IMSA/WEC 'Super Sebring' returns for 2020

Image by LAT43 sharessharetweetemailBy: Marshall Pruett | 8 hours ago
IMSA and the FIA World Endurance Championship will reunite in March for the second annual “Super Sebring” sports car event.

The inaugural weekend featured IMSA’s traditional 12 Hours of Sebring for WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entries, which followed the WEC’s 1000 miles of Sebring as the two series gave fans days of constant entertainment.

“The 2019 Super Sebring weekend exceeded expectations by every measure, and we look forward to working with the World Endurance Championship and Sebring Raceway staffs to enhance the experience in 2020 for everyone involved,” IMSA President Scott Atherton said.

WEC CEO Gérard Neveu commented: “The Sebring event this year was greatly enjoyed by competitors and fans alike, and it’s a real pleasure to come together again with our partners at IMSA and Sebring Raceway to put on an even better show for 2020”.

Wayne Estes, president of the storied road course circuit, declared the first event as the most successful in the modern era, which made bringing the endurance racing combo back little more than a formality.

“A tremendous amount of work by the Sebring team and all parties involved went into making the 2019 Super Sebring weekend a success, and our goal is to build on that and again surpass the milestones established this year,” Estes said.
Super Sebring, IMSA, Le Mans/WEC

 

Van der Zande leads second Sebring practice

Richard Dole/Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 12, 2020 1:28 PM

Title hopeful Renger van der Zande prevailed in a late-session charge in Thursday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship second practice for Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

With the top four positions on the DPi chart switching places throughout the closing minutes, van der Zande came out quickest at 1m47.478s in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. He and co-driver Ryan Briscoe enter the season finale trailing by only two points in the standings.

“Not too bad for a driver without a job,” said van der Zande. “This is a special weekend, my last race with Wayne Taylor Racing, and it’s fantastic to be in the car with Scott [Dixon] again — every time he shows up we win. I think we have a good shot at winning this weekend, that’s our main goal, and the Endurance Championship as well. Winning the DPi title would be a dream come true. Today didn’t go so well – we had a gearbox issue – but somehow we got it fixed just before the beginning of the session. I got in at the end for a new tire run, and I was fastest.”

More IMSA!

Castroneves/Taylor/Rossi Acura paces Sebring night practice

JDC-Miller looking to maintain two-car DPi entry in 2021

More GTD Acuras in 2021?

Sebastien Bourdais came up +0.167s short in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPi-V.R, followed by Pipo Derani, +0.763s in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, and Oliver Jarvis, +0.857s in the No. 77 Mazda RT-24P.

The point-leading No. 7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Ricky Taylor and Helio Castroneves was fifth, +0.980s with Alexander Rossi at the wheel.

The 75-minute practice started in light rain, the remnants of Tropical Storm Eta, but the track quickly dried out with temperatures of 80 degrees.

Mikkel Jensen led the four-car LMP2 field, running 1m51.667s in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks ORECA LMP2 07-Gibson. Next was Simon Trummer, +0.264s in the No. PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA.

Rolling out a pair of brightly colored Porsche 911 RSR-19s for its scheduled farewell to the GTLM class, the Porsche Racing Team went 1-2 for the second consecutive session. Laurens Vanthoor was fastest, at 1m57.975s in the No. 912, followed by Fred Makowiecki, +0.197s in the No. 911. Earl Bamber will share time in both of the team cars.

“This is a program I really loved to do, and it’s coming to the end with the last race,” Vanthoor said. “We had a good-bye ceremony last night. It’s cool to be part of it, but we’re racing here, trying to go out with a bang. I haven’t won this race yet, so this could be my last chance to do it in the top GT class.”

Jordan Taylor was third in GTLM, +0.469s in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R, followed by Jesse Krohn, +0.631 in the No. 24 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE.

In GTD, Steijn Schothorst was fastest in the return of the GRT Grasser Racing Team, 2m2.352s in the No. 11 Orange1 Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Bryan Sellers was second, +0.098s back in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, followed by Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3.R. The top 10 cars were separated by 1.022s.

The session was red-flagged at the 30-minute mark for the No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks ORECA of John Farano, who lost drive on the back straight and brought about a stoppage of five minutes.

The No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Central Spine ORECA was damaged in an incident late in opening practice with Patrick Byrne at the wheel. The car was repaired in time for the full afternoon session.

