SEBRING PREVIEW
P R O T O T Y P E S
One of the most competitive lineups of prototypes ever will
be on the grid Saturday for the start of the 66th Mobil 1
Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Advance Auto Parts.
The favorites here at Sebring will be the three Cadillac
teams, led by Action Express, which captured a dominating
1-2 fi nish at the season opening race in Daytona. Action
Express fi elds the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry and the
No. 31 Whelen Engineering team.
The trio of Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa and Christian
Fittipaldi, sporting new Rolex watches from their recent
Daytona win, will pilot the No. 5 Cadillac, while the No. 31
Whelen entry will be driven by Eric Curran, Felipe Nasr and
Mike Conway.
Action Express dominated Sebring back in 2015 and they
hope to repeat this year. After their Daytona win, they certainly
are the team to beat at America’s oldest and most
prestigious endurance race.
Last year, the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac won Sebring to
sweep the “36 Hours of Florida.” The No. 10 Cadillac prototype
will again be a top contender, with Jordan Taylor,
Ryan Hunter-Reay and Renger van der Zande at the wheel.
Van der Zande replaces Ricky Taylor, who has moved to the
Penske Acura team.
The Spirit of Daytona team and its No. 90 Cadillac will also
be a top pick this weekend. Drivers will be Tristan Vautier,
Mathew McMurry and Edward Cheever.
Making its Sebring debut are the Team Penske Acura prototypes
(No. 6 and No. 7) with an all-star cast of drivers.
The cars looked strong in the fi rst race of the season and
they should be in contention for the win here. The incredible
driving lineup includes Juan Pablo Montoya, Dane
Cameron, Ricky Taylor, Helio Castroneves, Simon Pagenaud
and Graham Rahal.
Penske Racing won here ten years ago with a Porsche prototype,
and 50 years ago Penske won the TransAm class and
fi nished third overall with a Chevrolet Camaro.
The Tequila Patron ESM Nissan powered prototypes (No. 2
and No. 22) return to Sebring as a strong contender for a
victory. This Florida-based team won Sebring in 2016 with a
Honda powered prototype. Drivers will include Scott Sharp,
Ryan Dalziel, Olivier Pla, Pipo Derani, Nicolas Lapierre and
Johannes van Overbeek.
Mazda Team Joest has entered a pair of Mazda prototypes (No.
55 and No. 77) for drivers Oliver Jarvis, Tristan Nunez, Rene
Rast, Jonathan Bomarito, Harry Ticknell and Spencer Pigot. The
Joest name is well known to Sebring fans, having orchestrated
the numerous Audi victories at Sebring’s 12-hour classic. The
Mazda program encountered several diffi culties at Daytona,
but hopes their luck changes here at Sebring.
United Autosport will have their #32 Ligier LMP2 for drivers
Phil Hanson, Alex Brundle and Paul Di Resta. United is
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20 M o b i l 1 T w e l v e H o u r s o f S e b r i n g p r e s e n t e d b y A d v a n c e A u t o P a r t s