An air force base during World War II, the Sebring circuit is known as merciless, and an adage proclaims that the "12 Hours of Sebring equals the 24 Hours of Le Mans." That is the reason many manufacturers, including Audi and Chevrolet Corvette, conduct a test session prior to the start of every season so as to put their new materials to the test. It paid off for the Corvette Racing team who won in the GTLM class last year, before repeating the performance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans three months later despite losing a car during the free practice.

For the Corvette Boys, the overall win that Le Mans native Sébastien Bourdais, one of the new official Ford drivers, was able to enjoy in 2015 seemed highly improbable - even though Porsche had managed to win with a GT at Petit Le Mans last year - due to horrible weather conditions. The last surprise victory at Sebring of a car that was not part of the head class dated back to 2008 with the success of the Porsche RS Spyder driven by Timo Bernhard, Romain Dumas, both winners at Le Mans in 2010 with Audi, and Emmanuel Collard.

Before the inception of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 12 Hours of Sebring (tickets) opened the American endurance season of the American Le Mans Series, but that honour is now reserved for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which will take place January 30th and 31st.

Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO