2017 12 Hours of Sebring

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.^[3] It was held at the 17-turn, 3.741-mile (6.021 km) 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.^[4] With 36 points, James French, Patricio O'Ward, Kyle Masson, and Nicholas Boulle led the PC Drivers' Championship.^[4] GTLM was led by Joey Hand, Dirk Müller, and Sébastien Bourdais with a three-point advantage over Frédéric Makowiecki, Patrick Pilet, and Dirk Werner.^[4] 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.^[4] 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.^[4]

On March 8, 2017, IMSA issued the latest technical bulletin outlining the Balance of Performance for the event.^[5] 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.

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.^[6] In P, Alex Lynn replaced Max Angelelli in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry after Angelelli retired from racing after Daytona.^[7][8] DragonSpeed were absent. Marino Franchitti joined Tom Long and Joel Miller in the #70 Mazda Motorsports entry.^[9] In PC, Starworks Motorsport scaled down to one entry.^[6] Garett Grist, Max Hanratty, and Sean Rayhall shared the #8 Starworks Motorsport entry.^[10] Gustavo Yacamán joined Marc Drumwright, Chapman Ducote, and Colin Thompson in the #26 BAR1 Motorsports entry.^[11] In GTLM, Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK scaled down to one entry.^[12] 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.^[6]

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.^[13]

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.^[14] The PC class was topped by the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports Oreca FLM09 of Patricio O'Ward with a time of 1:55.172.^[15] Frédéric Makowiecki was fastest in GTLM while Bryan Sellers set the fastest time in GTD.^[16][15]

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.^[19] Colin Thompson set the fastest time in PC.^[20] 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.^[21] Andrew Davis was fastest in GTD.^[21]

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.^[24] Gustavo Yacamán set the fastest time PC by 0.257 seconds ahead of Sean Rayhall in the #8 Starworks Motorsport entry.^[24] Sébastien Bourdais set the fastest time in GTLM with a time of 1:57.166.^[25] The GTD class was topped by the #57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS of Lawson Aschenbach with a lap time of 2:00.964.^[26]

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.^[29] Gustavo Yacamán set the fastest time in PC.^[29] Dirk Müller was fastest in GTLM while Michael Christensen set the fastest time in GTD.^[30]

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.^[33][13]

The first was for cars in GTD class. Tristan Vautier qualified on pole for the class driving the #75 SunEnergy1 Racing car.^[34]

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.^[34]

The third session of qualifying was for cars in the PC class. Gustavo Yacamán set the fastest time driving the #26 BAR1 Motorsports car.^[35]

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.^[36]

