourdais alongside it on the front row of the grid, only 0.087sec in arrears. In the LMP2 class, it was the #52 PR1 Mathiason Motorsport entered Oreca 07-Gibson driven by Ben Keating that claimed the honours, with the #36 Andretti Motorsport entered Ligier JS P320 driven by Glenn van Berlo quickest of the LMP3 runners. In the GTD PRO class it was Antonio Garcia in the #3 Corvette Racing C8.R entry who claimed the class pole position, whilst the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 could only manage 5^th in class, the drivers complaining about the BoP (Balance of Performance) compromising their efforts, as the other GT cars had a speed advantage on the straights. This was equally so in the GT Daytona class, where the #023 Triarsi Competizione entered 296 GT3, was the top Ferrari runner but could only manage the 5^th quickest time. The class pole position was taken by the #93 Acura NSX GT3 entered by Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR.

The race started at 10.10 on the Saturday morning and it was the pole sitting #31 Cadillac driven by Pipo Derani that led the field through the early stages, chased hard by the similar Chip Ganassi Cadillac Racing entered #01 example of Sebastien Bourdais and the rest of the 57-car field. Contact with a spinning competitor dropped the leading car down the order, leaving the #01 Cadillac to lead for much of the first half of the race. This then had problems with Renger Van der Zende at the wheel, as he experienced problems putting the power down when exiting corners, dropping him to 7^th place. The #01 Cadillac then later became a retirement, when smoke started billowing from the rear of the car, after Sebastien Bourdais had put it back in the lead. The  team later issued a statement saying the that the car “experienced a fuel distribution system issue’’.

As the race progressed, with a blight of full course yellows, averaging one an hour for the first eight hours (with a further four in the final two hours), the #31 Cadillac fought its way back up the leader board, and with four hours remining he was back in the lead. At this point seven of the eight cars in the GTP class were still on the same lap, so it was still anybody’s race. The overall race positions were very close in the final part of the race, leading to tears for some in the dying minutes of the race. With just 19 minutes to go there was an incident involving the then three front running cars, happened just after a yellow flag restart. Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 attempted to pass Mathieu Jaminet in the leading #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 planning to overtake at Turn 3 just as they came upon a group of slower GT cars. Albuquerque, went wide to avoid the Jaminet who had moved across trying to avoid a slower GT car and the #10 Cadillac ran off course, then came back across the track collecting the #6 Porsche, whilst the #7 Porsche driven by Felipe Nasr also became embroiled in the fracas. The pole sitting #31 Cadillac, at this time driven by Jack Aitken managed to find a path through the wreckage strewn across the track, and following a final restart, went on take the race win by 2.94secs over Nick Yelloly in the #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8.

The accident between the leading cars saw the LMP2 class winner, the #8 Tower Motorsports entered Oreca 07-Gibson, driven by John Farano, Scott Mclaughlin and Kyffin Simpson, also claim the final overall podium place. The LMP3 class win was taken by the #74 Riley Motorsports-WeatherTech Racing entered Ligier JS P320 in the hands of Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burton. In the GTD PRO class it was the #9 Pfaff Motorsports entered Porsche 911 GT3 R of Klaus Bachler, Laurens Vanthoor and Patrick Pilet that claimed the honours, despite having to be rebuilt after a practice accident. In the GT Daytona class it was a BMW M4 GT3 1-2, with the #1 Paul Miller Racing entry driven by Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Corey Lewis taking the class honours ahead of the #96 example driven by Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Michael Dinan. Of the four Ferrari 296 GT3s in the race, the #62 Risi car in the GTD Pro class finished in 6^th place, whilst the quickest of the GT Daytona class examples, the #023 Triarsi Competizione car, was a retirement with alternator failure, whilst the #21 AF Corse and the #47 Cetilar Racing ones had a variety of problems, resulting in lowly class placings.

Race Podiums

Overall

1^st – #31, Cadillac Racing, Cadillac V-LMDh, P. Derani/A. Sims/J. Aitken

2^nd – #25, BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, S. van derLinder/C. De Phillipi/N. Yellely

3^rd – #8, Tower Motorsports, Oreca 07-Gibson, S. McLaughlin/K. Simpson/J. Farano

GTP Class

1^st – #31, Cadillac Racing, Cadillac V-LMDh, P. Derani/A. Sims/J. Aitken

2^nd – #25, BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, S. van derLinder/C. De Phillipi/N. Yellely

3^rd – #6, Penske Porsche Motorsports, Porsche 963, M. Jaminet/D. Cameron/N. Tandy

LMP2 Class

1^st – #8, Tower Motorsports, Oreca 07-Gibson, S. McLaughlin/K. Simpson/J. Farano

2^nd – #11, TDS Racing, Oreca 07-Gibson,S. Huffaker/S. Thomas/M. Jensen

3^rd – #18, Era Motorsport, Oreca 07-Gibson, C. Rasmussen/D. Merriman/R. Dalziel

LMP3 Class

1^st – #74, Riley Motorsports-WeatherTech Racing, Ligier JS P320, J. Burdon/C. Robinson/F. Fraga

2^nd – #13, AWA, Duqueine D08, M. Bell/L. Kera/O. Fidani

3^rd – #85, Unitronic/JDC Miller Motorsport, Duqueine D08, T. Helm/D. Goldburg/T. Bechtelsheimer

GTD PRO Class

1^st – #9, Pfaff Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 R, L. Vanthoor/K. Bachler/P. Pilet

2^nd – #14, Lexus Racing, Lexus RC F GT3, J. Hawksworth/B. Barnicoat/K. Kirkwood

3^rd – #79, WeatherTech Racing, Mercedes AMG GT3 EVO, D. Juncadella/J. Gounon/M. Engel

GT Daytona

1^st – #1, Paul Miller Racing, BMW M4 GT3, M. Snow/C. Lewis/B. Sellers

2^nd – #96, Turner Motorsport, BMW M4 GT3, R. Foley/M. Dinan/P. Gallagher

3^rd – #92, Kelleycross with Riley, Porsche 911 GT3 R, J. Andlauer/D. Brule/A. Udell