SEBRING, Fla.—Testing is over and practice has not yet started for the top-tier sports cars of the American Le Mans Series and the World Endurance Championship at Sebring International Raceway.
64 cars are entered for the historic 60th Anniversary of the Sebring 12 Hours—the fastest sports cars in the world, bar none. But none of them are on the track today.
Today belonged to the support series: IMSA Prototypes Lites and GT3 Cup, Skip Barber Miata MX-5, Ferrari Challenge, and USF 2000 all practiced, and the Ferraris ran qualifying for their Thursday race. Fans were entertained by on-track action all day long.
These series are all basically single-make series—everyone drives the same car, or one of a few very similar cars with equal performance. This puts a premium on driver ability—race hard if you want an edge, because your competitor’s equipment is the same as yours.
The evening was capped with a special treat—for the second day in a row, SVRA vintage racers hit the track to practice for Friday’s races. These gorgeous cars, from 2000 Audi R8s to ‘60s Lola Mk70s to ’50s Jaguars offered some of the variety missing from the earlier action, both in looks and in sound. Big-block V8s, tiny inline fours, modified passenger-car and full-on racing engines serenaded the fans with roars, howls, and growls.
The big boys are back on Thursday with three practice sessions, including night practice, which lasts until 9:20 p.m.
Tickets for the remaining three days of the 60th Anniversary Sebring 12 Hours weekend are available through Sebringraceway.com.