The session opened with 15 minutes for bronze- and silver-rated drivers. Patrick Kelly was fastest of the Pro-Am competitors in LMP2, 1m53.287s in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07-Gibson. Heylen led GTD, 2m2.478s, +0.113s ahead of Aaron Telitz in the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Luxus RCF GT3.

UP NEXT: Night practice, a 90-minute session beginning at 6:15 p.m.

 

Barry Cantrell/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | November 10, 2020 5:22 AM

When Helio Castroneves strapped into a Team Penske CART IndyCar chassis for the first time on December 8, 1999, he had no idea that first test outing would develop into a relationship destined to last 20 years and produce unimaginable success.

Across the 7,342 days, which began at Homestead-Miami Raceway, and will see his time as a Penske driver come to an end at approximately 10 p.m. on Saturday night in Sebring, Castroneves became a household name, a legend of the Indianapolis 500, and the most tenured driver to grace The Captain’s team.

“Well, as this last race becomes closer, a lot of things are going through my mind,” the Brazilian told RACER. “The love of the sport is still here. It’s hard to stop thinking about it, and what’s next for me in IndyCar. But no question, I was actually trying to figure out what it will be like without Team Penske in my life. Like, I know I have a lot of my things in the shop. And I don’t even know, do they ship it to me now? Do I go there and put it in boxes? I asked TC (Team Penske president Tim Cindric) what to do, and he’s like, ‘I don’t know!’ It was so funny. But change is here for, the both of us, and we’ll figure it out.”

More IMSA!

Castroneves/Taylor/Rossi Acura paces Sebring night practice

JDC-Miller looking to maintain two-car DPi entry in 2021

Van der Zande leads second Sebring practice

When he wakes up Sunday morning, and starts Day 1 as the newest employee of Meyer Shank Racing’s NTT IndyCar Series team, Castroneves says he’ll look back on the relationships built at Team Penske as the testimonies of value that came from spending nearly half his life within Penske’s family.

“I made a lot of friends in the race team — in the racing world, obviously — but in this team particular made a lot of friends and that will never change, no matter where I will be,” he added. “I’ll always have those special friends, and Roger Penske is one of them. Most of all, I consider him a huge friend, a huge counselor, a guidance person that you can always count on, and TC as well. So, very grateful — can’t thank enough Team Penske for everything they did to make me who I am, to mold me, to teach me, to help me and to give me the tools to do what I love most, which is race.”

Castroneves has one significant piece of unfinished business to tend to at Sebring. He’s a rare bird as a three-time Indy 500 winner, but when it comes to titles, those four runner-up finishes in IndyCar speak to an absence of championships on his pro racing record. Holding the lead in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi class with teammate Ricky Taylor has Castroneves in position to go out in grand style, provided Sebring grants his wish.
Castroneves and Ricky Taylor have formed an effective partnership, but have one big item still on their to-do list. Motorsport Images

For Taylor, the 2017 IMSA DPi champion, bidding farewell to Castroneves, at Acura Team Penske’s final IMSA race, by capturing the major championship that has proven elusive for the 45-year-old, is the priority.

“He’s been such a great teammate and I’ve learned so much from him,” Taylor said. “I know how much it would mean to him if we can win the championship, and honestly, it’s all I want to do for him in the last race of the year, which is also our last time together — at least for now — as teammates.”

As all the life and career changes contained within Day 7,342 draws near and readies to become Castroneves’ reality, the core of the man — a racer — is laid bare.

“Winning the championship, that would be a great bookend story,” he said. “I just want to race and win. It’s not complicated at all. And to know how Ricky is thinking about me, it shows the class that he has. I learned so much with him in sports cars; it’s his world, and I have all this experience in IndyCar, but all of a sudden, I’m starting all over again, and having him as a guy that I can lean on and learn from, it’s been the best. It was just a great combination. So I really enjoy working with a champion like Ricky, and likewise, I want to end this partnership with high notes. Being champions with Ricky, that would be amazing. But then again, if not, I made a good friend for life, too, and that’s one of the most important things to have.”

“I made a lot of friends in the race team — in the racing world, obviously — but in this team particular made a lot of friends and that will never change, no matter where I will be,” he added. “I’ll always have those special friends, and Roger Penske is one of them. Most of all, I consider him a huge friend, a huge counselor, a guidance person that you can always count on, and TC as well. So, very grateful — can’t thank enough Team Penske for everything they did to make me who I am, to mold me, to teach me, to help me and to give me the tools to do what I love most, which is race.”

