The 65th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring fueled by Fresh from Florida was an endurance sports car racing event held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 16 to 18 March 2017. The race was the second round of the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the second round of the North American Endurance Cup.

The race was won by Wayne Taylor Racing's Cadillac DPi-V.R driven by Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, and Alex Lynn, ahead of Mustang Sampling Racing's Cadillac DPi-V.R and Whelen Engineering Racing's Cadillac DPi-V.R. The PC class winners were Performance Tech Motorsports with drivers James French, Patricio O'Ward, and Kyle Masson driving an Oreca FLM09. Corvette Racing won the GTLM class for the third straight year with Antonio García, Jan Magnussen, and Mike Rockenfeller taking the win in their Chevrolet Corvette C7.R. The GTD category was won by Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing's Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Mario Farnbacher in a Mercedes-AMG GT3.Wayne Taylor Racing wins 2017 Sebring 12 Hours2017 12 Hours of Sebring: Dominance by Cadillac Continues

Background

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed that the race was part of the 2017 IMSA SportsCar Championship schedule in August 2016. It was the fourth year in a row that the race was part of the series calendar, and the 65th 12 Hours of Sebring. The race was the second of 2017's twelve scheduled IMSA automobile endurance races, and the second of four North American Endurance Cup (NAEC) events. It was held at the 17-turn, Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on March 18, 2017.

After the 24 Hours of Daytona 7 weeks earlier, Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, Max Angelelli, and Jeff Gordon were leading the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 35 points. With 36 points, James French, Patricio O'Ward, Kyle Masson, and Nicholas Boulle led the PC Drivers' Championship. GTLM was led by Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, and Sébastien Bourdais with a three-point advantage over Frédéric Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet, and Dirk Werner. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Michael Christensen, Carlos de Quesada, Michael de Quesada, Jesse Lazare, Daniel Morad with 35 points ahead of Connor De Phillippi, Jules Gounon, Christopher Mies, and Jeffrey Schmidt. Cadillac, Ford, and Porsche were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Wayne Taylor Racing, Performance Tech Motorsport, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, and Alegra Motorsports each led their own Teams' Championships.

On March 8, 2017, IMSA issued the latest technical bulletin outlining the Balance of Performance for the event. In P, the Cadillac DPi-V.R received a 20 kilogram weight increase and a 0.6 mm smaller air restrictor. In GTLM, the BMW M6 GTLM and Porsche 911 RSR were given fuel capacity increases of 4 and 3 liters, respectively. In GTD, the Acura NSX GT3 received a 20 kilogram weight increase as well an increase in turbo boost, and 1 extra liter of fuel capacity. The Audi R8 LMS received a 5 kilogram weight increase. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 received a 20 kilogram weight increase as well as a 1.5 mm larger air restrictor, and 2 extra liters of fuel capacity. The Porsche 911 GT3 R received a fuel capacity increase of 2 liters while the Lexus RC F GT3 lost 1 liter of fuel capacity.

Entries

A total of 46 cars took part in the event split across four classes. 10 cars were entered in P, 4 in PC, 10 in GTLM, and 21 in GTD. In P, Alex Lynn replaced Max Angelelli in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry after Angelelli retired from racing after Daytona. DragonSpeed were absent. Marino Franchitti joined Tom Long and Joel Miller in the #70 Mazda Motorsports entry. In PC, Starworks Motorsport scaled down to one entry. Garett Grist, Max Hanratty, and Sean Rayhall shared the #8 Starworks Motorsport entry. Gustavo Yacamán joined Marc Drumwright, Chapman Ducote, and Colin Thompson in the #26 BAR1 Motorsports entry. In GTLM, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK scaled down to one entry. In GTD, Konrad Motorsport, Spirit of Race, Manthey Racing, Aston Martin Racing, and TRG were absent. GRT Grasser Racing Team scaled down to one entry. Spencer Pumpelly joined Daniel Morad, Michael Christensen, and Michael de Quesada in the #28 Alegra Motorsports entry.

Practice There were four practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, three on Thursday and one on Friday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Thursday morning and afternoon. The third held later that evening ran for 90 minutes; the fourth on Friday morning lasted an hour.

Practice 1 The first practice session took place at 11:10 am ET on Thursday and ended with Stephen Simpson topping the charts for JDC-Miller MotorSports, with a lap time of 1:49.516. The PC class was topped by the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca FLM09 of Patricio O'Ward with a time of 1:55.172. Frédéric Makowiecki was fastest in GTLM while Bryan Sellers set the fastest time in GTD. ClassTeamDriverTime1P85JDC-Miller MotorSportsStephen Simpson1:49.516_2P5Mustang Sampling RacingChristian Fittipaldi1:49.557 +0.0413P31Whelen Engineering RacingMike Conway1:49.608 +0.092Sources:

Practice 2 The second practice session took place at 3:15 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Jordan Taylor topping the charts for Wayne Taylor Racing, with a lap time of 1:49.888. Colin Thompson set the fastest time in PC. The GTLM class was topped by the #4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R of Tommy Milner with a lap time of 1:57.206. Sébastien Bourdais was second in the #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing car and Antonio García rounded out the top 3. Andrew Davis was fastest in GTD. ClassTeamDriverTime1P10Wayne Taylor RacingJordan Taylor 1:49.888_2P5Mustang Sampling RacingJoão Barbosa 1:50.103 +0.2153P31Whelen Engineering RacingMike Conway1:50.370 +0.482Sources:

