ILMC/ALMS, Twelve Hours of Sebring – GT Preview
Quantity And Quality

Is OMG appropriate for the GT and/or GTE class here at Sebring?  Nineteen cars in the GT class and a further five in the GTE–AM sub class?  Pretty impressive…

Just a note here – as a byproduct of the ILMC, the cars competing in that series get the usual two digit numbering system, while those competing in the ALMS get a zero added as the first digit.  I guess we know who is calling the shots at this event…

I’m not sure how many ways it can be said, but the GT(E) class could come down to any of about 8-10 cars.  Corvette seems to have made another step forward and coming off the dramatic win at Petit, it appears as if some of the swagger is back with the Bad Boys.

Coming off a very competitive season are Rahal Letterman BMW.  They won the team and manufacturer championships last season and were also very competitive at Sebring.  This could very well be the season they go a step beyond their consistent high finishes and step into the winners circle on a consistent basis.

Of the Ferrari teams, Risi has long been the leader, but things have been quiet recently with Giuseppe’s team.  The crushing blow of losing Petit is something that has to be tough to recover from, but it could also be added incentive to push the team back up to the top again.  The team will concentrate on a single car and a single job – to bring the ALMS championship back to them.  They, as do most of the Ferrari teams, have a new car to deal with – the 458.  The 430 was always competitive at Sebring; if the 458 is what it appears to be, it could be a very serious proposition for the 12 hours.

It’s almost as if AF Corsa and Risi are sister teams, as their driver line up for Sebring (Fisichella/Bruni/Kaffer) sure looks like the second Risi entry we saw during the course of last year.  Call it the Ferrari influence.  AF Course has opted to run a 430 here, keeping their 458 in Europe.

Extreme Speed were the most visible of the Ferrari teams in the off season – maybe even the most visible of all of the GT teams.  They improved considerably last season and could very well be in a position to be competing for championships this season.  They have two 458s at their disposal and appear to ready to take that next step.

Among the Ferrari runners is Luxury Racing.  A challenger for a class win?  Not likely, but instead they are here to gather valuable points towards the ILMC championship.

You can never count out the Lizards, especially at Sebring.  The #045 Porsche returns with the same potent line up as before – Lieb joining the lethal (venomous?) pairing of Long and Bergmeister.  Of the Porsches entered, this one again will likely be the one upon which the hopes of Stuttgart rest.

The remainder of the Porsche Brigade – the #044 Lizard, #017 Falken, and #048 Paul Miller – have shots at podium finishes if all goes well, but will likely have a difficult time getting onto the top spot.  The field is just too deep here.

Robertson Racing was one of the movers during the off season, confirming an expansion to two cars for the entire season – one being designated as the pro car and the other as the pro-am.  If the team has had the opportunity to sort the car properly to the Michelin tires, paddle shifter and such, the pro car could feature among the top cars in class; but the competition is very tough.  Give the team credit, though, for their willingness to take on the factories with their small (in comparison) effort.

Entering their second full season is the Rocketsports Jaguar team.  They’ve really got nowhere else to go but up, as last year was not at all what the team had expected.  Last year at Sebring, the car spent most of the time in the pits, wetting itself.  Thankfully, reliability did improve over the course of last season.  Off season testing and the signing of new drivers may change the course for the team, but, to be honest, just for one of the cars to make the distance here would be a moral victory for the team.

Despite the many naysayers out there, West Yokahama Racing has a car and is ready to race.  While at this time it is only a single Lamborghini for the team, at least the team was at the test and seen in public. 

At the test, the Lambo was off the pace enough that IMSA has given them some allowances for this race, but this is a new team with a new car – it will be tough for them.  Welcome to the big time…

A complete unknown here is the Panoz.  The team (PTG) has what it takes, but is the car willing?  Time will tell.

Another class, or sub class (thanks to the ILMC) for this race is the GTE-AM, which has a five car entry for Sebring.  While this is an ILMC-only class, it is somewhat representative of what sportscar racing has been about through the ages – gentleman drivers racing their fast cars.

This could be a good, interesting battle to watch throughout the 12 hours.  There is a nice balance of cars (two Ferrari 430s, one Corvette, one Porsche and one Aston Martin).  Given the regulations concerning drive time and the inclusion of gentleman drivers, this race within a race could be very up and down throughout its duration.

As far as experience at Sebring  goes, none can touch Krohn Racing. 

A multi year entrant here, they have the experience with ALMS racing and with the rough conditions of Sebring which should be an advantage for them.  While this will be their first time on their own here, as they have usually run in conjunction with Risi, they have been a successful team on their own – they should be competitive.

Larbre bring a level of level of professionalism to the class, one which should serve them well here with their Corvette. 

Pierre Ehret has experience here also, which should prove a benefit for the CRS Racing effort, while Richard Lietz will be leading the Proton Competition effort in a Porsche.

New to the game will be the David Price-led Gulf AMR Middle East team, which has also signed up for the full ILMC season.  This team has evolved from Gulf Team First, which competed in the GT2 European Cup, as well as the recent running of the Dubai 24 hour race.

As always, this is a long race and the adage of ‘you can’t win a race early, but you can lose it’ holds very true here. To win in the GT class will take the right balance of patience and aggression, with a little bit of racing luck thrown in.  The battles in the GT(E) class should be good enough to be a stand alone attraction for any other event or series around.

Gary Horrocks