“I want to congratulate Helio on the opportunity with Meyer Shank Racing for the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season,” Roger Penske said. “Helio has been such an important part of Team Penske for over two decades and he is certainly one of the greatest drivers in the history of our team. I am excited for him that he will get the opportunity to return to IndyCar next season and it is great for our series and our fans because Helio’s personality and passion will continue to help drive our sport forward. Before we get to next season, we still have some goals to accomplish with Helio in 2020. He will be racing for the IMSA championship this weekend at Sebring with the Acura Team Penske No. 7 team and we hope we can celebrate one more time with him in Victory Circle.”

Helio Castroneves, Sebring, Team Penske, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Castroneves/Taylor/Rossi Acura paces Sebring night practice

Scott LePage/Motorsport Images
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emailBy Marshall Pruett | November 12, 2020 6:34 PM

With a long night of racing on the horizon and a championship in their sights, the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 of Ricky Taylor, Helio Castroneves, and Alexander Rossi led IMSA’s 90-minute run into darkness during practice at Sebring.


Taylor’s quick lap (1m48.358s) was slightly faster than the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R piloted by Pipo Derani (+0.177s), and Olivier Pla in the No. 77 Mazda DPi (+0.259s).

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JDC-Miller looking to maintain two-car DPi entry in 2021

Van der Zande leads second Sebring practice

More GTD Acuras in 2021?

In LMP2, the No. 8 Tower Motorsport by Starworks ORECA 07-Gibson driven by Mikkel Jensen (1m50.127s) led PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Simon Trummer in the No. 52 ORECA (+1.936s) and Matthew Bell in the No. 51 Inter Europol Competition ORECA (+2.285s)

GT Le Mans featured a Porsche GT Team 1-2 with Nick Tandy’s No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR (1m58.170s) holding a tiny edge over the No. 912 driven by Laurens Vanthoor (+0.030s). Connor De Phillippi rounded out the top three in the No. 25 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE (+0.291s).

The fastest GT Daytona entry was Franck Perera’s No. 11 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 (2m02.510s). Riley Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach was next in the No. 74 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (+0.130s), and the routinely impressive Heart of Racing No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 driven by Ian James (+0.228s) displaced most of the class on his way to third.

Plenty of harmless spins took place during the session, which also included a quick visit into the Turn 3 tire barriers by Corvette Racing’s Oliver Gavin.

UP NEXT: Qualifying, 10:15 a.m. ET

PRACTICE 3




Sebring, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Porsche thanks fans with special liveries for Sebring sendoff

Images courtesy of Porsche Motorsport
468 sharesBy Marshall Pruett | November 10, 2020 7:42 AM

The factory Porsche GT Le Mans team will say thank you and goodbye to IMSA this weekend with special liveries worn by the Nos. 911 and 912 entries.

The reigning WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM title winners are set to farewell the program at the conclusion of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and in honor of the seven-year effort on American and Canadian soil, the German manufacturer has chosen a red, white, and blue design, complete with a message of ‘THANK YOU’ carried beneath the rear wings.



“With this special vehicle design, we want to underline our connection to this tremendous racing series and also want to say a big thank you to the loyal fans,” said Pascal Zurlinden, Porsche’s factory motorsports director. “While racing the 911 in the GTLM class, we experienced firsthand the excitement that our brand inspires in the USA. The spectators were always full of passion, they love the 911 RSR and they were unfailingly supportive.

“We’d also like to thank everyone involved from Porsche AG, Porsche Cars North America, our motor racing colleagues in the USA, the operations team Core autosport and, last but definitely not least, our loyal partners. The huge successes over the last seven years would not have been possible without their trust and dedicated cooperation.”



Porsche, Sebring, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Creventic 24H set for Sebring move

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emailBy Marshall Pruett | October 28, 2020 10:42 AM

The Creventic 24H racing series is expected to move its annual 24-hour visit to the United States from Circuit of The Americas in Texas to Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

RACER has learned the Hankook 24 Hours of Sebring is expected to be confirmed for November 12-14, 2021 on the sprawling road course. The GT and touring car-based series is set to replace the Michelin Encore, which ran in the same mid-November date from 2018-’19.

