IMSA Sebring 12 Hours: Post-Race Paddock Notes

Fan trouble adds to horrid finish for Porsche DSC was disappointed to see images circulating in the press room after the race of a ‘fan’ trackside ripping large pieces of bodywork from the damaged #7 Penske Porsche 963 while it was on a flatbed after the late race pile-up. Please do not EVER be this […]

Fan trouble adds to horrid finish for Porsche

DSC was disappointed to see images circulating in the press room after the race of a ‘fan’ trackside ripping large pieces of bodywork from the damaged #7 Penske Porsche 963 while it was on a flatbed after the late race pile-up.

Please do not EVER be this person. EVER. pic.twitter.com/NOvM6vxCSF

— Christian Rodriguez (@motordeportes) March 19, 2023

The car was moved to a safe space after the incident, where the ‘fan’ in question was caught in the act by photographers, and on video (above).

Sebring stats

GTP
– This was the first win in the GTP era and globally for the Cadillac V-Series.R
– Pipo Derani now has four wins in the Sebring 12 Hours, his previous three coming in 2016, 2018 and 2019. This puts him level with Frank Biela and Allan McNish. He is behind only Tom Kristensen (6) and Dindo Capello (5)
– This was Alex Sims and Jack Aitken’s first wins at Sebring, and for Aitken, his first-ever IMSA win
– BMW Team RLL claims its first podium finish in GTP with the BMW M Series Hybrid
– Action Express claimed its third Sebring 12 Hours win, its previous victories coming in 2015, (Corvette DP) and 2019 (Cadillac DPi)
– Action Express’ three wins at Sebring means it now has wins in the 12 Hours with each generation of IMSA post-merger prototype, a DP, DPi and now a GTP (Meyer Shank Racing has taken at least one win apiece in the new IMSA era, with an LMP2 win overall, DPi and GTP.)
– Pipo Derani’s qualifying performance on Friday scored the first-ever pole position for the Cadillac V-Series.R globally
– This was the Cadillac’s third Sebring 12 Hours victory in a row
– Action Express’ victory was the second victory in the Sebring 12 Hours by a hybrid-powered race car. The previous victory was from Audi Sport’s R-18 e-tron quattro in 2013.

LMP2 & LMP3
– First-ever win for Tower Motorsports and John Farano in the Sebring 12 Hours
– This was the first time a current-gen LMP2 car has ended up on the overall podium at the Sebring 12 Hours. JDC Miller in 2017, and CORE in 2018 finished fourth, just off the podium, back when the LMP2 cars were not stratified with DPis
– For Riley Motorsports drivers Felipe Fraga, Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon it was their first Sebring 12 Hours wins

GTD Pro & GTD
– Pfaff Motorsport scored the first win globally for the 2023 992-spec Porsche 911 GT3 R
– Paul Miller Racing steered the BMW M4 GT3 to its first-ever IMSA class win in GTD, leading home a BMW 1-2
– Klaus Bachler’s GTD Pro win with Pfaff came on his debut at the race and was his first IMSA victory
– Paul Miller Racing’s GTD victory was its second in the Sebring 12 Hours, the previous win coming in 2018

Garcia critical of driving standards

Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia was critical of the driving standards in the final hours of this year’s Sebring 12 Hours, which eventually saw the top three in GTP eliminated in a multi-car pile-up.

He posted the following statement on twitter after the race.

#Sebring12 We went from a great show… to a show…. The fans didn’t deserve this kind of racing

This was the third time I was turned around or used as a “braking device” in the last 30min.

Well done to all survivors pic.twitter.com/Rl0nyx1kw8

— Antonio García (@AntonioGarcia_3) March 19, 2023