2016 12 Hours of Sebring
The 64th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 16 to 19 March 2016. The race was the second round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the North American Endurance Cup. It was the final time that the original Daytona Prototypes participated in the race, as, for 2017, they were replaced with the new DPi cars.
The race was won by Tequila Patrón ESM's Honda HPD-Ligier JS P2 driven by Scott Sharp, Johannes van Overbeek, Ed Brown, and Pipo Derani after completing a pass for the lead in the final moments of the race.[1][2] It was the first overall 12 Hours of Sebring win for both ESM and Honda.[3][4] The Prototype Challenge class was won by the No. 54 CORE Autosport entry driven by Colin Braun, Mark Wilkins, and Jon Bennett. GT Le Mans was won by the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette C7.R from Corvette Racing, driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner, and Marcel Fässler. The GT Daytona class was won by the No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 from Scuderia Corsa, driven by Christina Nielsen, Alessandro Balzan, and Jeff Segal. The race saw a stoppage of roughly two hours and 15 minutes due to heavy rain and lightning just before the halfway-point of the event.[5][6]
Background
[edit]
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.[7] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the 64th 12 Hours of Sebring.[7] The 12 Hours of Sebring was the second of twelve scheduled automobile endurance races of 2016 by IMSA, and the second in the four round North American Endurance Cup (NAEC).[7] It was held at the 17-turn, 3.741-mile (6.021 km) Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on March 19, 2016.[7]
Before the race, Ed Brown, Pipo Derani, Johannes van Overbeek, and Scott Sharp were leading the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 36 points.[8] With 36 points, Misha Goikhberg, Kenton Koch, Chris Miller, and Stephen Simpson led the PC Drivers' Championship.[8] GTLM was led by Marcel Fässler, Oliver Gavin, and Tommy Milner with a three-point advantage over Antonio García, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller.[8] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Andy Lally, John Potter, René Rast, and Marco Seefried with 36 points.[8] Honda, Chevrolet, and Audi were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Tequila Patrón ESM, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Corvette Racing, Magnus Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.[8]
Practice
[edit]There were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.[9]
Practice 1
[edit]The first practice session took place at 10:00 am ET on Thursday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Action Express Racing, with a lap time of 1:52.447.[10]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Dane Cameron | 1:52.447 | _ |
| 2 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | Scott Pruett | 1:53.226 | +0.779 |
| 3 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM | Johannes van Overbeek | 1:53.312 | +0.865 |
| Source:[11] | ||||||
Practice 2
[edit]The second practice session took place at 2:25 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Christian Fittipaldi topping the charts for Action Express Racing, with a lap time of 1:53.850.[12]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | Christian Fittipaldi | 1:53.850 | _ |
| 2 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Scott Pruett | 1:54.283 | +0.433 |
| 3 | P | 24 | Alegra Motorsports | Daniel Morad | 1:54.334 | +0.484 |
| Source:[13] | ||||||
Night Practice
[edit]The night practice session took place at 7:30 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Filipe Albuquerque topping the charts for Action Express Racing, with a lap time of 1:52.832.[14]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:52.832 | _ |
| 2 | P | 55 | Mazda Motorsports | Jonathan Bomarito | 1:53.882 | +1.050 |
| 3 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing | Jordan Taylor | 1:54.088 | +1.256 |
| Source:[15] | ||||||
Final Practice