The Dutch sanctioning body raced at COTA through 2019, but cancelled its American appearance this year amid COVID-19 travel complications. With stops in Dubai, Spain, Germany, and Italy, the pro-am series continues to grow in awareness and stature against well-established organizations like the FIA WEC, ELMS and SRO.

CREVENTIC, GT, International Racing

 

Championship rivals 1-2 in Sebring 12 Hours qualifying

Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 13, 2020 9:05 AM

The top two contestants for the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi title will start side-by-side on the front row in Saturday’s season-ending Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Ricky Taylor captured the pole with a lap of 1m46.874s in the No. 7 Acura Team Penske Acura ARX-05, edging Renger van der Zande in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R by by 0.251s. Taylor enters the finale joining co-driver Helio Castroneves leading the standings by two points — ironically, beating a car owned by his father, Wayne Taylor, for a team he will join in 2021. Ryan Briscoe co-drives with van der Zande in the Wayne Taylor Racing entry, with the pair joined by six time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon.

“I don’t think you can have scripted this any better,” said Ricky Taylor (pictured above). “This is such an amazing way to end the championship. If you’re a fan, you want it to come down to the last race. To be racing against the No. 10 car, of all teams, is weird, but I wouldn’t want to be racing against anybody else. It’s definitely odd. Sometimes I have to forget it’s my father. But at the end of the day, we’re lucky to be where we are — we’re both in a position to win the championship.”

More IMSA!

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Castroneves/Taylor/Rossi Acura paces Sebring night practice

JDC-Miller looking to maintain two-car DPi entry in 2021

Alexander Rossi completes the line-up for the No. 7 Team Penske Acura.

Dane Cameron timed in third quick, +0.266s in the No. 6 Penske Acura, followed by Sebastien Bourdais, +0.335s in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, and Harry Tincknell, +0.371s in the No. 55 Mazda RT-24P. The eight DPis were separated by 0.822s.


Patrick Kelly continued to dominate LMP2 qualifying, running 1m51.373s to claim his sixth consecutive pole in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07-Gibson. His pole streak began at Sebring in July. Recently crowned PC titlist Naveen Rao made his LMP2 debut by qualifying second, +1.77s in the No. 51 Inter Europol competition entry.

Already crowned the GTLM champion, Antonio Garcia captured the class pole with a sizzling track record lap of 1m55.456s in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R, gapping the field by more than half a second. It was his second pole of the season in the new car.


Connor De Phillippi was second, +0.66s in the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE, followed by teammate Jesse Krohn, +0.86s in the No. 24. He was followed by Tommy Milner, +0.99s in the No. 4 Corvette.

After finishing 1-2 in all three of Thursday’s practice sessions, the Porsche GT Team placed 5-6 in its final WeatherTech Championship[ qualifying. Nick Tandy was +1.384s back in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19, with Neel Jani +2.318s behind in the No. 912.

Jan Heylen doubled down with one flying lap in No. 16 Wright Motorsports 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3R, with his lap of 2m.884s good enough for the GTD pole.


Andrew Davis times in a distant second, +0.702s in the No. 30 Team Hardpoint GridRival.com Audi R8 LMS GT3. He was followed by Aaron Telitz, +0.761s in the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3; Richard Heistand, +0.808s in the No. 11 GRT Grasser Lamborghini Huracan GT3; and Cooper MacNeil, +0.958s in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo.

Goikhberg spun the No. 57 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 on his out-lap, but as able to continue, but qualified 12th in the 13-car class.

RESULTS

UP NEXT: Saturday’s on-track activity opens with a 20-minute warm-up at 8 a.m. ET. The 68th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is set to start at 10:10 a.m.

Acura Team Penske, Ricky Taylor, Sebring, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Mazda wins Sebring thriller; Castroneves, Taylor claim DPi crown

Michael Levitt / Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 8:24 PM

Harry Tincknell took advantage of his teammate Oliver Jarvis’ misfortune with 27 minutes remaining to win Saturday’s 68th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for Mazda Motorsports, capping a night of heartbreak for many of the top contenders.

Mazda won the battle with Tincknell, Jonathan Bomarito and Ryan Hunter-Reay in the No. 55 Multimatic Motorsports-prepared RT-24P, but Acura Team Penske won the war, with Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor taking the DPi title by one point despite finishing eighth, seven laps down in the No. 7 Acura.

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The No. 6 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Dane Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud finished second, 10.154s back, followed by Jarvis, Olivier Pla and Tristan Nunez in the No. 77 Mazda.

