Tomorrow morning, the second leg of the informal "triple crown of endurance" kicks off with the start of the 61st 12 hours of Sebring. The field may be smaller than last year's, but it's deeper than possibly any before and all five classes are sure to produce exciting racing. You can follow along tomorrow LIVE on Jalopnik with another endurance racing live blog, but first, get to know the field with this handy spotter's guide and preview.
This year's 12 hours of Sebring is set to be another classic. Cars from Audi, Mazda, Toyota, Honda and Nissan headline the prototype classes, while the ever stellar GT fields are highlighted by factory supported entries from Porsche, Aston Martin, SRT, Corvette, Ferrari and BMW.
Even though this is a 12 hour race, it's an all out, all the time affair, and every lap will see battles for position. The toughest road course on earth will wear and tear at these strong endurance racers, and for those that survive, glory. For those that don't, a somber trip home.
This is the final year for LMP1 as the top class at Sebring, and the final year for ALMS sanctioning at the classic event. Next year, Grand-Am's DPs will join the field in what will be just the second ever USCR event. However, that's the future. This is the present. This is today. This is the 61st annual 12 hours of Sebring.
Jalopnik will be bringing you another live blog, much as we did for Daytona, but this time I'll be joined by professional racing driver and expert analyst Ryan Eversley. While SPEED may only be showing the first 9 hours live, Jalopnik will be bringing the whole thing to you for all 12 hours without fail.
Now, on to the good part:
LMP1
Porsche9146’s thoughts on the class: Even with a strong field of privateers, it’s hard to imagine anyone giving Audi a run for their money this year. If the private teams have any hopes of winning, they need to stay on the lead lap and force Audi into mistakes with both cars.
Ryan Eversley’s thoughts on the class: The LMP1 class should see the usual Audi domination as we've seen in the past. I don't see any of the other LMP's stopping them from a 1-2 repeat. I still however feel that the overall podium could end up with an LMP2 car in third overall as Sebring tends to break a lot of cars due to its bumpy surface. In the recent past we've seen some aggressive driving which has resulted in massive accidents for the Audi's but with no real pressure from another factory effort I'm going to assume they'll use it as a test for LeMans and play it safe. Mcnish had a bit of a boo boo in practice but now that he's got that out of his system they should be back on top form. Look for the Rebellion cars to be in for the long haul and the Muscle Milk car to be quick at the start as well.
Shea Holbrook’s thoughts on the class: Tough class to tango with if you’re the lower budgeted team. Very confident we’re going to see a 1 and 2 with the Audi’s especially since this is the last year for the class. Although, if Muscle Milk has a solid race I believe we could see them on the podium, maybe even a win. I’ve heard mixed opinions about the hardworking Deltawing team but what to see them finish strong.
Nobody’s thoughts on the class: Barring some Ferrari on Audi catastrophe, the R18s will go 1-2. It’ll be interesting to see how the Deltawing adjusts to the P1 pace after being confined to the P2 level in its first two races.
0 – Deltawing Racing Cars
(Photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Olivier Pla – Andy Meyrick
Chassis: Deltawing LM12 – Engine: Elan – Tires: Bridgestone – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 7th
Car Rating: 2 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 7th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 1st in Class or a DNF. The DW has been around the same pace as the LMPC cars which might be due to its change in rubber from Michelin to Bridgestone's. There's a few different people behind the running of this project now so we'll see if they can continue in the form that the car showed at Petit.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 7th
Nobody’s Prediction: 6th
1 – Audi Sport Team Joest
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Marcel Fassler – Benoit Treluyer – Oliver Jarvis
Chassis: Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro – Engine: Audi –Tires: Michelin – Fuel: Diesel
Starting Position: 1st
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 2nd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 1st, I like Benoit's attitude and I feel like most people are going to pick the other car anyway, Ze germans will be strong in the pits no matter what comes their way so expect a dominant performance.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 2nd
Nobody’s Prediction: 2nd
2 – Audi Sport Team Joest
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Tom Kristensen – Allan McNish – Lucas DiGrassi
Chassis: Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro – Engine: Audi – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: Diesel
Starting Position: 2nd
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 1st
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 2nd because only one Audi can win at a time. That's the rules.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 1st
Nobody’s Prediction: 1st
6 – Muscle Milk Pickett Racing
(pjoto via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Klaus Graf – Lucas Luhr – Romain Dumas
Chassis: HPD ARX-03c – Engine: Honda – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 4th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 3rd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 4th but only from small issues that could pop up over the course of the race. This car will lead the pace of the Non Diesels.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 3rd
Nobody’s Prediction: 4th
12 – Rebellion Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Nick Heidfeld – Nicolas Prost – Neel Jani
Chassis: Lola B12/60 – Engine: Toyota (TMG) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 3rd
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 4th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 3rd Rebellion has been extremely reliable with their Lola's and I think they'll be the team to beat in the NON Diesel class on the long run. Fun fact all three drivers name's start with the letter N. Sorry, I'll show myself out…
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 4th
Nobody’s Prediction: 3rd
13 – Rebellion Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Mathias Beche – Andrea Bellichi – Congfu “Frankie” Cheng
Chassis: Lola B12/60 – Engine: Toyota (TMG) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 5th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 5th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 6th Very quick in practice and one of the drivers name's is Congfu so tell me he's not already a fan favorite. Guaranteed TV shout out for coolest name in the field closely followed by Wolf Henzler. No word on whether or not Keanu Reeves really knows him.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 6th
Nobody’s Prediction: 7th
16 – Dyson Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Chris Dyson – Guy Smith – Butch Leitzinger
Chassis: Lola B12/60 – Engine: Mazda (AER) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: Isobutanol
Starting Position: 6th
Car Rating: 3 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 6th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction 6th-ish. I'm as big of a Dyson fan as they come but I feel they've had to many reliability issues and need to switch chassis. Glad to see Butch back with his team!
