If you missed the qualify session yesterday, here it is

C8.R Corvette Racing’s Antonio Garcia qualified third in the GT Daytona (GTD) class Friday ahead of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring as the program looks for its 12th victory in America’s oldest sports car race.

Garcia set the best lap of 1:59.927 (112.268 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R that he will share with Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg.
The Corvette was 0.513 seconds off the GTD PRO pole time of Daniel Serra and was eighth among the combined GTD category; there was only 0.164 seconds between Garcia and the fastest GTD class entry.

This is the first time a lone Corvette Racing entry will compete in the 12 Hours. It’s also the first time the program has entered a single car for an IMSA round since 2000, the second year of the Corvette Racing program.
The team is still running two Corvettes during 2022: one in IMSA and another in the GTE Pro category of the FIA World Endurance Championship, which also is racing at Sebring.

After struggling for pace in Thursday’s practice sessions, the No. 3 Corvette in GTD PRO received a power increase to bring it closer to the GTD field. The IMSA-spec Corvette has notable differences between the C8.R that ran in Friday’s WEC race and also was part of IMSA’s GT Le Mans category the last two seasons. The GTD PRO Corvette also will compete Saturday with an additional four liters of fuel compared to its original capacity Thursday.

The biggest area of learning for Corvette Racing continues to be the customer Michelin tires that are mandated across all GTD cars, as compared to Michelins specifically developed for the C8.R in GTLM. Corvette Racing engineers dedicated significant time at the February test to gaining further understanding of the performance and degradation levels of the new Michelins.

The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is scheduled for 10:10 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 19. The race will air on USA Network from 3:30-10:30 p.m. ET with full streaming coverage on Peacock at 10 a.m. ET. IMSA Radio will air the race at IMSA.com along with Sirius 216, XM 207 and SiriusXM Online 992.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R QUALIFIED THIRD IN GTD PRO:

“It was difficult to gauge. Not even the short practice before qualifying was nice because we didn’t have really any laps where I had one lap plus the in-lap to see how the car would behave. It’s not ideal, but it’s the same for everybody.
It would have been pleasant and less of a question mark to have had a normal session, so we could know what our real pace will be instead of having to nail the only lap available.

That would clear up some stuff on some setup work we’re trying. I think we have a decent car. It’s still our first race at Sebring on these tires and in this spec.
We should be decent. We’re not that far back now. Let’s see where we end up.”

With four of the 12 hours complete :

Three of the 11 cars in the GTD-Pro class are on the lead lap with the C8.R at the top of the leader pole

A multi-car accident at the exit of Turn 1 caused LMP2 class leader Juan Pablo Montoya to retire from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after two and a half hours.
Montoya was running out front in the No. 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson that he recently took over from his son Sebastian, the pair driving together for the first time.

However, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner was forced to retire from the race with damage to his car’s front end after contact with two cars from other categories.
LMP3 driver Alec Udell rotated through the first turn, causing a group of cars to check up in reaction to his spinning No. 6 Duqueine D08 Nissan.
One of those was the GTD-contending Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 driven by Erik Johansson.

As Montoya exited Turn 1 at speed, he found nowhere to go as a gap closed in front of his Oreca, between Udell’s car to the left and Johansson’s BMW to the right.
After the impact, the DragonSpeed Oreca ended up on the right-side grass with significant damage, while Montoya stepped out of the car under his own steam.
The accident promoted the Racing Team Nederland Oreca driven by Giedo van der Garde into the LMP2 lead heading into a caution period to facilitate the cleanup of debris.

Johansson and Udell both brought their cars back to the pits, with the Paul Miller BMW showing damage to its left-rear corner.

Several DPi runners were on out-laps when the accident occurred. Action Express Racing’s No. 48 Cadillac DPi-V.R led most of the third hour until Jose Maria Lopez was called to serve consecutive drive-through penalties for pit speeding and having rotating wheels while elevated during a stop.
The penalties elevated the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac into the overall lead.

Jordan Taylor led the GTD Pro class for Corvette Racing but had been facing pressure from TR3 Racing Lamborghini driver Andrea Caldarelli during the third hour.
Two of the leading GTD Pro entries, the Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2022 and the No. 25 BMW M4 GT3, went behind the wall with power steering problems.

