The Super Sebring weekend had the FIA World Endurance Championship returning to its first home, though this time it was a standalone 1000 mile instead of sharing the track at the Sebring 12 Hours, and Toyota had it on their hands during the whole time, with the No. 8 car driven by Sebastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima.
Toyota’s domination was really early, with both TS050s disappearing in front in the first laps, and the No. 8 car took advantage of traffic to establish and extend its lead. SMP Racing and Rebellion were left battling for the final podium spot in LMP1, though both teams were left with a single car in front, as the No. 1 Rebellion had an early gearbox issue while the No. 11 SMP BR1 had a puncture.
The LMP2 lead was entirely from the No. 37 DC Racing Oreca, also having to run it alone as the No. 38 car had an early exit. The LMGTE classes were having it close, with the No. 67 Ford and the No. 56 Project 1 Porsche were holding on nicely.
The rain was a threat which caught the eyes of everyone, but proceeding to the tire changes was simpler, thanks to a full course yellow caused by a smashed No. 17 SMP BR1, leaving the No. 3 Rebellion in a lone third place.
Most of the class leaders stood in their places while a combination of less lighting, some mistakes and Sebring’s own harshness was taking care of most of the competition, even the big squads. The No. 8 Toyota got alone in the lead as the No. 7 car passed for checks at the engine bay after a hard hit in the kerbs, which cost a whole lap, and almost the same happened to the No. 1 Rebellion.
The troubled races in the LMP field pretty much settled the leaders as it would demand an absurd effort to reduce the gaps, and while that the LMGTE field was still delivering close racing, with The No. 67 Chip Ganassi Ford switching the top with the No. 91 Porsche. Almost half of the LMGTE-Pro field was around 30 seconds of the leader, which demonstrates the competitiveness of it. In LMGTE-Am, things were exactly like in LMGTE-Pro, with the No. 56 Project 1 Porsche still established on top.
The rain looked like not wanting to abandon the spectacle and appeared little by little in the final hour, and with this the track became wet really soon, which forced a late change for wets for most of the field. Some offs from the No. 67 Chip Ganassi Ford gave the lead to the No. 81 MTEK BMW, but better pitwork gave it to the No. 91 Porsche in LMGTE-Pro.
With 10 minutes to go the Safety Car had to join the track as the No. 28 TDS Oreca went straight to the barriers due to aquaplaning, and as there would be no time to clear the crash area, the race was ended behind the Safety Car as the No. 8 Toyota was crowned the winner.
The No. 37 DC Racing Oreca dominated the LMP2 class to the flag while the No. 91 Porsche reaped the benefits of the final pit stop to win in LMGTE-Pro. Also taking advantage of the pit stops, the No. 77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche appeared late in the lead to not lose it.
The preparation now is towards this years’ 6 Hours of Spa, on May 4th.
PHOTO: Toyota Motorsport
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