The2022 12 Hours of Sebring (formally known as the70th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts) was anendurancesports car race held atSebring International Raceway nearSebring, Florida from 16 to 19 March 2022. It was the second round of both the2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship and theMichelin Endurance Cup.JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing entered as the defending overall winners of the 12-hour event.
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2021. It was the ninth consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and 70th 12 Hours of Sebring.[1] The 12 Hours of Sebring was the second of twelve scheduled sports carendurance races of 2022 by IMSA, and the second of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC).[2] It was held at the 17-turn, 3.741-mile (6.021 km)Sebring International Raceway inSebring, Florida on March 19, 2022.[3]
The 2022 edition marked the return of the "Super Sebring" weekend, in which both theIMSA SportsCar Championship andFIA World Endurance Championship would compete during the same weekend; the 12 hour event joining the1000 Miles of Sebring.[4] Last held in 2019, the WEC round was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[5] The 2022 date also fell on the same weekend as theIndyCar Series round atTexas Motor Speedway, prompting several full-time IndyCar competitors to vacate their seats for the event.[6]
On March 9, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outliningBalance of Performance for the event.[7] Changes were made from the BoP tables most recently established at the 2021 season-endingPetit Le Mans, as the24 Hours of Daytona featured its own unique BoP tables.[8] No changes were made across the three prototype classes, while several changes were made in GTD and GTD Pro. The Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 was given a 20 kilogram weight reduction as well as turbo boost tweaks, while the new BMW M4 GT3 and Chevrolet Corvette C8.R (in GTD trim) were given 5 and 20 kilogram weight reductions respectively following the 24 Hours of Daytona. The McLaren 720S GT3 received a slight turbo boost reduction, while the Lexus RC F GT3 received a minor horsepower increase. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight reduction. On Friday morning, the Corvette received a mid-event adjustment, gaining 20 additional horsepower and a fuel capacity increase of 4 liters.[9]
Before the race,Tom Blomqvist,Oliver Jarvis,Hélio Castroneves, andSimon Pagenaud led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 378 points, ahead ofFilipe Albuquerque,Ricky Taylor,Will Stevens, andAlexander Rossi in second position with 355 points.[10]Matt Campbell,Mathieu Jaminet, andFelipe Nasr led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 382 points, 42 points ahead ofDavide Rigon,Daniel Serra,James Calado, andAlessandro Pier Guidi.[10] In GTD, Ryan Hardwick,Jan Heylen,Zacharie Robichon, andRichard Lietz led the Drivers' Championship with 370 points followed byAndy Lally,John Potter,Spencer Pumpelly, andJonathan Adam.[10]Acura andPorsche were leading their respective Manufactures' Championships while Meyer Shank Racing, Pfaff Motorsports, and Wright Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.[10] LMP2 drivers and teams as well as LMP3 drivers and teams would be scoring their first championship points of the season due to Daytona only counting towards the Michelin Endurance Cup championship.
Supporting the race during the week were IMSA'sMichelin Pilot Challenge andPorsche Carrera Cup North America.[11]
A total of 53 cars took part in the event, split across five classes. 7 were entered inDPi, 8 inLMP2, 10 inLMP3, 11 inGTD Pro, and 17 inGTD. In DPI, all seven cars which contested the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona returned, albeit with altered driver lineups.Neel Jani was drafted in to replaceKevin Magnussen inChip Ganassi Racing's No. 02 entry, with Magnussen rejoiningHaas F1 Team following the departure ofNikita Mazepin.[12]Meyer Shank Racing'sHélio Castroneves was replaced byStoffel Vandoorne due to the former's IndyCar commitments,[13] whileRyan Hunter-Reay (Chip Ganassi Racing)[14] andJosé María López (Ally Cadillac Racing)[15] replacedScott Dixon andJimmie Johnson respectively for the same reason. LMP2 saw eight of the ten entries return, with G-Drive Racing by APR's pair of entries being the lone absence. In LMP3,Mühlner Motorsport dropped to a single entry, while Jr III Racing[16] and FastMD Racing made their 2022 debuts, boosting the class to 10 entries.
GTD Pro saw the introduction of Racers Edge Motorsports and their Acura NSX GT3 Evo22,[17] while WeatherTech Racing returned with their No. 97 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo following a planned one-off at the 24 Hours of Daytona.[18]Aaron Telitz also replaced Texas-boundKyle Kirkwood in the No. 12 Lexus, while Scott Andrews filled Telitz's seat in the No. 14.[19] The absence ofKCMG's Porsche, the #4 Corvette, and WeatherTech Racing's No. 15 Mercedes saw the entry list fall to 11.
