IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, round 2, 12 Hours of Sebring, USA
The 12 Hours of Sebring, the toughest and oldest sports car race in the USA, will be held for the 66th time on March 17th. Porsche has written motorsport history on the legendary Sebring International Raceway scoring a raft of successes. However, it is not only the 18 overall victories and 70 class wins that make Porsche the most successful manufacturer at this classic. Also unequalled are the 4,198 laps in the lead on the airfield circuit in the heart of Florida. At least one Porsche has lined up on the grid every year since 1953 – except in 1974 when the race was cancelled due to the oil crisis. Fifty-eight years after the first overall victory with the Porsche 718 RS, two 510 hp 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche GT Team will go up against four other automobile manufacturers in the strongly represented GTLM class. Porsche customer teams campaign two 911 GT3 R racers at round two of the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the North American Endurance Cup.
The race ; 12 Hours of Sebring
This race is one of the great sports car classics. Immortalised on the winners’ list are Porsche legends such as Dan Gurney, Hans Hermann and Jacky Ickx, as well as the Formula One World Champions Juan Manuel Fangio and Mario Andretti. Hollywood stars have also fulfilled their racing dreams on the Sebring International Raceway: Paul Newman and Patrick Dempsey competed here, as did Steve McQueen, who even finished on the podium scoring second overall in 1970 with a Porsche 908. The 5.954-kilometre Sebring International Raceway, remodelled from a former US Air Force airfield, hosted the inaugural race on December 31, 1950.
The Porsche drivers
In Sebring, the #911 Porsche 911 RSR fielded by the Porsche GT Team is driven by Patrick Pilet (France), Nick Tandy (Great Britain) and Frédéric Makowiecki (France). Sharing driving duties in the #912 cockpit are Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium), Earl Bamber (New Zealand) and Gianmaria Bruni (Italy). Two customer teams tackle the GTD class with the 911 GT3 R and support from works drivers: Competing for Wright Motorsports are Patrick Long (USA), Porsche Young Professional Mathieu Jaminet (France), Robert Renauer (Germany) and 2018 Porsche Selected Driver Christina Nielsen (Denmark). Park Place Motorsports puts its trust in Jörg Bergmeister (Germany) and his American teammates Patrick Lindsey and Timothy Pappas.
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