Spengler Leads BMW Sweep in iRacing Sebring SuperSaturday

Image: BMW

Bruno Spengler led a BMW 1-2-3 sweep in the first-ever IMSA Sebring SuperSaturday race, held in place of the postponed Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

The 90-minute iRacing event, streamed live on YouTube and Twitch, featured pro drivers from the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge and other series, all piloting GT Le Mans class machinery.

The ex-DTM star took over the lead from teammate Nicky Catsburg with 1 hour and 5 minutes to go in the hairpin and muscled his No. 25 BMW M8 GTE into an advantage through traffic.

Fuel-only stops for the two red-livered BMWs, carrying the hashtags #StayHome, saw the Canadian retain his lead over Catsburg, who cruised to a 3.172-second win.

Fellow BMW factory driver Jesse Krohn, in the No. 24 BMW, completed the podium.

Krohn took over third from Sage Karam just moments prior to the lead change up front, which saw the ex-3GT Racing Lexus driver, piloting a Porsche 911 RSR this weekend, drop to fourth.

The No. 888 Porsche of Mirko Bortolitti came home fifth.

Kenton Koch, Shinya Michimi, Daniel Morad, Tristan Vautier and Gabby Chaves, meanwhile, completed the top-ten.

Pole-sitter Robby Foley, in a Turner Motorsport-liveried BMW, lost the lead at the start and ultimately spun and crashed out on the opening lap.

Foley was one of a number causalities that included Richard Westbrook, Seb Priaulx, Tyler Cooke, Parker Chase and Filipe Albuquerque, who were all caught up in incidents.

Forty-six of the 50 entered driver took the start, with several, including Matt Campbell, not taking the green due to mechanical issues with his steering wheel.

Saturday’s event marked the first official all-pro virtual IMSA race run on iRacing, amid the events of the coronavirus that has halted motorsports activity worldwide.

More than 8,800 fans tuned into the live broadcast, which featured commentary from IMSA Radio’s John Hindhaugh, Nick Damon and Ben Constanduros.

The Twelve Hours of Sebring, which was due to take place today, has been rescheduled for Nov. 14 as the WeatherTech Championship season finale.

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