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 5th
Nobody’s Prediction: 5th
LMP2
Porsche9146’s thoughts on the class: There may only be five entries in this class, but all five are going to be competitive, and three in particular are worthy of consideration for the title “top Pro-Am lineup in history”. The weakest car of the five, the Greaves Zytek, has a small advantage because it’s using European spec Dunlop tires (as opposed to the four HPD entries, which are using spec Michelin tires), but that’s pretty much negated by the raw pace of the HPDs.
Ryan Eversley’s thoughts on the class: LMP2 sure has changed since I drove and worked on them but I am putting my money on the Level 5 guys with my boy Simon Pagenaud at the helm. Level 5 has the chassis experience and one of the best engineers in the business with Jeff Braun! Should be a close battle until the cars start to brake and then its a race in the pits. Level 5's spares budget is more than most teams Racing budget so I give them the edge.
Shea Holbrook’s thoughts on the class: People are going to love watching these drivers because they’ll gravitate to the IndyCar wildcards. Although there’s not many entries I believe all will be extremely competitive. I’m going with Pagenaud, Hunter-Reay and Tucker in the Level 5 Racing 551 because I think the Honda will prove strong here.
Nobody’s thoughts on the class: It looked like the P2 class was DOA going into the GALMS USCR, but ESM’s switch from GT Ferraris to P2 HPDs has breathed new life into the class. Level 5 looks really strong, with IndyCar champion Ryan Hunter-Reay and Indycar rookie of the year Simon Pagenaud teaming up with team owner Scott Tucker in one car, and Marino Franchitti and Ryan Briscoe joining Tucker in the other car.
01 – Extreme Speed Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Scott Sharp (Pro) – Guy Cosmo (Am) – David Brabham (Pro)
Chassis: HPD ARX-03b – Engine: Honda (HPD) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 4th
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 1st
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction:P2, Hard to pick against my friend Cosmo (who is no AM) but I think this will come down to the teams and the fact that ESM has only had their car a short time. This car if it holds together will be a factor for the win and maybe a P3 overall.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 3rd
Nobody's Prediction: 3rd
02 – Extreme Speed Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Ed Brown (Am) – Anthony Lazzaro (Pro) – Johannes Van Overbeek (Pro)
Chassis: HPD ARX-03b – Engine: Honda (HPD) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 5th
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 4th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 4th, Most of Ed's experience has been in GT's so he'll struggle to take advantage of the grip levels until he gets more seat time. Lazzaro should be quick as he is a former Atlantic's star and JVO is solid in everything he races so they'll have a nice run as long as they keep in clean in traffic.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 4th
Nobody's Prediction: 4th
41 – Greaves Motorsport
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Tom Kimber-Smith (Pro) – Christian Zugel (Am) – Eric Lux (Am)
Chassis: Zytek Z11SN – Engine: Zytek (Nissan) – Tires: Dunlop – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 3
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 2
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 5th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 5th TKS is as fast as anyone in this class and might have an advantage with his sporty Euro Spec Dunlops but he can only drive so much of the race. Look for this car to battle the 02 car for 4th. Christian Zugel was my co driver in the first Daytona 24 hour that I did in 2007 so I'm usually cheering for him to do well. Calm, Collected, German.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 5th
Nobody's Prediction: 5th
551 – Level 5 Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Scott Tucker (Am) – Ryan Hunter-Reay (Pro) – Simon Pagenaud (Pro)
Chassis: HPD ARX-03b – Engine: Honda (HPD) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 1st
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 2nd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 1st, Look for this car to set the tone for the race in LMP2. Pay attention to Scott Tucker's lap times as he's been getting quicker every season and RHR won some championship last year. Could be the 3rd place finishing car overall if the reliability holds up. Jean Girard rides again! Happy to see Simon's success in open wheel. I drove with him 2 years ago in ST and I was blown away at his absolute professionalism and the complete lack of Ego. Great dude who deserves his success. Respect.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 1st
Nobody's Prediction: 1st
552 – Level 5 Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Scott Tucker (Am) – Marino Franchitti (Pro) – Ryan Briscoe (Pro)
Chassis: HPD ARX-03b – Engine: Honda (HPD) – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 2nd
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 3rd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 3rd, Another extremely strong lineup but I picked Pagenaud's car because he drove with me at Laguna 2 years ago and I obviously rubbed off on him.. Will fight the ESM car and its sister car for the win and a potential overall podium.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 2nd
Nobody's Prediction: 2nd
LMPC
Porsche9146’s thoughts on the class: It seems the Ende/Junqueira/Popow car of Rocketsport Racing has the advantage here simply because they not only have strong professionals but have a strong amateur as well, something very important in a race this long. However, with how strong CORE Autosport was last year, it’s hard to overlook their lone car, especially since their strong team will be quick to adapt to the new spec Continental rubber.
