The 2024 12 Hours of Sebring (formally known as the 72nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac) was an endurance sports car race held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida, scheduled from March 13 to 16, 2024. It was the second round of both the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup.
Background Preview International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was a part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023. It was the eleventh consecutive year it will be a part of the IMSA SCC, and the 72nd 12 Hours of Sebring. The 12 Hours of Sebring was the second of eleven scheduled sports car endurance races by IMSA, and the second of five races on the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). The race took place at the 17-turn Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on March 16, 2024.
The 2024 edition marked the first time since 2021 in which the IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship would not compete during the same weekend; for the past two years, the 1000 Miles of Sebring joined the 12 hour event.
Balance of performance On March 7, 2024, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining balance of performance for the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In GTP, the Acura received a 17 kilogram weight break, with the BMW and Porsche losing 1 kilogram and 2 kilograms, respectively. Acura, BMW, and Porsche also received a reduction in power. The Cadillac received 30 kilograms of additional weight after their dominant Rolex 24 showing, whilst getting a 10 kilowatt power increase. The Lamborghini, which made its IMSA debut, had its weight set at 1044 kilograms. In GTD Pro and GTD, the BMW, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes, and Porsche received weight increases, whilst the Ford and Lexus received weight breaks. Furthermore, all GT cars had changes made to their total fuel tank capacity.
Standings before the race Before the race, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, and Josef Newgarden led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 380 points. In LMP2, Ryan Dalziel, Dwight Merriman, Christian Rasmussen, and Connor Zilisch were leading the Drivers' Championship with 370 points. The GTD Pro Drivers' Championship was led by James Calado, Alessandro Pier Guidi, Davide Rigon, and Daniel Serra with 376 points; 21 points ahead of Michael Christensen, Laurin Heinrich, and Sebastian Priaulx in second position. With 364 points, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, Daniel Morad, and Russell Ward were leading the GTD Drivers' Championship. Porsche were leading the Manufacturers' Championship the GTP and GTD Pro classes, and Mercedes-AMG led the GTD Manufacturers' Championship. Porsche Penske Motorsport, Era Motorsport, Risi Competizione, and Winward Racing each lead their own Teams' Championships.
Entry list Entrant Car Driver 1 Driver 2 Driver 3 GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) (11 entries) 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Sébastien Bourdais Scott Dixon 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 Julien Andlauer Gianmaria Bruni Alessio Picariello 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Mathieu Jaminet Frédéric Makowiecki Nick Tandy 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Dane Cameron Matt Campbell Felipe Nasr 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Filipe Albuquerque Brendon Hartley Ricky Taylor 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Philipp Eng Augusto Farfus Jesse Krohn 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Connor De Phillippi Maxime Martin Nick Yelloly 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Jack Aitken Tom Blomqvist Pipo Derani 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Louis Delétraz Colton Herta Jordan Taylor 63 Lamborghini – Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 Matteo Cairoli Andrea Caldarelli Romain Grosjean 85 JDC–Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 Phil Hanson Tijmen van der Helm Richard WestbrookLMP2 (Le Mans Prototype 2) (13 entries) 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07-Gibson Colin Braun George Kurtz Toby Sowery 2 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Ben Hanley Ben Keating Nico Pino 8 Tower Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Michael Dinan Charlie Eastwood John Farano 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Mikkel Jensen Hunter McElrea Steven Thomas 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07-Gibson Ryan Dalziel Dwight Merriman Connor Zilisch 20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Dennis Andersen Laurents Hörr Seth Lucas 22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Paul di Resta Bijoy Garg Dan Goldburg 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P217-Gibson João Barbosa Jonny Edgar Lance Willsey 52 Oreca 07-Gibson Nick Boulle Tom Dillmann Jakub Śmiechowski 74 Riley Oreca 07-Gibson Josh Burdon Felipe Fraga Gar Robinson 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07-Gibson Henrik Hedman Malthe Jakobsen Rasmus Lindh 88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca 07-Gibson Nicklas Nielsen Luis Pérez Companc Lilou Wadoux 99 AO Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Matthew Brabham Paul-Loup Chatin P. J. Hyett GTD Pro (GT Daytona Pro) (12 entries) 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Neil Verhagen 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Antonio García Daniel Juncadella Alexander Sims 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Earl Bamber Nicky Catsburg Tommy Milner 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo James Hinchcliffe Oliver Jarvis Marvin Kirchhöfer 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth Kyle Kirkwood 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Mirko Bortolotti Jordan Pepper Franck Perera 23 Heart of Racing Team Mario Farnbacher Ross Gunn Alex Riberas 60 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Matteo Cressoni Leonardo Pulcini Claudio Schiavoni 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 James Calado Davide Rigon Daniel Serra 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Christopher Mies Mike Rockenfeller Harry Tincknell 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Joey Hand Dirk Müller Frédéric Vervisch 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Michael Christensen Laurin Heinrich Sebastian Priaulx GTD (GT Daytona) (22 entries) 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Alessio Rovera Charlie Scardina Onofrio Triarsi 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz Parker Thompson 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Matt Bell Orey Fidani Lars Kern 17 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Anthony Mantella Thomas Merrill Nicolás Varrone 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 François Heriau Simon Mann Miguel Molina 27 Heart of Racing Team Roman De Angelis Ian James Zacharie Robichon 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch Mike Skeen 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Albert Costa Manny Franco Cédric Sbirrazzuoli 43 Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Scott Hargrove 44 Magnus Racing Andy Lally John Potter Spencer Pumpelly 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Graham Doyle Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Antonio Fuoco Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 Ryan Hardwick Corey Lewis 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Indy Dontje Philip Ellis Russell Ward 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 Tatiana Calderón Katherine Legge Sheena Monk 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo Brendan Iribe Ollie Millroy Frederik Schandorff 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Misha Goikhberg Loris Spinelli 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Rui Andrade Scott Andrews Salih Yoluç 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Sarah Bovy Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Klaus Bachler Anders Fjordbach Kerong Li 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher Jake Walker 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Adam Adelson Jan Heylen Elliott SkeerSource:
Practice Three practice sessions were held before the race, all of them on Thursday. All sessions lasted for 90 minutes.