BMW Team RLL’s remaining Pro entry remains in the hunt, along with the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.

Alegra Motorsports held the upper hand in GTD during the early stages with its Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, while Performance Tech Motorsports ran first in LMP3.
The first full-course yellow of the race came out 18 minutes before the three-hour mark for an incident that affected contenders in three different classes.

Alec Udell in his first stint in an LMP3 car spun the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports America in Turn 1. Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 81 DragonSpeed ORECA that his son Sebastian had put into the lead of LMP2, trying to go outside in avoidance, got sandwiched between the spinning LMP3 and the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW M4 GT4. The incident finished the race for DragonSpeed, and sent the Muehlner Motorsports Duqueine and Paul Miller BMW to the paddock for repairs.
The BMW had suspension damage to the right rear.

The yellow saw the entire DPi field for a top-off soon as the pits opened, except Mike Conway who stayed out in the lead, where the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac has spent much of the race.

“Sebring is fantastic; It’s always a pleasure to drive around this track, especially with a fantastic car like the Cadillac,” said Pipo Derani, who took the first stint in the No. 31. “It’s a hot day, so pacing yourself will be worth it toward the end of the race.”

The No. 48 Action Express Cadillac has been quick and running in the top three, but a couple of miscues during its last pit stop as Jose Maria Lopez handed over to Kamui Kobayashi left it with two drive-through penalties.

The No. 01 Cadillac that had trouble from the very beginning is now 35 laps down, having had a gearbox change after trying several other fixes. The top three when the race restarted were Conway, Stoffel Vandoorne in the No. 60 MSR Acura and Richard Westbrook in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac.
The No. 60 is worth watching, because the team missed a practice session on Thursday while changing the engine, and thus has more tires available for the race.

GTD Pro had been a close battle between the No. 3 Corvette and the No. 63 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan, now with Jordan Taylor at the wheel of the Corvette and Marco Mapelli in the Huracan. Marco Wittman in the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M4.
Two other contenders have had difficulties, the pole sitting No. 62 Risi Competizione and the No. 25 BMW Team RLL Mr, both reportedly with power steering issues.

Daniel Moraad moved the No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, now in the hands of Michael de Quesada, to the front, followed by Marvin Dienst in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, which had to get there from last having lost its qualifying position.
Simon Mann in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 runs third, with Bill Auberlen in the No. 96 Turner Motorsports car, now BMW’s only hope for a GTD victory, in fourth.

The accident for Montoya in the DragonSpeed car left Racing Team Nederland at the front, Giedo van Der Garde now at the wheel of the No. 29 ORECA, with Scott Huffaker running second in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA that Ben Keating started with a long stint.

The No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier is back in the lead of LMP3 after Gar Robinson’s early spin, with Kay van Berlo in the cockpit. Colin Braun in the No. 54 CORE Autosport Ligier runs second.

The race is entering the hottest part of the day, where temperature will hit 90 F, along with high humidity.
The conditions will tax drivers and crews before they get any relief when the sun sets at about half-past 7 p.m.

C8 as the pace car for the 12 hours of Sebring

About half way, 6 hours, the C8.R just stole back the lead

In the GTD Pro class, BMW M Team RLL has captured the lead in the class from WeatherTech Racing and Corvette Racing.

The No. 24 BMW M4 GT3, driven by Philipp Eng, sat in third place at the start of the third hour behind the No. 97 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Jules Gounon and the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Nick Catsburg.

Gounon had captured the lead of the class under pitstops, staying out in front even after Jordan Taylor had brought the Corvette in to hand over to Catsburg.
While Gounon remained out front, Catsburg was caught and passed by Eng’s BMW shortly before the caution brought on by Sernagiotto.

Under the round of stops that followed, Eng and Team RLL performed a fuel-only stop to leapfrog ahead of Gounon and take the lead.
The Frenchman still sits in second, with the Corvette closely behind.

Will Stevens led for Wayne Taylor Racing to pick up maximum points at the second IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points stage with four hours to go in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Stevens did well to simultaneously maintain the lead and manage his Acura ARX-05’s fuel load after pitting during a caution period early in the eighth hour.
The British driver remained out front for his full stint to pick up five Endurance Cup points for WTR at the eight-hour mark, with Richard Westbrook taking four points for JDC-Miller Motorsports and Tristan Nunez banking three for Action Express Racing.

