2024_12_Hours_of_Sebring

2024 12 Hours of Sebring

2024 12 Hours of Sebring

72nd 12 Hours of Sebring race

The 2024 12 Hours of Sebring (formally known as the 72nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac) was an endurance sports car race being held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida, scheduled from 13 to 16 March 2024. It was the second round of both the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup.

Sebring International Raceway

Background

Preview

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was a part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023.[1] It was the eleventh consecutive year it will be a part of the IMSA SCC, and the 72nd 12 Hours of Sebring. The 12 Hours of Sebring was the second of eleven scheduled sports car endurance races by IMSA, and the second of five races on the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC).[1] The race took place at the 17-turn 3.741 mi (6.021 km) Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on March 16, 2024.[1]

Sebring International Raceway, where the race was held.

The 2024 edition marked the first time since 2021 in which the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship would not compete during the same weekend; for the past two years, the 1000 Miles of Sebring joined the 12 hour event.[2]

Balance of performance

On March 7, 2024, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining balance of performance for the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In GTP, the Acura received a 17 kilogram weight break, with the BMW and Porsche losing 1 kilogram and 2 kilograms, respectively. Acura, BMW, and Porsche also received a reduction in power. The Cadillac received 30 kilograms of additional weight after their dominant Rolex 24 showing, whilst getting a 10 kilowatt power increase. The Lamborghini, which will make its IMSA debut, has its weight set at 1044 kilograms.[3] In GTD Pro and GTD, the BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes, and Porsche received weight increases, whilst the Ford and Lexus received weight breaks. Furthermore, all GT cars had changes made to their total fuel tank capacity.[3]

Standings before the race

Before the race, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, and Josef Newgarden led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 380 points.[4] In LMP2, Ryan Dalziel, Dwight Merriman, Christian Rasmussen, and Connor Zilisch were leading the Drivers' Championship with 370 points.[4] The GTD Pro Drivers' Championship was led by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon, and Daniel Serra with 376 points; 21 points ahead of Michael Christensen, Laurin Heinrich, and Sebastian Priaulx in second position.[4] With 364 points, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, Daniel Morad, and Russell Ward were leading the GTD Drivers' Championship.[4] Porsche were leading the Manufacturers' Championship the GTP and GTD Pro classes, and Mercedes-AMG led the GTD Manufacturers' Championship. Porsche Penske Motorsport, Era Motorsport, Risi Competizione, and Winward Racing each lead their own Teams' Championships.[4]

Entry list

More information No., Entrant ...

Practice

Three practice sessions were held before the race, all of them on Thursday. All sessions lasted for 90 minutes.[7]

In the first session, Renger van der Zande set the fastest lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac at a 1 minute, 48.279 seconds, 0.479 seconds faster than Aitken's No. 31 WCR car. Nick Tandy put the No. 6 Penske Porsche in third overall. Hartley and his teammate Delétraz were fourth and fifth for WTR.[8] Mikkel Jensen led LMP2 in TDS Racing's No. 11 car with a 1:51.342 second lap, 0.021 seconds ahead of di Resta's No. 22 United Autosports Oreca.[8][9] In GTD Pro, the No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth led with a lap of 2 minutes, 00.202 seconds. Daniel Serra put the No. 62 Risi Ferrari second. Thompson's No. 12 Vasser Sullivan car paced GTD, followed by Grenier's No. 32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG.[10] The session saw one red flag: the No. 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche stopped on track early in the session, with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel.[8]

In the second session, Hanson's No. 85 JDC Porsche lapped quickest at 1:48.149, ahead of the No. 01 Cadillac of Bourdais and Derani's No. 31 WCR car. WTR were fourth after a lap by Delétraz, and Mathieu Jaminet's No. 6 Penske Porsche was fifth.[11] Burdon led LMP2 with a 1:52.078 lap in Riley's No. 74 Oreca, 0.136 seconds ahead of Toby Sowery's CrowdStrike car.[12] Hawksworth led GTD Pro in Vasser Sullivan's No. 14 car, followed by Rigon's No. 62 Risi Ferrari.[11][13] In GTD, Thompson was again fastest in class, followed by Spinelli's No. 78 Forte vehicle.[12] One red flag was shown during the session: Davide Rigon stopped on track mid-session in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari.[13]

Van der Zande led the final session in the No. 01 car with a lap of 1 minute, 49.179 seconds. Farfus' No. 24 BMW was second-fastest. Albuquerque was third in the No. 10 WTR Acura and Blomqvist in the No. 31 WCR Cadillac was fourth. The fastest Porsche was Jaminet's No. 6 Penske in fifth.[14] Jensen led in LMP2 for TDS Racing with a 1-minute, 51.497 lap, from AO Racing's Paul-Loup Chatin and Ben Hanley's No. 2 United Autosports car.[15] Bamber's 2:00.790 lap led the GTD Pro class in Corvette's No. 4 car, 0.319 seconds faster than Verhagen's No. 1 Paul Miller BMW; Laurin Heinrich's No. 77 AO Porsche was third. Antonio Fuoco's No. 47 Cetilar Ferari recorded the fastest time amongst all GTD cars, followed by Philip Ellis' No. 57 Winward car.[16] The session had three stoppages.[14] Jonny Edgar's Sean Creech Ligier caused the first stoppage when Edgar stopped the car on track early in the session.[14] Tom Dillmann's PR1/Mathiasen car caused the second stoppage after making contact with GTD cars.[17][14] The session ended prematurely when Colin Braun crashed the No. 04 CrowdStrike car into the tire barriers at turn seventeen.[16]

Qualifying

Pipo Derani (pictured in 2019) helped take the No. 31 Cadillac's second pole position of 2024.

