Mobil 1 12-Hours of Sebring 2022

by  Chris Mulvihill  - 03/28/2022

It was a hot sunny 90-degree day on Saturday, March 19th for the 70th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.  The 3.71-mile circuit contains 17 turns and is the oldest road course in North America.  The facility opened in 1941 as a WWII B-17 combat crew training field known as Hendricks Field.  After the war, the military turned the field over to the City of Sebring with the first race held in 1950.  It wasn’t until March 1952 that the first 12-hour race was held.  

Teams line up in the paddock for tech inspection.

The first day of practice is Wednesday (of race week) with more practice on Thursday as well as 2 Porsche Carrera Cup races.  Thursday concludes with the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) Michelin Pilot Challenge.  Friday morning begins with more practice and at noon, the 1000 Miles of Sebring race begins running until 8pm.  This year that race was red-flagged/stopped early due to a (not so unusual) torrential downpour. 

Michelin had over 15,000 tires on location for race week.  Depending on the weather, a car may use 10 sets of tires during a race.  All Michelin racing tires are manufactured at their world HQ in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

The 12-Hour race featured 5 classes of race cars: Daytona Prototype International (DPi), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) and 3 (LMP3), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), and GT Daytona (GTD).  The first 3 classes are closed cockpit, purpose-built race cars capable of reaching speeds between 180-200MPH.  The GTD PRO and GTD cars use bodies you would recognize on the street and are capable of reaching speeds between 175-185MPH.  All 5 classes are racing at the same time which provides exciting racing with a lot of passing and strategic pit stop strategies.

For every hour on the track, there can be over 3 hours of preparation.  Unfortunately, the Aston Martin GTD PRO #23 dropped out of the race after 11 hours due to mechanical issues.

Saturday morning (45 minutes) before the race begins, all teams park their cars in pit lane and the fans are allowed a ‘grid walk’ to get up close to the cars and talk to race team members.  This is a great photo opportunity in addition to allowing fans to see into the individual team pit areas.  

The Teams are set up in pit lane early Saturday for the fan ‘grid walk.’  Ironically the GTD #47 Ferrari and the GTD PRO #3 Corvette both finished 1st in their respective classes.

This year’s grid started 53 cars with 9 not finishing the grueling race.  Given ‘racing is the ultimate proving ground’ it is important to identify the class winners where a consumer car manufacturer is involved:  Dpi-Cadillac, GTD PRO-Chevrolet Corvette, GTD-Ferrari 488 GT3.  It is very common for auto manufacturers to integrate race-proven technology into production cars.  It is interesting to note that Porsche holds more ‘class’ wins (76) at the 12 Hour of Sebring than any other manufacturer.  

The GTD class #32 Mercedes AMG GT3 pits late in the race for fuel and tires.  They finished 2nd in class only 50 seconds behind the winning Ferrari 488 GT3.

Attending the 12 Hour Sebring race ‘week’ is a must for any race fan.  Over 400,000 fans attended this 4-day ‘event’ and I found all I came in contact with to be extremely friendly.  As I walked to different corners around the track lugging my camera gear, several folks openly offered me a golf cart ride to my destination.  Michelin, Mobil 1, Corvette, Cadillac, and other race-related manufacturers had large fan interactive displays offering giveaways (in exchange for contact data).  There is racing every day with open access to the Team pit areas along with driver autograph seasons on Thursday and Friday.  The food and beverage options are plentiful and there are conveniently located restrooms. In my opinion, there is no better way to kick off the sports car racing season than the 12 Hours of Sebring.    

About the author: Chris Mulvihill is the owner of   Classic Car Advisors  which offer a number of services to owners of classic cars from inspections and evaluations to locating collectors and car assisting with Concourse d'Elegance placement.