Westbrook moved up to second by overtaking Tristan Nunez’s No. 31 Cadillac shortly before the eight-hour mark.
Nunez collected three points for being in third place at the eight-hour checkpoint, ahead of Oliver Jarvis driving for Meyer Shank Racing.
Nunez’s co-driver Pipo Derani led the 12 Hours of Sebring at halfway but Wayne Taylor Racing jumped to the head of the DPi field a few minutes later in a caution-induced pit cycle.

The fifth Full Course Yellow of the race was caused by car debris on the Ullman Straight.
After only one lap of green flag running, the yellows returned when Harry Gottsacker went off at Turn 17 in the Muelhner Motorsports Duqueine D08 Nissan.
WTR remained at the head of the field when racing resumed midway through the seventh hour, with Ricky Taylor holding off Tom Blomqvist in the Meyer Shank Acura.
In the green flag run after the seventh and most recent caution for the CORE autosport LMP3 Ligier stopping at pit exit, Stevens maintained WTR’s edge while the MSR Acura with Jarvis at the wheel shuffled behind the No. 31 Action Express and JDC-Miller Cadillacs.

In the Endurance Cup standings, drivers from Meyer Shank Racing, Wayne Taylor Racing and JDC-Miller Motorsports are level at the top of the table on 20 points.
Nicky Catsburg led a close-fought GTD Pro battle with four hours to go, the Dutchman moving the sole Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to the head of the field with a daring multi-corner pass on Pfaff Motorsports Porsche driver Matt Campbell that started at Turn 1.

Pfaff gained track position due to the timing of the seventh caution while TR3 Racing, BMW Team RLL and Vasser Sullivan are also gearing up to challenge for the class win.
Inception Racing picked up the maximum Endurance Cup points in GTD courtesy of Jordan Pepper behind the wheel of the No. 70 McLaren 720S GT3.
Several cars are in the mix, including the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Ev0 2022 and the Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo which ranked second and third respectively a two-thirds distance.

Winward Racing’s Mercedes-AMG was a notable front-runner to fall by the wayside not long after halfway due to an electrical issue.
The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson took maximum Endurance Cup points in LMP2, moments before Scott Huffaker brought the car in for a stop.
LMP3 was led by Malthe Jakobsen after the Sean Creech Motorsport driver made a well-timed move on Kay van Berlo in Turn 3 with four hours and 15 minutes remaining.
With the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring two-thirds done,

C8.R Corvette has led much of the race in GTD Pro; their strongest competitor appearing to be the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M4. While the No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F, the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R and the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG have challenged over the last few hours, the No. 3 Corvette has consistently pushed to the front and led at the eight-hour mark as Nicky Catsburg was heading to the end of a long stint, although the No. 24 was usually right behind. Eight cars remain on the lead lap.

“So far so good,” said Jordan Taylor, who had handed over to Catsburg. “When we’re out front and in clean air, the car is quick and competitive.
I was having to hold cars behind me off and hold on for dear life on my first stint, but the second stints went really well.
We were able to save some fuel and push the stints a little bit longer.
“As long as we can keep the car up front and keep track position, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”

1 hour of sunlight, leaving 2 hours of racing in the dark and colder weather and track surface.

2 hours of the race to go in the dark !

C8.R Corvette Racing is in contention again at Sebring International Raceway with the team’s No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R leading throughout the first half of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday.

Nicky Catsburg ran third in the GTD PRO class and was in the middle of his second stint as the race went yellow for the fifth time in six hours.
A quick pit stop by the Corvette Racing crew not the first one today, moved Catsburg up a spot to second before a restart with five hours, 35 minutes to go.

All three Corvette Racing drivers Catsburg, Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor each spent time at the front of the field. Garcia set the table from the beginning as he advanced from his third-place starting position to the head of GTD PRO.
He passed six cars in his opening two hours before handing off to Taylor for a three-hour run.

Corvette Racing has won 12 times at Sebring since 2002 with 11 of those coming in the 12 Hours. Garcia is a three-time winner at Sebring with Taylor winning once. Chevrolet ranks second in all-time manufacturer victories in the 12 Hours with 40.

