2017 Twelve Hours of Sebring GT Daytona class

GT Daytonas battle it our in the early laps

The biggest class at this year's Twelve Hours of Sebring was the GT Daytona class. This class is for GT3 cars which have less aerodynamic aids and slightly less power than the other GT class (GTLM) and is meant as a Pro-Am class. Although not fastest in practice the Mercedes proved the class of the field in the race and took the GTD class victory despite a late challenge from the Ferrari.  It marked the first class win for Mercedes since their return to GT racing at Daytona.  All of the cars that raced at Sebring in this class are pictured below:

1^st-No.33 -Riley Motorsports Team AMG-Mercedes AMG GT3- B.Keating, J.Bleekemolen, M.Farnbacher (16^th overall)

The winning Mercedes about to enter turn 3 at night.

The Riley Motorsports AMG Mercedes lifts a wheel at the bumpy turn 10.

The Mercedes early in the race.

2^nd-No.63 -Scuderia Corse-Ferrari 488 GT3- C.Nielsen, A.Balzan, M.Cressoni (17^th overall)

The Scuderia Corse Ferrari in the paddock before the race.

The Frerrari heading for second place in class as night falls.

The Ferrari 488 GT3

3^rd-No.75 -SunEnergy1 Racing-Mercedes AMG GT3- T.Vautier, K.Habul, B.Said (18^th overall)

As the sun sets, the Sun Ennergy Mercedes accelerates out of the hairpin.

The Sun Energy Mercedes races past the planes parked at the airport.

4^th-No.29 -Montaplast by Land Motorsport-Audi R8 LMS GT3-C.De Phillippi, C.Mies, J.Gounon (19^th overall)

The Montaplast Audi was in third place as night fell but later fell back to fourth.

The No.29 R8 races through the hairpin.

5^th-No.48 -Paul Miller Racing-Lamborghini Hurácan GT3- 

B.Sellers, M.Snow, D.von Moltke (20^th overall)

Lamborghini Hurácan at dusk

The Paul Miller Racing car speeds through turn 17 at Sebring in 5th place..

6^th-No.73 -Park Place Motorsports-Porsche 911 GT3 R- 

P.Lindsey, J.Bergmeister, M.McMurry, J.Heylen (21^st overall)

The Park Place Porsche in the pits just before the race started.

Much later the Porsche races towards turn 4 with a bright orange sky behind it. 

The Porsche during the early laps.

7^th-No.57 -Stevenson Motorsports-Audi R8 LMS GT3

 - L.Aschenbach, M.Bell, A.Davis (22^nd overall)

The No.57 car kicks up the dust at turn 10.

The Audi races past the many motor homes as night falls.

Earlier, seen racing past the planes.

8^th-No.86 -Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian-

Acura NSX GT3- J.Segal, O.Negri, T.Dyer (23^rd overall)

The Acura NSX braking for the hairpin whilst in last place in the class.

9^th-No.11 -GRT Grasser Racing Team-Lamborghini Hurácan 

GT3 - C.Engelhart, R.Ineichen, R.Antinucci, M.Bortolotti 

(24^th overall)

The green No.11 Lamborghini Hurácan.

10^th-No.28 -Alegra Motorsports-Porsche 911 GT3 R-M.De Quesada, 

D.Morad, S.Pumpelly, M.Christensen (25^th overall)

The Alegra Motosports Porsche entering the hairpin.

11^th-No.16 -Change Racing-Lamborghini Hurácan GT3-

C.Lewis, J.Mul, B.Sandberg (26^th overall)

The No.16 Lamborghini negotiates the Sebring hairpin.

12^th-No.46- Ebimotors-Lamborghini Hurácan GT3- 

E.Busnelli, F.Babini, M.Beretta, E.Collard (27^th overall)

The Ebimotors Lamborghini racing up to turn 3.

13th-No.15 -3GT Racing-Lexus RCF GT3- R.Alon, 

J.Hawksworth, A.Cindric (28^th overall)

The No15 Lexus RCF being chased during the evening at Sebring.

The Lexus passing the palms and the planes.

14^th- No.93 -Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 

Acura NSX GT3, A.Lally, K.Legge, M.Wilkins (30^th overall)

The No.93 Acura in the evening.

Earlier in the day it passes the planes.

15^th-No.23 -Alex Job Racing-Audi R8 LMS GT3-B.Sweedler, 

T.Bell, F.Montecalvo (31^st overall)

The Audi entering the hairpin.

