The67th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts was anendurancesports car racing event held atSebring International Raceway nearSebring, Florida, from 14–16 March 2019.
The race was the second round of the2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of theMichelin Endurance Cup.Action Express Racing andWayne Taylor Racing brought home a Cadillac 1-2-3 finish for the overall honours, with the win going to the No. 31 crew ofEric Curran,Felipe Nasr andPipo Derani, who won the 12 Hour race for a third time in the previous four editions. the #911Porsche GT Team won in the GTLM class over the No. 66 Ford GT ofChip Ganassi Racing, LMP2 was won by Performance Tech Motorsports, and theGrasser Racing Team took a second straight victory in the GTD class, winning over fellow Lamborghini GTD teamMagnus Racing, who came 2nd in only their second start as a Lamborghini team.
TheFIA World Endurance Championship returned to the venue for the same weekend for the first time since2012, albeit with a few changes. The World Endurance Championship had a 1,000-mile standalone event of its own on Friday, March 15, 2019, the day before the official 12 Hours of Sebring sanctioned byIMSA, on March 16.[1][2] Despite initial questions raised over whether or not two separate events of the same length could be held on the same weekend, the event was confirmed to be the sixth round of the2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship. Select drivers and teams, such asCorvette Racing andChip Ganassi Racing, competed in both events back-to-back.[3]
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018.[4] It was the sixth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and the 67th 12 Hours of Sebring. The 12 Hours of Sebring was the second of twelve scheduled sports carendurance races of 2019 by IMSA, and the second of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC).[5] It was held at the 17-turn, 3.741-mile (6.021 km)Sebring International Raceway inSebring, Florida on March 16, 2019.[6]
On 28 February 2019, IMSA released a technical bulletin regarding the Balance of Performance for the 12-hour race. In the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class, most cars had reductions in power, with the exception of theCadillac DPi. TheMazda RT24-P was made 10 kilograms heavier, and had fuel capacity reduction. In the GT Le Mans class (GTLM), theFerrari 488 GTE was made 15 kilograms lighter.[7] Despite being given a break, Ferrari GTLM teamRisi Competizione decided to forgo Sebring, for concerns over the adjustment.[8]
Before the race,Jordan Taylor,Renger van der Zande,Fernando Alonso, andKamui Kobayashi led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 35 points, ahead ofPipo Derani,Felipe Nasr, andEric Curran in second position with 32 points.[9] In LMP2,Sebastián Saavedra,Pastor Maldonado,Ryan Cullen, andRoberto González led the Drivers' Championship with 35 points.[9] The GTLM Drivers' Championship was led byConnor De Phillippi,Philipp Eng,Colton Herta, andAugusto Farfus with 35 points, 3 ahead ofJames Calado,Alessandro Pier Guidi,Miguel Molina, andDavide Rigon in second position.[9] With 35 points,Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers,Rolf Ineichen, andChristian Engelhart led the GTD Drivers' Championship.[9]Cadillac,BMW, andLamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships whileKonica Minolta Cadillac,DragonSpeed,BMW Team RLL, andGRT Grasser Racing Team each led their own Teams' Championships.[9]
A total of 38 cars took part in the event split across 4 classes. There were 11 cars in the DPi class, eight entries in GT Le Mans, 17 in GT Daytona, and a mere two entrants in the LMP2 class. Following the retirement ofChristian Fittipaldi,Le Mans winnerBrendon Hartley joined theAction Express Racing team in the No. 5 car.Matthieu Vaxivière joinedWayne Taylor Racing in their No. 10 Cadillac, afterToyota Gazoo Racing driversKamui Kobayashi andFernando Alonso were barred from taking part in IMSA's event. In the GT Daytona class,Black Swan Racing, who had confirmed a full endurance-event program for the 2019 IMSA Season, had withdrawn as a result of team owner and driverTim Pappas sustaining injuries from February'sBathurst 12 Hour event.[10]
Due to the World Endurance Championship event taking place on Friday, the first few practice sessions for the 12 Hours of Sebring were held on Thursday. In the first practice session,Felipe Nasr and the No. 31Action Express Racing Cadillac team were quickest, setting a 1:46.996. They were 0.355 seconds faster than the No. 6Team Penske Acura. In GT Le Mans, Porsche and Ford were at the top of the leaderboard, withLaurens Vanthoor setting the quickest time for the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR, setting a 1:56.983. He would be three tenths clear of the times from the Ford GT driversRichard Westbrook andJoey Hand. In GT Daytona, Mario Farnbacher of the No. 86Meyer-Shank Racing Acura team set the fastest time of 2:00.793, nearly half a second clear of the No. 73 Park Place Motorsport Porsche, driven byPatrick Long. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports went fastest in the LMP2 class.[11]
In free practice two, after a low-risk session fromMazda Team Joest,Olivier Pla would give them the fastest time of the weekend so far in the #55 car, a 1:46.834. He would be 0.815 seconds faster thanPipo Derani of the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac. Acura driverHélio Castroneves completed the top three in the DPi class. In the GT Le Mans class,Porsche GT Team were fastest once again, with #911 driverNick Tandy setting a 1:56.991. The team were once again fastest over the twoChip Ganassi Racing Ford GTs. In GT Daytona,Bill Auberlen set the pace in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6, with a 2:00.583. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports once again set the fastest LMP2 time, with 1:52.149.[12]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(January 2024) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(January 2024) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(January 2024) |
| This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(January 2024) |
The final results of DPi kept Jordan Taylor and Renger van der Zande atop the DPi Drivers' Championship with 67 points while Albuquerque and Barbosa advanced from seventh to fourth.[16] Cassels and Masson's victory allowed them to take the lead of the LMP2 Drivers' Championship while the absent Saavedra, Maldonado, Cullen, and González dropped to fourth. McMurry and Aubry jumped to second after being fourth entering Sebring International Raceway.[16] The final results of GTLM kept Eng atop the Drivers' Championship with 63 points while De Phillippi and Herta dropped to third. Race winners Pilet, Tandy, and Makowiecki advanced from fifth to second.[16] With a total of 70 points, Bortolotti, Breukers, and Ineichen's victory allowed them to extend their advantage over Montecalvo, Bell, and Telitz in the GTD Drivers' Championship to 16 points. Lally, Potter, and Pumpelly advanced from tenth to third.[16] Cadillac and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Porsche took the lead of the GTLM Manufactures' Championship.[16] Konica Minolta Cadillac and GRT Grasser Racing Team kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships, while Performance Tech Motorsports and Porsche GT Team became the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships with ten rounds left in the season.[16]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
|
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| WeatherTech SportsCar Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 24 Hours of Daytona | 2019 season | Next race: Grand Prix of Long Beach |