[edit]The fourth and final practice session took place at 10:15 am ET on Friday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Action Express Racing, with a lap time of 1:52.135.[16]
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing | Dane Cameron | 1:52.135 | _ |
| 2 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing | Filipe Albuquerque | 1:52.228 | +0.093 |
| 3 | P | 60 | Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian | Olivier Pla | 1:53.067 | +0.932 |
| Source:[17] | ||||||
Qualifying
[edit]In Friday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.[18][9]
Qualifying results
[edit]Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡. All Prototype and Prototype Challenge cars were grouped together on the starting grid, regardless of qualifying position.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Team | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | P | 60 |  Michael Shank Racing with Curb/Agajanian
|
 Olivier Pla
|
1:51.217 | _ | 1 ‡ |
| 2 | P | 2 | Tequila Patrón ESM
|
 Pipo Derani
|
1:51.391 | +0.174 | 2 |
| 3 | P | 31 | Action Express Racing
|
Dane Cameron
|
1:51.943 | +0.726 | 3 |
| 4 | P | 5 | Action Express Racing
|
Christian Fittipaldi
|
1:52.205 | +0.988 | 4 |
| 5 | P | 55 | Mazda Motorsports
|
Tristan Nunez
|
1:52.951 | +1.734 | 5 |
| 6 | P | 90 | VisitFlorida Racing
|
 Marc Goossens
|
1:53.185 | +1.968 | 6 |
| 7 | P | 70 | Mazda Motorsports
|
Tom Long
|
1:53.513 | +2.296 | 7 |
| 8 | P | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing
|
Rubens Barrichello
|
1:53.576 | +2.359 | 8 |
| 9 | P | 81 | DragonSpeed
|
Nicolas Minassian
|
1:54.171 | +2.954 | 9 |
| 10 | P | 24 | Alegra Motorsports
|
 Daniel Morad
|
1:54.193 | +2.976 | 10 |
| 11 | P | 0 | Panoz DeltaWing Racing
|
 Andy Meyrick
|
1:54.274 | +3.057 | 11 |
| 12 | PC | 54 | CORE Autosport
|
Colin Braun
|
1:54.910 | +3.693 | 12‡ |
| 13 | PC | 52 | PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports
|
Tom Kimber-Smith
|
1:55.843 | +4.626 | 13 |
| 14 | PC | 20 | BAR1 Motorsports
|
Johnny Mowlem
|
1:56.661 | +5.444 | 14 |
| 15 | PC | 38 | Performance Tech Motorsports
|
James French
|
1:57.189 | +5.972 | 15 |
| 16 | PC | 8 | Starworks Motorsport
|
 Alex Popow
|
1:57.241 | +6.024 | 16 |
| 17 | P | 50 | Highway to Help
|
Jim Pace
|
1:57.422 | +6.205 | 17 |
| 18 | PC | 85 | JDC-Miller MotorSports
|
Misha Goikhberg
|
1:57.630 | +6.413 | 18 |
| 19 | PC | 88 | Starworks Motorsport
|
Sean Johnston
|
1:58.218 | +7.001 | 19 |
| 20 | GTLM | 25 | BMW Team RLL
|
Bill Auberlen
|
1:58.402 | +7.185 | 20‡ |
| 21 | GTLM | 100 | BMW Team RLL
|
John Edwards
|
1:58.592 | +7.375 | 21 |
| 22 | GTLM | 68 | Scuderia Corsa
|
Daniel Serra
|
1:58.637 | +7.420 | 22 |
| 23 | GTLM | 67 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
|
Richard Westbrook
|
1:58.708 | +7.491 | 23 |
| 24 | GTLM | 3 | Corvette Racing
|
 Antonio García
|
1:58.856 | +7.639 | 24 |
| 25 | GTLM | 4 | Corvette Racing
|
Oliver Gavin
|
1:58.878 | +7.661 | 25 |
| 26 | GTLM | 911 | Porsche North America
|
Patrick Pilet
|
1:59.009 | +7.792 | 26 |
| 27 | GTLM | 62 | Risi Competizione
|
 Toni Vilander
|
1:59.020 | +7.803 | 27 |
| 28 | GTLM | 66 | Ford Chip Ganassi Racing
|
 Dirk Müller
|
1:59.053 | +7.836 | 28 |
| 29 | GTLM | 912 | Porsche North America
|
Frédéric Makowiecki
|
1:59.170 | +7.953 | 29 |
| 30 | GTD | 63 | Scuderia Corsa
|
Jeff Segal
|
2:02.350 | +11.133 | 30‡ |
| 31 | GTD | 33 | Riley Motorsports
|
 Jeroen Bleekemolen
|
2:02.386 | +11.169 | 31 |
| 32 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport
|
Jens Klingmann
|
2:02.660 | +11.443 | 32 |
| 33 | GTD | 23 | Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing
|
Mario Farnbacher
|
2:03.037 | +11.820 | 33 |
| 34 | GTD | 22 | Alex Job Racing
|
Leh Keen
|
2:03.241 | +12.024 | 34 |
| 35 | GTD | 73 | Park Place Motorsports
|
Patrick Lindsey
|
2:03.284 | +12.067 | 35 |
| 36 | GTD | 51 |  Spirit of Race
|
Raffaele Giammaria
|
2:03.340 | +12.123 | 36 |
| 37 | GTD | 16 | Change Racing
|
Spencer Pumpelly
|
2:03.455 | +12.238 | 37 |
| 38 | GTD | 97 | Turner Motorsport
|
Markus Palttala
|
2:03.625 | +12.408 | 38 |
| 39 | GTD | 21 |  Konrad Motorsport
|
Christopher Zöchling
|
2:03.822 | +12.605 | 39 |
