2019 12 Hours of Sebring



The 67th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida, from 14–16 March 2019. The race was the second round of the 2019 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the Michelin Endurance Cup. Action Express Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing brought home a Cadillac 1-2-3 finish for the overall honours, with the win going to the No. 31 crew of Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr and Pipo Derani, who won the 12 Hour race for a third time in the previous four editions. the #911 Porsche GT Team won in the GTLM class over the No. 66 Ford GT of Chip Ganassi Racing, LMP2 was won by Performance Tech Motorsports, and the Grasser Racing Team took a second straight victory in the GTD class, winning over fellow Lamborghini GTD team Magnus Racing, who came 2nd in only their second start as a Lamborghini team.

Background
The FIA World Endurance Championship returned to the venue for the same weekend for the first time since 2012, 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 by IMSA, on March 16. 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 the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship. Select drivers and teams, such as Corvette Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, competed in both events back-to-back.

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2019 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2018. 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 car endurance races of 2019 by IMSA, and the second of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). It was held at the 17-turn, 3.741 mi Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on March 16, 2019.

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 the Cadillac DPi. The Mazda RT24-P was made 10 kilograms heavier, and had fuel capacity reduction. In the GT Le Mans class (GTLM), the Ferrari 488 GTE was made 15 kilograms lighter. Despite being given a break, Ferrari GTLM team Risi Competizione decided to forgo Sebring, for concerns over the adjustment.

Before the race, Jordan Taylor, Renger van der Zande, Fernando Alonso, and Kamui Kobayashi led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 35 points, ahead of Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr, and Eric Curran in second position with 32 points. In LMP2, Sebastián Saavedra, Pastor Maldonado, Ryan Cullen, and Roberto González led the Drivers' Championship with 35 points. The GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by Connor De Phillippi, Philipp Eng, Colton Herta, and Augusto Farfus with 35 points, 3 ahead of James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Miguel Molina, and Davide Rigon in second position. With 35 points, Mirko Bortolotti, Rik Breukers, Rolf Ineichen, and Christian Engelhart led the GTD Drivers' Championship. Cadillac, BMW, and Lamborghini were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Konica Minolta Cadillac, DragonSpeed, BMW Team RLL, and GRT Grasser Racing Team each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries
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 of Christian Fittipaldi, Le Mans winner Brendon Hartley joined the Action Express Racing team in the No. 5 car. Matthieu Vaxivière joined Wayne Taylor Racing in their No. 10 Cadillac, after Toyota Gazoo Racing drivers Kamui Kobayashi and Fernando 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 driver Tim Pappas sustaining injuries from February's Bathurst 12 Hour event.

Thursday practice
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. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac team were quickest, setting a 1:46.996. They were 0.355 seconds faster than the No. 6 Team Penske Acura. In GT Le Mans, Porsche and Ford were at the top of the leaderboard, with Laurens 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 drivers Richard Westbrook and Joey Hand. In GT Daytona, Mario Farnbacher of the No. 86 Meyer-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 by Patrick Long. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports went fastest in the LMP2 class.

In free practice two, after a low-risk session from Mazda 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 than Pipo Derani of the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac. Acura driver Hélio Castroneves completed the top three in the DPi class. In the GT Le Mans class, Porsche GT Team were fastest once again, with #911 driver Nick Tandy setting a 1:56.991. The team were once again fastest over the two Chip 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.

Qualifying results
Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.


 * 1) Car number 912 was moved to the back of the GTLM field after qualifying after Laurens Vanthoor failed to bring the car to scrutineering immediately after the end of the session.

Post-race
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. 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. 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. 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. Cadillac and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Porsche took the lead of the GTLM Manufactures' Championship. 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.

Race Results
Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Standings after the race

 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.


 * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.