Night Practice The night practice session took place at 7:30 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Mike Conway topping the charts for Whelen Engineering Racing, with a lap time of 1:49.815. Gustavo Yacamán set the fastest time PC by 0.257 seconds ahead of Sean Rayhall in the #8 Starworks Motorsport entry. Sébastien Bourdais set the fastest time in GTLM with a time of 1:57.166. The GTD class was topped by the #57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS of Lawson Aschenbach with a lap time of 2:00.964. ClassTeamDriverTime1P31Whelen Engineering RacingMike Conway1:49.815_2P10Wayne Taylor RacingRicky Taylor1:50.072 +0.2573P5Mustang Sampling RacingFilipe Albuquerque1:50.169 +0.354Sources:

Final Practice The fourth and final practice session took place at 9:20 am ET on Friday and ended with Christian Fittipaldi topping the charts for Mustang Sampling Racing, with a lap time of 1:49.211. Gustavo Yacamán set the fastest time in PC. Dirk Müller was fastest in GTLM while Michael Christensen set the fastest time in GTD. ClassTeamDriverTime1P5Mustang Sampling RacingChristian Fittipaldi1:49.211_2P13Rebellion RacingNeel Jani1:49.329 +0.1183P2Tequila Patrón ESMPipo Derani1:49.405 +0.194Sources:

Qualifying On Friday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying, each category had separate 15-minute sessions. Regulations stipulated that teams nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM and GTD cars.

The first was for cars in GTD class. Tristan Vautier qualified on pole for the class driving the #75 SunEnergy1 Racing car.

The second session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class. Ryan Briscoe qualified on pole driving the #67 car for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, besting Dirk Müller in the sister #66 entry.

The third session of qualifying was for cars in the PC class. Gustavo Yacamán set the fastest time driving the #26 BAR1 Motorsports car.

The final session of qualifying was for the P class. Neel Jani qualified on pole driving the #13 car for Rebellion Racing, beating Christian Fittipaldi in the #5 Mustang Sampling Racing by less than one tenth of a second.

Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by . ClassTeamDriverTime1 P 13 Rebellion Racing Neel Jani 1:48.178 _ 1 2P5 Mustang Sampling Racing Christian Fittipaldi1:48.273 +0.09523P31 Whelen Engineering Racing Dane Cameron1:48.314 +0.13634P52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports José Gutiérrez1:49.056 +0.87845P22 Tequila Patrón ESM Brendon Hartley1:149.103 +0.92556P10 Wayne Taylor Racing Ricky Taylor1:49.541 +1.36367P85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Stephen Simpson1:49.587 +1.40978P55 Mazda Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito1:49.907 +1.72989P90 VisitFlorida Racing Renger van der Zande1:49.919 +1.741910P70 Mazda Motorsports Joel Miller1:50.284 +2.1061011 PC 26 BAR1 Motorsports Gustavo Yacamán 1:53.506 +5.3281112PC38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French1:53.575 +5.3971213PC20 BAR1 Motorsports Buddy Rice1:55.846 +7.6681314 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe 1:55.939 +7.7611615GTLM66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller1:56.175 +7.9971716GTLM4 Corvette Racing Tommy Milner1:56.252 +8.0744517GTLM912 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre1:56.319 +8.1411818GTLM3 Corvette Racing Antonio García1:56.368 +8.1901919PC8 Starworks Motorsport Garett Grist1:56.433 +8.2551420GTLM68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan Mücke1:56.441 +8.2632021GTLM911 Porsche GT Team Dirk Werner1:56.487 +8.3092122GTLM24 BMW Team RLL Nick Catsburg1:56.617 +8.4392223GTLM25 BMW Team RLL Alexander Sims1:56.660 +8.4822324GTLM62 Risi Competizione Giancarlo Fisichella1:57.475 +9.2972425 GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Tristan Vautier 1:59.738 +11.5602526GTD29 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Connor De Phillippi2:00.490 +12.3122627GTD16 Change Racing Corey Lewis2:00.967 +12.7892728GTD15 3GT Racing Robert Alon2:00.998 +12.8202829GTD14 3GT Racing Scott Pruett2:01.158 +12.9802930GTD57 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis 2:01.222 +13.0443031GTD33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG Ben Keating2:01.284 +13.1063132GTD50 Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil2:01.358 +13.1803233GTD11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Mirko Bortolotti2:01.385 +13.2073334GTD63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen2:01.628 +13.4503435GTD93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Mark Wilkins2:01.687 +13.5093536GTD28 Alegra Motorsports Daniel Morad2:01.752 +13.5743637GTD73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey2:01.966 +13.7883738GTD86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Oswaldo Negri Jr.2:02.096 +13.9183839GTD23 Alex Job Racing Townsend Bell2:02.234 +14.0563940GTD96 Turner Motorsport Justin Marks2:02.256 +14.0784041GTD48 Paul Miller Racing Madison Snow2:02.345 +14.1674142GTD46 EBIMOTORS Emmanuel Collard2:03.201 +15.0234243GTD54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett2:03.672 +15.4944644GTD18 DAC Motorsports Brandon Gdovic2:04.154 +15.9764345GTD27 Dream Racing Motorsport Lawrence DeGeorge 2:08.569 +20.2914446P2 Tequila Patrón ESMDisqualified15Sources:

The No. 4 Corvette Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTLM field for violating competition rules regarding the car's ride height. The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.6 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).

Race

Start and early hours

Afternoon

Sunset to finish

Post-race