Manuel Mayer and Niklas Solle gave Fischer Motorsport its first win of the 2024 season in the 12 Hours of Sebring, as the No. 84 Porsche 911 GT3 R beat its sister car No. 44 Porsche with Jay Van Meppelen and Benjamin Fischer for victory in the second longest race of the year.
At the checkered flag only a mere 1.840 seconds separated the top two finishers, setting up the team’s first ever one-two finish in VSCA competition and allowing the No. 84 Porsche to extend its GT PRO championship lead that it obtained after taking second place at Long Beach one month ago.
Solle started off from pole position, just like in last year’s edition and suffered electrical problems on lap six, in an eerie repeat of last year as well, when the same thing happened to Solle on exactly the same lap.
Over the course of the next six hours, the team battled back from one lap down, thanks to four full-course yellows that interrupted the race and eventually took a dominant lead as rain showers affected the race.
With the final caution period of the race coming in the final hour of the event, Mayer held off a hard charging team-mate Benjamin Fischer in the No. 44 Porsche to claim victory in an entertaining finish.
Arriving to victory lane, Mayer had this to say:
“What a race!! This was my sixth 12 Hours of Sebring and somehow I always had bad luck and some bad results here. It’s amazing to finally win this one, man!”
“We had some technical issues in the first hour of the race but after the first stint we noticed we have one of the fastest cars and our focus was to just stay clean for the rest of the race.”
“After that second caution I think it was, we were back on the lead lap and we felt like we got ourselves in a good position to perhaps get a good result here. Niklas was very fast in dry conditions and our strategy was also on point during the entire race.”
During the final third of the race it started to rain, creating at times chaotic scenes on track with many cars spinning and crashing and changing the running order in GT PRO as well. On the weather conditions, Mayer said:
“Based on the forecast, we expected rain in the last quarter of the race but the wind was changing a lot. But when it started to rain lightly we switched to the wet tires at the perfect time. We actually had the lead at that moment and our goal was to drive fast but also wanted to keep it as safe as possible.”
“We always focused on what the other GT PRO cars did and what their lap times looked like and then we just kind of managed the gap. It definitely was an experience to race in rain. I guess for us it was nice, because it worked out well, but it wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.”
Texas Speed Sim Racing and their No. 32 BMW M4 GT3 with Tyler Thomas, Daniel McConnell and Zachary Lovelace took third place - the team’s first ever podium in VSCA in just its second series start. The team made its official series debut at Long Beach in February.
Two-time GT race winners, the #151 World Of SimRacing BMW, took P4 and led seven laps, but finished one lap down. Still it was a good points day for the Spanish team of Andres Quintana, Marco Pereira and Adrian Subiela.
After starting the 2024 season in GTP class, Torque Freak Racing made its return to GT PRO at Sebring and brought back its blue-orange No. 6 Porsche with series veterans Neil Middleton and Jonathan Dance and John Goodwin who finished fifth, two laps down.
Defending Endurance Cup champions Kinetic Racing and their #67 Porsche piloted by Aedan Campbell, Vincent L’Herbier and Linden Swaby took sixth place, four laps down. Things looked promising for the team from New Zealand when on lap 151, while under yellow flag conditions for the third caution of the day, a stackup occurred directly ahead of Campbell, heading into the turn seven hairpin. The #67 Porsche plowed hard into the rear end of the #42 DS Racing eSports Team Cadillac, leading to extensive damage for both cars.
Race4Cat Motorsport, since returning to the series at Long Beach, is still looking to find its groove, taking only seventh place with its #23 Porsche and Alex Rourera, Marc Freixa and Joan Guerrero at Sebring, four laps down.
24 Hours of Daytona winners, the #992 DS Racing eSports Team Porsche of Vitor Miranda, Tiago Dias and Bruno Carreira suffered a devastating crash on lap 268, just before reaching the ten-hour mark of the race.
Tracking out of the sunset corner, Miranda was passed by the #321 Dallara of Tri-State Racing driver Garret Spenst and the two cars made contact, sending the DS Racing eSports Team machine in a spin.
Unable to react in time, the fast approaching #91 Dallara LMP2 of Vice Motorsport’s Anthony Dring crashed hard into Miranda’s stationary Porsche, destroying both cars entirely.
In the end the GT PRO Endurance Cup points leaders finished the race in 8th place, seven laps down, after completing a lengthy repair stop.
RPM Racing with Mark DeBoer, Robert Lancaster and Brack Crouch also had a forgettable day. On lap 96 and the 3 hour and 26 minute mark Lancaster attempted to pass the #67 Kinetic Racing Porsche of Linden Swaby going into Tower when the two cars made contact. Crashing hard into the tire barriers Lancaster had to bring the car back to pit lane for a repair pit stop that set the team back three laps.
Things got even worse when Lancaster found trouble again at Tower corner on lap 262, nearly ten hours into the race.
Hitting a wet patch on the track in the rain, Lancaster hit the #29 Mercedes of Firestorm Motorsport’s John Jones. Later on the same lap, heading into sunset corner, Lancaster’s car made contact with the Dallara LMP2 car of VRG Sport driver Alexander Banfield, sending both into the wall and destroying both cars.
In the end the #911 RPM Racing Porsche finished ninth, nine laps down.
The final scored GT PRO entry to finish the race was the #21 GSE Racing eSports Audi , who finished tenth, 13 laps down with drivers John-Pascale Arnold, Tom Wini, Kevin Mueller and Patrock Dohr sharing driving duties behind the wheel.
The lone Audi in the field, the #21 car suffered a devastating crash on the restart of lap 157 with just over six hours remaining in the race, when there was an apparent misunderstanding between Arnold and the #830 GTP class car of Team Heartcore driver Robert Kunkis.
Fischer Motorsport sandwich leading GT PRO championship after Sebring
The #84 Porsche continues to hold the GT PRO championship points lead after finishing second and first in the last two races at Long Beach and Sebring, but was able to extend the lead to 127 points over #67 Kinetic Racing who still hold second place followed by the #44 Porsche of Fischer Motorsport, who jumped three spots in the standings through their P2 finish at Sebring.
Shakeup in Endurance Cup standings
With Kinetic Racing’s struggles at Sebring, the #67 Porsche dropped three spots in the Endurance Cup standings to fourth. The #992 DS Racing eSports Porsche is the new points leader followed by the #911 RPM Racing Porsche. Both entries suffered devastating crashes at Sebring, but thanks to the Endurance Cup points system are still in a very comfortable spot with three more Endurance Cup races remaining this year. Sebring winners #84 Fischer Motorsport meanwhile gain four spots and are now third with a seven-point deficit.
Laguna Seca awaits competitive GT PRO field
With three championship rounds in the books, there have been three different winners in GT PRO so far, making it one of the most entertaining classes to watch in the young season.
WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca awaiting the series next, everyone is wondering: Who will be the next winner in GT PRO? Or will we see the first repeat winner in GT PRO this season?
These questions and more will be answered on April 13th when the series makes its third annual visit to the Monterey, California track for the two hour and 40-minute Course de Monterey, which will be broadcast live, from start to finish, by GreenFlag TV again.
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