Corvette Racing Wins At Sebring, Sweeps Florida Patrón Endurance Cup Classics

Porsche’s misfortune was Corvette Racing’s gain Saturday night as a pair of mechanical issues in the final hour of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida propelled the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R to the GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory for the second consecutive race to open the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season.

It was Corvette Racing’s ninth win at Sebring dating back to 2002 and completed a sweep for Antonio Garcia, Jan Magnussen and Ryan Briscoe at Florida’s two Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup classics: the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Running 1-2 with one hour remaining in the race, Porsche North America was looking at a potential double-podium before a pair of mechanical issues knocked its Porsche 911 RSRs out of contention.

First it was Frédéric Makowiecki who pitted the team’s No. 912 entry from the lead with one hour left. Issues with the left rear lug nut forced a second pit stop and then a brief stint in the paddock to repair the left rear upright. That misfortune handed the lead to the team’s No. 911 entry driven by Nick Tandy who shortly later slowed with a transmission issue.

The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 team of Pierre Kaffer, Giancarlo Fisichella and Andrea Bertolini finished second followed by the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR of Bryan Sellers, Wolf Henzler and Patrick Long.

A wild final 15 minutes gave Alex Job Racing its 10th class win at Sebring in the GT Daytona (GTD) with Ian James, Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas co-driving the No. 23 Team Seattle Porsche 911.

Leading with just 12 minutes to go, Farnbacher drove off course in Turn 10 handing the lead to the No. 33 TI Automotive/Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R of Jeroen Bleekemolen. Staring at a runner-up finish, Farnbacher suddenly found himself back in the lead when Bleekemolen pitted with five minutes remaining with an engine temperature issue.

The No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage of Christina Nielsen, James Davison and Brandon Davis finished second, 8.837 seconds back, followed by the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia of Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell and Anthony Lazzaro.

QUOTEBOARD

Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President, Performance Vehicles and Motorsports

“Here it is about winning on the track to make a better car for the showroom. We put our race team, together with our design team and vehicle design team just for that reason. It’s meaningful to win at places like Sebring that are really important for our road car. And the fans here this weekend were great. It was a really big crowd. Some of the Corvette customers here today were here the first time we raced a Corvette in this program almost 15 years ago.”

Ryan Briscoe, Driver - No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R

“You couldn’t ask for a better start to the year. We came out with the new C7.Rs last year. We had the speed, but worked through some gremlins. The team has done a fantastic job with the cars. We’ve run the first 36 hours without a single problem. We’ve done all the pit stops with just fuel and tires and drivers. For that kind of preparation the team has done an amazing job and I’m thrilled to be a part of it all. I’ve got some real quality races on my plate this year. We’re off to a great start.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen, No. 33 TI Automotive/Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R

“Daytona was a big disappointment and I hoped to make it up here. Also for the championship, it’s going to be tough. Let’s try to win some races and hopefully a big one like Petit (Le Mans).”

Mario Farnbacher, Driver – No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America

“From 25 minutes to the end of the race, I lost the front brakes. I locked up once with no brakes on the front. I went off the track. I thought it was over. Then I saw the Viper on the back straight going slowly. At that moment I knew we were back in the lead, and I just had to save the car to the end.”

Ian James, Driver – No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America

“This (No.) 23 Alex Job team is so great. It’s a team where everyone is really working with each other. We might not be the fastest team out there, but the team worked hard. I’m so happy to be here and get another win. We were right on the pace in Daytona. We had a mechanical failure and couldn’t finish there. Last year, we always had the pace to compete and made some bad decisions as well. This year, we’ll do the same but work even harder.”

Media Contact:

Nate Siebens

nsiebens@imsa.com

#12hoursofsebring #sebring #tusc