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	P	13	Rebellion Racing	Neel Jani	1:48.178	_	1 ‡
2	P	5	Mustang Sampling Racing	Christian Fittipaldi	1:48.273	+0.095	2
3	P	31	Whelen Engineering Racing	Dane Cameron	1:48.314	+0.136	3
4	P	52	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports	José Gutiérrez	1:49.056	+0.878	4
5	P	22	Tequila Patrón ESM	Brendon Hartley	1:149.103	+0.925	5
6	P	10	Wayne Taylor Racing	Ricky Taylor	1:49.541	+1.363	6
7	P	85	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Stephen Simpson	1:49.587	+1.409	7
8	P	55	Mazda Motorsports	Jonathan Bomarito	1:49.907	+1.729	8
9	P	90	VisitFlorida Racing	Renger van der Zande	1:49.919	+1.741	9
10	P	70	Mazda Motorsports	Joel Miller	1:50.284	+2.106	10
11	PC	26	BAR1 Motorsports	Gustavo Yacamán	1:53.506	+5.328	11‡
12	PC	38	Performance Tech Motorsports	James French	1:53.575	+5.397	12
13	PC	20	BAR1 Motorsports	Buddy Rice	1:55.846	+7.668	13
14	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Ryan Briscoe	1:55.939	+7.761	16‡
15	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Dirk Müller	1:56.175	+7.997	17
16	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Tommy Milner	1:56.252	+8.074	451
17	GTLM	912	Porsche GT Team	Kévin Estre	1:56.319	+8.141	18
18	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Antonio García	1:56.368	+8.190	19
19	PC	8	Starworks Motorsport	Garett Grist	1:56.433	+8.255	14
20	GTLM	68	Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK	Stefan Mücke	1:56.441	+8.263	20
21	GTLM	911	Porsche GT Team	Dirk Werner	1:56.487	+8.309	21
22	GTLM	24	BMW Team RLL	Nick Catsburg	1:56.617	+8.439	22
23	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Alexander Sims	1:56.660	+8.482	23
24	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	Giancarlo Fisichella	1:57.475	+9.297	24
25	GTD	75	SunEnergy1 Racing	Tristan Vautier	1:59.738	+11.560	25‡
26	GTD	29	Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	Connor De Phillippi	2:00.490	+12.312	26
27	GTD	16	Change Racing	Corey Lewis	2:00.967	+12.789	27
28	GTD	15	3GT Racing	Robert Alon	2:00.998	+12.820	28
29	GTD	14	3GT Racing	Scott Pruett	2:01.158	+12.980	29
30	GTD	57	Stevenson Motorsports	Andrew Davis	2:01.222	+13.044	30
31	GTD	33	Riley Motorsports - Team AMG	Ben Keating	2:01.284	+13.106	31
32	GTD	50	Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing	Cooper MacNeil	2:01.358	+13.180	32
33	GTD	11	GRT Grasser Racing Team	Mirko Bortolotti	2:01.385	+13.207	33
34	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Christina Nielsen	2:01.628	+13.450	34
35	GTD	93	Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian	Mark Wilkins	2:01.687	+13.509	35
36	GTD	28	Alegra Motorsports	Daniel Morad	2:01.752	+13.574	36
37	GTD	73	Park Place Motorsports	Patrick Lindsey	2:01.966	+13.788	37
38	GTD	86	Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian	Oswaldo Negri Jr.	2:02.096	+13.918	38
39	GTD	23	Alex Job Racing	Townsend Bell	2:02.234	+14.056	39
40	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Justin Marks	2:02.256	+14.078	40
41	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	2:02.345	+14.167	41
42	GTD	46	EBIMOTORS	Emmanuel Collard	2:03.201	+15.023	42
43	GTD	54	CORE Autosport	Jon Bennett	2:03.672	+15.494	462
44	GTD	18	DAC Motorsports	Brandon Gdovic	2:04.154	+15.976	43
45	GTD	27	Dream Racing Motorsport	Lawrence DeGeorge	2:08.569	+20.291	44
46	P	2	Tequila Patrón ESM	Disqualified			15
Sources:[37][38]

• ¹ 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.^[39]
• ² 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).^[40][13]

With a total of 70 points, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor's victory allowed them to increase their advantage over Fittipaldi, Barbosa, and Albuquerque in the Prototype Drivers' Championship to 5 points. Cameron, Curran, and Conway advanced from sixth to third. ^[41] In the PC Drivers' Championship, Rayhall advanced from fourth to second while Boulle dropped from first to fifth.^[41] The result kept Hand, Müller, and Bourdais atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship. García, Magnussen, and Rockenfeller advanced from fourth to second.^[41] As a result of winning the race, Bleekemolen, Keating, and Farnbacher advanced from third to first in the GTD Drivers' Championship.^[41] Cadillac, and Ford continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Mercedes-AMG took the lead of the GTD Manufacturers' Championship. Wayne Taylor Racing, Performance Tech Motorsports, and Ford Chip Ganassi Racing kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships. Riley Motorsports Team AMG took the lead of the GTD Teams' Championship with ten rounds remaining.^[41]

Class winners are denoted in bold.^[42]