17 cars were listed in GTD, five fewer than the field that contested the 24 Hours of Daytona.Paul Miller Racing made their 2022 debut,[20] while entries from Team TGM, TR3 Racing,GMG Racing, T3 Motorsport,SunEnergy1 Racing, andNorthwest AMR were dropped.
There were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, 3 on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two session 90 minute sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes while the fourth session on Friday lasted 15 minutes.[21]
Friday's morning qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[21] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/LMP3/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[22]
Pole positions in each class are indicated inbold and by ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DPi | 01 |  Cadillac Racing |  Sébastien Bourdais | 1:45.166 | _ | 1‡ |
| 2 | DPi | 31 | Whelen Engineering Racing |  Pipo Derani | 1:45.192 | +0.026 | 2 |
| 3 | DPi | 10 | WTR - Konica Minolta Acura | Ricky Taylor | 1:45.301 | +0.135 | 3 |
| 4 | DPi | 02 | Cadillac Racing |  Alex Lynn | 1:45.323 | +0.157 | 4 |
| 5 | DPi | 48 | Ally Cadillac Racing |  Mike Rockenfeller | 1:45.576 | +0.410 | 5 |
| 6 | DPi | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing withCurb-Agajanian | Tom Blomqvist | 1:45.576 | +0.410 | 6 |
| 7 | LMP2 | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Ben Keating | 1:49.954 | +4.788 | 8‡ |
| 8 | LMP2 | 81 | DragonSpeed USA |  Henrik Hedman | 1:50.592 | +5.426 | 9 |
| 9 | LMP2 | 11 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Steven Thomas | 1:50.732 | +5.566 | 15[a] |
| 10 | DPi | 5 | JDC-Miller MotorSports | Tristan Vautier | 1:51.338 | +6.172 | 7 |
| 11 | LMP2 | 18 | Era Motorsport | Dwight Merriman | 1:51.584 | +6.418 | 10 |
| 12 | LMP2 | 29 |  Racing Team Nederland | Frits van Eerd | 1:51.679 | +6.513 | 11 |
| 13 | LMP2 | 8 | Tower Motorsport |  John Farano | 1:51.890 | +6.724 | 12 |
| 14 | LMP2 | 20 |  High Class Racing | Dennis Andersen | 1:52.507 | +7.341 | 13 |
| 15 | LMP2 | 22 | United Autosports | James McGuire | 1:53.209 | +8.043 | 14 |
| 16 | LMP3 | 74 | Riley Motorsports | Gar Robinson | 1:57.048 | +11.882 | 16‡ |
| 17 | LMP3 | 36 | Andretti Autosport | Jarett Andretti | 1:57.083 | +11.917 | 17 |
| 18 | LMP3 | 6 |  Mühlner Motorsports America | Harry Gottsacker | 1:57.610 | +12.444 | 18 |
| 19 | LMP3 | 40 | FastMD Racing | Max Hanratty | 1:57.719 | +12.553 | 19 |
| 20 | LMP3 | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports | Dan Goldburg | 1:58.087 | +12.921 | 20 |
| 21 | LMP3 | 54 | CORE Autosport | George Kurtz | 1:58.717 | +13.551 | 21 |
| 22 | GTD Pro | 62 | Risi Competizione | Daniel Serra | 1:59.414 | +14.248 | 26‡ |
| 23 | GTD Pro | 63 | TR3 Racing |  Mirko Bortolotti | 1:59.431 | +14.265 | 27 |
| 24 | GTD | 16 | Wright Motorsports | Zacharie Robichon | 1:59.763 | +14.597 | 28‡ |
| 25 | LMP3 | 33 | Sean Creech Motorsport | Lance Willsey | 1:59.781 | +14.615 | 22 |
| 26 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport | Robby Foley | 1:59.788 | +14.622 | 29 |
| 27 | GTD | 57 | Winward Racing | Russell Ward | 1:59.848 | +14.682 | 53[b] |
| 28 | GTD | 1 | Paul Miller Racing | Madison Snow | 1:59.898 | +14.732 | 30 |
| 29 | GTD | 47 | Cetilar Racing | Giorgio Sernagiotto | 1:59.917 | +14.751 | 31 |
| 30 | GTD Pro | 3 | Corvette Racing |  Antonio Garcia | 1:59.927 | +14.761 | 32 |
| 31 | GTD Pro | 23 | Heart of Racing Team | Alex Riberas | 1:59.957 | +14.791 | 33 |
| 32 | GTD Pro | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports |  Matt Campbell | 1:59.982 | +14.816 | 34 |
| 33 | GTD Pro | 14 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Aaron Telitz | 2:00.002 | +14.836 | 35 |
