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Sebring Preview

The fastest prototype on Thursday at Sebring – the Ford Riley DP of Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan and Sage Karam.  [Photo by Jack Webster]

The Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America under heavy braking during night practice. [Photo by Jack Webster]

The Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America under heavy braking during night practice. [Photo by Jack Webster]

The Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet at the hairpin at Sebring. [Photo by Jack Webster]

The Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy, Richard Lietz and Patrick Pilet at the hairpin at Sebring. [Photo by Jack Webster]

BMW Z4's exiting the hairpin during night practice. [Photo by Jack Webster]

BMW Z4’s exiting the hairpin during night practice. [Photo by Jack Webster]

Vipers negotiate the hairpin at Sebring. Note the new, high curbing which was installed since last year's race. [Photo by Jack Webster]

Vipers negotiate the hairpin at Sebring. Note the new, high curbing which was installed since last year’s race. [Photo by Jack Webster]

The second round of the new Tudor United SportsCar Championship is about to take place at Sebring. The biggest question on everyone’s mind is whether the adjustments made since Daytona will make the P2 cars more competitive with the DP cars.

After winter testing and the first practice sessions, it appears that the P2 cars are a bit closer in times to the DP’s, but still at a bit shy of the performance of the DP cars overall. I spoke with Lucas Luhr after practice, and he told me that the DP cars are pulling away from him out of the corners. The P2 cars have a bit of an advantage in cornering, but with all the long straights at Sebring, it doesn’t seem like there are enough corners for the P2 cars to make up the difference.

The Ford EcoBoost powered prototypes are on par with the Corvette DP’s so far at Sebring, with the P2 cars of Oak Racing and Muscle Milk right behind. Qualifying later on Friday will set the grid and who is actually fastest will be answered.

Sebring is no longer an endurance race; it is a flat out 12 hours sprint race. The cars are so bulletproof and the drivers so good, that the cars can be pushed to the limit for hour after hour until the end of the race.

Sebring will provide some surprises, as it always does, but at the end of this 12 hour race, I think we will see a number of top contenders fighting to the finish for the top spot on the podium.

The start of the 12 Hours of Sebring will be broadcast of Fox Sports 1 from 10am Eastern till 1pm.  The remainder of the event can be seen on IMSA.com from 1pm Eastern until 10:30pm.

After the opening event, Action Express Racing #5 leads the Prototype class in the standings over Wayne Taylor Racing #10 and the Action Express Racing #9.  Core Autosport #54 leads the Prototype Challenge standings. #911 Prosche North America leads the GT LeMans class and Level 5 Motorsports #555 is on top in the GT Daytona class.

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