Sebring IMSA Thursday Notebook

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams took to Sebring International Raceway on Thursday for its first official on-track action of the weekend. Two of the three 90-minute sessions have already been run, with night practice on tap for a 7:45 p.m. ET start time.

***A total of 59 drivers will be required to complete laps in Thursday’s night practice in order to be eligible to race in periods of darkness in the race. Click Here for the list.

***The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 returned to action after Matt Campbell’s accident on his out lap in opening practice, which resulted in bodywork damage, while the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 would go on to post the quickest time of the afternoon after battling electrical issues in Practice 1.

***Blomqvist’s benchmark 1:47.049 lap time, the quickest of the weekend in the GTP class so far, compares to Kamui Kobayashi’s pace-setting 1:45.783 lap time in the No.  7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid from the third Free Practice session of the FIA World Endurance Championship on Thursday, marking a 1.2-second delta.

***LMDh cars, however, appear to be on more equal footing between the two championships, with the fastest LMDh machine in the WEC, the No. 2 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, just 0.106 seconds slower than Blomqvist’s best time.

***Sheldon van der Linde said his crash late in the opening session occurred because he lost control of the rear of the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 going into Turn 17. The South African explained to Sportscar365 that he then locked up the front brakes trying to counteract the slide, causing him to hit the barrier.

***The car completed only eight laps late in the second session due to a torque sensor change.

***Ferrari sports car racing director Antonello Coletta has lashed out at the Ferrari 296 GT3’s Balance of Performance, which he says was “simply ridiculous” in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Ferrari entries from Risi Competizione, Cetilar Racing, AF Corse and Triarsi Competizione had mixed results so far this weekend, with the Risi entry the best-placed, with the fourth quickest time in GTD Pro.

***Coletta said: “I explained it many times and I hope that here it will be different. Because in the same condition of Daytona, there is no sense to make a race. Honestly speaking, Daytona, not just for me but for many people and other manufacturers, there was no real value of the cars.”

***Dane Cameron, who is pulling double-duty between the FIA World Endurance Championship and WeatherTech Championship races this week, said PPM will have to be mindful of the different race approaches, which sees the WEC race at a more flat-out approach due to the lack of safety car periods, which routinely impact WeatherTech Championship races.

***Cameron told Sportscar365: “I think we’re still progressing. We still have room in front of us to continue to improve. Sebring is tough because one day you think you have it figured out and then the temperature changes and the wind changes and suddenly you’re good or not good one day to the next.”

***Gabriel Casagrande recorded his first competitive laps behind the wheel of the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari on Thursday. The Brazilian did not go into the car completely blind; a team spokesperson told Sportscar365 that Casagrande took part in a test at MSR Houston last week.

***Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo entered by the team for this weekend is a different chassis to the one it raced with at the Rolex 24. The car was acquired from German outfit Toksport WRT and arrived in the U.S. last summer. The Daytona car, which was rushed over after Lucas Auer’s crash in practice for the event, is on-site as a backup.

***Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR Andretti is “working on” contesting several WeatherTech Sprint Cup races with its Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 according to Ashton Harrison. Harrison, Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli are so far only confirmed for the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in the GTD class.

***Harrison, who is set to dovetail her WeatherTech Championship commitments with a full season of Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS program also with Racers Edge, told Sportscar365 that a run in the first Sprint Cup round at Long Beach appears unlikely due to the timing of the GTWC America season-opener at Sonoma two weeks prior.

***JDC-Miller’s LMP3 entry is likely to contest the remaining Endurance Cup rounds although it will need to secure its own entry according to team co-owner John Church, who said the No. 85 Duqueine D08 Nissan is utilizing the Minnesota-based team’s full-season GTP class Porsche 963 entry that’s slated to debut beginning at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May.

***It’s currently unclear if Wright Motorsports will field its No. 16 Porsche 911 GT3 R for the Sprint Cup rounds following the news of Ryan Hardwick’s scaled back GTD class commitments. Team owner John Wright declined to comment when reached by Sportscar365 on the matter.

***Entries for the IMSA-sanctioned test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 28-29 will be restricted to one car per manufacturer across GTD Pro/GTD, with no limitations for the GTP and LMP2 classes. LMP3 teams will be permitted to enter subject to the team providing tire inventory for the corresponding event specification, per a bulletin issued by the sanctioning body.

***Additional GTD Pro/GTD cars can also enter if they supply their own tires, although teams will not be allowed to take part in both a private test, scheduled for July 24-25, and the IMSA-sanctioned test.

***Ferrari’s Coletta said the number of orders for the 296 GT3 has been “more and more” than its initial “important” number that was communicated internally several months ago, believed to be 200 units. “Honestly, we had a big success for the new car,” he said. “The global situation is not easy. We had a lot of problems, as did the other manufacturers, with spare parts and so on.”

***Bosch and IMSA have announced a five-year corporate partnership to further leverage Bosch’s electronics and mobility expertise to enhance vehicle performance, improve safety and create a more equitable and robust racing experience. Bosch Motorsport serves as the exclusive partner for the hybrid powertrain in LMDh cars.

***Hardpoint and applied science company Valkyrie have combined “assets and strengths” to form Valkyrie Velocity, a new race team. The organization will be based at Hardpoint’s facility at Virginia International Raceway, with its plans for the 2023 season and beyond to be announced in the “coming weeks” according to a team statement.

***The Rob Ferriol-owned Hardpoint team is currently not represented on the IMSA grid after previous efforts in the WeatherTech Championship GTD class and Michelin Pilot Challenge.

***Officials from IMSA, Sebring International Raceway and the city of Sebring gathered Wednesday evening to dedicate Hendricks Field Memorial Park, a small circular greenway in the track’s infield that was once the center hub of the World War II-era U.S. Army airfield training base. Hendricks Field was constructed in the second half of 1941 and was the first U.S. Army training base for the B-17 bomber.

Davey Euwema and Daniel Lloyd contributed to this report

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John