Final race classification Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Ricky Taylor Jordan Taylor Alex Lynn Cadillac DPi-V.R C 348 12:01:09.861 Cadillac 6.2 L V8 2 P 5 Mustang Sampling Racing João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi Filipe Albuquerque Cadillac DPi-V.R C 348 +13.614 Cadillac 6.2 L V8 3 P 31 Whelen Engineering Racing Dane Cameron Eric Curran Mike Conway Cadillac DPi-V.R C 346 +2 Laps Cadillac 6.2 L V8 4 P 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Chris Miller Stephen Simpson Mikhail Goikhberg Oreca 07 C 344 +4 Laps Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 5 PC 38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French Patricio O'Ward Kyle Masson Oreca FLM09 C 338 +10 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 6 PC 8 Starworks Motorsport Garett Grist Max Hanratty Sean Rayhall Oreca FLM09 C 336 +12 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 7 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 334 +14 Laps Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 8 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller Joey Hand Sébastien Bourdais Ford GT M 334 +14 Laps Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 9 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Giancarlo Fisichella James Calado Toni Vilander Ferrari 488 GTE M 334 +14 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 10 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Scott Dixon Ford GT M 334 +14 Laps Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 11 GTLM 68 Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Stefan Mücke Olivier Pla Billy Johnson Ford GT M 334 +14 Laps Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 12 GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL Bill Auberlen Alexander Sims Kuno Wittmer BMW M6 GTLM M 334 +14 Laps BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 13 GTLM 911 Porsche GT Team Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR M 334 +14 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 14 GTLM 912 Porsche GT Team Kévin Estre Laurens Vanthoor Richard Lietz Porsche 911 RSR M 332 +16 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 15 PC 26 BAR1 Motorsports Marc Drumwright Chapman Ducote Gustavo Yacamán Colin Thompson Oreca FLM09 C 328 +20 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 16 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports - Team AMG Ben Keating Jeroen Bleekemolen Mario Farnbacher Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 325 +23 Laps Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8 17 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen Alessandro Balzan Matteo Cressoni Ferrari 488 GT3 C 324 +24 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 18 GTD 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Kenny Habul Boris Said Tristan Vautier Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 324 +24 Laps Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8 19 GTD 29 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Connor De Phillippi Christopher Mies Jules Gounon Audi R8 LMS C 324 +24 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 20 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Dion von Moltke Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 324 +24 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 21 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey Jörg Bergmeister Matt McMurry Jan Heylen Porsche 911 GT3 R C 324 +24 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 22 GTD 57 Stevenson Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach Andrew Davis Matt Bell Audi R8 LMS C 324 +24 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 23 GTD 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Jeff Segal Oswaldo Negri Jr. Tom Dyer Acura NSX GT3 C 324 +24 Laps Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 24 GTD 11 GRT Grasser Racing Team Christian Engelhart Rolf Ineichen Richard Antinucci Mirko Bortolotti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 323 +25 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 25 GTD 28 Alegra Motorsports Michael de Quesada Daniel Morad Spencer Pumpelly Michael Christensen Porsche 911 GT3 R C 323 +25 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 26 GTD 16 Change Racing Corey Lewis Jeroen Mul Brett Sandberg Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 322 +26 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 27 GTD 46 EBIMOTORS Emanuele Busnelli Fabio Babini Emmanuel Collard Michele Beretta Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 322 +26 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 28 GTD 15 3GT Racing Jack Hawksworth Robert Alon Austin Cindric Lexus RC F GT3 C 320 +28 Laps Lexus 5.0L V8 29 P 55 Mazda Motorsports Tristan Nunez Jonathan Bomarito Spencer Pigot Mazda RT24-P C 319 +29 Laps Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 30 GTD 93 Michael Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Andy Lally Katherine Legge Mark Wilkins Acura NSX GT3 C 318 +30 Laps Acura 3.5 L Turbo V6 31 GTD 23 Alex Job Racing Bill Sweedler Townsend Bell Frank Montecalvo Audi R8 LMS C 309 +39 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 32 PC 20 BAR1 Motorsports Don Yount Buddy Rice Daniel Burkett Mark Kvamme Oreca FLM09 C 302 +46 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 33 DNF GTD 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett Colin Braun Niclas Jönsson Porsche 911 GT3 R C 283 Oil Pressure Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 34 GTD 18 DAC Motorsports Emmanuel Anassis Brandon Gdovic Anthony Massari Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 282 +66 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 35 GTD 14 3GT Racing Scott Pruett Sage Karam Ian James Lexus RC F GT3 C 269 +79 Laps Lexus 5.0L V8 36 GTD 27 Dream Racing Motorsport Lawrence DeGeorge Cédric Sbirrazzuoli Paolo Ruberti Luca Persiani Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 255 +93 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 37 P 90 VisitFlorida Racing Marc Goossens Renger van der Zande René Rast Riley Mk. 30 C 241 +107 Laps Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 38 GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Justin Marks Jens Klingmann Jesse Krohn BMW M6 GT3 C 228 +120 laps BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 39 DNF P 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Mike Guasch José Gutiérrez Tom Kimber-Smith Ligier JS P217 C 205 Gearbox Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 40 DNF P 70 Mazda Motorsports Tom Long Joel Miller Marino Franchitti Mazda RT-24P C 180 Suspension Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L Turbo I4 41 P 13 Rebellion Racing Sébastien Buemi Nick Heidfeld Neel Jani Oreca 07 C 167 +181 Laps Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 42 DNF P 22 Tequila Patrón ESM Ed Brown Johannes van Overbeek Bruno Senna Brendon Hartley Nissan Onroak DPi C 158 Exhaust Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 43 DNF GTLM 24 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Martin Tomczyk Nick Catsburg BMW M6 GTLM M 149 Crash BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 44 DNF GTD 50 Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing Cooper MacNeil Gunnar Jeannette Shane van Gisbergen Mercedes-AMG GT3 C 132 Suspension Mercedes AMG M159 6.2 L V8 45 DNF P 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Scott Sharp Ryan Dalziel Pipo Derani Nissan Onroak DPi C 47 Turbo Nissan VR38DETT 3.8 L Turbo V6 46 DNF GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Marcel Fässler Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 42 Overheating Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 Sources:[43] [44]

Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer C Continental M Michelin

• Fastest Lap - #31 Mike Conway - 1:49.629 on lap 100

PC Drivers' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Driver	Points
1		James French Patricio O'Ward Kyle Masson	72
2	2	Sean Rayhall	60
3		Chapman Ducote Gustavo Yacamán	59
4	1	Buddy Rice Don Yount Mark Kvamme	58
5	4	Nicholas Boulle	36

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Driver	Points
1		Joey Hand Dirk Müller Sébastien Bourdais	67
2	2	Antonio García Jan Magnussen Mike Rockenfeller	63
3		Giancarlo Fisichella Toni Vilander James Calado	60
4	2	Patrick Pilet Dirk Werner Frédéric Makowiecki	57
5	5	Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Scott Dixon	50

GTD Drivers' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Driver	Points
1	2	Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Mario Farnbacher	66
2		Christopher Mies Connor De Phillippi Jules Gounon	60
3	2	Daniel Morad Michael de Quesada Michael Christensen	56
4		Lawson Aschenbach Andrew Davis Matt Bell	52
5	2	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Dion von Moltke	50

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

PC Teams' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Team	Points
1		#38 Performance Tech Motorsports	72
2		#26 BAR1 Motorsports	61
3	2	#8 Starworks Motorsport	58
4	1	#20 BAR1 Motorsports	58
5	1	#88 Starworks Motorsport	28

GTLM Teams' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Team	Points
1		#66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	67
2	2	#3 Corvette Racing	63
3		#62 Risi Competizione	60
4	2	#911 Porsche GT Team	57
5	5	#67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	50

GTD Teams' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Team	Points
1	2	#33 Riley Motorsports Team AMG	66
2	1	#29 Montaplast by Land-Motorsport	60
3	2	#28 Alegra Motorsports	56
4		#57 Stevenson Motorsports	52
5	2	#48 Paul Miller Racing	50

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Manufacturer	Points
1		Ford	67
2	2	Chevrolet	63
3		Ferrari	60
4	2	Porsche	58
5		BMW	54

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standing^[41]

Pos.	+/–	Manufacturer	Points
1	2	Mercedes-AMG	65
2		Audi	62
3	2	Porsche	61
4	5	Ferrari	54
5		Lamborghini	54

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.