Ryan Eversley’s thoughts on the class: The LMPC class in my opinion is the best thing in Prototype racing. The cars are very sexy, very fast and relatively inexpensive to run. The LMPC car is what the DP of Grand-am should be. The spec classes of LMPC and GTC really have been great races these past few years, my only gripe is the supposed driver ranking system to allow everyone a fair chance has been flawed by allowing top pro's to drive with other top pros who have been deemed an "amateur" by a poor choice of process. Having said that, the two "Challenge" classes are still going to be a highlight if the TV shows the action. This class has a minimum driving time and any driver who wants points will have to drive 3 hours and 15 minutes so the overall lineup needs to be legit for season long entrants.
Shea Holbrook’s thoughts on the class: I spent some time with CORE earlier this year and I honestly think they will be the LMPC car to beat. RSR has an amazing driver lineup, but the question is are they as hungry as CORE is for the win? This is one of my favorite classes to watch because 3rd place to 5th can tend to vary over the course of the 12 hours more so than any other class.
Nobody’s thoughts on the class: In addition to the Rocketsport and CORE cars Porsche mentioned, I think the Performance Tech car with DHH, Shears, and Nunez could challenge for the class win. DHH is coming off of a strong rookie year in P2.
05 – CORE Autosport
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
John Bennett – Colin Braun – Mark Wilkins
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 1st
Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 2nd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 2nd. All three drivers in this car have tasted champagne in the ALMS and have a lot of success. Jon Bennett has spent his off season racing DP's in Grand-am so he should be as sharp as ever. Colin Braun and Mark Wilkins are as good as anyone in this car and the team features Morgan Brady and Adam Waering who was my former crew chief so they've got an excellent crew. This is the class's first race on Continental tires which John, Colin and Mark have all experienced in the Grand-am DP class which could be a slight help.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 1st
Nobody's Prediction: 3rd
7 – BAR1 Motorsports
Tomy Drissi – Rusty Mitchell – Chapman Ducote
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 7th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 7th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 7th. Great to see Brian Alder formerly of Intersport Racing, attacking another season with his team. Unfortunately the driver lineup isn't as strong as some of the other cars and the pace in this class is full tilt boogie the whole way. Ducote was featured on The Khardashians apparently. Just keep that in mind.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 7th
Nobody's Prediction: 5th
8 – BAR1 Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Kyle Marcelli – Chris Cumming – Stefan Johansson
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 5th
Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 4th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 3rd. Another really strong lineup in the challenge class with Marcelli and Johannson pairing up. Chris Cumming has been an excellent rep for the ALMS support series and is one of the quicker "Am" drivers in the class. Marcelli might be the most experienced driver in this particular class in these cars. He's been in them since the inception and is very quick. Should be a factor.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 3rd
Nobody's Prediction: 4th
9 – RSR Racing
Bruno Junqueira – Alex Popow – Duncan Ende
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 2nd
Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 1st
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 1st. Its obvious why I picked this car to win its class. Of course Bruno Junqueira is extremely quick and Alex Popow has been doing an amazing job in the Starworks program. But the reality is Duncan Ende has been sporting the sexiest side burns in recent years of sports car racing that even Steve McQueen would be proud of. Oh and he's fast too.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 2nd
Nobody's Prediction: 1st
52 – PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
David Cheng – Mike Guasch – David Ostella
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 4th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 5th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 7th ish... Solid team but doesn't have the firepower that some of the other cars do. Probably because they didn't take advantage of the driver classification however they were quick in one of the practice sessions.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 6th
Nobody's Prediction: 7th
