Endurance Racing Time!
One of the more exciting races on the IMSA Tudor United Sports Car Championship series calendar is the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The endurance race takes place in sunny Sebring, Florida on a former World War II landing strip that has since been converted into a racetrack, making for some interesting conditions with its long back straight. This year’s race proved to have all kinds of drama and excitement as teams battled for the checkered flag, with two Motegi Wheels teams reaching the podium.
The 12-hour endurance race was filled with drama and saw a total of nine caution flags, the last of which caused a full-course caution until the final 20 minutes of the race, setting up for a sprint to the finish line for many teams, including those of Motegi Wheels.
In the GT Le Mans class, the final 20 minutes was a battle between the Motegi Wheels No. 93 SRT Viper GTS-R with Jonathon Bomarito behind the wheel and the factory Porsche 911 RSR driven by Jorg Bergmeister. The Motegi Wheels No. 93 SRT Viper GTS-R was set up nicely thanks to the work of fellow drivers, Rob Bell and Kuno Wittmer but Bergmeister and his Porsche 911 RSR survived just long enough to claim the overall GT Le Mans class win while Bomarito came in second in the class by only 5.296 seconds.
Over in the GT Daytona class, things were even closer with the Motegi Wheels supported No. 555 AIM Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Maurizio Mediani, and Jeff Segal. After the final caution flag, distances became razor thin for the team as their Ferrari chased down the No. 44 Porsche 911 GT America driven by Andy Lally. The team came within 1.864 seconds of achieving the overall class victory like they did at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, but came up just short. The team still, however, retains the overall points lead in GT Daytona.
The other Motegi Wheels backed teams didn’t fare as well during the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The 91 Viper GTS-R driven by Marc Goossens at the finish came in at sixth in GT Le Mans while the No. 22 Porsche 911 GT America driven by Leh Keen at the finish was just passed before the end and finished fourth.
The next race in the IMSA Tudor United Sports Car Championship is the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 4th.
Here’s video of the start and finish of the Twelve Hours of Sebring:
http://youtu.be/alCiHV4pZCY
Recommended for you