16^th-No.54 -CORE Autosport-Porsche 911 GT3 R-J.Bennett, 

C.Braun, N.Jonsson

The No.54 Porsche heading towards the haipin.

17^th-No.18 -DAC Motorsports-Lamborghini Hurácan GT3- 

E.Anassis, B.Gdovic, A.Massari

The No.18 Lamborghini.

18^th-No.14 -3GT Racing-Lexus RCF GT3- S.Pruett, 

S.Karam, I.James

The Lexus when it was in fourth place in class early in the race.

19^th-No.27 -Dream Racing Motorsport-Lamborghini Hurácan 

GT3- L.DeGeorge, C.Sbirrazzuoli, P.Ruberti, L.Persiani

The Dream Racing Lamborghini in the pits before the race.

No.27 racing past the planes.

20^th-No.96 -Turner Motorsport-BMW M6 GT3-J.Marks, 

J.Klingmann, J.Krohn

The Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3

21^st-No.50 -Riley Motorsports-WeatherTech Racing-

Mercedes AMG GT3- C.MacNeil, G.Jeannette, S.Gisbergen

The WeatherTech Mercedes racing in Florida.

For the GTLM cars that raced at Sebring, click here.

For the fast DPi and LMP2 Prototype cars, click here.

For the Sebring Prototype Challenge cars, click here.

Discussion in the pits.

The Audi team pits.

Sebring can have an other side as well with strange humour including booby trapping the hand rails with blue ink (yes, I did get caught!) and blow up dolls!.

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.

Petersen Auto Museum Breakfast Club Cruise-In

Jasnuary 24th 2016, The Breakfast Club Cruise-In at the Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles.

The Petersen Auto Museum in Los Angeles has recently been refurbished and was only recently reopened in December 2015.  One of their regular events is a Breakfast Club Cruise-In and one of the first since since the reopening in December was held on January 24^th 2016.  As I was in the area I decided to attend but I wasn’t prepared for the awesome number of cars that attended.  Vintage cars, Classic cars, Sports cars, Custom cars, Hot Rods and Super cars turned up in force and over 200 cars were spread over two floors of the multi-storey car park.   Here are some of the more interesting cars I spotted:

VINTAGE

Only a few vintage cars turned up but they were rather interesting and included a rare LaSalle Roadster and A Pebble Beach winning Bentley.

1928 LaSalle 303 Roadster.   La Salle was one of the Brands used by GM for cars just below the luxury quality of Cadillac.  However, this car would still have cost over $3,000 when new.

1925 Bentley Speed 4 cyl.   This car has been a Pebble Beach winner and is in absolutely immaculate condition.

CLASSIC

As well as the inevitable Chevrolets and Fords they was quite a variety in this group.

Beautiful, big 1967 Pontiac GTO convertible.

The Hell's Belles were there with their girly cars.  Great to see them and this this pink Ford Rambler.

1948 Nash arriving at the Cruise-In.

Stunning Maserati Sebring.

Chevrolet Impala Convertible.

Nash Metropolitan.

Fiat 500.

Chevrolet Camaro SS

A Ford Capri.

Circa 1980 Ferrari Mondial Convertible.  Rather nice condition.

Cadillac

SPORTS CARS          

For us Europeans there were a few cars that we don’t often see amongst the sports cars.

Dodge Viper SRT

Saturn Sky Roadsters

"Honda" Acura NSX

Lange Concepts LCIIISPider - a one-off.

Morgan

CUSTOM CARS & HOT RODS

Given that Robert Petersen originally started his publishing company with Hot Rod Magazine, it was appropriate that a number of them turned up.

Chevrolet Alternomad custom car.

Very low slung custom Mercedes-Benz.

Custom Ford truck.

SUPER CARS

I was particularly impressed by the number of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Aston Martins that turned up.

Ferrari

Lamborghini

Aston Martin

Jaguar F Type Project 7

Jaguar F Type project 7

It was great speaking to some of the owners of these fantastic vehicles.  If you get a chance, do attend to one of these cruise-ins either as an owner or enthusiast.  Sometimes they are open events like this and sometimes specialist events for a particular marque.  

Cosworth engined single seater road car - The BAC Mono.  A 2.3L 280BHP engined F3 chassis made street legal.

Vector Avtech prototype.

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.

For my review of the Petersen Auto Museum, click here.

For a daily posing of a fast car, visit my new blog Auto Vitesse by clicking here.

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Tailpiece - A tool room replica Ford GT40.