Some photos I took which I think capture the essence of the weekend. I will post more on The Pit Window facebook page over the next few days.
From earlier:
Sebring weekend wrap up
Sebring Weekend- Late Drama in a Caution -Filled Race
I am preparing to head to Sebring in a bit. I have not been able to attend this race for three years due to COVID and some other circumstances so I am very excited to get back to the race that has fascinated me since I was in 5th grade.
Rain chances for Saturday have diminished significantly, although there is still a chance near the end of the race,
The fun thing about Sebring weekend is that with the WEC 1,000 mile race on Friday, we get a decent preview of LeMans. I am anxious to see the WEC hypercars and see how they compare to the GTP cars of IMSA.
I will provide updates when possible. here is the weekend schedule. The full race is on Peacock Saturday beginning at 10:05 am Eastern USA will have coverage from 4:30 pm Eastern until the end.
Thursday, March 16
9:15-9:55 a.m. — Race No. 1 – Porsche Carrera Cup
10:10-11:40 a.m. — Practice No. 1 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
11-11:30 a.m. — Autograph Session – Michelin Pilot Challenge – Michelin Village on the Midway
11:55 Am-12:55 p.m. — Free Practice No. 3 – FIA WEC
1:20-3:20 p.m. — Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
3:25-3:45 p.m. — Corvette Car Corral Parade Laps – First 100 Cars
3:50-5:05 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD/LMP2/LMP3)
4:05-5:20 p.m. — Practice No. 2 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTP/GTD Pro)
5:35-6:15 p.m. — Race No. 2 – Porsche Carrera Cup
6:30-6:45 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (GTE Am)
6:55-7:10 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (LMP2)
7:20-7:35 p.m. — Qualifying – FIA WEC (Hypercar)
7:45-9:15 p.m. — Practice No. 3 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Friday, March 17
8:55-9:05 a.m. — Practice No. 4 – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
9:15-9:30 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTD/GTD Pro)
9:30-10 a.m. — Autograph Session – FIA WEC – FIA WEC Paddock
9:40-9:55 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (LMP2/LMP3)
10:05-10:25 a.m. — Qualifying – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (GTP)
10:30-10:55 a.m. — Lexus Car Corral Parade Laps
10:45-11:45 a.m. — Autograph Session – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – IMSA Paddock
11:10-11:30 a.m. — Grid Walk Opening – FIA WEC VIP By Invitation Only
12-8 p.m. — 1000 Miles of Sebring (or 8 Hours) for the FIA World Endurance Championship
Saturday, March 18
8-8:20 a.m. — Warm Up – WeatherTech SporsCar Championship
8:25-8:45 a.m. — Porscheplatz Car Corral Parade Laps – First 100 Cars
9-9:50 a.m. — Grid Walk and Driver Introductions – WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
10:10 a.m.-10:10 p.m. — 71st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
A late yellow tightened up the class competition.
The rain that didn’t happen near the end of the race may have hurt some team strategies.
It was great having the WEC series at Sebring. The Friday race filled a scheduling void for the track.
It would have been nice if the WEC LMP1 class were more competitive.
Pipo Derani needs to try Indycar.
If I don’t see another rain drop at another race the rest of the season I’d be perfectly happy.
Look for my race wrap up on Wildfire Sports tomorrow
Good morning from a very wet and rainy Sebring Raceway. The forecast calls for rain most of the day.
Late last night the first WEC 1000 miles of Sebring concluded in the rain. The yellow at the end didn’t change the outcome. The number 8 Toyota Gazoo, co driven by Fernando Alonso, won by a two lap margin over the team’s second car. The third place car was five laps down.
This is the second straight Weather Tech Championship race that will be affected by rain. We’ll see what happens. Hope to have a mid race update this afternoon.
The race will start on CNBC then switch to NBCSN at 3.
Fernando Alonso and his Toyota Gazoo team have dominated the first 35 minutes of the 1,000 Miles of Sebring. The two car team occupied the front row and began lapping the field very quickly.
The number 6 Penske Acura driven by Fane Cameron won the pole for tomorrow’s 12 Hours of Sebring. Team Joest car number 77 completes the front row.
In GTLM Porsche 911 won the pole and it’s teammate 912 starts second.In GTD Meyer Shank Racing number 86 will lead the group. The number 57 Shank car starts 6th in clasd.
Full qualifying story tomorrow along with a wrap up of the 1,000 mile race.
It’s called Super Sebring. The 67th running of the oldest sportscar race in the United States will also feature a 1,000 mile race featuring the World Endurance Championship series. The WEC cars look similar to the IMSA machines with a similar class structure. Most of the drivers who ran at the Rolex 24 will participate this weekend, although some will be in different cars.
The prime example of a driver switching to not only a different car, but the other series, is Fernando Alonso. Alonso was part of the winning Wayne Taylor Racing entry at Daytona. This weekend he drives for Toyota Gazoo in the WEC, his regular job. Toyota Gazoo is the top team in the WEC.
Indycar newcomer Ben Hanley’s Dragonspeed car will race in the WEC series Friday. Teams are not allowed to participate in both races. Jordan King, who drove the road course schedule for Ed Carpenter Racing in 2018 and will enter the 500 with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will also drive the WEC event in LMP2 car 37.
Chip Ganassi’s LMGTE Ford entry for Friday has two driver slots listed TBA. There is speculation Ford may leave the GT program at the end of this season.
Five Indycar regulars who drove in the Rolex 24 return to the same teams for the 67th 12 hours of Sebring. Alexander Rossi will drive car 7 and Simon Pagenaud car 6 for Roger Penske’s Acura team.
Sebastien Bourdais in car 66 and Scott Dixon in 67 again join Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ford GTLM squad.
Colton Herta will again co drive car 25 for the Rahal BMW team.
Kyle Kaiser again drives for Juncos in car 50.
The Meyer Shank car 57 continues its all female lineup with Katherine Legge, Christina Neilsen, and Ana Beatriz. The team was disappointed this week to learn they did not receive an invitation to Le Mans.
There are just two LMP2 entrants for the 12 hour. The class had just four cars at Daytona. As I wondered then, why does this class exist as a separate group? They qualify with the DPi cars and receive little recognition during the race. IMSA very much wants four classes, but they need to have a plan in place to develop the fourth class.
I am eager to see how this double header weekend works out. It will be interesting to compare the cars of the two series. I expect the WEC cars to be faster, but the IMSA racing to be better.
I will be posting updates all weekend, beginning with WEC qualifying tomorrow. Some will be quite brief. I will have my Quick Thoughts column after each race. The WEC race ends at midnight, so look for that column Saturday morning (not early).
On Monday my full weekend wrap-u will be on Wildfire Sports.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 