| 40 | GTD | 9 | Stevenson Motorsports
|
Lawson Aschenbach
|
2:03.856 | +12.639 | 40 |
| 41 | GTD | 11 | Change Racing
|
Townsend Bell
|
2:03.861 | +12.644 | 41 |
| 42 | GTD | 27 | Dream Racing
|
Fabio Babini
|
2:03.933 | +12.716 | 42 |
| 43 | GTD | 98 | Aston Martin Racing
|
Paul Dalla Lana
|
2:04.204 | +12.987 | 43 |
| 44 | GTD | 48 | Paul Miller Racing
|
Bryce Miller
|
2:04.260 | +13.043 | 44 |
| 45 | GTD | 28 | Konrad Motorsport
|
Christopher Brück
|
2:04.302 | +13.085 | 45 |
| 46 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing
|
John Potter
|
2:04.857 | +13.640 | 46 |
| 47 | GTD | 540 | Black Swan Racing
|
Tim Pappas
|
2:07.095 | +15.878 | 47 |
| 48 | GTD | 45 | Flying Lizard Motorsports
|
Tracy Krohn
|
2:07.338 | +16.121 | 48 |
| 49 | GTD | 6 | Stevenson Motorsports
|
No Time Established | 49 | ||
| Source:[19] | |||||||
Race
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Start and early hours
[edit] | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
Afternoon
[edit] | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
Sunset to finish
[edit] | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
Post-race
[edit] | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2024) |
Race Results
[edit]Class winners are denoted in bold. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).
References
[edit]- ^ "64th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida – Race Report" (PDF).
- ^ "ESM Ligier-Honda adds Sebring to Daytona triumph". www.motorsport.com. 2016-03-20. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
- ^ "Honda Post-Sebring Report". RACER. 2016-03-22. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
- ^ "Honda hails "very rewarding" Sebring win". www.motorsport.com. 2016-03-21. Retrieved 2024-01-12.
- ^ Smith, Steven Cole (March 19, 2016). "IMSA: ESM charges to Sebring-Daytona double". Racer.com. Racer Media & Marketing, Inc. Archived from the original on May 26, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ Dagys, John (March 19, 2016). "After 12 hours, Sebring comes down to pass in sprint race to finish". Foxsports.com. Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Pruett, Marshall (August 8, 2015). "IMSA: 2016 schedule revealed". Racer. Archived from the original on January 1, 2020. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – Championship Point Standings" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. October 12, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2020.
- ^ a b Dagys, John (March 16, 2016). "Continental Tire Keys to the Race: 12H Sebring". sportscar365.com. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
- ^ Dagys, John (March 17, 2016). "Cameron Leads Action Express 1-2 in Opening Practice at Sebring". sportscar365.com. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "ResultsQuery" (PDF). dailysportscar.com. March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ Dagys, John (March 17, 2016). "Action Express Quickest Again in Practice 2 at Sebring". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "ResultsQuery" (PDF). dailysportscar.com. March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "IMSA: 12 Hours of Sebring, Free Practice Summary". dailysportscar.com. March 18, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "ResultsQuery" (PDF). dailysportscar.com. March 17, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ Myrehn, Ryan (March 18, 2016). "Action Express Tops Final Practice at Sebring". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "ResultsQuery" (PDF). dailysportscar.com. March 18, 2016. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
- ^ "2016 IMSA Sporting Regulations & Series Supplementary Regulations of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. May 25, 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 5, 2016. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ "ResultsQuery" (PDF). dailysportscar.com. Retrieved July 12, 2023.
- ^ "Race Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-03-08. Retrieved 2017-06-22.
- ^ "2016 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring". racing-reference.info. Retrieved November 27, 2023.