The championship was a career first for Castroneves, despite winning the Indianapolis 500 three times.

“It’s amazing to finish the championship with a great organization, a great group of people,” Castroneves said. “It’s a new beginning for me, but I will never, never forget this. It was an incredible journey, for sure.”

“To me, Helio is Team Penske, and it was the privilege of a lifetime to get to drive for Acura Team Penske,” Taylor said. “To win it with him was one of the highlights of my life.”

Pla took the lead in the No. 77 RT-24P with 2h25m remaining, passing then-championship-leading Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. Derani needed to win in order to take the title. But after making contact with Montoya’s race-leading No. 6 Acura in Turn 7 at the 9h31m mark, Derani dive-bombed Montoya in Turn 5 on the next lap, sending the Acura spinning.


Derani took over the lead, only to be passed by Pla on the following lap. Derani then went to the pits to serve a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

Returning to the race, Derani went to the grass as his steering failed due to a broken right-front suspension part. He returned to the pits and lost two laps for repairs, effectively ending his chance at the title.

From that point, Pla and Jarvis pulled away. Jarvis was leading by 30 seconds when he cut his left-rear tire, sending him on a ride through the grass. The caution waved for the ninth time due to debris from the tire, which gave the advantage to Tincknell.


The green flag waved with 17m30s remaining, the Mazda home free although an incident took out the leaders in both the GTLM and GTD classes.

“What a position to be in – 20 minutes to go, and leading one of the biggest races in the world,” Tincknell said. “I was just going to give it everything – no regrets – and see what happens. We’ve had our ups and downs this year, and what a way to end it.”

“This is the overall win I’ve been looking for,” said Florida native Hunter-Reay. “This is my home race, and I’ve always dreamed of winning this overall.”

“It’s a shame, because the No. 77 had pretty much a dominating lead,” Bomarito said. “But it’s motor racing. We all ran hard, all race long, and now we have two Mazdas on the podium. This is one of the most physical races.”

The No. 7 Acura entered the race with a two-point lead, and led up until its first pit stop. Ricky Taylor then lost boost at the 45m mark, and went to the paddock to have the intercooler of his left turbocharger replaced, costing him 11 laps in the end.

That put the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Cadillac in the championship seat. Disaster struck that team, though, at the 4h50m mark, when Scott Dixon spun in Turn 7 after contact with the No. 77 Mazda of Oliver Jarvis.

Dixon lost five laps in the paddock getting a new radiator; Briscoe and van der Zande finished second in the standings, one point back.

The No. 10 Cadillac did manage to win the Michelin Endurance Cup for Briscoe and van der Zande, ending Action Express Racing’s six straight titles since the competition among IMSA four longest races began in 2014.

Lost in the shuffle was a strong showing by JDC-Miller Motorsports, which had both of its cars lead the event. Scott Simpson, Matheus Leist and Scott Andrews took fourth in the No. 85 Cadillac, one position ahead of teammates Sebastien Bourdais, Tristan Vautier and Loic Duval in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry.

The competitive race saw all eight DPis takes turns in the lead before the race reached the 10-hour mark. The last to lead? The eventual winning No. 55 Mazda.
The pole-winning Kelly/Trummer/Huffaker PR1 Motorsport ORECA scored a dominant LMP2 victory. Image by Abbott/Motorsport Images

The LMP2 contest came to an abrupt halt when the leading No. 51 Inter Europol Competition ORECA driven by Jakub Smiechowski slammed into the Turn 17 wall at the 5h34m mark. That gave the lead to the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07-Gibson of pole winner Patrick Kelly, Simon Trummer and 2019 Team USA Scholarship-winer Scott Huffaker. The trio went on to win by two laps over the Performance Tech Motorsports No. 38 entry of Patrick Byrne, Guy Cosmo and Don Yount.

RESULTS



Acura Team Penske, Mazda, Sebring 12 Hours, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Porsche GT Team goes out in style with Sebring 1-2

Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
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emailBy J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 10:12 PM

Running its final race, the Porsche GT Team scored a one-two finish in GTLM in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Nick Tandy, Fred Makowiecki and Earl Bamber won in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19, 9.025s ahead of teammates Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor and Neel Jani.

“To win in our last race, and to do it with a 1-2 as well…” said Tandy, claiming victory at Sebring for the third consecutive year. “It’s been an
emotional weekend — our last time together as a group. I hoped that we could win, and the three-peat was always on; but to do a 1-2 was great for the whole team. Everyone has put seven years of their lives into this program. It’s a perfect finish — to win the last three of the season, and to win three Sebrings in a row.”


