It was a bumpy ride. In both senses of the word: the 2021 edition of the 12h of Sebring took the Porsche customer teams back to the bumpy track of the former military airport that is known today as the Sebring International Raceway. And with a lot of yellow phases, it made for an unsettled but all the more exciting race. Here's our take on the second round of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship:
3/25/2021
Bumpers: respected. Wins: taken.
When 2 fight...
Let's start from the beginning – in our case at the top of the Porsche Motorsport model range. The 911 RSR with start number 79 from WeatherTech Racing fought a fierce fight with the leading cars, especially in the final laps. This occurred after a restart: Mathieu Jaminet piloted the RSR – and lost a duel that would have put him in second place. Which, in this case, was not a disadvantage. Because the two leaders crashed only a moment later, eliminating themselves from the race. A clear track for Mathieu Jaminet, who was able to secure the GTLM class for WeatherTech Racing to the cheers of his teammates MacNeil and Campbell.
Double fleet.
The customer teams in the GTD class were less lucky, but showed the same level of commitment. Here, the 911 GT3 R cars from Pfaff Motorsports and Wright Motorsports fought large parts of the race amongst themselves. In the end, Le Mans winner Laurens Vanthoor in start number 9 emerged victorious after a final sprint of around 20 minutes. But it wasn't just his two co-drivers who had reason to celebrate. 2 seconds later, the Wright Motorsports 911 GT3 R streaked across the finish line to secure a strong second place for the Long/Hindman/Heylen trio. And class wins with the start numbers 75 and 76 for us at Sebring. So, you could say: it doesn't matter if things get bumpy, as long as the result is right.
With this in mind, we look forward to the next race on 16 May at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.