The 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship continues down in Florida after a controversial Daytona 24H. This time, the contenders have made their way to the iconic Sebring International Raceway, qualified for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida, and will be preparing for the main race this Saturday.
In yesterday’s qualifying sessions, Neel Jani in the Prototype class took Rebellion Racing to the top and grabbed pole by posting the fastest lap time seen at Sebring: a 1:48.178, nearly 3-seconds quicker than the previous record of 1:51.217.
Behind Jani, two of the three Cadillac DPis set times in the sub-1:49 sector. The #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport Ligier sits in fourth and the #22 ESM Nissan-Ligier earned fifth place, while the Konica Minolta Cadillac found a spot away from its sister vehicles in sixth.
For Prototype Challenge, Gustavo Yacaman achieved first place with a time of 1:53.506 in the four-car class with James French right on his tail. The other two PC vehicles of Buddy Rice and Garett Grist were approximately two and three seconds behind the class leader respectively.
In GT Le Mans, two Ford GTs acquired the 1-2 spots of the class with times of 1:55.939 and 1:56.175. The Corvettes raced into third and fifth thanks to Tommy Milner and Antonio Garcia with a Porsche 911 RSR squeezed in between sitting in fourth. The remaining Ford GT took sixth in class, followed by a Porsche, two BMWs, and a Ferrari.
Finally, GT Daytona saw Tristan Vautier take the class lead, along with breaking the lap record for GTD, in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 by setting a time of 1:59.738. After Vautier, Connor De Phillippi picked up second in the Audi R8 LMS GT3 chased by Change Racing’s Huracan GT3 in third place.
The green flag for this year’s 12 Hours of Sebring is set to wave at 1030 Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, March 18. Racing fans are in luck this time, as complete 12-hour coverage of the race will be provided for free via IMSA.TV. The FOX network will also be covering the event on FOX Sports GO (a mobile and online app which requires authentication to FS1) and on one channel during the following times:
- 1030-1230 EDT on FOX Sports GO
- 1230-2300 EDT on FS1
As usual, live timing along with IMSA Radio’s radio coverage will be available. Andy Blackmore’s spotters guide and the full list of all 46 entries that will be participating in the race have been uploaded and are ready to be viewed.
Good luck to all racers this weekend!
See more articles on IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Challenge 2017 Season.
