Dole Se042b 12 3 2022 2023 03 08

Entry List Notebook – Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

March 8, 2023

Fifty-Four Cars throughout the Five Classes are Entered for the 71st Running

 

Entry List (Click Here)

 

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship makes its second stop of the season next week at another iconic event. This time it’s the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, contested at the historic Sebring International Raceway – the airfield turned racetrack in Central Florida.

 

Fifty-four cars are on the pre-event entry list, with all five series classes competing on the rough-and-tumble Sebring circuit that demands the most from driver and machine. Practice begins Thursday, March 16, with qualifying taking place the following morning on St. Patrick’s Day.

 

Flag-to-flag race coverage will be available Saturday, March 18 on Peacock and IMSA Radio. USA Network picks up live TV coverage for the last half of the race.

 

Here’s the information you need to know for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

 

Fast Facts

Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

Sebring International Raceway – Sebring, Florida

March 16-18, 2023

 

Race Day/Time:  Saturday, March 18 – 10:10 a.m. ET

Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 10 a.m.

NBC Sports Coverage: USA from 4:30-10:30 p.m.

IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream:  Friday, March 17 – 9:10 a.m.

IMSA Radio:  Select sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins March 18 at 9:45 a.m. (SiriusXM channel 392, Web/App 992)

Circuit Type:  3.74-mile, 17-turn road course

Race Length:  12 hours

Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD)

Track Social Media:

Event Hashtags:  #IMSA, #Sebring12

 

WeatherTech Championship Track Records

Qualifying:

GTP:  New class in 2023 (DPi track record: Sebastien Bourdais, Cadillac DPi-V.R, 1:45.025 / 128.025 mph, March 2022

LMP2:  Giedo van der Garde, ORECA LMP2, 1:48.311 / 124.308 mph, March 2022

LMP3:  Rasmus Lindh, Ligier JS P320, 1:56.001 / 116.067 mph, March 2021

GTD PRO:  Daniel Serra, Ferrari 488 GT3, 1:59.414 / 112.750 mph, March 2022

GTD:  Daniel Serra, Ferrari 488 GT3, 1:58.710 / 113.420 mph, March 2018

 

2022 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Winners:

GTP:  New class in 2023 (2022 DPi winners: Earl Bamber/Alex Lynn/Neel Jani, No. 02 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi V.R)

LMP2:  Ben Keating/Mikkel Jensen/Scott Huffaker, No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07

LMP3:  Joao Barbosa/Malthe Jakobsen/Lance Willsey, No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320

GTD PRO:  Antonio Garcia/Jordan Taylor/Nicky Catsburg, No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD

GTD:  Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto/Antonio Fuoco, No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 488 GT3

 

Storylines

  • Round 2 for Grand Touring Prototypes: The journey continues for the highly anticipated new top prototype class, Grand Touring Prototype (GTP). Acura fashioned a 1-2 finish in the hybrid-powered class at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. How will fellow manufacturers Cadillac, BMW and Porsche respond to the challenge at Sebring?
  • Season Championship Begins for LMP2 and LMP3: While Le Mans Prototype 2 and 3 cars raced at Daytona, season points weren’t awarded for the classes there – making the Twelve Hours of Sebring the first race counting toward the season championship. Who will stake an early claim for the title in each class? The defending race winners in each class – PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports in LMP2 and Sean Creech Motorsport in LMP3 – are back to defend.
  • Auberlen Reaches Another Milestone: Bill Auberlen has already established himself as one of the greats of the sport, with more race wins (65) than anyone in IMSA’s top-tier series. When he takes the green flag at Sebring, it will mark his 100th start since the unification of North American sports car racing in 2014 – another first for the legend. A year ago at Sebring, Auberlen collected his 500th start for BMW in any sports car series.
  • Ferrari Defends in GTD: Fabled Italian marque Ferrari captured its first Twelve Hours of Sebring win in six years in 2022, thanks to Cetilar Racing in GTD. The team and its same trio of drivers – Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco – are back to defend, though this year it will be in the new Ferrari 296 GT3 and not the 488 GT3 that won a year ago.
  • IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup: The second race of the WeatherTech Championship season also marks the second event counting toward the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, where separate points are accumulated at different junctures of the four endurance races. At Sebring, those junctures are the four-, eight- and 12-hour marks. Leading in each class following the Rolex 24 are the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 in GTP, the No. 55 Proton Competition ORECA LMP2 07 in LMP2 (not entered for Sebring), the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 in LMP3; the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GTD PRO and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in GTD.

 

Who’s Hot?

  • Meyer Shank Racing: The Ohio-based team closed the 2022 season and the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) chapter by winning the Motul Petit Le Mans in an Acura ARX-05. MSR opened the new GTP era by defending their win in the Rolex 24 to open the ’23 campaign in the Acura ARX-06. Does the streak continue at Sebring?
  • Gradient Racing: Also an Acura team, Gradient won its GTD class in the 2022 finale. With a mostly new driver lineup and an updated Evo22 version of the NSX GT3, Gradient finished a solid fourth at Daytona in January.
  • Aston Martin: The Heart of Racing Team’s No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 won the GTD championship in 2022 and started 2023 by winning the class in the Rolex 24. It was Aston Martin’s first victory at the iconic Daytona race. What’s more, with Magnus Racing placing second, it gave Aston Martin a 1-2 finish and tons of momentum heading to Sebring.

 

Who’s Good Here?

  • Antonio Garcia: The uber-talented Spaniard collected his fourth Sebring win a year ago, all with Corvette Racing and the latest coming in the GTD PRO class. Garcia has the most Sebring victories of any driver in this year’s field, though there are nine drivers just a win behind.
  • PR1 Mathiasen and Scott Huffaker: PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports is the three-time defending LMP2 champion at Sebring. Scott Huffaker was the driver constant in all three wins but he’ll be competing this time for TDS Racing in the same class. As will Mikkel Jensen, who was with PR1 Mathiasen for the ’21 and ’22 triumphs. Ben Keating is back to head the PR1 Mathiasen effort after also winning with the team the past two years.
  • Porsche: The German manufacturer has 100 class wins at the track, as many Sebring victories as all other current WeatherTech Championship manufacturers combined. With entries in three classes this year – GTP, GTD PRO and GTD – Porsche looks to add to that total.