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HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour hits halfway

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emailBy HSR | December 3, 2023 9:21 AM ET

The eighth running of the Historic Sportscar Racing Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, hit the halfway mark early Saturday evening as darkness fell on Sebring International Raceway.

Each of the four competing Run Groups have completed the first two of their four race segments that will be run over the course of Saturday and Sunday, and a mixed group of potential first time winners and previous HSR Classic 12 Hour champions has emerged as the race leaders at the halfway point.

In Group C, Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss carried the momentum of Friday’s B.R.M. Endurance Challenge overall race victory in the HSR Sebring Historics straight into the HSR Classic 12 in pursuit of their first “HSR Classics” overall win. With the first two segments in the books, Marshall and Foss have co-driven the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi to a more than one minute overall lead in Group C. While the lead margin looks somewhat comfortable on paper, the Matador team is being kept honest by Stuart Wiltshire who crossed the line first in Group C race two in his No. 10 Acura ARX-05 DPi.
Group B is emerging as a feel-good family affair with Kyle Collins leading at halfway in the GMT Racing 1972 No. 8 Chevron B21. Collins is driving the same Chevron raced to a 2020 Classic 12 Run Group victory by his grandfather John Delane, who this year has a radio on and is coaching his young protege from the pits.

Former Sebring and Daytona HSR Classics winner Toni Seiler is halfway home to another B.R.M. Chronographes watch as the mid-race leader in Run Group A. Seiler is driving the same 1969 No. 17 Lola T165 in which he scored a close second place Classic Daytona 24 Run Group finish last month.

Another entry in line for a first-time HSR Classics win is Patrick Womack who is co-driving his FedEx 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry with NASCAR ace Joe Nemechek. Taking a page from last June’s Garage 56 NASCAR stock car effort at Le Mans, the Nemechek team has equipped the Camry with full headlights, taillights and brake lights in pursuit of a endurance race win in Run Group D. After the first two rounds, Womack and Nemechek led by nearly 30 seconds.

Sunday’s final day of competition at the HSR Classic 12 begins at noon Eastern when all four Run Groups will compete in their final rounds in succession to determine the winners of this year’s Sebring Classic.

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Day 2 of Classic Sebring concludes season for several HSR classes

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emailBy HSR | December 1, 2023 4:52 PM ET

The season-ending Historic Sportscar Racing B.R.M. Chronographes Endurance Challenge, Sasco Sports International/American Challenge and Classic RS Cup races came to a competitive conclusion Friday at the HSR Sebring Historics at Sebring International Raceway.

The Sebring Historics wrap up HSR’s season-long racing series and championships while setting the stage for this weekend’s eighth running of HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network.

Friday’s big winners included a trio of victorious teams across three classes in the B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race for the Prototype, GT Modern (GTM) and Historic classes.

The overall and Prototype B.R.M. Endurance Challenge win went to the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi of Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss. The team shook off both Marshall’s lap one slide through Sebring’s tricky Turn 17 and a late deflating tire with Foss at the wheel to top a competitive 36-car field.

Second overall and in Prototype went to the Olthoff Racing 2007 No. 25 Oreca FLM09 driven by veteran HSR competitor Larry Huang.

The overall podium was completed by GTM-class winner Juan Lopez-Santini in his 901 Shop 2016 No. 8 Audi R8 LMS Ultra. In addition to finishing a stout third overall, Lopez-Santini continued the recent trend of swapping top-two race finishes with his teammate Jeronimo Guzman. Guzman led the one-two team finish in Thursday’s Stoner Car Care Global GT race only to see Lopez-Santini return the favor today.

Guzman’s GTM runner-up finish saw him cross the finish line fifth overall, just one spot behind the third-place Prototype finishers. Francesco Melandri and Nigel Greensall co-drove the 2017 No. 24 Fransco Racing Ligier JS/P3 to the class podium finish and a fourth place overall showing.

Melandri and Greensall once again pulled double duty in the one-hour B.R.M. race, trading off driving duties in both the Ligier and the Fransco Racing 1996 No. 96 Porsche 993 GT2 in the Historic class.

The Historic division victory went to the similar Air Power Racing 1996 No. 836 Porsche 993 RSR driven by Kenneth Greenberg. Greenberg battled with Melandri and Greensall in a 993 RSR shootout for part of the race but the Porsches ended up being split on the Historic podium by second-place finisher Andrew Myers in his Wolf Motorsports 2001 No. 51 Carbir CS2 Sports 2000. Melandri and Greensall, meanwhile, scored third-place showings in both Prototype and Historic in the same race.

