At Sebring, the Wednesday before race day is traditionally when scrutineering (Technical Inspection) takes place and practice sessions for the support races are held. A track walk is also scheduled for rookies to familiarise themselves with the challenging, unorthodox track. Sebring International Raceway, America’s oldest road racing track, was originally an airbase used to train B-17 bomber crews during World War II.

Although it was converted into a motor racing circuit in 1952, the track layout did not become permanent until the eighties. A concrete portion bears witness to its former purpose as a takeoff strip. The concrete/asphalt combination and the bumpy surface are highly demanding on both man and machine. In fact, engineers are known to utter “if it holds out for 12 hours at Sebring, it will hold out for 24 hours at Le Mans!”

The teams will therefore make full use of the three practice sessions held on Thursday 17 March to fine-tune their cars. The drivers will have the opportunity to (re)discover the track during two one-hour sessions at 10.00 am and 2.25 pm before tackling the 90-minute night session at 7.30 pm. The actual race may only last 12 hours but it will be dark when it reaches its climax.

A final one-hour practice session will begin at 10.15 am on Friday, before one of the highlights of the weekend for the fans – the autograph session.

Track activity will restart at 3.30 pm with the four 15-minute qualifying sessions – one per class. The GTD (GT Daytona) class goes first before giving way to the GTLM (GT Le Mans), PC (Prototype Challenge) and P (Prototype) classes. With a ten-minute break between each class, the Prototypes qualifying session is scheduled to end at 5.00 pm.

Saturday is race day! Competitors in all classes are invited to join a 20-minute warmup from 8.00 am, ahead of the grid procedure. Grand Marshal Bob Riley, owner of Riley Technologies, one of the four manufacturers selected by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest to design LM P2 prototypes from 2017, will get the race under way at 10.40 a.m.

Please note that all times stated are local times (UTC–4).

Entry list (see article)

Schedule

Cécile Bonardel / ACO – Translated from French by David Goward

PHOTO: SEBRING (FLORIDA, USA), SEBRING INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY, OFFICIAL TESTS, THURSDAY 25 FEBRUARY 2016. Extreme Speed Motorsports’ Ligier JS P2 won the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the end of January.