Franchitti brings Ganassi car home to victory

From left, Franchitti, Rojas and Pruett

Marino Franchitti, Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas combined to win the 62nd Annual Twelve Hours of Sebring on Saturday night at Sebring International Raceway, emerging from an electrifying, Prototype class shootout to give Chip Ganassi Racing its first win in America's oldest endurance sports car race.

In addition, the victory made CGR — which was making its Sebring debut — the first organization to win the Twelve Hours of Sebring, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500.

America’s oldest sports car race made history in many different ways on Saturday in the inaugural TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup event at Sebring International Raceway.

The 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida marked the first victory for the brand-new Ford EcoBoost turbocharged engine. It was the first overall Sebring victory and the record 57th in North American endurance sports car competition for Scott Pruett, coming 28 years after a GTO class victory in the 1986 Twelve Hours.

Co-drivers Pruett, Memo Rojas and Marino Franchitti also made Chip Ganassi Racing – in its first Twelve Hours of Sebring appearance – the first team to win Sebring, the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.

“It’s incredible," Pruett said. “After all those victories you hope to get, this was still one on my bucket list. I’ve won here in class but never won overall. It’s even more exciting to win it overall, and to win it for Ford both times. I can’t say enough about the Ganassi group. We all worked together as a team and kept digging."

A race that featured 30 lead changes –one shy of the event record – among 11 different cars came down to the final pit-stop sequence in the final hour. When Ryan Dalziel brought the No. 1 Tequila Patron HPD ARX-03b/Honda onto pit road for its final service with just less than 40 minutes remaining, Marino Franchitti steered the No. 01 Telcel Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP to the front of the field, having completed its final service with just more than 50 minutes to go.

The race’s 11th and final full-course caution set up a final, 20-minute shootout between Franchitti and Dalziel. Franchitti managed to hold off his hard-charging fellow Scotsman to secure the victory by 4.682 seconds in the closest “contested" finish in race history, topping the 2005 event. (An “orchestrated" team finish had a 0.482-second margin of victory in 2001.)

“It wasn’t too bad on the final restart," Franchitti said. “I had a break with a couple of GT cars that helped me get a break on the first lap. To rebound from Daytona like this, and to bring Chip the victory in his first Sebring Twelve Hours, and to follow cars like the GT40 for Ford, is an … exciting day."

The Rolex 24 At Daytona-winning trio of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais completed the podium with a third-place run in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP.

Chip Ganassi Racing also celebrated a victory in the second round of the four-race Tequila Patr¢n North American Endurance Cup. No. 02 Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP teammates Tony Kanaan, Scott Dixon and Sage Karam earned the most points from Sebring’s three segments toward the $100,000 prize for the top-performing team in endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen International on June 29 and the Road Atlanta season finale on Oct. 4.

The winning Ganassi Ford

The Twelve Hours was the second race of the inaugural season for the International Motor Sports Association's new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, a result of the merger of the GRAND-AM Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series. Ganassi's cars previously competed in the Rolex Series, which did not race at Sebring. Pruett and Rojas were the most dominant team in Rolex Series history; Franchitti was an ALMS star in that series' P2 prototypes.

"It was incredible," said Franchitti. "We couldn't believe we were in position to win. I've won here in the [old ALMS] P2 class but to win overall here … it's certainly the biggest day in my career."

Action Express Racing followed up a victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona with a third-place result in the 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida on Saturday. The No. 5 Corvette Daytona Prototype of Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastian Bourdais finished less than 10 seconds behind the winning car.

The second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship saw both the Action Express entries – including the No. 9 of Burt Frisselle, Brian Frisselle and Jon Fogarty – and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli lead during the race.

Bourdais, who drove the final stint in the No. 5 Corvette DP, went around the Oak Racing Morgan entry for third shortly after the race’s final restart with 20 minutes remaining.

