2021 Sebring this weekend :::::::: Broadcast Schedule :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

[Heel n Toe]

Race 1 of 2 - Porsche Carrera Cup Thurs. 5:25 PM to 6:15 PM ET on IMSA.TV
Race 2 of 2 - Porsche Carrera Cup Fri. 10:05 AM to 10:55 AM ET on IMSA.TV

All broadcast events and times:
https://www.imsa.com/events/2021-mobil-1-twelve-hours-of-sebring-presented-by-advance-auto-parts/



Spotters Guide: https://www.imsa.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2021/03/17/2021_Sebring_SpottersGuide_v3.pdf

[Heel n Toe]

GTD Cars Facing Double Duty in Qualifying

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will unveil its exciting new qualifying format Friday at Sebring International Raceway.

With championship points now awarded for qualifying, the precursor session for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts takes on more importance in addition to setting the starting grid for Saturday’s race.

The new format will add a layer of excitement by offering two qualifying segments for the GT Daytona (GTD) class. Each segment is 15 minutes in length. The first will see a Silver- or Bronze-rated driver in each GTD car vying for race starting position decided by the best timed laps, with the fastest qualifier earning the Motul Pole Award. The second segment mandates a driver change, likely to a Platinum- or Gold-rated professional, to determine the team and driver qualifying points – again set by the fastest laps turned.

More: https://www.imsa.com/news/2021/03/17/mobil-1-twelve-hours-of-sebring-notebook-gtd-cars-facing-double-duty-in-qualifying/

[astrochex]

The GTD Porsche’s did not have a lot of pace in Practice 2, but who knows the programs they were running?

[astrochex]

Watch qualifying at https://www.imsa.com/tvlive

[Heel n Toe]

Saturday A.M. bump

[astrochex]

8:00am warmup.

[rfuerst911sc]

DVR is set for the first two hours as I am going to my grand daughters soccer game . Will watch that when I get home and the last three hours tonight . I miss going to Sebring , it is a fantastic racing event to see in person .

[URY914]

***NBC Sports’ coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring kicks off on Saturday at 10 a.m. ET on NBCSN, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. joining Leigh Diffey and Calvin Fish in the booth along with Dave Burns and Townsend Bell. Marty Snider, Brian Till and Kevin Lee will be reporting from pit lane.

[astrochex]

#16 Wright and #9 Pfaff Porsches leading GTD with 5:20 left. #9 started near the back.

[Baz]

Coverage just continued on NBCSN at 7pm here, and as horse racing ended the lady referred to IMSA as ISMA....bahahaaa.......

[rfuerst911sc]

Great run for Porsche in GTLM and GTD . Pretty amazing win by #5 DPI after being a punching bag most of the race . Was nice to see fans trackside . Enjoyed watching the race .

[URY914]

What a Crashfest it was this year.
Surprised the 48 made it to the end.
BMW pit fire.
Several big ones into the wall.
And it was a close one at the end with the top 5 ending on the same lap.

[rfuerst911sc]

Paul I agree I don't remember so many crashes in quite a while . The BMW pit lane fire was scary but it appears no one was injured . The # 31 Whelen Engineering DPI has some kind of crash monkey on their back ! And what about Dixon having the race in hand until the misque with a GT car heading into pit lane ?

[Baz]

WeatherTech Racing Wins Sebring GTLM

Sebring, Fla. (March 20, 2021) – Cooper MacNeil (Hindsdale, Ill.), Matt Campbell (Australia), and Mathieu Jaminet (France) won the IMSA WeatherTech Championship GTLM Class in today’s running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

MacNeil started the WeatherTech Racing Porsche RSR for the once around the clock event in central Florida. As teammates Jaminet and Campbell cycled through the Proton Competition prepared Porsche RSR the trio kept it very competitive in the top four all race. As night fell over the 3.74-mile, 17-turn historic circuit the race really began. The team was locked in a battle with the factory Corvette and BMW teams.

