It was a full racing weekend from all corners of the world as the Tudor United Sportscar Championship held its second round of the season – the 12 Hours of Sebring which was action packed just like any other enduro race. This was the 62nd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring, making it the oldest form of sportscar racing in the US.
Chip Ganassi Racing won the 2014 12 Hours of Sebring in their Ganassi Riley-Ford EcoBoost DP driven by Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Marino Franchitti. This was the first win for the new Ford EcoBoost turbocharged engine. As for Chip Ganassi Racing, they are now the first team in history to win the 12 Hours Sebring, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.
Scott Pruett said;
It’s incredible, after all those victories you hope to get, this was still one on my bucket list. I’ve won here in class but never won overall. It’s even more exciting to win it overall, and to win it for Ford both times. I can’t say enough about the Ganassi group. We all worked together as a team and kept digging.
Extreme Speed HPD finished second in the Prototype class and overall in their ARX-03b LMP2 driven by Sharp, Dalziel and Brabham. Veterans Action Express Corvette DP settled for third in the Prototype class.
The GTLM class was interesting to watch too with the first spot in the podium going to CORE Autosport Porsche 911 RSR. The car was driven by Jorg Bergmeister, Patrick Long and Michael Christensen. They made an early stop which proved to be a big advantage for the team. Porsche had earlier on dominated the Sebring winter test and this win did not take anyone as a surprise.
The new Corvette C7.Rs also in the GTLM class found it hard to finish in a good position. The first one, driven by Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Robin Liddell finished sixth in this class. The other Corvette C7.R finished eighth behind the SRT Viper GTS-R of Farnbacher, Goossens and Hunter-Reay. Meanwhile, the second spot on the podium for the GTLM class went to the SRT Viper GTS-R driven by Jonathan Bomarito. RLL BMW closed the podium finishes at third.
Turner Motorsports BMW won the GT Daytona class (GTD) ahead of the Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS. Another Porsche, that of Rum Bum Porsche finished third in this class adding more victories to Porsche teams. Meanwhile, the Prototype Challenge win went to CORE ORECA-Chevrolet FLM09 driven by Colin Braun, James Gue and Jon Bennett.
Results – 291 laps:
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Time/Gap
1. P Pruett/Rojas/Franchitti Ganassi Riley-Ford 12h00m09.985s
2. P Sharp/Dalziel/Brabham Extreme Speed HPD +4.682s
3. P Barbosa/Fittipaldi/Bourdais Action Express Corvette DP +8.965s
4. P Pla/Brundle/Yacaman OAK Morgan-Nissan +11.994s
5. P Brown/van Overbeek/Pagenaud Extreme Speed HPD +17.027s
6. P Dixon/Kanaan/Karam Ganassi Riley-Ford +17.837s
7. P Angelelli/Taylor/Taylor Taylor Corvette DP +34.229s
8. P Frisselle/Frisselle/Fogarty Action Express Corvette DP +39.559s
9. P Pew/Negri/Wilson Shank Riley-Ford +40.568s
10. PC Bennett/Braun/Gue CORE FLM +3 laps
11. PC Ende/Junqueira/Heinemeier Hansson RSR FLM +3 laps
12. GTLM Long/Christensen/Bergmeister CORE Porsche +5 laps
13. GTLM Bell/Bomarito/Wittmer SRT Viper +5 laps
14. GTLM Auberlen/Priaulx/Hand RLL BMW +5 laps
15. GTLM Krohn/Jonsson/Bertolini Krohn Ferrari +5 laps
16. GTLM Henzler/Sellers/Holzer Falken Porsche +6 laps
17. GTLM Gavin/Milner/Liddell Corvette +6 laps
18. GTLM Farnbacher/Goossens/Hunter-Reay SRT Viper +7 laps
19. GTLM Magnussen/Garcia/Briscoe Corvette +8 laps
20. GTLM Tandy/Lietz/Pilet CORE Porsche +9 laps
21. PC van der Zande/Bird/Fuentes/Cheng Starworks FLM +10 laps
22. PC Miller/Kraut/Simpson JDC/Miller FLM +11 laps
23. GTD Potter/Lally/Seefried Magnus Porsche +13 laps
24. GTD Sweedler/Bell/Mediani/Segal AIM Ferrari +13 laps
25. GTD James/Farnbacher/Riberas Alex Job Porsche +13 laps
26. GTD MacNeil/Keen/Frommenwiler Alex Job Porsche +13 laps
27. GTD Neiman/von Moltke/Albuquerque Flying Lizard Audi +13 laps
28. GTD Mies/Putman/Espenlaub Fall-Line Audi +13 laps
29. P Westbrook/Valiante/Rockenfeller Spirit Corvette DP +13 laps
30. P Tremblay/Long/Devlin SpeedSource Mazda +13 laps
31. GTLM Muller/Edwards/Werner RLL BMW +14 laps
32. GTD Cameron/Dalla Lana/Palttala/Lewis Turner BMW +14 laps
33. GTD Canache/Pumpelly/Latif/Winkelhock Flying Lizard Audi +15 laps
34. GTD Plumb/Snow/Heylen/Plumb Rum Bum Porsche +18 laps
35. GTD Faulkner/Faieta/Avenatti GB Porsche +19 laps
36. GTD Sofronas/Welch/Basseng GMG Audi +20 laps
37. PC Kimber-Smith/Marsal/Lux/Rayhall 8Star FLM +20 laps
38. GTD Miller/Haase/Bell Miller Audi +21 laps
39. GTD Griffin/Cioci/Rugolo/Gerber Spirit of Race Ferrari +21 laps
40. GTD Roda/Ruberti/Venturi Spirit of Race Ferrari +28 laps
41. P Curran/Said/Cosmo Marsh Corvette DP +42 laps*
42. GTD Dempsey/Davis/Foster/Siedler Dempsey Porsche +47 laps
43. GTD Davis/Riddle/Wilson TRG Aston Martin +49 laps
44. GTD Lindsey/Vess/Estre/Norman Park Place Porsche +56 laps
45. GTD Case/Marcelli/Balzan/Westphal Corsa Ferrari +57 laps*
46. PC Bielefield/Ducote/Plowman/Drissi BAR1 FLM +63 laps
47. GTD Block/Carter/Davison TRG Aston Martin +76 laps