81 – DragonSpeed Mishumotors
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Micro Schultis – Patrick Simon – Pierre Kaffer
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 3rd
Driver Rating: 2
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 6th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 5th ish This car is an absolute sleeper, 2nd in night practice and solid all week. Patrick Simon is a multiple race winner in the LMPC class in Europe and Pierre Kaffer is a race winner in multiple classes throughout sportscar racing. Solid team as well with former driver Elton Julian leading the way. Look for it to fight for the podium.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 4th
Nobody's Prediction: 6th
500 – Performance Tech Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
David Henemeier Hansson – Charlie Shears – Tristan Nunez
Chassis: ORECA FLM09 – Engine: Chevrolet – Tires: Continental – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 6th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 3rd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 6th. Another sleeper car in the class to round us out. Both Tristan Nunez and DHH are very fast and very aggressive but that can bite you in this race. I think they'll lack some setup compared to the Rocketsports and CORE team but should still run well.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 6th
Nobody's Prediction: 2nd
GT
Porsche9146’s thoughts on the class: Without a doubt, ALMS GT continues to be the most competitive sports car class in the world. This year, it’s stronger than ever, boasting the full season returns three ALMS championship winning teams: Alex Job Racing, Risi Competizione and SRT Motorsports. Still, it’s looking like Corvette Racing is the favorite once again, especially with Flying Lizard’s departure in favor of GTC and Rahal-Letterman Lannigan’s switch to an unproven new car, the Z4 GTE. The only two unique-to-Sebring entries, the two WEC Aston Martins, also refuse to be ignored.
Ryan Eversley’s thoughts on the class: GT is by far one of the coolest GT Racing class's on the Planet. Bar none. Because of this its a stacked deck of talent and powerhouse teams which means I wont even try to predict where each car will finish. What I will do is give a rough idea of where they'll be and also what the strengths and weakness's are. If you don't like the GT race at Sebring, then switch the channel back to golf and pretend you never saw this.
Shea Holbrook’s thoughts on the class: What would the world be without the ALMS GT class? GT gets the adrenaline pumping through your veins and is what keeps you up at night watching lap after lap. I think we’re going to see the top 5 teams from qualifying really hash it out this year. I think the Aston Martins are going to fly together but we’re going to have to roll the dice on Gavin, Milner and Westbrook in the Corvette C6 ZR1 and Bruni, Beretta and Maluceli in the Ferrari F458 Italia for the win.
Nobody’s thoughts on the class: The most diverse class in the field features mid-engined 458s, front-engined V8 Corvettes, Z4s, and Aston Martins, V10 Vipers, and rear-engined flat 6 911s all racing against each other. The BMWs will probably have teething issues, as will the Vipers, to a lesser extent. The 911s are always strong, but with the near-factory Flying Lizards dropping to GTC, I don’t expect either of the 911 teams to win. I think the Corvettes will do well, and if the Vipers can keep everything running well, they could challenge the C6.R.
3 – Corvette Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Jan Magnussen – Antonio Garcia – Jordan Taylor
Car: Corvette C6.R ZR1 – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 5th
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 1st
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: Podium. Easily one of the best cars in the field. Magnussen is an ex F1 driver and Jordan Taylor has a brother named Ricky. Antonio Garcia is one of the fastest drivers in Sports car racing and unless they have some sort of Mechanical this car will fight for the win.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 3rd
Nobody's Prediction: 2nd
4 – Corvette Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Oliver Gavin – Tommy Milner – Richard Westbrook
Car: Corvette C6.R ZR1 – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 2nd
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 2nd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: Podium. Again ridiculously talented lineup. Olly Gavin was an F1 test driver for Renault before switching to Sports cars and making our lives miserable. Milner and Westbrook are both top GT drivers and who am I kidding, If you're in a Corvette, its because you're a Jedi and deserve to be. Doug Fehan (Corvette Boss) doesn't give out free rides and these Corvette drivers love the inner team rivalry. America!
