MICHELIN 2022: 12 HOURS OF SEBRING RECAP
Second Event of IMSA Season Becomes Largest in Michelin Motorsport History
- IMSA and WEC combine for largest event in Michelin Motorsport History
- Cadillac Sweeps Podium, Corvette Racing, Cetilar Ferrari take class wins
- PR1 Mathiasen, Sean Creech Motorsports Claim LMP Honors
Sebring, FL—March 19, 2022 – Michelin and fans celebrated 2019’s first Super Sebring, a record setting week that featured major races from both the FIA World Endurance Championship and IMSA’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. This week’s second edition broke them all.
“The 12 hours of Sebring continues to provide Michelin an amazing challenge to deliver for each IMSA series, and we welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with our WEC colleagues,” says Tony Ménard, director of motorsport, Michelin North America.
”Even with the heat and the largest amount of cars in Michelin motorsports history, our tires continued to break new records during the second endurance race of the season.”
The winning car No.2 Cadillac DPi from Chip Ganassi Racing set a new DPi race distance record of 351 laps or 1,312.74 miles. The 53-car WeatherTech Championship field completed 15,518 laps, a total of 58,037 miles.
The 70th Anniversary 12 Hours of Sebring and the FIA WEC 1,000 Miles of Sebring were joined by the Michelin Pilot Challenge and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America to produce the largest event in Michelin Motorsports history with 163 cars.
“The outstanding IMSA and WEC collaboration not only produced two very exciting races, but also provided Michelin’s IMSA and WEC teams the opportunity to work together on the 2023 season that will include the new GTP and the Hypercar Series. said Ménard.
Cadillac sweeps podium and Chip Ganassi takes overall victory
The No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi crossed the finish line first at Sebring thanks to drivers Earl Bamber, Alex Lynn and Neel Jani. Bamber outlasted runner-up Tristian Vautier of JDC Miller MotorSports by 6.471 seconds. Finishing in third was the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Racing team.
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports wins third in a row in LMP2, Sean Creech Motorsport triumphs in LMP3.
The LMP2 winner stayed the same for the third year. PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports with Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker beat Racing Team Nederland by more than a lap. Rounding out the podium was Era Motorsport.
Sean Creech Motorsport led the LMP3 class to the checkered flag in the No. 33 with drivers Joao Barbosa, Malthe Jakobsen and Lance Willsey. Jr III Racing placed second and Performance Tech Motorsports took third.
Corvette Racing wins GTD PRO race, Ferrari Cetilar Racing get victory in GTD
The No. 3 Corvette C8R GT3 claimed first place in the second race of the GTD Pro era with drivers Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg. This came after Corvette Racing finished runner-up in their first race as a full-time entrant in WEC a day before. TR3 Racing finished second in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and WeatherTech Racing took the last spot on the podium with a Mercedes-AMG GT3
Cetilar Racing stood atop the podium in GTD with drivers Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco. The three drove a Ferrari 488 GT3 to victory. Finishing second was the No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports and AF Corse completed the race in third with a Ferrari 488 GT3.
Ford PF Racing and Honda Victor Gonzalez Racing score first Michelin Pilot Challenge wins in team history
Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 featured a large 45-car entry list at Sebring and a pair of new winners in the series. The GS was won by RPF Racing’s Ford Mustang GT4 driven by James Pesek and Chad McCumbee.
The TCR class saw a Honda Civic FK7 driven by Victor Gonzalez and Karl Wittmer of Victor Gonzalez Racing. Both teams also earned their class IMSA Radio Michelin Moment of the Race awards for their winning strategies.
If one Montoya is quick will two be even quicker?
A name that is known around the world for speed took on Sebring as teammates. Juan Pablo and his 16-year-old son Sebastian Montoya raced for DragonSpeed USA in LMP2. Watch our conversation with the quick father/son duo here.
Porsche Pfaff Motorsports far ahead of five-year plan
Steve Bortolotti submitted a five-year plan for Pfaff Motorsports in 2017. The general manager says he hoped to have the team starting in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2021. The #9 Porsche won a GTD season championship in 2021 and got a Rolex 24 victory in GTD PRO in 2022. Watch here to learn more about the Canadian team.
Green flag waves on season two of Porsche Carrera Cup North America
A massive 43-car field kicked-off the sophomore season of Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The field is again racing on commercially available MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport Cup N3 tires. Kay van Berlo of the Netherlands won both races at Sebring.
Michelin Post-Race Notes
- All GT cars in IMSA are now racing on the same MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport commercial racing slicks. That’s a big change for Risi Competizione, Corvette Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan and WeatherTech Racing. Watch Sebring’s Michelin Tire Tech Minute here.
- Two new lap records were set at Sebring. Sebastien Bourdais with Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing broke the DPi class qualifying record with a 1:45.166 mark. The LMP2 race lap record was broken by Giedo van der Garde of Racing Team Nederland with a 1:48.311 split.
Next up:
- The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship now heads out west to Long Beach, California for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday, April 9th. The race can be seen in its entirety on Peacock and on USA from 5:00pm-7:00pm ET.