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tien Bourdais, Peugeot 908 HDI FAP, 2009). Additionally,
Michelin holds the race distance record, at 1,417 miles
completed (Rinaldo Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen
S U P E R S E B R I N G 2 0 1 9
114
in an Audi R15 TDI in 2009).
With the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship,
IMSA MICHELIN Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype
Challenge all now competing here on MICHELIN race
tires, the car count, logistics, operational and support personnel
are exponentially increased from the ve teams
and nine cars, all in a single class, that Michelin served as
technical partner here in 2018.
While a total of 115 cars competed
at Daytona in Michelin’s rst
race month as the new Ofcial
Tire of IMSA, that cake will grow
even larger with the FIA World Endurance
Championship for the FIA
World Endurance Championship’s
1000 Miles of Sebring.
This volume of cars in
IMSA includes 19 registered
automotive brands. Iconic openwheel
racing teams like Penske,
Ganassi and Rahal race in
the series alongside well established, championship
and race-winning sports car teams present in all four
WeatherTech Championship classes. The Wayne Taylor
Cadillac, DragonSpeed, BMW Rahal and GRT Grasser
Lamborghini teams opened the 2019 WeatherTech
Championship season with class wins at the Rolex 24
At Daytona.
The FIA World Endurance Championship made its debut
here at Sebring International Raceway seven years ago.
While the rst FIA WEC race in March 2012 was run within
the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, this year sees the FIA
WEC with its own 1000 Miles of Sebring event on Friday.
Michelin and the FIA WEC have been joined together
since the series started seven years ago. In the rst race
at Sebring in 2012, 18 of the 30 FIA WEC cars raced with
Michelin.
Now in the 2018-’19 “Super Season,” Michelin is represented
on 31 of the 35 cars provisionally entered in the
four WEC classes. Brands such as Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet
Corvette, Ferrari, BMW, Porsche and Aston Martin all
have selected Michelin as their tire partner.
And if the March Super Sebring race weekend leaves
you wanting more, the four-hour Michelin IMSA Sports-
Car Encore will return to Sebring from November 8-10.
The non-championship race is open to GT3, GT4, TCR
and LMP3 entries, and provides a slightly less crowded
weekend for the Pro-Am drivers and teams to take the
spotlight.