Campbell had the 79 Porsche in the lead as darkness fell. With three hours remaining the Australian was in a battle for the lead with the two BMW’s less than a second behind. With 48 minutes left, Jaminet brought the red-white-and-blue Porsche to the pits for its final fuel and tire stop. Then with 33 minutes remaining a full course yellow flew bunching the field. On the restart Jaminet was third, then with just eight minutes to go the leading Corvette and BMW got into each other into Turn 7. The Frenchman was able to avoid the spinning Corvette take the lead and bring the privateer Porsche home for the win.

“Second ever GTLM race for me and our first win,” MacNeil said. “It is special to do it here at the twelve hours of Sebring. I couldn’t have done it without WeatherTech, Proton Competition, and Porsche. A big thanks to those three for the great support. Matt and Mathieu drove hard all race. Last year we were leading and got taken out at the end of the race with one lap to go. Here we are GTLM winners with luck going our way this time. I am thrilled with the win! It is that much more special when you beat factory Corvette and factory BMW. Big thanks to Porsche for an amazing race car.”

“IMSA and the GTLM is always crazy here in America,” Jaminet said. “Today I was in the right place at the right time. In previous GTLM races I was in the wrong place. Today was a great win. I am happy for Cooper, Proton Competition and Porsche for a great day here at Sebring.”

“Crazy is the word for today,” Campbell said. “We kept a clean car all race and we were always up there fighting in the top three. We wanted to run for a podium finish and then luck came our way. The guys in front started fighting and we were able to get through. I am happy for Cooper and David and the Proton Competition team. They put so much into this effort and after what happened at the Rolex it is great to comeback for the win.”

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM cars will take a near three-month break with the next event being the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, June 24-27.

For more information on WeatherTech Racing, including race recaps, photos and team gear, please visit the team site at www.WeatherTechRacing.com.

[Baz]

Mustang Sampling Cadillac Wins Sebring

Bourdais hangs on to ailing car for the win

The Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R won today’s running of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The race started with Pipo Derani taking the green from pole in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. Derani was soon passed by Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R. Forty-minutes into the race, Derani was hungry to get the lead back and went to the inside of Turn 17 and got squeezed into the wall when the 01 was forced over by a GTD car. Derani had to pit the 31 for repairs sending them down four laps.

As the race went on the top five DPi competitors exchanged the lead. When night fell, the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac in the hands of Scott Dixon took the lead on the 3.7-mile, 17-turn central Florida circuit. The cool temperatures of the early evening favored the set-up of the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac. With just an hour left Dixon had contact while trying to make it to pit road taking them out of contention.

From the darkness arose the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R with Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, and Sebastien Bourdais. The team found pace in the night after recovering from a slow start. The JDC-Miller Motorsports team drove to the front leading the race in the last hour. With just 36-minutes remaining the team made their last pit stop with Bourdais at the wheel. With 14-minutes left Bourdais radioed that the car was loose. The IndyCar champion and endurance veteran worked with the sway bar adjustments to make-up for the lack of downforce from a broken rear wing to bring the team their first win in IMSA DPi competition.

“At the start of my last stint everything was under control,” Bourdais said. “We were super strong at the beginning, went from P6 to P1. Our sequence of pit stops was very strong. We kept jumping people. I thought from then it was going to be easy, the Mustang Sampling Cadillac was really good. Then the rear wing fell off with 10 laps to go. That was the hardest 10 laps of my life. The balance went way forward on the car. I compensated with the bars and brake balance. Still the car was unbelievably loose in the fast corners. I can’t believe we won it. Honestly, I could have crashed the car about 10 times. Especially before I figured out there was something seriously wrong. The rear tires started to degrade really bad. I was just hanging on. To stay in front of the field like this is one of my greatest achievements."

After the pit in incident the Chip Ganassi Racing team made quick repairs returning van der Zande to the race who would cross the line fifth.

