IndyCar stars topping the charts in Sebring
The second race of the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season is a nice set-up for those nine in terms of acclimation; the IndyCar season opens in two weeks in St. Petersburg, just a two-hour drive from this sleepy Central Florida community that awakens dramatically each spring when sports cars arrive.
"I think this is, number one, obviously a benefit from the merger and it's taking everyone back a little bit to the old days of sports car racing when stars from other series came to the big sports car events," said Scot Elkins, IMSA's vice president of competition and technical regulations.
"It's interesting to see this, for some of the guys coming over from open wheel, they're in cars this week that are not dramatically different — basically open-wheel cars with fenders. So it's a good transfer for them and it's a great showcase to have them here."
The IndyCar representation starts with Sebastien Bourdais, who has immense experience in sports cars. He's part of a three-man Action Express lineup seeking to follow up its season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona victory. Bourdais, Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa, teamed in the No. 5 Corvette DP — part of the headlining Prototype class — have a chance to become the first drivers to sweep Daytona and Sebring since 1998. That gap largely can be attributed to the 13-year split (2000-2013) of sports car racing in North America that has ended this season with the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series merging to form the TUDOR Championship.
The representation continues in a big way:
· Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Tony Kanaan teamed with reigning IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, in the No. 02 Ford/Riley DP of Chip Ganassi Racing.
· IndyCar Series veteran Ryan Briscoe, co-driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette in the GT Le Mans class.
· Ryan Hunter-Reay, co-driving the No. 91 SRT Viper, also in GT Le Mans. Hunter-Reay also is a former IndyCar Series champion.
· Simon Pagenaud, with Extreme Speed Motorsports' Prototype class team.
· Justin Wilson, co-driving a Ford/Riley DP for Michael Shank Racing.
· Martin Plowman, co-driving for BAR1 Motorsports in the Prototype Challenge class.
· Sebastian Saavedra, joining Starworks Motorsport in a Honda/Riley DP.
Dixon and Kanaan are part of Ganassi's usual all-star road-racing lineup. They're partnered with reigning Indy Lights champion Sage Karam. Ganassi's other car, the No. 01 Ford/Riley, has longtime co-drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas teamed with Marino Franchitti. Pruett and Rojas formed the most dominant tandem in Rolex Series history, with Pruett winning five championships and Rojas four. Franchitti, brother of recently retired open-wheel superstar Dario Franchitti, was one of the ALMS' top prototype drivers prior to the merger.
Surprisingly, neither of Ganassi's entries were factors at the Rolex 24, with the No. 02 finishing eighth and the No. 01 11th. That made Thursday's opening practice sessions encouraging. In the first session, Dixon led Prototype competitors with a lap of 1:52.357 (119.832 mph) on the 3.675-mile circuit.
"The Ganassi team has done a great job both in testing and getting the Prototype where it needed to be since Daytona," Dixon said. "Obviously it's never a bad thing unloading fast off the truck and we were pleased pacing the opening session. It's still really early in the weekend but I'm looking forward to our team's first chance to win Sebring."
Following Dixon's lead, Wilson topped the second practice session, with a fast lap of 1:53.621/118.499, in the Shank car.
Max Angelelli was second in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP at 1:53.921 with Klaus Graf third in the No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Oreca 03 Nissan at 1:54.267.
Raphael Matos led PC in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca FLM09 at 1:58.239. The No. 09 RSR Racing and No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports cars were second and third.
In GTLM, Porsche led the session in the hands of Michael Christensen aboard the No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, in a good first outing for the cars with additional Hertz sponsorship. Christensen clocked in at 2:00.289.
Oliver Gavin was second in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R at 2:00.349, with Joey Hand third in the No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE at 2:00.544.
In GTD, Jan Heylen led the session in the No. 13 Rum Bum/Snow Racing Porsche 911 GT America at 2:04.307.
Andy Lally was second in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America at 2:04.497 with Jeroen Bleekemolen third in the No. 33 Riley Motorsports SRT Viper GT3-R at 2:04.733.
Porsche’s 911 GT America, sporting a revised rear wing this week, was in six of the top seven positions in GTD this session.
Two red flags interrupted the session, for incidents by the No. 87 BAR1 Motorsports PC car and No. 50 Highway to Help Dinan Riley prototype. The BAR1 driver, Bruce Hamilton, was treated and released from the infield care cents.
Qualifying for the Twelve Hours is set for Friday afternoon, beginning at 4:10 p.m. ET, for all four TUDOR Championship classes that will race simultaneously — Prototype, Prototype Challenge, GT Le Mans and GT Daytona.