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“Everything is running pretty smooth. There were lots of question marks coming into this race. We didn’t really know the best way to drive on this tire. We pretty much guessed and it went well, I must say.
I started to see everyone else struggling a little bit more than us on the tire.
Things ran well. I knew it was more about the last 10 laps of a stint than the first 20. I planned on that and it worked out.
On the second stint we kind of kept the same gap, even if at times the other cars were faster and catching me.

The biggest thing was the last 10 laps and opening the gap again.
It’s difficult out there. The car is good in certain areas, but the others are good in their own areas.
It will be hard to race them later on but we’re in the best position right now.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R:

“So far, so good. When we’re out front and in clean air, the car is quick and competitive.
I was having to hold cars behind me off and hold on for dear life on my first stint, but the second stints went really well.
We were able to save some fuel and push the stints a little bit longer. The full-course yellows seem to be really long.

On one of the wave-around procedures, we ended up behind a bunch of the GTD cars.
I think late in the race, the restarts are going to be really tricky and important to separate yourself from other cars.
Hopefully that doesn’t manipulate the race too much. As long as we can keep the car up front and keep track position, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”

SIMILAR FEEDBACK BETWEEN ALL THE DRIVERS:

“We knew coming in that this was going to be a tricky car to drive in the heat.
Relative to everyone else, we’re in pretty good shape. It seems like everyone is fighting the same issues.
Antonio and I had a lot of the same feedback. On my first stint, I felt so lost out there with how tricky it was.

Once I understood the style you needed to get the car around the track, things were pretty straight-forward, and it seems like Nicky picked up right where we left off.”

Great race weekend for the Corvette and Caddy

Corvette took 2nd in the 1,000 mile WEC race and now #3 C8R which lead most of the 12 hours comes in winner !

C8.R Corvette Racing earned GTD Pro class honors at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring based on a polished drive from Antonio Garcia, Nicky Catsburg & Jordan Taylor.

Garcia took the checkered flag 4.4 seconds ahead of an encroaching Mirko Bortolotti in the second-placed TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, earning the GM factory team’s first win competing against GT3-spec cars in IMSA’s new GTD Pro category.
The No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD was strong throughout Saturday’s race and controlled the proceedings after Catsburg overtook Pfaff Motorsports Porsche driver Matt Campbell for the lead with four and a half hours remaining.

After that moment, when Catsburg challenged Campbell around the outside before completing the move at Turn 3, the strong running of the Corvette and the absence of late Full Course Yellow periods combined to ensure a clear win for the American team.

Bortolotti shared second with fellow Lamborghini factory drivers Maro Mapelli and Andrea Caldarelli, while Jules Gounon crossed the line third in the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo that also featured Maro Engel and Cooper MacNeil.

The sole Corvette, which received a mid-event BoP break on Friday, started third in GTD Pro behind Ferrari squad Risi Competizione and the TR3 Lamborghini.
After an early dice between the trio, Garcia emerged from the first round of stops in the lead. Risi Competizione’s challenge quickly faded when the Texan squad encountered power steering issues, costing it several laps.

The Corvette held a slender advantage over a tightly-bunched field through to the halfway mark. A collection of Full Course Yellows kept the order close and enabled some other cars, including the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 and the Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R, to take turns at the front based on pit stop strategies.

Both Vasser Sullivan and Pfaff cycled to the lead during FCY pit cycles in hours seven and eight respectively, but on both occasions Corvette returned to the front on-track.
Catsburg made the moves on both occasions, the Dutchman first dispatching Lexus driver Jack Hawksworth down the Ullman Straight before dramatically getting past Campbell after Pfaff emerged from the final caution period in the lead.

Garcia came out from his final stop with 17 seconds in hand to Bortolotti, and Aaron Telitz a further 25 seconds back in the Lexus.
Bortolotti brought the gap down, but was unable to mount a challenge for the win. Telitz, meanwhile, stopped his Lexus for currently unknown reasons on the penultimate lap, allowing Gounon to burst through and complete the podium.

BMW Team M RLL was more competitive with its new M4 GT3 in the car’s second IMSA race after diffuser issues hampered its run during the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Both BMWs were competitive in the opening stages but the No. 25 fell away in hour three when the power steering failed.

The No. 24 BMW driven by Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Nick Yelloly enjoyed a more sustained presence at the sharp end and ran second to the winning Corvette for much of the second half, but a couple of unplanned stops late on consigned it to fourth.