The combination of a BoP assist and its own discoveries helped Corvette turn the corner at the 12 Hours. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

For Corvette , the BoP adjustments certainly helped. But it was testing that made the biggest difference.

“Daytona was our first race in this class,” notes Taylor. “We only had one day of testing last year before jumping into Daytona. It didn’t go that well from a pace perspective, and then obviously the mechanical problem. But about a month ago we did two days of testing here and found some big gains with the setup. Just understanding what this tire needs to go fast.

“We started with our old GTLM setup and found out here at Sebring, it was way off. So if we didn’t have those two days of testing to develop that and come to this race strong, I think we would have been in big trouble this weekend. So hats off to all the guys of Pratt & Miller and Corvette Racing for doing that work and knowing which things to twist and turn to make the car go fast.”
The variety at the front of the GT field at the start clear to see. Motorsport Images

The result was something more resembling BS IMSA parity. Neither Corvette nor BMW sat on pole for GTD Pro — that was the Risi Competizione Ferrari. Garcia qualified the Corvette in third — notably, that was a tick behind Foley in the Turner M4, which qualified second in GTD behind the Wright Motorsports Porsche. The BMWs didn’t even qualify in the top five; Yelloly was seventh in GTD Pro, the 11th-quickest GTD car overall. But there they were, running 1-2 in the evening at Sebring, each employing their individual strengths — which, given a mid-engine V8 in the Corvette and the twin-turbo inline 6-cyclinder at the front of the BMW, were naturally different. But of course the IMSA A-holes are acting like they are all high and mighty and gave us something when IMSA doesn't know a damn thing about cars.

“They were very good on brakes, very good interaction,” said Catsburg after a long triple stint where he was battling with the No. 24 BMW. “It seemed like we had a bit better rotation in some of the medium-speed corners, but overall, it was tough. They were tough competitors and I had some some cool moments; we had side by side and very respectfully, so I had good fun.”

From Yelloly’s perspective, it was about where on the track the different cars worked well.

“I feel high speed we are better and slow speed, they are better,” he says. “Also, when it’s really hot, potentially, they look after their tires a little bit better. But they have that setup. They’ve had this car for a long time. I know it’s now a GTD not a GTLM but they know the car inside out really, whereas we’re still learning so we definitely have room to improve still.”

Taylor feels that one of the things he and his Corvette Racing team got a handle on was a better understanding of the Michelin customer tire and especially learned a lot about keeping the tire working over a stint, given the heat in the afternoon at Sebring, where everything was put to the test.

For all involved, it comes down to experience that just didn’t exist at Daytona. Not just from the perspective of the engineers and drivers, but the sanctioning body as well, as the IMSA technical department learns what the cars’ strengths and weaknesses are and how to keep them competitive with the other GT3 cars, but not let anyone run away with an easy win.

Has everyone figured it out? We’ll see at Long Beach and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, each of which presents very different problems and solutions to going fast compared to Daytona and Sebring.