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| 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.
1st – No.10 -WTR Konica
Minolta – Cadillac Dpi V.R. – R.Taylor, J.Taylor, A.Lynn
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| The WTR car passing one of Sebring's planes. |
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| The winning Cadillac rounds turn 3 as dusk falls |
2nd – No.5 -Mustang
Sampling Racing – Cadillac Dpi V.R. – J.Barbosa, C.Fittipaldi, F.Albuquerque
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| The No.5 Cadillac was leading as it got dark but later had to make do with second place. |
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| The Mustang Sampling Cadillac rounding the last turn on to the start finish straight. |
3rd – No.31 -Whelen
Engineering Racing – Cadillac Dpi – D.Cameron, E.Curran, M.Conway
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| The sun starts to go down as the Whelan Cadillac exits the hairpin. |
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| Earlier this is the No.31 Cadillac breaking for the hairpin. |
4th- No.85 -JDC Miller
Motorsports – ORECA 07 Gibson – C.Miller, S.Simpson, M.Goikhberg
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| The ORECA rounding turn 6 into the setting sun. |
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| The ORECA braking for the hairpin. |
5th- No.55 -Mazda
Motorsports – Mazda RT24 P– T.Nunez, J.Bombarito, S.Pigot (29th
overall)
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| The bast placed Mazda speeds past the airport section. |
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| The Mazda is certainly a good looking car for a modern prototype. |
6th-No.90 -Visit
Florida Racing- Multimatic Riley Mk30 Gibson – M.Goossens, R.van der Zande,
R.Rast
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| The Visit Florida Racing car resplendent in its blue colours. |
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| The Visit Florida pits. |
7th-No.52 -PR1/Mathiasen
Motorsports-Ligier JS P217 Gibson – M.Guasch, J.Gutierrez, T.K.Smith
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| The Ligier exits turn 10. |
8th-No.70 -Mazda
Motorsports-Mazda RT24 P-T.Long, J.Miller, M.Franchitti
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| The No.70 Mazda enters Sebring's hairpin as the other Mazda exits. |
9th-No.13 -Rebellion
Racing-ORECA 07 Gibson-S.Buemi, N.Heidfield, N.Jani
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| The early leader was this Rebellion ORECA. |
10th-No.22 -Tequila
Patron ESM- Nissan Nismo DPi-E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, B.Senna, B.Hartley
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| The No.22 Nissan being prepared in the paddock on race morning. |
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| The Nissan lapping a Lexus. |
11th- No.2 -Tequila
Patron ESM-NissanNismo DPi-
S.Sharp, R.Dalziel,
L.Derani
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| The No.2 Nissan. |
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.