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 1st
Nobody's Prediction: 1st
007 – Aston Martin Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Paul Dalla Lana – Billy Johnson – Pedro Lamy
Car: Aston Martin Vantage GTE – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 4th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 5th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 6th-8th. The Aston has been really quick in testing and Billy Johnson drivers for Roush for a damn good reason. Pedro Lamy is extremely fast as well and has been with Aston on and off for a few seasons. The weakness in this car is Paul Dalla Lana who is prone to making mistakes in cars without ABS but he isn't a pro and this is a pro class. He's got his work cut out for him but if they catch the yellows right the 007 can stay in contention. Paul's only been at this for a few seasons so this is a big event in his career and he needs to relax and limit the mistakes. This is Billy's first Sebring 12 and he will definitely want to show his skill set to the world of proper GT cars.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 5th
Nobody's Prediction: 5th
17 – Team Falken Tires
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Wolf Henzler – Bryan Sellers – Nick Tandy
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (997) – Tires: Falken – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 12th
Car Rating: 3 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 8th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 6-8th. Amazing group of talented Porsche drivers with a fantastic team and a great looking car. The downfall to this car's pace at Sebring is generally its tire degradation and inability to run the pace at the end of the stint. Doesn't help that the Porsche tends to be hard on rear tires (for real?) where the Ferrari's and Corvette's are balanced a bit better. They need to be thinking points since they're a season long entry. Oh and Falken Girls. (Google It)
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 11th
Nobody's Prediction: 9th
23 – Alex Job Racing/Team West
Townsend Bell – Bill Sweedler – Leh Keen
Car: Ferrari 458 GTE – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 11th
Car Rating: 5 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 7th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction:5th-8th. One of the best teams in the business drops the Slow-Tus (Lotus) for the well proven 458! Strong lineup with Leh and Townsend, Bill is one of the quickest gentleman guys in the paddock and he should be aiming to out run Paul Dalla Lana in the AM's who are running in the pro class. Coming off of a win in the Daytona 24 hours with an Audi, Alex Job is no doubt hoping to show what they can do with the Prancing Horse as well.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 12th
Nobody's Prediction: 4th
48 – Paul Miller Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Bryce Miller – Marco Holzer – Richard Lietz
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 RSR – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 7th
Car Rating: 3 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 12th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 7-8th-ish. Atlanta based team with 2 factory Porsche drivers. The Porsche hasn't proven to be the car to have even in the hands of Michelin Shod factory backed Flying Lizards so it’s hard to expect miracles until the 991 model shows up. Falken should be there baseline as I’m sure it will be between the factory Porsche drivers.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 9th
Nobody's Prediction: 12th
55 – BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Bill Auberlin – Maxime Martin – Jorg Muller
Car: BMW Z4 GTE – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 8th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 9th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 5th-9th. Amazing Team, Amazing Drivers. But a brand new car which had reliability issues in the previous tests has left my confidence in the Bavarians lacking for the time being. With time will come the reliability and if we remember anything from the BMW's the past few seasons it was they had plenty of motor. Will win a race this season for sure, But Sebring Is tough and its right now.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 6th
Nobody's Prediction: 10th
56 – BMW Team Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Dirk Muller – Joey Hand – John Edwards
Car: BMW Z4 GTE – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 9th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 6th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 5th-9th Second verse same as the first.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 8th
Nobody's Prediction: 11th
62 – Risi Competizione
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Gianmaria Bruni – Olivier Beretta – Matteo Malucetti
Car: Ferrari 458 GTE – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 1st
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 3rd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: Podium. Risi is the factory backed Ferrari team and in my opinion the Ferrari is currently the best GT car in the series. Its easy to drive and its easy on tires. Risi is returning to the series where it once was dominant and I'm sure wants to pick up right where they left off. Will fight for the win and remember, Italians use hand signals better than anyone.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 2nd
Nobody's Prediction: 8th
91 – SRT Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Dominik Farnbacher – Marc Goosens – Ryan Dalziel
Car: SRT Viper GTS-R – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 10th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 4th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 5th-10th. Again just like most teams in this class the drivers and the teams are second to none. The car in its second season is still a development piece and has been getting faster and faster. Of the 2 vipers I'd say this is the quicker lineup of the two as Farnbacher and Dalziel are widely regarded as blindingly quick and Goosen's has been with the program since its inception as he has strong ties to Bill Riley who's building and running the cars. Yes that Bill Riley who's Riley DP wins just about every DP race.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 10th
Nobody's Prediction: 3rd
93 – SRT Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Jonathan Bomarito – Kuno Wittmer – Tommy Kendall
Car: SRT Viper GTS-R – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E85
Starting Position: 6th
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 11th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 7-10th. Tommy Kendall is the coolest driver in the paddock. That’s really all you need to know about this entry, in fact I encourage you to google his Chicken Car. seriously. Do it. (editor's note: Let Me Google That For You) "Bomar" is new to the squad and just like Tommy Kendall he's very laid back so it’s not surprising to me to see them paired up. Kuno Witmer is Canadian.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 7th
Nobody's Prediction: 6th
97 – Aston Martin Racing
Stefan Mucke – Darren Turner – Bruno Senna
Car: Aston Martin Vantage GTE – Tires: Michelin – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 3rd
Car Rating: 4 – Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 10th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: Podium-4th. Another excellent driver lineup from the factory Aston team. Senna makes his ALMS debut and will have to adjust to the traffic and some of the AM drivers. Mucke tends to look for trouble so if he can keep it in his pants they have a chance to win this thing.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 4th
Nobody's Prediction: 7th
GTC
Porsche9146’s thoughts on the class: Usually, GTC is easy enough to ignore. Usually, there are few big names and more headlines resulting from altercations with higher class cars than anything else. This is, however, not a usual year in the ALMS, and the GTC category is absolutely stacked in 2013. All of the drivers I’d consider the best in the Carrera Cup style car are present (those being Jeroen Bleekemolen, Sean Edwards, Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelley and Damien Faulkner), and all are paired with competent and even talented amateurs. In particular, look out for the Alex Job car, as that looks to be the one to beat. Even still, this is the class that would have the highest odds in the prop bet category “Most likely to be involved in an altercation with an R18” if Las Vegas odds makers issued prop bets for sports car races.
