#25: BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP: Marco Wittmann, Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns. Photo by LAT Images for IMSA

IMSA News: Van Der Linde, BMW Pace Sebring Thursday Practice

Sebring International Raceway basked in warmth Thursday as action got underway for the 73rd edition of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the second round of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Sporting a special livery celebrating the 50th anniversary of the creation of BMW North America and BMW’s victory in the 1975 Sebring 12-hour race, Sheldon van der Linde drove the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 to the day’s fastest practice lap.

#25: BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP: Marco Wittmann, Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns. Photo by LAT Images for IMSA
#25: BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP: Marco Wittmann, Sheldon van der Linde, Robin Frijns at Sebring. Photo by LAT Images for IMSA

The 25-year-old South African, who is embarking on his first full season of IMSA competition, lapped the historic 3.74-mile Sebring course in 1 minute, 47.884 seconds (124.800 mph) for overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class honors. That was a scant 0.114 second quicker than the 1m47.998 (124.668 mph) tour turned in earlier in the 90-minute afternoon session by Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06.

Unlike the Rolex 24 staged in late January at an unseasonably cold Daytona International Speedway, Florida lived up to its moniker as ‘The Sunshine State’ as 56 cars across four classes stepped up to the challenge of Sebring’s notoriously bumpy surface.

For most of the afternoon practice, Blomqvist topped the timing screens in the Acura he is sharing at Sebring with Colin Braun and IndyCar champion Scott Dixon with a substantial 0.852-second cushion over the next fastest GTP entry, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 with Matt Campbell behind the wheel.

#6: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell, Matt Campbell at Sebring. LAT Images for IMSA

Then van der Linde put together his session-topping effort with 14 minutes remaining. Any chance of besting the BMW disappeared when Brendan Iribe made hard right-side contact with a tire barrier in Turn 13 to bring out the red flag with less than three minutes left on the clock. Amazingly, Iribe was able to drive his Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 back to the pits.

“Sebring and BMW M Motorsport share a very special bond,” stated Andreas Roos, Head of BMW M Motorsport. “This track has played an outstanding role in our history in North America, which now spans half a century. We are excited for the anniversary weekend, and our goal is to add new milestones to those already displayed on the liveries of our BMW M Hybrid V8s.”

Meyer Shank Racing co-owner Mike Shank is searching for his first victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Acura is the defending Sebring winner, with an ARX-06 fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing.

#10: Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing, Cadillac V-Series.R, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Will Stevens at Sebring. LAT Images for IMSA

“To me, Sebring is always the hardest race of the year,” said Shank. “The place challenges every person on the team. We had a good test here last month and our team and HRC (Honda Racing Corporation US) continue to bond and integrate very well.

“Last year, the Acura won the race, and we anticipate the car and team will be able to perform at a very high level.”

The Rolex 24-winning No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 picked up right where it left off in the day’s first 90-minute Sebring practice, with Nick Tandy setting the early benchmark with a 1m48.651 (123.919 mph) lap.

#7: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy, Laurens Vanthoor at Sebring. LAT Images for IMSA

That bested the pair of Meyer Shank ARX-06s by less than two tenths of a second, with Nick Yelloly in the No. 93 car ahead of Braun in the No. 60 car.

The opening session was red-flagged three times, the most significant when Danny Formal suffered an off-course excursion in the GTD class No. 45 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 that caused a 25-minute delay while a guardrail between Turns 1 and 2 was reconstructed. A shorter stoppage occurred earlier in the Sebring session when the No. 6 Porsche 963 stopped on course with an electrical problem during Mathieu Jaminet’s out lap.

Thursday marked the official IMSA race weekend debut of the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie. The unique prototype features a screaming V-12 engine.

Ross Gunn was able to lap within 2.2 seconds of van der Linde’s fast time and his co-driver Roman De Angelis pronounced himself satisfied with the car’s competitiveness in the early stages of the Aston Martin program.

“First time out, BMW, Porsche, and Cadillac all had the kind of growing pains that we’re going through now,” De Angelis said. “We need to keep doing what we’re doing and just keep plugging away. We’ve been saying all week that if we can survive Sebring, we can survive anywhere. Hopefully, Saturday is a good day for us where we can keep learning and keep developing.”

Nicklas Nielsen turned the fastest lap of the day in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class in the morning session at 1m50.403 (121.952 mph) in the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA LMP2 07.

