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Sebring Wednesday Notebook

Tony DiZinno’s Wednesday notebook from the 12 Hours of Sebring…

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

***Starworks Motorsport has withdrawn its No. 7 Riley-Dinan BMW DP from the race, which leaves the Prototype class at 13 cars. Team principal Peter Baron is targeting to have the Daytona Prototype out again for either the Detroit or Watkins Glen race.

***The team is also fielding Mirco Schultis’ 2011 European Le Mans Series LMPC championship-winning Oreca FLM09 in the HSR race this weekend (pictured above). It’s ironically the same style car (although in ELMS-spec) that would be eligible for the Prototype Challenge class this weekend.

***Muehlner Motorsport has withdrawn its No. 19 Porsche 911 GT America. The team’s sole remaining car, the No. 18 car that currently lists Connor De Phillippi and Dennis Trebing, does not have a third driver identified.

***TRG-AMR will have Brandon Davis continue for a second straight race as third driver of its No. 007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 alongside James Davison and Christina Nielsen. The team’s No. 009 entry, the second car, does not have any drivers named.

***Despite not previously appearing on the entry list, GB Autosport will have Kuba Giermaziak joining the trio of Damien Faulkner, Michael Avenatti and Mike Skeen in the No. 81 Porsche 911 GT America in GT Daytona. With Avenatti and Skeen fulfilling the car’s two Silver/Bronze driver requirement, Giermaziak is free to join as fourth driver for the 12-hour race.

***For drive times at Sebring, in a four-driver lineup, the two Silver/Bronze drivers are required to hit the minimum drive time requirement of three hours. In a three-driver lineup, two Silver/Bronze drivers are still required, but only one will need to hit the minimum drive time. The full regulation update outlined by IMSA last month is linked here.

***Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais and Simon Pagenaud are the three IndyCar drivers coming over from Barber Motorsports Park to race in this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Seven other IndyCar drivers who raced in the Rolex 24 will not be racing at Sebring this weekend.

***Justin Wilson has also arrived in Sebring from Barber, but was not in a car at Barber. The Englishman is set to have his seat fit today, and his laps in the car Thursday will be his first in the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda. Additionally, the MSR transporter has been repainted for Sebring, to feature the team’s updated livery and car.

***IMSA hosted a Green Racing Symposium on Wednesday afternoon, with officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, IMSA President/COO Scott Atherton and four manufacturer representatives (Tim Keene, DeltaWing; Doug Fehan, GM; John Doonan, Mazda and Mark Rushbrook, Ford). All present discussed the future of Green Racing initiatives as IMSA moves forward with its Green program.

***Michelin and Sebring International Raceway announced Tuesday that Michelin will continue as the official tire of the track through 2017.

John Dagys contributed to this report

Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) is Sportscar365's North American Editor, focusing on coverage of the IMSA-sanctioned championships as well as Pirelli World Challenge. DiZinno also contributes to NBCSports.com and other motorsports outlets. Contact Tony

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