“It’s pretty frustrating,” Dixon said. "I’m not sure how – I know I hit the BMW on entry. It was a very late call for the pits, so I was scrambling to get everything undone in time. I was trying to turn back to get to pit road and there was just a car there and so I hit them on the way in. That was definitely a tough one there. I feel bad for the team because everyone was doing a fantastic job and the car was fast. Credit to everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing. It’s definitely unfortunate, but we had a good run there.”

Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, and Mike Conway had an eventful race. Derani had the start from pole and was soon overtaken by the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Renger van der Zande. Forty-minutes into the race, Derani tried to retake the lead going into the inside of the entry of Turn 17 and was squeezed into the wall by van der Zande and a GTD car. The resulting damage and repairs cost the team four laps. The team had made up two laps until with just over four hours to go, Nasr had contact with the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R causing another out of sequence stop. With just under two hours remaining, Conway lost drive and stopped out on the track in Turn 7 ending the day for the team.

“The best way to put it is, it just wasn’t our day today,” Nasr said. “It’s hard to believe it all. We’ve got to be realistic. We had a fantastic car all weekend and we dug our own hole. We had to pay the consequences for our mistakes. It was a big setback for the team when Pipo brushed the wall. From there on, it was playing catch up. It was a bad day. I feel sorry for the whole team. We deserve to be up front. Our sponsors deserve to be up front. And, we just didn’t give them what they deserve. That’s all of us included. I hope we can get things straight and go after the next one.”

The No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R started by Jimmie Johnson was a factor for most of the race. Together with Simon Pagenaud and Kamui Kobayashi they were on the lead lap all race. Aside from a spin early by Johnson, the drivers kept the 48 Cadillac competitive all day. However, the team violated the drive time rule. The official drive time showed that Pagenaud exceeded his allowable drive time. IMSA rules state that one driver cannot drive more than four hours in a six-hour period. The overage was less than a minute. When this happened in the late afternoon the race turned into a test session as they were no longer being scored.

“It was so intense out there all week," Johnson said. "I can't put into perspective what I experienced the last two days. I made plenty of mistakes that I need to clean up. I felt like I was in a position to really get aggressive and I just over-stepped a little. A lot of lessons learned and a good run for this Ally Cadillac team. The team really responded well after my spin and got us back into contention. Simon and Kamui put in great last stints. The drive time penalty negated all of the effort today, but we are a team. We will learn and come back even stronger for Watkins Glen in June."

Cadillac Racing Sebring results:
1.No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, Tristan Vautier, Loic Duval, Sebastien Bourdais
5.No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, Kevin Magnussen, Renger Van Der Zande, Scott Dixon
6.No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R, Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani, Mike Conway
7.No. 48 Ally Cadillac DPi-V.R, Jimmy Johnson, Simon Pagenaud, Kamui Kobayashi

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship take a near two month break with the next event being the Acura Sportscar Challenge to run at Mid-Ohio, May 14-16.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Baz

WeatherTech Racing Wins Sebring GTLM


“IMSA and the GTLM is always crazy here in America,” Jaminet said. “Today I was in the right place at the right time.

That BMW driver needs to have a bigger penalty. He flat took out the Corvette that was in the lead. It looked like a Police "pit maneuver" and then he floored it to smash into the front end of the Vette. The Vette was just screwed by the BMW.

It was a lucky win for the 911, so I like that result, but the Vette deserved the win. They need to strip that BMW driver of all points and have him sit out a few races. No excuse for that type of driving.

[CurtEgerer]

A few from the race yesterday. Luckily, there are still many areas without catch-fencing so it's possible to take pics from spectator areas.

[Baz]

Thanks for the excellent photos, Curt!

[CurtEgerer]

[CurtEgerer]

Too bad, the paddock was closed to spectators (and they didn't mention that when you bought your ticket ). Even so, huge crowd and a fun time.