"Our Corvette DP teams put on a strong show in their first race at the Sebring 12 Hours," said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager for Corvette Daytona Prototypes. "Three of our five Corvette DPs finished in the top-10, and Action Express Racing continued its stellar start to the season. Chevrolet still leads the Prototype Engine Manufacturer's championship after two tough races. Next up is another new challenge for the Corvette DPs – the streets of Long Beach."

The next round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship takes place on the Long Beach (Calif.) street circuit from April 11-12.

JOAO BARBOSA, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
"Third place in Sebring is always a great achievement. We are leading the championship right now, which is a plus. It was a really tough race. Very competitive. A finish on the podium is always a great result here at Sebring."

CHRISTIAN FITTIPALDI, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
"It was tough, but we managed the car very well. That was fun. Hats off to the Ganassi guys. They were in the right place at the right time. That made all the difference in the world. I want to thank Chevy. Our car ran flawless from the beginning to the end. We definitely had a shot at winning. Unfortunately it didn't happen. But we scored some points, so we will turn the page and go on to Long Beach."

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS, NO. 5 ACTION EXPRESS RACING CORVETTE DP
"It was a tough race, but we gave it our best. We started from the front and stayed there for awhile. It looked like we had the pace and everything we needed to win the race. As things got a little more complicated, we lost the lead as everybody started to show their hand. At the end we just didn't have anything for these guys. I gave it my best the whole race, and we set some pretty fast laps. But at the end of the race, they just turned it up and I told them 'That's all I got'. On top of the fact that it was very much a game of track position because you couldn't pass anyone. It was closely matched. The No. 1 was in front of us, and the No. 01 cycled to the front and left the GTs in between us. By the time we crossed the start/finish line, the gap was six seconds… game over. It is a little disappointing because I was really hoping we could win. I've finished second here overall twice before. It is one of these deals where it didn't work out. But that is all I had. No regrets. That is all we had. That is the way it is."

JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
"That was the toughest race I think we’ve ever had and to come out with seventh place probably doesn’t do justice to all the hard work everybody put into it. But it was just a matter of not being able to bounce back all the way from the few issues we had today – the early penalty, my having to go off with cars spinning and colliding in front of me in the middle of the race, and Ricky getting his windscreen oiled up and going off, which necessitated another pit stop toward the end of the race. All in all, I think we might have had a solid podium car, at best, despite all the things we had to deal with. But we brought it home in one piece both at Daytona and here at Sebring, and we’re still sitting second in the points, so we’ll head to the early sprint race part of the schedule and try to build some serious momentum."

MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETE DP
"To win races like this, you have to be good, but you also have to have things go your way. Our car definitely was maybe a fourth-place car. With a little bit of luck maybe a podium finish. If I had to put my finger on one thing in particular, I think we underestimated the heat in the track and what it did to our car from a setup standpoint. That’s my opinion. This is a great race and we would have loved to have had a better result."

RICKY TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
"There seemed to be no passing during that last run. I think it was because the pace was just so high and I think everybody was in the position they belonged in after racing for almost 12 hours. I feel really bad that we had to make an extra pit stop because of the oil (on the windscreen). I don’t know if anybody else had that problem out there. That was frustrating. But when I had a clean windshield, the car was the best it’d been all day at the end, there. Finishing seventh is kind of ho-hum when you look at it. It was a long race. I’m just happy we got through the middle because it was so difficult to keep the car on the track and stay out of trouble."

The winning PC ORECA FLM09 of Colin Braun, Jon Bennett, and James Gue

Four classes competed in the Twelve Hours. The other three class champions:

• In the Prototype Challenge class, Colin Braun, James Gue and Jon Bennett in No. 54 CORE Autosport entry.
• In GT Le Mans, the No. 912 Porsche 911 of Patrick Long, Michael Christensen and Jorg Bergmeister.
• In GT Daytona, the No. 44 Porsche 911 of Andy Lally, John Potter and Marco Seefried.

Results

Time of Race: 12 hours, 9.985 seconds
Margin of Victory: 4.682 seconds