Friday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, and the GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each.[7] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[18]

Pipo Derani in the No. 31 WCR Cadillac took his second consecutive pole position of the season with a lap of 1 minute 48.152 seconds. He was joined on the front row by Bourdais whose best lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac was 0.147 seconds slower.[19] Delétraz qualified the No. 40 WTR Acura third, and Philipp Eng in the No. 24 BMW took fourth. The fastest Porsche was Nasr's No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 in fifth.[20] The session saw one incident when Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Penske Porsche entry crashed at turn one. Jaminet had his best two laps from the session deleted for causing a red flag, effectively leaving him with no time set.[21] The No. 10 WTR entry lost all its lap times due to the car being worked on during the red flag.[20]

Hyett took the LMP2 pole for AO Racing with a 1:52.142 lap. The two United Autosport Orecas were second and third (the No. 22 car driven by Goldburg in front of the No. 2 vehicle of Keating).[21] Boulle's No. 52 PR1 car was fourth and Robinson's No. 74 Riley vehicle qualified fifth.[19] The session ended prematurely when Andersen's MDK by High Class Racing car stopped on track. Andersen had his best two laps from the session deleted for causing a red flag.[19]

In the GT session, Jack hawksworth set a new qualifying track record for GTD Pro to take pole position for Vasser Sullivan, with a lap of 1:58.714. Hawksworth was 0.550 seconds faster than Farnbacher's second placed No. 23 Aston Martin. Prialux qualified the No. 77 Porsche third.[19] Sims and his teammate Milner would start at the back of the GTD Pro field after their cars failed post post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that their Corvettes diffusers had been modified.[22] As a result, Perera would start from fourth. Philip Ellis set the fastest time in the GTD class in the No. 57 Winward car. However, the team were sent to the back of the GTD grid after the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection where it was discovered that the Mecredes-AMG had installed non permitted sensors. As a result, Antonio Fuoco's No. 47 Cetilar Ferrari was promoted to pole position.[23] Thompson's No. 12 Lexus started in second position followed by Grenier's No. 32 Korthoff car in third.[19] The No. 83 Iron Danes Lamborghini failed to record a time after Sarah Bovy suffered a puncture on her out lap.[19]

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.

More information Pos., Class ...
  • 1 The No. 20 MDK by High Class Racing entry had its two fastest laps deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.
  • 2 The No. 57 Winward Racing entry initially qualified on pole position for the GTD class. However, the car was found to have installed non permitted sensors. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the GTD field on the starting grid.[23]
  • 3 The No. 3 and No. 4 Corvette Racing entries were moved to the back of the GTD Pro classification as per Article 2.2.5 of the GTD Pro and GTD Technical regulations (car homologation was modified).[26]
  • 4 The No. 023 Triarsi Competizione entry was moved to the back of the GTD class as per Article 40.2.3 of the Sporting regulations (change of starting driver).[18]
  • 5 The No. 13 and No. 17 AWA entries were moved to the back of the GTD classification as per Article 2.2.5 of the GTD Pro and GTD Technical regulations (car homologation was modified).[18]
  • 6 The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport entry had its two fastest laps deleted as penalty for causing a red flag during its qualifying session.
  • 7 The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry had all qualifying laps forfeited as per Article 40.2.10. of the Sporting regulations (car was touched by the crew during qualifying without permission by the officials).[18]

Race

Start and early hours

Afternoon

Sunset to finish

Post-race

The final results kept Cameron, Campbell, and Nasr atop the GTP Drivers' Championship with 706 points on countback over race winners Louis Delétraz, Colton Herta, and Jordan Taylor.[27] With a total of 741 points, Dalziel, Merriman and Zilisch's victory allowed them to extend their advantage to 127 points in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship while Burdon, Fraga, and Robinson took over second place.[27] The final results of GTD Pro meant Calado, Rigon, and Serra extended their advantage to 98 points as Sellers, Snow, and Verhagen advanced to second. Barnucoat, Hawksworth, and Kirkwood jumped from eleventh to third while Christensen, Heinrich, and Priaulx dropped to fourth.[27] With 725 points, Dontje, Ellis, and Ward's victory allowed them to extend their advantage in the GTD Drivers' Championship to 136 points. Fuocco, Lacorte, and Sernagiotto moved from tenth to second with 589 points, 19 in front of Adelson, Heylen, and Skeer.[27] Mercedes-AMG continued to top the GTD Manufactures' Championship while Cadillac and Lexus became the leaders of their respective Manufactures' Championships. Porsche Penske Motorsport, Era Motorsport, Risi Competizione, and Winward Racing kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships with nine rounds remaining.[27]

Race results

Class winners are denoted in bold and with ‡.

More information Pos, Class ...

Standings after the race

More information Pos., +/– ...
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
More information Pos., +/– ...
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
More information Pos., +/– ...
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    The No. 77 AO Racing entry received a 35-second time penalty for an unserved drive-through, dropping it from 21st to 28th overall, and from 2nd to 9th in GTD Pro.[28]

References

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More information IMSA SportsCar Championship ...
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