In the GT classes, Laurin Heinrich was the only driver to break the 2-minute mark with his 1m59.898s (112.295 mph) tour in the GTD PRO class No. 77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3 R (992).

#77: AO Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), GTD PRO: Laurin Heinrich, Klaus Bachler, Alessio Picariello at Sebring. Photo by LAT Images for IMSA

The No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 enjoyed a good day in GTD PRO, with Davide Rigon going fastest in the morning practice and Albert Costa guiding the car to second in the afternoon.

Mercedes-AMG set the pace in both sessions in the GTD class, with Indy Dontje taking the honors in the No. 57 Winward Racing car in the morning and Kenton Koch pacing the afternoon in the No. 32 for Korthoff Competition Motors.

#32: Korthoff Competition Motors, Mercedes AMG GT3, GTD: Seth Lucas, Kenton Koch, Maximilian Goetz at Sebring. Photo by LAT Images for IMSA

Friday’s schedule at Sebring includes WeatherTech Championship qualifying for the Twelve Hours of Sebring, plus races for Mustang Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, and the Porsche Carrera Cup North America. The Friday slate is capped by the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120, Round 2 of the 2025 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season. All can be viewed on Peacock and/or the IMSA official YouTube channel.

12 Hours of Sebring Thursday Combined Practice Results

Pos

Class

No.