Ryan Eversley’s thoughts on the class: GTC is another challenge class like LMPC where all the cars are virtually the same on the same tires and have to use a trio of Pros and Am drivers Having raced the GTC class in the past I'm quite partial to it so I hope the TV guys do a good job of catching the action. Again some cars have really "Worked" the ranking system and have stellar lineups. Just like PC the GTC class has a min driving time of 3 hours 15 minutes for points which Is important for the season long entrants like Dempsey, AJR and the Lizards. Look for an EXTREMELY tight battle amongst the top GT3 men in the sport which won’t be willing to just let faster classes pass easily because of their own battle.
Shea Holbrook’s thoughts on the class:The winner of this race won’t have a scratch on the car, no major hiccups and all drivers will be extremely on point and consistent and I think that’s going to be MacNeil, Bleekemolen and von Moltke in the Alex Job car. I feel there’s a good synergy over there between the drivers which will come into play during the race. More so than any other year I believe this will be an exciting one to watch because of the dynamic of the drivers.
Nobody’s thoughts on the class: GTC is usually ignored by everyone, but this year the Flying Lizards join the ranks while they wait on the 991 for the USCR. The Lizards are without their factory drivers so they might not be as dominant as you would expect an ex-factory team to be. Dempsey/Del Piero has the movie star power, and competent-amateur Dempsey is joined by Grand-Am driver Andy Lally.
10 – Dempsey Racing/Del Piero
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Michael Avenatti – Andrew Davis – Bob Faieta
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 8th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 8th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 6-8th Andrew "Diesel" Davis (Which Bryan Sellers and I nick named him one day while racing in Iowa for no reason whatsoever) Leads the charge for this team and is one of the most experience Porsche drivers in the U.S. Avenatti is still working his way up to speed and will be Am in this car for the season. Bob Faieta who runs GT3cup cars for other customers is also quite a handy driver and I admire his skills behind the wrench as much as behind the steering wheel. Rare to see that these days.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 8th
Nobody's Prediction: 6th
11 – JDX Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Mike Hedlund – Jan Heylen – Jon Fogarty
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 6th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 5rd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 4th-6th This car clearly played the ranking system properly as Jon Fogarty who just won the COTA DP race leads the squad and is teamed with Jan Heylen the former champ car driver. Mike Hedlund has only been racing for the past 2 years and as an AM has gotten up to speed quickly and has been training for this race by drinking Nesquik and eating Donuts for breakfast. Seriously. This team has had some very solid driver lineup's but doesn't seem to have the outright pace despite the talent so they should aim to be consistent and be there at the end.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 4th
Nobody's Prediction: 9th
22 – Alex Job Racing
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Cooper MacNeil – Jeroen Bleekemolen – Dion Von Moltke
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 2nd
Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 1st
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 1st. AJR, the former Factory Porsche team has just won the sebring 12 hours in an Audi R8 and now they're back in their bread in butter, a 911. They've been fast with this car even in Rolex GT trim and have set the quick lap of the week so far. Dion won this race last year for this team and Jeroen is widely regarded as the best NON factory Porsche driver out there. Cooper is the least experienced of the trio but his pace is solid and he's easily one of the quickest AM's in the class. Hard to bet against them.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 1st
Nobody's Prediction: 2nd
27 – Dempsey Racing/Del Piero
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Patrick Dempsey – Andy Lally – Joe Foster
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 1st
Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 4th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 3rd. Andy Lally in a Porsche is generally the one thing you DON’T want to race against. He's Vegan but don't hold that against him because his record in endurance racing is fantastic with 4 Rolex 24 hour class wins. (including 2001 SRP2 where yours truly was a junior mechanic on his team) Lally has brought with him his engineer Lars Geirsing who is the Engineer for Magnus racing in the Rolex series and likes beer. These two have been working together on and off through 3 different Porsche teams and should help Dempsey Racing make the switch from Mazda's to GT3cup cars. Patrick Dempsey, Yes that Patrick Dempsey, the same one who used to race in the Panoz Racing School Pro Series, makes his Porsche debut with his usual co-driver Joe Foster by his side. I worked with both of these guys at Panoz for quite some time and I absolutely applaud them hiring a Porsche specialist to help them be competitive immediately. Look for these guys to be quick but having only recently received the cars they'll probably be a tad slower until they can do all the little things that teams AJR and Lizards have been doing for years.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 2nd
