2017 IMSA, America's Tires 250 Laguna Seca, GT Daytona.

The GTD class winning Ferrari leads a GTD Audi and a Cadillac DPi at Turn 4 during the race.

As usual the GT Daytona cars were the largest part of the field entered for the IMSA WeatherTech Sport Car Championship race at Laguna Seca.  There were sixteen GTD cars with eight marques represented.   The fastest car in practice, the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan, led the race early on but as a result of a first lap incident with a GTLM Corvette eventually had to pit to repair the damage.  Thereafter it was a close contest for the lead with various cars involved including the Porsches, one of the Acuras and the Turner Motorsports BMW.  Eventually, fuel consumption played a big part as a number of the leaders had to make a splash and dash.  Suddenly, Alexandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen inherited the lead in the Ferrari which they held to the end.  It was Ladies first and second as Katherine Legge shared the driving of the second placed Acura.

GTD car battle exiting the iconic Corkscrew.

One of the Acuras takes to the gravel under braking for turn ten as the WeatherTech Porsche speeds by.

GT Daytona Drivers

Top, Left - Ben Keating, Riley Motorsports Team AMG.
Top, Center - Katherine Legge, Michael Shank Racing.
Top, Right - Jeroen Bleekemolen, Riley Motorsports Team AMG.
Middle, Left - Oswaldo Negri Jnr, Michael Shank Racing.
Middle, Center - Christina Nielsen, Scuderia Corse.
Middle, Right - Jeff Segal, Michael Shank Racing.
Bottom, Left - Andrew Davis, Stevenson Motorsports.
Bottom, Center - Brian Sellers, Paul Miller Racing.
Bottom, Right - Patrick Long, Alegra Motorsports.

The WeatherTech girls pose with the WeatherTech drivers Cooper MacNeil and Gunnar Jeannette. 

It was good to see Scott Pruett in the pit lane. Scott of course has driven in Indy Car, Nascar and Sport Cars and now drives the Lexus GTD cars.

The GTD Results

The sixteen GT Daytona cars all finished between 18th and 33rd overall.

1st in class, Scuderia Corse, Alessandro Balzan/Christina Nielsen, Ferrari 488 GT3, 107 laps.

The winning Ferrari in the Rainey Curve during the race.

2nd in class, Michael Shank Racing, Andy Lally/Katherine Legge, Acura NSX GT3, 107 laps.

The Second placed Acura leading another during the race.

3rd in class, Park Place Motorsports, Patrick Lindsay/Jorg Bergmeister, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 107 laps.

The Park Place Motorsports Porsche exiting Turn Ten.

4th in class, CoreMotorsport, Colin Braun/Jonathan Bennett, Porsche GT3 R, 106 laps.

The Core Motorsport Porsche during qualifying at Turn Six. 

5th in class, Turner Motorsport, Jesse Krohn/Jens Klingmann, BMW M6 GT3, 106 laps.

The Turner Motorsports BMW cutting the apex at Turn Ten.

6th in class, Riley Motorsports WeatherTech Racing, Cooper MacNeil/Gunnar Jeannette, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 106 laps.

The WeatherTech Porsche exiting the Corkscrew.

7th in class, Paul Miller Racing, Bryan Sellers/Madison Snow, Lamborghini Huracan GT3, 106 laps.

The Paul Miller Lamborghini showing signs of its first lap accident.

8th in class, Riley Motorsports Team AMG, Jeroen Bleekemolen/Ben Keating, Mercedes AMG GT3, 106 laps.

Mercedes cutting the Corkscrew apex during the race.

9th in class, Change Racing,  Corey Lewis/Jeroen Mul, Lamborghini Huracan GT3, 106 laps.

Change Racing Lamborghini about to be lappeg by a LMGT Corvette.

10th in class, Michael Shank Racing, Jeff Segal/Oswaldo Negri, Acura NSX GT3, 106 laps.

Acura on the Fan Grid Walk.

11th in class, Stevenson Motorsports, Andrew Davis/Lawson Aschenbach, Audi R8 LM3 GT3, 106 laps.

Audi leads Porsche through the Corkscrew.

12th in class, Sun Energy1 Racing, Tristan Vautier/Kenny Habul, Mercedes AMG GT3, 106 laps.

Mercedes speeds down the Corkscrew in practice.

13th in class, 3GT Racing, Scott Pruett/Jack Hawksworth, Lexus RCF GT3, 106 laps.

The Scott Pruett Lexus.

14th in class, 3GT Racing, Sage Karam/Robert Alon, Lexus RCFGT3, 105 laps.

Lexus leading the winning Ferrari

15th in class, Lone Star Racing, Mike Skeem/Dan Knox, Mercedes AMG GT3, 105 laps.

Lone Star Racing Pit Stop.

16th in class, Alegra Motorsports, Patrick Long/Daniel Morad, Porsche 911 GT3 R, 47 laps.

The Patrick Long Porsche in practice at Turn Ten on Saturday.

For the GTLM cars at Laguna Seca, click here.

For the IMSA Prototype cars at Laguna Seca, click here.

For the Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars at Laguna Seca, click here.

For the Global Mazda MX-5 Cup, click here.

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.

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.