In the first session, Renger van der Zande set the fastest lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac at 1 minute, 48.279 seconds, 0.479 seconds faster than Aitken's No. 31 WCR car. Nick Tandy put the No. 6 Penske Porsche in third overall. Hartley and his teammate Delétraz were fourth and fifth for WTR. Mikkel Jensen led LMP2 in TDS Racing's No. 11 car with a 1:51.342 second lap, 0.021 seconds ahead of di Resta's No. 22 United Autosports Oreca. In GTD Pro, the No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth led with a lap of 2 minutes, 00.202 seconds. Daniel Serra put the No. 62 Risi Ferrari second. Thompson's No. 12 Vasser Sullivan car paced GTD, followed by Grenier's No. 32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG. The session saw one red flag: the No. 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche stopped on track early in the session, with Gianmaria Bruni at the wheel.
In the second session, Hanson's No. 85 JDC Porsche lapped quickest at 1:48.149, ahead of the No. 01 Cadillac of Bourdais and Derani's No. 31 WCR car. WTR were fourth after a lap by Delétraz, and Mathieu Jaminet's No. 6 Penske Porsche was fifth. Burdon led LMP2 with a 1:52.078 lap in Riley's No. 74 Oreca, 0.136 seconds ahead of Toby Sowery's CrowdStrike car. Hawksworth led GTD Pro in Vasser Sullivan's No. 14 car, followed by Rigon's No. 62 Risi Ferrari. In GTD, Thompson was again fastest in class, followed by Spinelli's No. 78 Forte vehicle. One red flag was shown during the session: Davide Rigon stopped on track mid-session in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari.
Van der Zande led the final session in the No. 01 car with a lap of 1 minute, 49.179 seconds. Farfus' No. 24 BMW was second-fastest. Albuquerque was third in the No. 10 WTR Acura and Blomqvist in the No. 31 WCR Cadillac was fourth. The fastest Porsche was Jaminet's No. 6 Penske in fifth. Jensen led in LMP2 for TDS Racing with a 1-minute, 51.497 lap, from AO Racing's Paul-Loup Chatin and Ben Hanley's No. 2 United Autosports car. Bamber's 2:00.790 lap led the GTD Pro class in Corvette's No. 4 car, 0.319 seconds faster than Verhagen's No. 1 Paul Miller BMW; Laurin Heinrich's No. 77 AO Porsche was third. Antonio Fuoco's No. 47 Cetilar Ferari recorded the fastest time amongst all GTD cars, followed by Philip Ellis' No. 57 Winward car. The session had three stoppages. Jonny Edgar's Sean Creech Ligier caused the first stoppage when Edgar stopped the car on track early in the session. Tom Dillmann's PR1/Mathiasen car caused the second stoppage after making contact with GTD cars. The session ended prematurely when Colin Braun crashed the No. 04 CrowdStrike car into the tire barriers at turn seventeen.
Qualifying
Friday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, and the GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.
Pipo Derani in the No. 31 WCR Cadillac took his second consecutive pole position of the season with a lap of 1 minute 48.152 seconds. He was joined on the front row by Bourdais whose best lap in the No. 01 CGR Cadillac was 0.147 seconds slower. Delétraz qualified the No. 40 WTR Acura third, and Philipp Eng in the No. 24 BMW took fourth. The fastest Porsche was Nasr's No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 in fifth. The session saw one incident when Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Penske Porsche entry crashed at turn one. Jaminet had his best two laps from the session deleted for causing a red flag, effectively leaving him with no time set. The No. 10 WTR entry lost all its lap times due to the car being worked on during the red flag.