2017 Twelve Hours of Sebring -Prototypes

Prototypes battle it out at Sebring's Hairpin. A Cadillac chases down the ORECA for third place.

The overall winner of the Sebring 12 hours was always likely to come from the Prototype class, barring a major surprise.   As it turned out, they took the first four places overall. The IMSA Prototype class caters for both LMP2 cars and Daytona Prototype international cars. These DPi cars are 600hp prototypes with individual manufacturer bodywork and engines; so very similar to LMP2 cars but with more variety. With six different cars there was both quality and variety in this class.  The class of the field was obviously the Cadillacs fresh from their Daytona 24 hours victory.  However, Rebellion Racing surprised them by getting pole position and leading the first part of the race before falling back with electrical issues.  This left it for the three Cadillacs to battle it out throughout the 12 hours although there was no last minute drama like at Daytona.  Eventually, the Wayne Taylor Racing entry won again with the Taylor Brothers repeating their Daytona victory.  The Whelan car led at one stage but spun and lost two laps but then came through the field to get a podium place.  The Mustang car also led but got overtaken in traffic by the winning car in the last quarter of the race.  The fourth placed ORECA actually held third place for much of the race but in the end did not have the pace of the Cadillacs.

1^st – No.10 -WTR Konica Minolta – Cadillac Dpi V.R. – R.Taylor, J.Taylor, A.Lynn

The WTR car passing one of Sebring's planes.

The winning Cadillac rounds turn 3 as dusk falls

2^nd – No.5 -Mustang Sampling Racing – Cadillac Dpi V.R. – J.Barbosa, C.Fittipaldi, F.Albuquerque

The No.5 Cadillac was leading as it got dark but later had to make do with second place.

The Mustang Sampling Cadillac rounding the last turn on to the start finish straight.

3^rd – No.31 -Whelen Engineering Racing – Cadillac Dpi – D.Cameron, E.Curran, M.Conway

The sun starts to go down as the Whelan Cadillac exits the hairpin.

Earlier this is the No.31 Cadillac breaking for the hairpin.

4^th- No.85 -JDC Miller Motorsports – ORECA 07 Gibson – C.Miller, S.Simpson, M.Goikhberg

The ORECA rounding turn 6 into the setting sun.

The ORECA braking for the hairpin.

5^th- No.55 -Mazda Motorsports – Mazda RT24 P– T.Nunez, J.Bombarito, S.Pigot (29^th overall)

The bast placed Mazda speeds past the airport section.

The Mazda is certainly a good looking car for a modern prototype.

6^th-No.90 -Visit Florida Racing- Multimatic Riley Mk30 Gibson – M.Goossens, R.van der Zande, R.Rast

The Visit Florida Racing car resplendent in its blue colours.

The Visit Florida pits.

7^th-No.52 -PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports-Ligier JS P217 Gibson – M.Guasch, J.Gutierrez, T.K.Smith

The Ligier exits turn 10.

8^th-No.70 -Mazda Motorsports-Mazda RT24 P-T.Long, J.Miller, M.Franchitti

The No.70 Mazda enters Sebring's hairpin as the other Mazda exits.

9^th-No.13 -Rebellion Racing-ORECA 07 Gibson-S.Buemi, N.Heidfield, N.Jani

The early leader was this Rebellion ORECA.

10^th-No.22 -Tequila Patron ESM- Nissan Nismo DPi-E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, B.Senna, B.Hartley

The No.22 Nissan being prepared in the paddock on race morning.

The Nissan lapping a Lexus.

11^th- No.2 -Tequila Patron ESM-NissanNismo DPi- S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, L.Derani

The No.2 Nissan.

Lots more photos from the Twelve Hours of Sebring  coming soon.

For the GTLM class battle, click here.

For the Sebring Prototype Challenge cars, click here.

For the GT Daytona cars, click here.

The Sebring pits at night.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.