The final restart ended a solid run for the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE of Connor De Phillippi, Colton Herta and Bruno Spengler. De Phillippi was hit from behind on the final restart, sending him into the GTD-leading Ferrari. He came back to finish fourth behind the team’s No. 24 BMW of Jesse Krohn, John Edwards and Augusto Farfus, after the No. 25 was in the fight for the lead for most of the race.

The No. 3 Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg was also a GTLM contender up until a rear suspension failure with 2h30m remaining and finished fifth. The No. 4 Corvette — in the final ride as a Corvette regular after 18 years for Oliver Gavin — took sixth after struggling through mechanical problems.
GTD winners Hardwick, Long and Heylen. Image by Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Patrick Long, Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen scored the GTD victory in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports 1st phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R, beating the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Roman De Angelis, Ian James and Darren Turner by 3.27s. The winning Porsche struggled with a broken shock for the final nine hours of the race.

“It was difficult to fight, because we didn’t know where the car was going to land,” Long admitted. “The car was very difficult with all the left-rights, and I have a migraine from banging my head on the roll bar. But these cars are built solid, and it held up despite the challenge. All’s well that ends well.”

Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry claimed the GTD title by two points over Long and Hardwick with a third-place finish in the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3.

Scuderia Corsa Ferrari seemed headed to the GTD victory until the closing minutes. Cooper MacNeil, Alessandro Balzan and Jeff Westphal all took turns in the lead – pacing 107 laps – with Westphal holding an 11-second lead when the final caution waved.

That allowed Lawson Aschenbach to close in with the No. 74 Riley Motorsports/74 Hunting Ranch AMG-Mercedes GT3. On the restart with 17:30 remaining, Aschenbach bumped the GTLM-leading BMW of De Phillippi, who in turn hit the Ferrari.

The GTD race took a dramatic turn at the 2h40m mark. First, the class-leading No. 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 of Franck Perera, Richard Heistand and Steijn Schothorst broke an axle while leaving pit road. The promoted the two AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus GT F GT3s to the led, but both the leading No. 12 of Townsend Bell and second-place No. 14 of Kyle Kirkwood spun in water left by the No. 4 Corvette of Gavin and then hit the wall.

Two other GTD cars were involved in the incident, but were able to continue.

RESULTS

Porsche, Sebring, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship

 

Farnbacher, McMurry and Meyer Shank celebrate GTD titles

Michael Levitt/Motorsport Images
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emailBy RACER Staff | November 15, 2020 5:28 AM

Although the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R drivers and crew claimed the GT Daytona spoils of victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 team of Mario Farnbacher, Matt McMurry and Shinya Michimi played the patient game and brought home the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD team and driver championships (for Farnbacher and McMurry) for the second straight year.

Despite the win, the No. 16 and Long and Hardwick finished two points shy of catching the No. 86. Needing only a fifth-place finish to clinch the GTD championship repeat, the No. 86 NSX accomplished its mission by taking third.

Farnbacher was also the 2019 GTD driving champion with Trent Hindman in the No. 86, while McMurry took home the 2019 title in LMP2 competition. In addition to repeating as the team champion, the No. 86 helped Acura secure the manufacturer crown this year as well.

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CGR confirms IMSA return with DPi Cadillac

Cameron confirmed as Pla partner in MSR DPi Acura

“It means a lot,” Farnbacher said. “This year was just amazing, sharing the car with these two amazing gentlemen and also with Jules Gounon at the Rolex 24 (in January). It was a crazy ride this year with COVID and all the compression of the race schedule. Ultimately, to end the Meyer Shank program with the NSX means a lot to finish it and thank them with the constructor title, the team title and the driver championship as well. I’m really privileged and thankful for that.”

McMurry agreed. “It means a ton,” he said. “It was a really challenging year, a really tough field. A new car to learn how to drive but I had the best team and co-driver to do it with. I’m really proud of the team and the co-drivers and myself to do what we did. I don’t think a lot of people have gone from a prototype to a GTD championship and back-to-back. And it’s been my first two full seasons of IMSA, too. All in all it’s pretty great.”

Acura, Mario Farnbacher, Matt McMurry, Meyer Shank Racing, IMSA, WeatherTech Sportscar Championship