Saturday's race begins at 10:15 a.m. ET, with FOX Sports 1 broadcasting the first three hours of the event. The balance of the race will be streamed on IMSA.com from 1-10:30 p.m. MRN radio coverage starts at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Cl Pos | No | Class | Drivers | Time | Speed | Diff | Laps | Make |
| 1 | 1 | 60 | P | Pew/Negri Jr./Wilson | 1:53.621 | 118.499 | -.— | 18 | Ford EcoBoost/Riley |
| 2 | 2 | 10 | P | Angelelli/R.Taylor/J.Taylor | 1:53.912 | 118.197 | 0.291 | 15 | Corvette DP |
| 3 | 3 | 6 | P | Graf/Luhr/Mardenborough | 1:54.267 | 117.829 | 0.646 | 15 | Nissan ORECA |
| 4 | 4 | 02 | P | Dixon/Kanaan/Karam | 1:54.743 | 117.340 | 1.122 | 10 | Ford EcoBoost/Riley |
| 5 | 5 | 90 | P | Westbrook/Valiante/Rockenfeller | 1:54.760 | 117.323 | 1.139 | 14 | Corvette DP |
| 6 | 6 | 78 | P | Mayer/Kaffer/Saavedra/Popow | 1:55.099 | 116.978 | 1.478 | 11 | Honda Riley DP |
| 7 | 7 | 1 | P | Sharp/Dalziel/Brabham | 1:55.163 | 116.913 | 1.542 | 12 | HPD ARX-03b |
| 8 | 8 | 5 | P | Barbosa/Fittipaldi/Bourdais | 1:55.211 | 116.864 | 1.590 | 10 | Corvette DP |
| 9 | 9 | 9 | P | Br.Frisselle/Bu.Frisselle/Fogarty | 1:55.712 | 116.358 | 2.091 | 13 | Corvette DP |
| 10 | 10 | 42 | P | Pla/Brundle/Yacaman | 1:55.943 | 116.126 | 2.322 | 13 | Nissan Morgan |
| 11 | 11 | 01 | P | Pruett/Rojas/Franchitti | 1:56.137 | 115.932 | 2.516 | 17 | Ford EcoBoost/Riley |
| 12 | 12 | 2 | P | Brown/van Overbeek/Pagenaud | 1:56.323 | 115.747 | 2.702 | 12 | HPD ARX-03b |
| 13 | 13 | 0 | P | Meyrick/Legge/Chaves | 1:56.334 | 115.736 | 2.713 | 13 | DeltaWing DWC13 |
| 14 | 1 | 38 | PC | Shears/Matos/Ostella | 1:58.239 | 113.871 | 4.618 | 16 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 15 | 14 | 31 | P | Curran/Said/Cosmo | 1:58.259 | 113.852 | 4.638 | 11 | Corvette DP |
| 16 | 2 | 09 | PC | Ende/Junqueira/Heinemeier Hansso | 1:59.145 | 113.005 | 5.524 | 18 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 17 | 3 | 52 | PC | Guasch/Montecalvo/Jeannette | 1:59.192 | 112.961 | 5.571 | 11 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 18 | 4 | 54 | PC | Bennett/Braun/Gue | 1:59.603 | 112.572 | 5.982 | 16 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 19 | 5 | 08 | PC | Cumming/Tagliani/Mitchell | 1:59.624 | 112.553 | 6.003 | 19 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 20 | 6 | 25 | PC | Kimber-Smith/Marsal/Lux/Rayhall | 2:00.263 | 111.955 | 6.642 | 15 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 21 | 1 | 912 | GTLM | Long/Christensen/Bergmeister | 2:00.289 | 111.930 | 6.668 | 17 | Porsche 911 RSR |
| 22 | 2 | 4 | GTLM | Gavin/Milner/Liddell | 2:00.349 | 111.875 | 6.728 | 17 | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| 23 | 3 | 55 | GTLM | Auberlen/Priaulx/Hand | 2:00.544 | 111.694 | 6.923 | 15 | BMW Z4 GTE |
| 24 | 4 | 17 | GTLM | Henzler/Sellers/Holzer | 2:00.729 | 111.523 | 7.108 | 14 | Porsche 911 GT3 RSR |
| 25 | 5 | 3 | GTLM | Magnussen/Garcia/Briscoe | 2:00.902 | 111.363 | 7.281 | 15 | Chevrolet Corvette C7.R |
| 26 | 6 | 62 | GTLM | Bruni/Malucelli/Fisichella | 2:01.104 | 111.177 | 7.483 | 14 | Ferrari F458 Italia |
| 27 | 7 | 911 | GTLM | Tandy/Lietz/Pilet | 2:01.605 | 110.719 | 7.984 | 15 | Porsche 911 RSR |
| 28 | 15 | 50 | P | Pace/DeFoor/Hinton | 2:01.608 | 110.716 | 7.987 | 16 | Dinan Riley DP |
| 29 | 7 | 85 | PC | C.Miller/Kraut/Simpson | 2:01.643 | 110.685 | 8.022 | 16 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 30 | 8 | 56 | GTLM | Müller/Edwards/Werner | 2:01.661 | 110.668 | 8.040 | 14 | BMW Z4 GTE |
| 31 | 9 | 91 | GTLM | D.Farnbacher/Goossens/Hunter-Re | 2:01.827 | 110.517 | 8.206 | 15 | SRT Viper GTS-R |
| 32 | 10 | 93 | GTLM | R.Bell/Bomarito/Wittmer | 2:02.141 | 110.233 | 8.520 | 15 | SRT Viper GTS-R |
