Sebring Wednesday Notebook

Photo: Sebring International Raceway

***A total of 55 IMSA WeatherTech Championship cars unloaded Wednesday morning for this weekend’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which also marks the second leg of the Michelin Endurance Cup. Three practice sessions are on tap for Thursday, beginning at 10:05 a.m. EST, while Wednesday’s track action saw practice for Michelin Pilot Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup North America, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, as well as practice and qualifying for Mustang Challenge North America.

***On Tuesday it was announced that Charles Milesi will sub for Mathias Beche in the No. 18 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson after Beche ruled himself out due to an ongoing illness, which he says has been Long COVID. The Swiss driver was due to contest the full season in the French squad’s entry.

***A number of cars are sporting special liveries this weekend, including the pair of Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs, Pratt Milller’s LMP2 car, all three in patriotic Mobil 1-themed red, white and blue colors to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, as well as the 1996 Porsche 911 GT1-inspired designs on the pair of Penske Porsche 963s for the 30th anniversary of Porsche’s partnership with ExxonMobil.

***The Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R is back to a similar livery from last year’s event here, with blue and white weaved into the rear quarter of the GTP contender. As previously announced, JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Porsche 963 is in Mustang Sampling colors.

***The No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, meanwhile, is back in pink, marking ‘Roxy’ the dinosaur’s first Endurance Cup race. A team statement said this is because ‘Rexy’ is “still recovering from damage received” in the Rolex 24 when the Porsche’s nose was ripped off. It too has extra Mobil 1 graphics for this weekend.

***AO is the defending GTD Pro class winners, with only Alessio Picariello back in the lineup this year, in what marked the Belgian’s first career WeatherTech Championship victory. Picariello is joined by the new full season pairing of Nick Tandy and Harry King.

***The Illinois-based team was among several IMSA cars and/or drivers that took part in the FAT Ice Race in Big Sky, Mont. last month, which saw team principal Gunnar Jeannette take AO’s 2024 GTD Pro title-winning Porsche through the snow.

***Jordan Taylor was also in the ice race, at the wheel of a Cadillac CT5-V Blackwing production car.

***IMSA drivers were also recently in action on the streets of St. Pete, which saw Colin Braun record a top-ten finish in one of Kaulig Racing’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Ram 1500, as part of the Stellantis-owned brand’s ‘Free Agent Driver Program.’

***Braun’s sports car racing boss, Mike Shank, was seen on the pit box during the race, in a show of support.

***Cadillac drivers Earl Bamber and Sebastien Bourdais, meanwhile, took part in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin races on the same weekend, with Bamber recording eighth and fourth place finishes in the pair of 45-minute races and Bourdais cracking the top-ten in Race 2.

***Conquest Racing’s Manny Franco made a cameo appearance in last weekend’s Ferrari Challenge North America season opener at The Thermal Club, winning Race 2 outright.

***Wright Racing team owner/driver Adam Adelson was due to make his Nürburgring Nordschleife debut last weekend, as part of his pursuit of obtaining an A-Permit but NLS1 was canceled due to weather.

***Frederik Vesti, along with Toyota Hypercar driver Nyck De Vries, got stuck in Bahrain amid the start of the U.S./Israel war with Iran late last month, with both drivers having been scheduled to conduct a Pirelli wet-weather tire test at Bahrain International Circuit in their roles as Formula 1 reserve/test drivers for Mercedes-AMG and McLaren, respectively.

***With air space fully closed in the Gulf region at the time, Vesti revealed that he exited Bahrain by car through the King Fahd Causeway to Saudi Arabia, where he then boarded a flight to Cairo before getting picked up by a private jet from the Mercedes-AMG F1 team to take him back to London before jetting to Melbourne for the F1 season opener in his role as third driver.

***Action Express Racing team manager Gary Nelson reaffirmed to Sportscar365 that Vesti will still contest the entire Michelin Endurance Cup season this year despite his increased F1 commitments with the German manufacturer this year.

***Colton Herta was also in Melbourne, having made his Formula 2 debut with Hitech, recording 16th and seventh place finishes after rebounding from an accident in Free Practice 1. Corvette factory driver Nico Varrone, also in his series debut, finished outside the points in both races in his Van Amersfoort Racing entry after briefly leading the Feature Race before receiving a penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

***Pfaff Motorsports’ new Lamborghini Temerario GT3, which is making its competition debut this weekend, completed 850 kms (528 miles) in testing last month between outings at both Vallelunga and Mugello, before the car was air-freighted to its Toronto-area base according to general manager Steve Bortolotti.

