GT AM may be the lowest ranked class in the series, but it was certainly not behind by any means when it came to drama in the 12 Hours of Sebring, Round 3 of the 2024 VSCA SportsCar Championship.
With just minutes remaining in the race, the lapped #93 Digital Chicane Ferrari was following race leaders #5 Mercedes of Screeching Moose Motorsports with the #80 Digital Chicane Ferrari about 1.5 seconds behind in second position, when contact occurred between the former two.
While Screeching Moose Motorsports driver Sean Hatfield held on to the race lead, things continued to get spicey between the #80 Ferrari of Quinn Mitchell, who was now able to close the gap and make a move for the lead, heading into the turn seven hairpin.
But the drama was not yet over as the #80 and #5 car now made contact that ended up with the championship leading #5 Mercedes spinning.
Race Control eventually issued a post-race penalty against the Digital Chicane Ferrari of Mitchell, which meant the Screeching Moose Mercedes with drivers Sean Hatfield, Taylor Parsons, Lukas Santos and Phillip Forrester was the official race winner - for a VSCA record-setting fourth time in a row.
Kinetic Racing previously held the record set in 2023 when the team won three straight out of the gate but with their 12 Hours of Sebring win, Screeching Moose Motorsports now topped this record by one.
Arriving to victory lane, Hatfield, who had just recently changed teams from Firestorm Motorsport to Screeching Moose Motorsports, said:
“We were a little caught out by the frantic pace of things at the beginning, but yeah… I thought we settled in quite well and then we just kind of focused on clean and consistent laps, to get us back up front.”
“With these races, it’s all about being patient and knowing when to pick your battles, when to push, and when to just settle in. Luck is a big factor in it too and there were a couple moments where things got a little scary on that front. But the racing gods smiled on us and kept us in the game.”
With rain hitting the race track at the beginning of the final third of the race, Hatfield and the competition were faced with an entirely new challenge that was not seen in VSCA races before.
“Yeah, the weather definitely added a new dimension to the strategy of it all. At this level of competition, it’s all about minimizing mistakes in the wet more than a question of outright pace. When you’re out there in the wet, especially during the transition periods, you’re spending way more time feeling the track out and gaining confidence in the car and your own abilities.”, said Hatfield.
“It doesn’t take away how terrifying things can get out there, especially when you’re mired back in traffic, but I think when weather is thrown into the mix it really demands that teams and drivers set up to that next level of adaptation that really showcases their skill and experience.”
Visibly frustrated by the post-race penalty against their #80 Ferrari 296 GT3 and about losing the win after their appeal towards Race Control was not successful, Digital Chicane with drivers Paolo Calvo, Matthew Oravecz and Quinn Mitchell took home second-place points and an still impressive podium finish.
Leading a total of 22 laps, the #80 Ferrari took the lead for the first time on lap 207 and looked like they were on their way to win the race in the final minutes of the event, until the post-race penalty. In the end the team earned its second consecutive second-place finish and took another huge step to challenge for the championship lead.
Taking third place, the #94 Full Send Racing Mercedes of Coy Haseleu, Carl Felver and David Sluiter made the most out of a challenging race, earning their best result in VSCA since a third-place finish at Laguna Seca in April 2022. The Grand Junction, Colorado team also led 33 laps en route to their podium.
Vulture Motorsports had both of its entries finish fourth and fifth, respectively with the #017 Ferrari of Erol Ureksoy, Gary Brown and Jeremy Littleton taking the better end among the two.
Their sister car #016 Ferrari of Jeff Carollo, Shreyas Venkataraju and Josh Rhodig finished right behind in fifth place to round out the top-five in GT AM class.
Mark Stevenson with Chris Yettito and Robert DeLoach probably had a better result in mind than a sixth place in their first 12 Hours of Sebring, but the team that recently signed Majors Garage as a title sponsor still earned a respectable finish and a solid points day in a difficult race.
Firestorm Motorsport and the #29 Mercedes struggled in the third race of the season, that included a crash with the #911 RPM Racing Porsche just before the ten-hour mark of the race at “Tower” corner.
In the end the Twin Busch USA machine with Daniel Avery, John Jones and Erik Haag took P7, nine laps down.
Real Pixel Motorsport was another team struggling with a race marred by extraordinary high levels of attrition. Wolfgang Wildenauer and Ronald Gross teamed up to earn eighth place, nine laps down.
Aaron Beaver, Ryan Steinhoff and Thomas Baker in the #34 Mayer Simspeed Performance Mercedes likewise struggled with a difficult race, including a car contact with their team owner Manuel Mayer in turn one that saw some tempers flare in the MSP team paddock.
In the end the team out of Teisendorf, Germany took ninth place, 13 laps down.
Completing the top ten finishers was the #161 Ferrari of MMTQ Racing with drivers Michiel de Zeeuw, Max Baaijen and Timo van Gemert who finished 15 laps down. For the team out of Ede, Netherlands it was another blow to the chest after finishing P14 at Long Beach one month ago.
The final three GT AM cars scored at the checkered flag were the #83 Ferrari of Off in the Esses Racing, the #16 Dangler Performance Mercedes and the #53 KC Racing Ferrari.
Screeching Moose extends GT AM championship lead
Through their fourth consecutive win - an all-time VSCA record - the #5 Screeching Moose Motorsports Mercedes now extends its GT AM championship lead to 138 points (previously 119).
Newly in second place, the #80 Digital Chicane Ferrari has picked up the trail of Screeching Moose and looks ready to strike at their next opportunity, to close in further on that championship lead.
With seven championship rounds remaining on the schedule, Hatfield and his Screeching Moose team-mates are on notice.
“It’s still early on, so I’m not in the game of calling the end yet. Digital Chicane obviously has some serious speed in their lineup. Off The Esses and Full Send showed some strong pace out there, and history has shown that Firestorm Motorsport can be competitive as well.”, says Hatfield.
“As far as we’re concerned, consistency is the name of the game. And yeah, four of four this year is pretty darn consistent. We’ve emphasized that we’re in this position by focusing on bringing the car home in one piece and with as little mistakes as we can.”
The #29 Firestorm Motorsport Mercedes is third, but saw its points deficit double to 251 points after Sebring.
Endurance Cup a two-car battle too close to call
Screeching Moose Motorsports and their #5 Mercedes also lead the Endurance Cup championship standings - the in-series championship that consists of the schedule’s longest races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Miami and Road Atlanta.
But the margin is ever so close, only one point in fact with the #93 Digital Chicane Ferrari trailing in second.
A bit of a gap opens up behind the top two with the #80 Digital Chicane Ferrari following in third place, ten points out of the lead.
The next Endurance Cup race will be at Watkins Glen in June.
Laguna Seca coming up next, will the drama continue?
With some drama and potentially bad blood between Screeching Moose and Digital Chicane after Sebring, what will the series be witnessing when it visits WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca next on April 13th?
The race track that hosted the wildest, most drama-filled and caution-filled VSCA race in history in 2022, has a history of promoting short tempers and long battles in very difficult multi-class racing circumstances.
The Course De Monterey - the official event name for the race on April 13th - will mark Round 4 of 10 on the 2024 schedule and will once again be broadcast live on GreenFlag TV from start to finish. The broadcast is scheduled to start at 15:50 GMT on Saturday, April 13th on YouTube.
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