| 33 | 11 | 57 | GTLM | Krohn/Jonsson/Bertolini | 2:02.405 | 109.996 | 8.784 | 15 | Ferrari F458 GT |
| 34 | 8 | 8 | PC | van der Zande/Bird/Fuentes/Cheng | 2:03.410 | 109.100 | 9.789 | 11 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 35 | 9 | 88 | PC | Bielefield/Ducote/Plowman/Drissi | 2:03.661 | 108.878 | 10.040 | 17 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 36 | 10 | 87 | PC | Kearby/Hamilton/Kasemets | 2:04.191 | 108.414 | 10.570 | 3 | ORECA FLM09 |
| 37 | 1 | 13 | GTD | M.Plumb/Snow/Heylen/H.Plumb | 2:04.307 | 108.312 | 10.686 | 13 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 38 | 2 | 44 | GTD | Potter/Lally/Seefried | 2:04.497 | 108.147 | 10.876 | 19 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 39 | 3 | 33 | GTD | J.Bleekemolen/S.Bleekemolen/Keati | 2:04.733 | 107.943 | 11.112 | 10 | SRT Viper GT3-R |
| 40 | 4 | 73 | GTD | Lindsey/Vess/Estre/Norman | 2:05.304 | 107.451 | 11.683 | 13 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 41 | 5 | 23 | GTD | James/M.Farnbacher/Riberas | 2:05.368 | 107.396 | 11.747 | 17 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 42 | 6 | 30 | GTD | Cisneros/Nielsen/Giermaziak | 2:05.430 | 107.343 | 11.809 | 17 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 43 | 7 | 51 | GTD | Griffin/Cioci/Rugolo/Gerber | 2:05.511 | 107.273 | 11.890 | 17 | Ferrari 458 Italia |
| 44 | 16 | 07 | P | J.Miller/Nunez/Vautier | 2:05.777 | 107.047 | 12.156 | 11 | Mazda SKYACTIV-D |
| 45 | 8 | 94 | GTD | Cameron/Dalla Lana/Palttala/Lewis | 2:05.857 | 106.979 | 12.236 | 16 | BMW Z4 |
| 46 | 9 | 45 | GTD | Canache Jr./Pumpelly/Latif/Winkelh | 2:05.979 | 106.875 | 12.358 | 14 | Audi R8 LMS |
| 47 | 10 | 49 | GTD | Roda/Ruberti/Venturi | 2:06.060 | 106.806 | 12.439 | 18 | Ferrari 458 Italia |
| 48 | 11 | 63 | GTD | Case/Marcelli/Balzan/Westphal | 2:06.209 | 106.680 | 12.588 | 19 | Ferrari 458 Italia |
| 49 | 12 | 555 | GTD | Sweedler/Bell/Mediani/Segal | 2:06.454 | 106.474 | 12.833 | 14 | Ferrari 458 Italia |
| 50 | 13 | 007 | GTD | Block/Carter/Davison | 2:06.465 | 106.464 | 12.844 | 15 | Aston Martin V12 Vantage |
| 51 | 14 | 48 | GTD | B.Miller/Haase/Bell | 2:06.509 | 106.427 | 12.888 | 16 | Audi R8 LMS |
| 52 | 15 | 18 | GTD | Bamber/Verdonck/Siedler | 2:06.737 | 106.236 | 13.116 | 15 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 53 | 16 | 81 | GTD | Huisman/Faulkner/Faieta/Avenatti | 2:07.008 | 106.009 | 13.387 | 11 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 54 | 17 | 22 | GTD | MacNeil/Keen/Frommenwiler | 2:07.068 | 105.959 | 13.447 | 11 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 55 | 18 | 009 | GTD | Davis/Riddle/Wilson | 2:07.138 | 105.901 | 13.517 | 10 | Aston Martin V12 Vantage |
| 56 | 19 | 46 | GTD | Mies/Putman/Espenlaub | 2:07.451 | 105.641 | 13.830 | 9 | Audi R8 LMS |
| 57 | 20 | 32 | GTD | Sofronas/Welch/Basseng | 2:07.714 | 105.423 | 14.093 | 14 | Audi R8 LMS |
| 58 | 21 | 35 | GTD | Neiman/von Moltke/Albuquerque | 2:07.853 | 105.308 | 14.232 | 15 | Audi R8 LMS |
| 59 | 22 | 27 | GTD | Dempsey/Davis/Foster/Siedler | 2:08.849 | 104.494 | 15.228 | 6 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 60 | 23 | 19 | GTD | Bamber/Gimple/Melgrati | 2:09.370 | 104.074 | 15.749 | 15 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 61 | 24 | 71 | GTD | Lindsey/Vess/Estre/Norman | 2:10.308 | 103.324 | 16.687 | 14 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 62 | 17 | 70 | P | Tremblay/Long/Devlin | 2:10.345 | 103.295 | 16.724 | 15 | Mazda SKYACTIV-D |
| 63 | 25 | 28 | GTD | Engelhart/Ineichen/Konrad | 2:10.582 | 103.108 | 16.961 | 17 | Porsche 911 GT America |
| 64 | 11 | 7 | PC | Popow/Kaffer | -.— | — | 0 | ORECA FLM09 |