The B.R.M. races final podium player was Bob Neapole who pulled off a last lap pass for third in GTM at the wheel of his 2016 RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport No. 167 Porsche 991 GT3R prepared by Hudson Historics.

Three more race winners were crowned in the final Sasco Sports race of the season that includes classes for American, International and Porsche competitors. The Sasco Sports race was run at the same time as the season-ending Classic RS Cup race that saw frequent HSR winner Todd Treffert rebound from a disappointing day on track Thursday to take the RS Cup win in his Speedconcepts 1974 No. 141 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by the 901 Shop.

The overall winner in the Sasco Sports/Classic RS Cup race was Colin Watson who went two-for-two in HSR feature race victories in his quick Boss Racing 2000 No. 91 Caterham C400. Watson and co-driver Jeremy Adams were also victorious in Thursday’s B.R.M. Endurance Challenge Vintage and GT Classic (GTC) race. Friday’s Sasco Sports victory saw Watson top a 37-car field and take International class honors as well.

The Sasco Sports American division victory went to none other than NASCAR legend and Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee Bill Elliott in the Vintage Race Car Restorations 1970 No. 9 Ford Mustang Boss 302.

The Sasco Sports Porsche class victory was secured by Colin Dougherty in his 1988 No. 77 Porsche 944 Turbo Cup series car prepared by DAS Sport.

Saturday’s on-track HSR schedule at Sebring features the start of the eighth annual Classic Sebring 12 Hour at 12pm. The opening rounds for all four competing Run Groups will take place in succession in a non-stop rotation until the day’s final checkered flag at 9pm.

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HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour gets underway

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emailBy HSR | December 1, 2023 7:54 AM ET

Back-to-back Historic Sportscar Racing feature races kicked off the competition schedule late Thursday afternoon at Sebring International Raceway for the HSR Sebring Historics and this weekend’s eighth running of HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network.

A first-time HSR feature race winner emerged for the overall victory in the one-hour B.R.M. Chronographes Endurance Challenge race for the GT Classic (GTC) and Vintage classes while the Stoner Car Care Global GT sprint that immediately followed went to a familiar driver who just missed out on the win one race ago at the HSR Classic Daytona 24 earlier this month.

Colin Watson and Jeremy Adams broke through for their first B.R.M. Endurance overall victory and GTC class honors in their quick Boss Racing 2000 No. 91 Caterham C400. The British duo kept predominant race leader Todd Treffert in sight throughout the race and took advantage of some unusual late trouble the Porsche driver encountered.

Treffert looked on his way to another B.R.M. Chronographes Endurance race win only to be sidetracked by a loose window net and flat right rear tire while leading the race with less than 10 minutes remaining. Treffert was called to the pits by race officials to refasten the window net and then had to nurse the deflating tire to the finish.

Despite the setbacks, Treffert crossed the finish line in his Speedconcepts 1974 No. 141 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by the 901 Shop just 3.192s behind the winning Caterham, which showed its winning pace by setting the fastest race lap.

Third overall behind the Caterham and IROC 911 was Vintage-class winner Jamie Busby in his KMW Motorsports 1970 No. 188 Porsche 914/6.

Fourth overall and third in GTC went to co-drivers Dean DeSantis and Josh Tuggle in their Heritage Motorsports 1969 No. 133 Porsche 911 RSR.

The overall top-five was completed by the Boss Racing sister entry of Stephen Collins who also garnered runner-up honors in Vintage in his 2014 No. 69 Caterham 7 420R.

Third in the Vintage class was frequent HSR podium finisher Colin Dougherty in his 1988 No. 77 Porsche 944 Turbo Cup series car prepared by DAS Sport.

The Stoner Car Care race win was secured by Jeronimo Guzman who turned the tables on his 901 Shop teammate Juan Lopez-Santini in his 2015 No. 48 Audi R8 LMSA Ultra. Guzman finished second to Lopez-Santini in the Global GT race at Daytona but this time he led the similar 901 Shop 2016 No. 8 Audi R8 LMSA Ultra of his teammate across the line for the victory. The third-place finisher was Vin Barletta in the Turner Motorsport 2016 No. 96 BMW M6/GTLM.

Friday’s on-track HSR highlights at Sebring include the year-end one-hour HSR B.R.M. Historic/Prototype and GT Modern (GTM) Enduro, the first rounds of the season-ending HSR WeatherTech Sprint races, and the season-ending Sasco Sports International/American Challenge race.

Friday also features at 5pm the annual parade of vintage airplanes and warbirds from nearby Sebring Regional Airport to the Sebring International Raceway false grid area where they will be on display until Sunday morning at 10:30am.