***Lamborghini’s interim motorsports director Rouven Mohr has measured expectations for the Temerario GT3 this weekend, indicating that a repeat of the Huracan GT3’s debut race win, in the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series race at Monza, is highly unlikely.

***Mohr told Sportscar365: “Never say never in motorsport; anything can happen. But to be realistic, it’s not a fair target. If you look how the professionalism of the GT3, including how sophisticated today the BoP management is, it’s not comparable. To have this kind of big surprise, I think today it’s even tougher to get it.”

***Kelvin van der Linde gained additional seat time in the BMW M Hybrid V8 during an APEX ONE-organized test at Sebring last month that included both Team WRT entries. Ex-Formula 1 driver Jack Doohan, meanwhile, turned laps in Era Motorsport’s Oreca 07 Gibson in the Feb. 18-19 outing.

***All six Porsche Penske Motorsport drivers were also present according to Penske Racing President Jonathan Diuguid, which marked Rolex 24 winner Laurin Heinrich’s first laps of the 3.7-mile airfield circuit at the wheel of the LMDh car.

***Diuguid said: “He did a really good job, once again. He continues to prove to be a huge talent for the team.” Reflecting back on Daytona, Diuguid said Heinrich was the “biggest surprise” with the German prototype rookie having had the fastest lap average between the Porsche Penske drivers.

***Diuguid downplayed that the 10 kg of additional weight, compared to the GTP competition, given to the Porsche 963 for this weekend will make a significant difference in the race. All LMDh-based cars gained 10 kgs, with the Porsche up by 20 kgs since Daytona.

***He said: “Obviously adding weight to the car, the biggest impact there is tire life and braking performance, which I think we were quite strong in Daytona. As much as I don’t like it, I probably think the changes that IMSA has made is going to bring the cars closer together in Sebring. But I don’t think it’s going to be a hinderance for us for winning the event.”

***Several drivers will be making milestone starts this weekend, with both Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia and Tommy Milner set for their 20th Twelve Hours of Sebrings. Garcia, who has made them all consecutively, will tie for second all-time in race history, one behind former Corvette factory ace Jan Magnussen.

***Milner, meanwhile, missed the 2022 event but took part in the FIA World Endurance Championship 1000 Miles of Sebring that year, finishing second in the GTE Pro class.

***Milner said: “I can’t think of a year when I was getting ready for Sebring and not getting excited about racing there. The racing’s fun, no matter what, no matter how you cut it. Sebring is just that much more exciting because of the history and how challenging that race is.”

***Jack Hawksworth, meanwhile, is set for his 100th IMSA start with the Lexus RC F GT3. The Briton, who by far holds the most experience with the car, has nine additional starts with the Lexus outside of WeatherTech Championship competition, having contested half a season of GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS with Tech 1 Racing in 2019, and three starts with Akkodis ASP Team in the WEC, including the last two editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***He said: “You can link me with the start, certainly with the start of the Vasser Sullivan program and the start of the RC F GT3 racing in America and to see where the program has come from those early days, the beginning of 2017, to where we are now. I feel we’re a factor pretty much at any race, on any given day that we can win as a race team. I think it’s cool to look back on. I’m proud of the fact that I’ve been on that journey the whole way and been able to work with some really good people and a really good organization.”

***Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat’s endurance co-driver, Kyle Kirkwood, arrives at Sebring after winning last weekend’s Grand Prix of Arlington which has vaulted him to the lead of the NTT IndyCar Series points standings.

***A new pedestrian bridge traversing the Ulmann Straight (pictured above) features branding from TireRack dot com and Michelin. It provides a much-needed new passageway for fans, competitors and media that park on the opposite side of the paddock that had previously been shuttled into the track on trams.

***Sebring International Raceway President and general manager Matt Muha said: “The addition of the new TireRack dot com/Michelin Bridge is a tremendous enhancement for everyone who comes to Sebring. This bridge will provide fans and participants with greatly improved access to the parking areas and amenities along the Ulmann Straight, making it easier than ever to move around the facility on our busiest weekends given the ongoing growth of our marquee event.”

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