'Super Sebring' Roundup: CGR, Alpine Take Big Wins
Catch up on results from last weekend's WEC, IMSA double-header at Sebring...
CGR’s Bamber Rebounds Twice for 12H Sebring Victory
Chip Ganassi Racing has claimed victory in the 70th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring thanks to two comeback drives from Earl Bamber in the No. 02 Cadillac DPi-V.R.
The Kiwi crossed the line 6.471 seconds ahead of the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Tristan Vautier, which inherited the lead with co-driver Richard Westbrook twice in the final 1 hour and 15 minutes of the Florida endurance classic.
Bamber, who held nearly a 30-second lead, was handed a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility after making contact with the No. 13 AWA Duqueine D08 Nissan of Kuno Wittmer on his out lap in the dark.
Dropping behind Westbrook, Bamber got around the Englishman with 58 minutes remaining to retake the lead only to spin moments later after contact with Simon Mann’s No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 Evo 2020.
The ex-Porsche factory driver then mounted a second comeback drive, re-taking the lead again from Westbrook, this time on the Ulmann Straight with 45 minutes to go.
Bamber shared top honors with Alex Lynn and Neel Jani, who was a late substitute for Kevin Magnussen in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
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Corvette Takes Controlled GTD Pro Victory
Corvette Racing earned GTD Pro class honors at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring based on a polished drive from Antonio Garcia, Nicky Catsburg and Jordan Taylor.
Garcia took the checkered flag 4.4 seconds ahead of an encroaching Mirko Bortolotti in the second-placed TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, earning the GM factory team’s first win competing against GT3-spec cars in IMSA’s new-for-2022 GTD Pro category.
The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD was strong throughout Saturday’s race and controlled the proceedings after Catsburg overtook Pfaff Motorsports Porsche driver Matt Campbell for the lead with four and a half hours remaining.
After that moment, when Catsburg challenged Campbell around the outside before completing the move at Turn 3, the strong running of the Corvette and the absence of late full course caution periods combined to ensure a clear win for the Pratt & Miller-run team.
Bortolotti shared second with fellow Lamborghini factory drivers Maro Mapelli and Andrea Caldarelli, while Jules Gounon crossed the line third in the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that also featured Maro Engel and Cooper MacNeil.
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Alpine Wins Red Flag-Affected 1000 Miles of Sebring
Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Matthieu Vaxiviere claimed Alpine’s first overall FIA World Endurance Championship victory in a 1000 Miles of Sebring season-opener that fell a few minutes short of its planned eight-hour duration due to a red flag.
The drivers of the No. 48 Alpine A480 Gibson LMP1 beat the Hypercar competition from LMH manufacturers Toyota and Glickenhaus to gain an early points lead.
Lapierre was behind the wheel of the Alpine when the race was terminally red-flagged in the final hour due to lightning in the area.
A first lightning-induced red flag came with one hour and eight minutes to go. The field was then briefly released under the safety car, prompting some cars to make fuel-only pit stops, only for the red flag signal to return as the weather warning came back.
An earlier red flag stoppage occurred three and a half hours into the race when Jose Maria Lopez rolled his No. 7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid at Turn 14, halving the Japanese manufacturer’s involvement.
It marked the first WEC race to feature three red flags.
Despite those interruptions, Alpine managed to take a dominant victory with its grandfathered LMP1 car.
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