Nobody's Prediction: 3rd
30 – NGT Motorsport
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Henrique Cisneros – Marco Seefried – Sean Edwards
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 3rd
Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 3rd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 4th ish NGT is one of my favorite teams in the paddock. They always show up with extremely badass looking Orange race cars and when they aren't orange, They're done up in Momo colors which look awesome too! Throw in a really fast Sean Edwards who races from Daytona to Dubai in various GT3's and you have a good package. These boys were in the hunt for the Rolex 24 hour win before a mechanical set them back. Henrique Cisnero's when he isn't buzzing the racetrack in one of his helicopters is an extremely nice guy and part of the Venezuelen contingency that's been taking over sports car racing recently. Fun Fact: Former Miss Sprint Cup Paige Duke was one of their umbrella girls at the Daytona 24 hour. No word yet on if she's returning for Sebring.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 5th
Nobody's Prediction: 4th
31 – NGT Motorsport
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Carlos Gomez – Mario Farnbacher – Kuba Giermaziak
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 10th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 9th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 7th-9th Another of the NGT Cars features Viper Driver Dominik Farnbacher's little brother Mario who is no doubt trying to make his own name for himself in GT cars. The car should be reliable but needs to keep its nose clean to take advantage of the stronger cars lineups. Im gonna bet its bumper falls off before the 5 hour mark.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 11th
Nobody's Prediction: 8th
44 – Flying Lizard Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Pierre Ehret – Alexandre Imperatori – Brett Sandberg
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 7th
Driver Rating: 3
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 7th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 5th-6th. Flying Lizard, the former Factory RSR team will no doubt be a favorite in every race this year. Pierre has driven more GT endurance races than almost any other AM in the race but he's a business man first and won’t match the pace of his sister car’s lineup. I'd never heard of Imperatori until the other day but apparently he's getting the job done pretty well so far. Brett Sandberg has found himself in a great situation where he can use his skills and should aim to take on Von Molke's lap times throughout the weekend and as a former teammate at Compass360 I hope he does well!
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 7th
Nobody's Prediction: 7th
45 – Flying Lizard Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Nelson Canache Jr – Spencer Pumpelley – Brian Wong
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 4th
Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 6th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 2nd. The 45 car has a great lineup and one of the best teams in all of sports car racing. Nelson Canache is coming off a Daytona 24 hour win in the GX class but tends to be a bit hard on equipment and his aggressive driving style has resulted in some spins and mishaps that really can’t exist in a class this stacked. His pace is great so if he can settle into a rhythm than this car will be a factor. Brian Wong has been racing Porsches in the ALMS and IMSA GT3 cup for the last few years and should be a steady co driver for Spencer Pumpelly to work with. Spence is one of the most underrated drivers in sports car racing in my opinion. He's super fast but also very methodical in everything he does and that's a great asset for these longer races. This car will be a factor for the win all day. Fun Fact: Spencer's nickname is "The Big Sexy" It might be an irony thing like when you call a big guy "Tiny" I'm not really sure.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 3rd
Nobody's Prediction: 5th
66 – The Racer’s Group
Ben Keating – Damien Faulkner – Craig Stanton
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 5th
Driver Rating: 5
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 2nd
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 4th? Another stacked deck of drivers with a team that has a great history of winning the big endurance races. Ben Keating is as nice as they come and in my opinion the fastest AM in the class. He's been really impressive in the Rolex GT cars at the Daytona 24 hours running times right there with top pros and this is why other cars are worried about this entry. Craig Stanton, who's also known as the fittest man in sports car racing is another former co driver of mine and again I clearly rubbed off on him so he should be as fast as he usually is! as a former Rolex GT champ Craig is the ultimate teammate and will keep the car up front but more importantly in great shape for his co drivers. Faulkner really came alive these last few years in the ALMS GTC class and is the new lead driver at TRG. His pace has been really good especially in qualifying but the TRG cars weren't really in the hunt at Daytona and this is why I didn't give them a higher finishing spot. Should be pointed out that TRG didn't use a new chassis for the 24 hour and this is a brand new car from Porsche for the ALMS effort.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 6th
