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2020 12 Hours of Sebring
 The 2020 12 Hours of Sebring (formally known as the 68th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts) was an endurance sports car race held at Sebring International Raceway near Sebring, Florida from 11–14 November 2020, after being postponed from its original date on 14–15 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The race was the final round of the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as well as the final round of the Michelin Endurance Cup. Action Express Racing entered as the defending overall winners of the 12-hour event. BackgroundThe 2020 12 Hours of Sebring event is run in conjunction with the 2020 1000 Miles of Sebring, held on the Friday before the 12 Hours of Sebring.[1][2] The two events are run in conjunction with each other as an agreement between the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), the governing body of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and the FIA, to be a joint weekend, known colloquially as “Super Sebring.” The first joint weekend between the two events was run a year prior in 2019, to massive success, providing some of the largest attendance figures ever recorded in the history of the 12 Hours of Sebring.[3] Initially announced on a one-year deal, the success of the 2019 Super Sebring would lead to confirmation that the 1000 Miles of Sebring and 12 Hours of Sebring would run together again for the following year, however due to travel restrictions brought about by COVID-19 the 1000 Miles of Sebring would not return until 2022.[4] Then International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2019.[5] It was the seventh consecutive year it was part of the IMSA SCC, and the 68th 12 Hours of Sebring. The event was originally scheduled to be held at the 17-turn, 3.741-mile (6.021 km) Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida on March 15, 2020, however due to travel restrictions brought about by COVID-19, the race was postponed to November 14, 2020.[6][7] As a result, the 12 Hours of Sebring became the eleventh and final round of the 2020 season and the fourth event of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). Additionally, the event clashed with the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Bahrain and the GT World Challenge Europe round at Circuit Paul Ricard.[8][9] Before the race, Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 242 points, ahead of Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande with 240 points, and Pipo Derani with 233 points.[10] With 161 points, Patrick Kelly led the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, ahead of Simon Trummer with 126 points.[10] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 325 points, ahead of Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner with 290 points.[10] In GTD, Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry led the Drivers' Championship, 7 points ahead of Ryan Hardwick and Patrick Long in second, and Aaron Telitz in third with 248 points. Cadillac, Chevrolet, and Acura were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Acura Team Penske, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian each led their own Teams' Championships.[10] EntriesA total of 31 cars took part in the event split across four classes. 8 cars were entered in DPi, 4 in LMP2, 6 in GTLM, and 13 in GTD.[11] In DPi, Gabby Chaves subbed for Filipe Albuquerque in the Whelen Engineering Racing entry due to a clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Bahrain.[11][12] Scott Andrews joined Stephen Simpson and Matheus Leist in the #85 JDC-Miller MotorSports entry.[13] In LMP2, Tower Motorsport By Starworks, Performance Tech Motorsports, and Inter Europol Competition returned after skipping the previous event at Laguna Seca.[14][11] Guy Cosmo and Patrick Byrne joined Don Yount in the Performance Tech Motorsports entry.[15] In GTLM, Neel Jani subbed for Mathieu Jaminet in the #912 Porsche GT Team entry due to a clash with the GT World Challenge Europe round at Circuit Paul Ricard.[16] Earl Bamber subbed for Matt Campbell in the #911 Porsche GT Team entry due to a clash with the GT World Challenge Europe round at Circuit Paul Ricard.[16][17] In GTD, Marc Miller subbed for Ben Keating in the Riley Motorsports entry due to a clash with the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Bahrain.[18] Joey Hand subbed for Álvaro Parente in the #57 Heinricher Racing with MSR Curb-Agajanian.[19] Nick Yelloly subbed for Bill Auberlen in the Turner Motorsport entry due to quarantine.[20] GRT Grasser Racing Team made their first appearance since the TireRack.com Grand Prix at Road Atlanta.[11] Pierre Kaffer joined Andrew Davis and Robert Ferriol in the Team Hardpoint entry.[11] PracticeThere were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, all three one on Thursday. The first session on Thursday morning lasted one hour. The second session on Thursday afternoon lasted 75 minutes. The final session on Thursday evening lasted 90 minutes.[21] Practice 1The first practice session took place at 10:05 am ET on Thursday and ended with Hélio Castroneves topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:49.360.[22] Simon Trummer was fastest in LMP2 with a time of 1:52.040.[23] Frédéric Makowiecki set the fastest time in GTLM with a time of 1:58.717.[24] The GTD class was topped by the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth with a lap time of 2:02.961.[23]
Practice 2The second practice session took place at 2:35 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Renger van der Zande topping the charts for Konica Minolta Cadillac, with a lap time of 1:47.478.[27] Mikkel Jensen set the fastest time in LMP2.[28] The GTLM class was topped by the #912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Laurens Vanthoor with a time of 1:57.975. Frédéric Makowiecki was second in the #911 Porsche GT Team car and Jordan Taylor rounded out the top 3.[29] The GTD class was topped by the #11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Steijn Schothorst with a time of 2:02.352.[27]
Practice 3The third and final practice session took place at 6:15 pm ET on Thursday and ended with Ricky Taylor topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:48.358.[32] Mikkel Jensen was fastest in LMP2 with a time of 1:50.127.[33] The GTLM class was topped by the #911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Nick Tandy with a time of 1:58.170. Laurens Vanthoor was second in the #912 Porsche GT Team car and Connor De Phillippi rounded out the top 3.[34] The GTD class was topped by the #11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo of Franck Perera with a time of 2:02.510.[32]
QualifyingFriday's morning qualifying was broken into three sessions, with one session for the DPi and LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes, which lasted for 15 minutes each, and a ten minute interval between the sessions.[21] The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am (LMP2/GTD) classes requiring a Bronze/Silver Rated Driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put DPis ahead of the LMP2, GTLM, and GTD cars.[37] The first was for cars in GTD class. Jan Heylen qualified on pole for the class driving the #16 car for Wright Motorsports.[38] The second session of qualifying was for cars in the GTLM class. Antonio García qualified on pole driving the #3 car for Corvette Racing, beating Connor De Phillippi in the #25 BMW Team RLL entry by over six tenths of a second.[39] The final session of qualifying was for the DPi class. Ricky Taylor qualified on pole driving the #7 car for Acura Team Penske, beating Renger van der Zande in the #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R car by over two tenths of a second.[38] Patrick Kelly set the fastest time in LMP2 driving the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car.[40] Qualifying resultsPole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.
Race
Start and early hours
Afternoon
Sunset to finish
Post-raceHelio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor took the DPi Drivers' Championship with 265 points. They were 1 point ahead of Briscoe and van der Zande in second position. Bomarito and Tincknell followed in third place with 260 points, ahead of Derani in fourth with 258 points. Bourdais was fifth with 249 points.[43] With 196 points, Kelly won the LMP2 Drivers' Championship, 34 points ahead of Trummer in second.[43] Antonio García and Jordan Taylor took the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 351 points. They were 32 points ahead of Edwards and Krohn in second with 319 points. Gavin and Milner followed in third with 315 points, ahead of De Phillippi and Spengler with 313 points.[43] With 286 points, Farnbacher and McMurry won the GTD Drivers' Championship, 2 points ahead of Hardwick and Long in second. Telitz was in third position with 267 points and Hawksworth was fourth with 265 points.[43] Chevrolet took the GTLM Manufactures' Championship while Acura won the DPi and GTD Manufactures' Championships.[44][43] Acura Team Penske, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian on their respective Teams' Championships.[43] ResultsClass winners are denoted in bold and ‡. Standings after the race
References
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