| 34 | GTD Pro | 24 | BMW M Team RLL | Nick Yelloly | 2:00.031 | +14.865 | 36 |
| 35 | GTD | 32 | Team Korthoff Motorsports | Mike Skeen | 2:00.176 | +15.010 | 37 |
| 36 | GTD | 21 | AF Corse | Simon Mann | 2:00.203 | +15.037 | 38 |
| 37 | LMP3 | 30 | Jr III Racing | Ari Balogh | 2:00.230 | +15.064 | 23 |
| 38 | GTD Pro | 25 | BMW M Team RLL | Augusto Farfus | 2:00.460 | +15.294 | 39 |
| 39 | LMP3 | 13 | AWA | Orey Fidani | 2:00.487 | +15.321 | 24 |
| 40 | GTD Pro | 93 | WTR - Racers Edge Motorsports | Kyle Marcelli | 2:00.605 | +15.439 | 40 |
| 41 | LMP3 | 7 | Forty7 Motorsports | Anthony Mantella | 2:00.624 | +15.458 | 25 |
| 42 | GTD | 28 | Alegra Motorsports | Michael de Quesada | 2:00.919 | +15.753 | 41 |
| 43 | GTD Pro | 79 | WeatherTech Racing | Julien Andlauer | 2:00.951 | +15.785 | 42 |
| 44 | GTD | 59 | Crucial Motorsports | Jon Miller | 2:01.287 | +16.121 | 43 |
| 45 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing | Till Bechtolsheimer | 2:01.352 | +16.186 | 44 |
| 46 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan Racing | Frankie Montecalvo | 2:01.536 | +16.370 | 45 |
| 47 | GTD Pro | 97 | WeatherTech Racing | Cooper MacNeil | 2:01.947 | +16.781 | 46 |
| 48 | GTD | 39 | CarBahn with Peregrine Racing | Robert Megennis | 2:01.973 | +16.807 | 47 |
| 49 | GTD | 27 | Heart of Racing Team | Ian James | 2:02.271 | +17.105 | 48 |
| 50 | GTD | 42 | NTE Sport/SSR | Don Yount | 2:05.834 | +20.668 | 49 |
| — | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing | No Time Established[c] | 50 | ||
| — | GTD | 70 | Inception Racing withOptimum Motorsport | Did Not Participate | 51 | ||
| — | GTD | 99 | Team Hardpoint | Did Not Participate | 52[d] | ||
| Sources:[23][24] | |||||||
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Vauiter, Westbrook, and Duval's second place finish allowed them to take the lead of the DPi Drivers' Championship with 676 points while Blomqvist and Jarvis dropped from first to third. Bamber and Lynn advanced from sixth to fourth.[25] Since it was the season's first points paying race, Keating, Huffaker, and Jensen led the LMP2 Drivers' Championship with 385 points.[25] Since it was the season's first points paying race, Barbosa, Willsey, and Jakobsen led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship with 374 points.[25] The final results of GTD Pro kept Campbell, Jaminet, and Nasr atop the Drivers' Championship while race winners Antonio García, Jordan Taylor, and Nicky Catsburg advanced from sixth to second. Bortolotti, Caldarelli, and Mapelli jumped from twelfth to fourth.[25] McAleer and Skeen's second place finish allowed them to take the lead of the GTD Drivers' Championship with 672 points while Hardwick, Heylen, and Robichon dropped to third. Pérez Companc, Mann, and Vilander advanced from fourth to second.[25] Cadillac and Ferrari took the lead in their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Porsche continued to top the GTD Pro Manufacturers' Championship.[25] Pfaff Motorsports continued to top the GTD Pro Teams' Championship, while JDC-Miller MotorSports and Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports took the lead in their respective Teams' Championships. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports and Sean Creech Motorsport ecame the leaders of their respective class Teams' Championships with ten rounds remaining.[25]
Class winners are denoted inbold and ‡.
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Sebring marks the first WeatherTech Championship appearance of Jr III Racing, which skipped the Rolex 24 at Daytona since that race didn't pay out full-season LMP3 points.
| IMSA SportsCar Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 2022 24 Hours of Daytona | 2022 season | Next race: 2022 Grand Prix of Long Beach |