Nobody's Prediction: 1st
68 – The Racer’s Group
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Al Carter – Kevin Estre – Carlos De Quesada
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 9th
Driver Rating: 2
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 10th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 6-7th The car I was offered a ride in last Wednesday (If I had a large amount of money suddenly appear) has found some good last minute drivers. Estre has been really quick and is joining former Daytona 24 hour winner in De Quesada. Al Carter who is one of the real good guys of the sport will be joining them and bringing the B Positive foundation with him. Not only does Al do a great job for an Am but he also uses his racing to help sick children. Hats off to Mr. Carter who loves to listen to Lil Wayne's song, you guessed it... "Mr.Carter". If this is a car from the Rolex 24 hour program than I'm guessing its pace will continue to be slightly less than its sister car.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 10th
Nobody's Prediction: 10th
99 – Competition Motorsports
(photo via Trevor Andrusko, Track9 Media)
Sascha Maasen – Lawson Aschenbach – David Calvert-Jones
Car: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (997) – Tires: Yokohama – Fuel: E10
Starting Position: 11th
Driver Rating: 4
Porsche9146’s Prediction: 11th
Ryan Eversley’s Prediction: 4th-5th Another of the extremely stacked cars in the class This team is owned by Bob Faieta who's driving for Dempsey so perhaps team orders could come in? (nah). Sascha Maasen, who's been a factory Porsche driver for longer than I can remember, teams up with Aschenbach who's won a lot of Road Racing championships these past few years. Calvert-Jones is a Hollywood stunt man apparently and I have no idea what that even means! Great driver line up although I don't know about the car's speed but could be a podium finisher.
Shea Holbrook’s Prediction: 9th
Nobody's Prediction: 5th
About The Authors
Ryan Eversley is a professional racing driver in Grand-Am’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge series, racing the number 75 Honda Civic for Compass360 racing. He’s on the very short list of drivers who exist in two places at once, as he exists both as a person and as a Lego minifigure. Like most Lego minifigures, he’s fond of Star Wars and cheese, but unlike most Lego minifigures he also has a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He drives in support of the Children’s Tumor Foundation and has gained a large fan base thanks in no small part to his strong charitable efforts. He has four career ALMS podiums and has made many appearances in both the ALMS and the Grand-Am Rolex series, mostly in Porsches. He just two months ago finished on the GX podium at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, he hasn’t updated his personal website since 2011 and simultaneously has more twitter followers than any other CTSCC-only driver and has half the twitter followers of his NASCAR mechanic girlfriend. Eversley currently leads the CTSCC ST championship with his co-driver Kyle Gimple and next races in April’s CTSCC event at the Barber Motorsports Park. You can, and should, follow him on twitter here.
Shea Holbrook is also a professional racing driver, and also drives a Civic. She is one of just two women to ever win a race in the 28 year history of the series, and the first to do so at Long Beach, World Challenge’s biggest event. Much like Mr. Eversley, she is well known for her charitable efforts, racing to fight Duchennes Muscular Distrophy. She recently drove a DTM car at the Homestead-Miami Speedway infield road course, she’s known for her ovaries of steel and she actually keeps her personal website up to date. Holbrook is again contesting the Pirelli World Challenge championship in 2013, and her first race is at COTA this May. She’s also launching a website, the steel ovary nation, this Wednesday. You can, and should, follow her on twitter here.
Nobody is not a professional racing driver. He is, however, a meteorology student from Arizona. He’s one of Jalopnik’s most motorsport savvy commenters, He’s the only person I know that I would describe as a sports hipster (not the “I watch F1 and English Premier league” type of sports hipster who just watches stuff that’s mainstream in other markets, the type that watches two different AFLs: Arena Football League and Australian Football League), he’s one of the few people on earth who knows what a cold front is and the only person in the Jalopnik community that actually understands Rugby. Yes, he goes by Nobody. He isn’t nobody, he’s a person. He just goes by Nobody. No, I don’t get it either. You can, and should, follow him on twitter here.
Porsche9146 is none of these things. He doesn’t know the difference between Rugby League and Rugby Union, he doesn’t know what makes Brazilian Jiu Jitsu so Brazilian and he's never driven a DTM car. He does, however, have an unquenchable thirst for talking about motor racing, and he often uses Jalopnik’s oppositelock forum as an outlet for this. Sometimes Jalopnik proper notices, and thus you are subject to his rantings. You can, but probably shouldn’t, follow him on twitter here.
Finally, we have the man who’s contributed the most compelling portion of this guide: ace photographer Trevor Andrusko. Follow him on twitter here and look out for more of his gorgeous pictures tomorrow.
via Jalopnik http://jalopnik.com/453897726
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