IMSA releases 54‑car Sebring 12 Hour entry list

The top GTP class loses one car from the Daytona 24 Hours – as the World Endurance Championship-competing third Cadillac V-Series.R will be racing in the WEC’s 1,000 Miles of Sebring the day before – but every manufacturer returns with a two-car assault.

What controversy has kicked off in IMSA?

This week Daytona winners Meyer Shank Racing were handed a series of punishments after they were found to have manipulated tyre data received by IMSA while running tyre pressures below the minimum threshold given by Michelin. While the race victory was not taken away from the team it did lose championship points, faced a fine, lost all prize money and saw team owner Michael Shank put on probation until June. It is yet to be seen how the rest of the paddock will react to this fully, but when the team’s reconvene at Sebring all eyes will be on the #60 HPD ARX-06.

What other GTP cars will be racing at Sebring?

Elsewhere, two Cadillac V-Series.Rs will race, one from the factory Cadillac Racing effort and the other from Whelen Engineering. Two factory-entered Porsche 963s will return as well as a pair of BMW M Hybrid V8s run by BMW Team RLL. The final GTP car racing is the second Acura run by Wayne Taylor’s Konica Minolta team.

Who is racing in LMP2?

Eight LMP2 cars will compete for the second round of the 2023 season. As usual all will be Oreca 07s but there are plenty of big names choosing to race in the second class of IMSA at Sebring.

IndyCar stars Scott McLaughlin, Ed Jones and Devlin Defranchesco will race, as well as former F1 racers Pietro Fittipaldi and Giedo van der Garde.

Are there any more prototypes racing at Sebring?

Yes, ten LMP3s complete the Prototype ranks. Unlike LMP2 there is some chassis variety in the P3 ranks, but that only stretches to two cars. Three teams are running Duqueine D08s, while the balance is made up of Ligier JS P320s. Highlights from the entry list include former IndyCar racer Gabby Chaves, WEC regular Felipe Fraga, and IMSA veteran Joao Barbosa.

What about GT cars?

A lot. 

IMSA will be hoping that its issues with BoP are solved for the second round of the season. The addition of new cars to the series – the latest version of the Porsche 911, the new Ferrari 296 and an EVO2 version of the Lamborghini Huracan – caused a tricky situation for IMSA, with the Ferrari and Porsche both running well down on the pace of the leading GTD cars. 

Work has been done between the two events, but it remains to be seen if IMSA has managed to find a better balance (pun intended). In the GTD Pro ranks all eight cars are from different manufacturers. Corvette, Mercedes, Lexus, Porsche, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini and BMW are all represented. That means a drop of one car from Daytona, with the second 911 GT3 R from MDK Motorsport now absent, after it withdrew from the full season following the BoP issues at Daytona.

Twenty cars will then compete in the full GTD category, with three cars absent after competing at Daytona. The field is made up of the same models as the GTD Pro category except for the addition of a single Acura NSX.

When is the Sebring 12 Hours?

The 2023 Sebring 12 Hours takes place on Saturday 18^th March, beginning at 10.10am EST, 3.10pm UK time.

You can see the full 2023 Sebring 12 Hour entry list here.

Images courtesy of Motorsport Images.