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Continental Tire Keys to the Race: 12H Sebring

Continental Tire Keys to the Race: 12H Sebring…

Photo: IMSA

Photo: IMSA

The 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns to action this weekend with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which also serves as the second leg of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

Continental Tire Keys to the Race: 

Race: Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring

Track: Sebring International Raceway; 17-turn, 3.7-mile road course

Length: 12 hours

Entries: 46 cars spread across four classes: 11 cars (P), 4 cars (PC), 10 cars (GTLM), 21 cars (GTD)

Schedule:

Thursday, Mar. 16 (all times ET)
Practice 1 – 11:10 a.m. – 12:10 p.m.
Practice 2 – 3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
Practice 3 –  7:30 – 9 p.m.

Friday, Mar. 17
Practice 4 – 9:20 – 10:20 a.m.
Qualifying  – 1 – 2:30 p.m.
CTSC Race – 3:40 p.m (2 hours)

Saturday, Mar. 18
Warmup – 8 – 8:20 a.m.
Race –  10:40 a.m. (12 hours)

Previous Winners: Tequila Patron ESM (P), CORE autosport (PC), Corvette Racing (GTLM), Scuderia Corsa (GTD)

Previous Polesitters: Olivier Pla (P), Colin Braun (PC), Bill Auberlen (GTLM), Jeff Segal (GTD)

Driver Insight: “Sebring is one of the hardest race tracks in North America. It’s extremely challenging and it’s a very old surface, very bumpy. It was an airport some years ago and has never been resurfaced and some of the biggest teams in sports car racing come here to test because it really tests the durability, strength and chassis of your race car. It’s a very challenging track and in a lot of ways more difficult than the Daytona 24 but it’s half the length, 12 hours around here is very punishing on the driver and very punishing on the car.” – Eric Curran, No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R

Drive Times: Minimum: 3 hours (PC/GTD); Base time: 1 hour (all drivers); Maximum: 7 hours and no more than 4 hours in a 6-hour period

Tires: Continental Tire “Gold” for P; Continental Tire “Black” for PC and GTD classes; Multiple tire options for GTLM

Pit Stops: 45-50  minute stint length for P/PC; 55-60 minutes for GTLM/GTD

Weather: Sunny, High: 79 F; 10 percent chance of rain

TV: Flag-to-flag coverage between FOX family of networks and IMSA.com

Saturday, March 19 (all times ET)
10:30 a.m.-11 p.m. FOX Sports GO
12:30 – 11 p.m. FOX Sports 1

Radio: Complete session-by-session coverage on IMSA Radio

Spotter’s Guide: Click Here

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