Corvette Racing Chases Second Straight Florida Endurance Sweep, Faces Fierce Challenge From GTLM Com

Corvette Racing will be looking to make it two in-a-row in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and at Sebring International Raceway when it returns to Central Florida for the 64th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida.

The team opened the 2016 season with Tommy Milner, Oliver Gavin and Marcel Fassler winning the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in the Rolex 24 At Daytona in the No. 4 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R – the same car that won the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans. One year ago, Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen captured GTLM top honors at Sebring in the team’s No. 3 Corvette C7.R after also winning the Rolex 24.

“Sebring is a race that I think everyone at Corvette Racing looks forward to,” said Garcia, who will co-drive with Magnussen and Mike Rockenfeller. “A big reason is our success there with nine wins including last year. It was a good example of what can happen at Sebring. We did not have the fastest car but we had the best strategy and didn’t make any mistakes as drivers or in the pits. At the end of the day, that was the difference.”

Garcia and Magnussen used their victories at Daytona and Sebring as a foundation to capture the 2015 Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup, a four-race test of endurance that continues with Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda. Due to the unique scoring of the Patrón Endurance Cup – with points scored at different intervals of each race – both sets of Corvette drivers are among a 12-driver tie atop the GTLM standings after the opening race of 2016.

Corvette faces stiff challenges from two-car challenges presented by BMW, Ferrari, Ford and Porsche in its bid to repeat.

BMW Team RLL was fastest in the recent February test at Sebring, led by Dirk Werner, who will be joined by Bill Auberlen and Bruno Spengler in the No. 25 IHG Rewards Club BMW M6 GTLM. The team also has the No. 100 for John Edwards, Lucas Luhr and Kuno Wittmer.

Ferrari will have a pair of new 488 GTEs – the No. 62 Risi Competizione entry for international stars Giancarlo Fisichella, Toni Vilander and Davide Rigon, as well as the the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa entry for Alessandro Pier Guidi, Andrea Bertolini and Daniel Serra.

Ford has its new attention-grabbing GT. Ford Chip Ganassi Racing fields the No. 66 for Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and 2015 Sebring overall winner Sebastien Bourdais, in addition to the No. 67 for Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and defending IndyCar champion Scott Dixon.

Porsche brings a two-car lineup that includes defending GTLM champion Patrick Pilet and 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winners Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber. Pilet and Tandy are joined by Kevin Estre in the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR, with Bamber co-driving the No. 912 entry with Frederic Makowiecki and Michael Christensen.

New Ferrari 488 GT3, Revised Six-Car Lamborghini Lineup Highlight GT Daytona Class

The competition debut of the new Ferrari 488 GT3 and a revised six-car Lamborghini lineup highlight the GT Daytona (GTD) class, with the 20-car lineup including seven manufacturers.

Ferrari had the fastest time in the class at the recent test, turned by Alessandro Balzan in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3. He will be joined by Christina Nielsen and Jeff Segal. Spirit of Race will race the proven Ferrari 458 GT3 for drivers Matteo Cressoni, Raffaele Giammaria and Peter Mann.

There are changes in the Lamborghini entry for Sebring. Change Racing adds a second car, the No. 11 Robert Graham Lamborghini Huracán GT3 for defending GTD champions Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell, who will be joined by Richard Antinucci. The team also fields the No. 16 for Pertamina/Monster Energy entry for Spencer Pumpelly and Corey Lewis. Dream Racing joins the WeatherTech Championship with the No. 27 Huracán GT3 for Larry DeGeorge and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli. Konrad Racing will have a pair of cars, with drivers including Franz Konrad, Terry Borcheller, Christopher Bruck, Norbert Siedler and Pierre Ehret. Paul Miller Racing has the No. 48 Castrol/Universal Industrial Sales entry for Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Bryce Miller.

Porsche is the defending GTD class winner at Sebring, with Ian James, Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas giving Alex Job Racing its 10th triumph in the 2015 classic driving the No. 23 Team Seattle/Heart of Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. The team also fields the No. 22 WeatherTech Porsche for Cooper MacNeil, Leh Keen and Gunnar Jeannette. Black Swan Racing took second in the class in the recent Rolex 24, with Andy Pilgrim, Timothy Pappas and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 540 Papent.com/Fine Arts Enterprises/Boston Athletic Club/Champion Porsche entry. Also racing for Porsche is Park Place Motorsports, with Patrick Lindsey, Matt McMurry and Jorg Bergmeister in the No. 73 Park Place Porsche/Jet Edge International/Justice Brothers entry.

Three teams will field a quartet of the new Audi R8 LMS GT3. Stevenson Motorsports has the No. 6 for Robin Liddell, Andrew Davis and Connor De Phillippi, along with the No. 9 for Lawson Aschenbach, Matt Bell and Dion von Moltke. Magnus Racing has Andy Lally, John Potter and Marco Seefried from its 2016 Rolex 24 class-winning lineup, while Flying Lizard Motorsports has the No. 45 Krohn Aviation Audi R8 for Nic Jonsson, Tracy Krohn and Pierre Kaffer.

Turner Motorsport has a pair of new BMW M6 GT3s, the No. 96 Spectra Resources/United Steel/Valspar Paint/IHG Rewards Club entry for Ashley Freiberg, Jens Klingmann and Bret Curtis, plus the No. 97 Alvarez & Marsal/IHG Rewards Club car for Michael Marsal, Markus Palttala and Jesse Krohn.

Dodge Viper and Aston Martin will be represented by single entries. Riley Motorsports returns with the Viper that came within mere minutes of winning last year’s race, the No. 33 ViperExchange.com Dodge Viper GT3-R for Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Miller. Aston Martin Racing fields the No. 98 Vantage GT3 for Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda, Petro Lamy and Richie Stanaway.

Live television coverage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring begins on Saturday at 10:30 a.m. ET on FS1, with the entire race streamed on the FOX Sports GO app. The weekend also includes the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, on Friday at 12:20 p.m., along with two races each for the IMSA Mazda Prototype Lites Presented by Cooper Tires and the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama.

Practice for the 64th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring begins at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday, March 17, with qualifying on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The race takes the green flag at 10:40 a.m. on Saturday.

Contact:

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