Drivers

Team

Time

Behind

Gap

1

GTP

25

M. Wittmann / S. van der Linde / R. Frijns

BMW M Team RLL

1m47.884s

0.000 +0.000

2

GTP

60

T. Blomqvist / C. Braun / S. Dixon

Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian

1m47.998s

0.114

+0.114

3

GTP

7

F. Nasr / N. Tandy / L. Vanthoor

Porsche Penske Motorsport

1m48.651s

0.767

+0.653

4

GTP

93

R. van der Zande / N. Yelloly / A. Palou

Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian

1m48.796s

0.912

+0.145

5

GTP

6

M. Jaminet / M. Campbell / K. Estre

Porsche Penske Motorsport

1m48.850s

0.966

+0.054

6

GTP

24

P. Eng / D. Vanthoor / K. Magnussen

BMW M Team RLL

1m49.024s

1.140

+0.174

7

GTP

10

R. Taylor / F. Albuquerque / W. Stevens

Wayne Taylor Racing

1m49.050s

1.166

+0.026

8

GTP

31

J. Aitken / E. Bamber / F. Vesti

Cadillac Whelen

1m49.185s

1.301

+0.135

9

GTP

40

J. Taylor / L. Deletraz / B. Hartley

Wayne Taylor Racing

1m49.476s

1.592

+0.291

10

GTP

85

T. van der Helm / G. Bruni / N. Mueller

JDC Miller MotorSports

1m49.550s

1.666

+0.074

11

GTP

63

M. Bortolotti / R. Grosjean / D. Kvyat

Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse

1m49.656s

1.772

+0.106

12

GTP

5

N. Jani / T. Vautier / N. Pino

Proton Competition

1m49.674s

1.790

+0.018

13

GTP

23

R. Gunn / R. De Angelis / A. Riberas

ASTON MARTIN THOR Team

1m50.113s

2.229

+0.439

14

LMP2

88

L. Perez Companc / M. Perez Companc

N. Nielsen

Af Corse

1m50.403s

2.519

+0.290

15

LMP2

8

J. Farano / S. Alvarez / S. Bourdais

Tower Motorsports

1m50.508s

2.624

+0.105

16

LMP2

43

T. Dillmann / B. Garg / J. Clarke

Inter Europol Competition

1m50.840s

2.956

+0.332

17

LMP2

74

G. Robinson / F. Fraga / J. Burdon

Riley

1m50.868s

2.984

+0.028

18

LMP2

22

D. Goldburg / P. Di Resta / R. Lindh

United Autosports USA

1m50.886s

3.002

+0.018

19

LMP2

11

S. Thomas / M. Jensen / H. McElrea

TDS RACING

1m50.961s

3.077

+0.075

20

LMP2

99

P. Hyett / D. Cameron / J. Edgar

AO Racing

1m51.029s

3.145

+0.068

21

LMP2

18

K. Ohta / D. Hansson / T. Lutke

Era Motorsport

1m51.151s

3.267

+0.122

22

LMP2

2

N. Boulle / J. Correa / B. Hanley

United Autosports USA

1m51.183s

3.299

+0.032

23

LMP2

04

G. Kurtz / M. Jakobsen / T. Sowery

Crowdstrike Racing by APR

1m51.484s

3.600

+0.301

24

LMP2

52

R. Sales / B. Pedersen / M. Beche

PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports

1m51.686s

3.802

+0.202

25

LMP2

73

P. Fittipaldi / J. Roe / C. Cumming

Pratt Miller Motorsports

1m53.868s

5.984

+2.182

26

GTDPRO

77

L. Heinrich / K. Bachler / A. Picariello

AO Racing

1m59.898s

12.014

+6.030

27

GTD

32

S. Lucas / K. Koch / M. Goetz

Korthoff Competition Motors

2m00.300s

12.416

+0.402

28

GTDPRO

81

A. Costa / D. Rigon / G. Altoè

DragonSpeed

2m00.316s

12.432

+0.016

29

GTD

021

S. Monk / S. McAleer / M. Skeen

Triarsi Competizione

2m00.520s

12.636

+0.204

30

GTD

57

R. Ward / P. Ellis / I. Dontje

Winward Racing

2m00.767s

12.883

+0.247

31

GTD

34

M. Franco / D. Serra / C. Sbirrazzuoli

Conquest Racing

2m00.922s

13.038

+0.155

32

GTD

21

S. Mann / L. Wadoux Ducellier

A. Pier Guidi

Af Corse

2m00.936s

13.052

+0.014

33

GTD

70

B. Iribe / F. Schandorff / O. Millroy

Inception Racing

2m00.954s

13.070

+0.018

34

GTD

12

J. Hawksworth / P. Thompson

F. Montecalvo

Vasser Sullivan Racing

2m00.959s

+13.075

+0.005

35

GTD

120

A. Adelson / E. Skeer / T. Sargent

Wright Motorsports

2m01.000s

+13.116

+0.041

36

GTDPRO

64

M. Rockenfeller / S. Priaulx / B. Barker

Ford Multimatic Motorsports

2m01.049s

+13.165

+0.049

37

GTDPRO

1

M. Snow / N. Verhagen / C. De Phillippi

Paul Miller Racing

2m01.058s

+13.174

+0.009

38

GTD

13

O. Fidani / M. Bell / L. Kern

AWA

2m01.086s

+13.202

+0.028

39

GTD

023

O. Triarsi / C. Scardina / A. Rovera

Triarsi Competizione

2m01.174s

+13.290

+0.088

40

GTDPRO

3

A. Garcia / A. Sims / D. Juncadella

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports

2m01.189s

+13.305

+0.015

41

GTD

78

M. Goikhberg / M. Farnbacher

P. Kligerman

Forte Racing

2m01.202s

+13.318

+0.013

42

GTDPRO

4

T. Milner / N. Catsburg / N. Varrone

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports

2m01.252s

+13.368

+0.050

43

GTDPRO

48

M. Hesse / D. Harper / J. Krohn

Paul Miller Racing

2m01.262s

+13.378

+0.010

44

GTD

47

L. Patrese / G. Sernagiotto / A. Fuoco

CETILAR RACING

2m01.286s

+13.402

+0.024

45

GTD

80

D. Knox / E. Filgueiras / S. Andrews

Lone Star Racing

2m01.299s

+13.415

+0.013

46

GTDPRO

14

A. Telitz / K. Kirkwood / J. Lopez

Vasser Sullivan Racing

2m01.328s

+13.444

+0.029

47

GTDPRO

65

C. Mies / F. Vervisch / D. Olsen

Ford Multimatic Motorsports

2m01.378s

+13.494

+0.050

48

GTD

36

S. Yoluc / A. Udell / C. Eastwood

DXDT Racing

2m01.527s

+13.643

+0.149

49

GTD

27

T. Gamble / C. Stevenson / Z. Robichon

Heart of Racing Team

2m01.541s

+13.657

+0.014

50

GTD

83

S. Bovy / R. Frey / M. Gatting

Iron Dames

2m01.563s

+13.679

+0.022

51

GTD

96

P. Gallagher / R. Foley / J. Walker

Turner Motorsport

2m01.618s

+13.734

+0.055

52

GTDPRO

9

A. Caldarelli / M. Mapelli / J. Hinchcliffe

Pfaff Motorsports

2m01.702s

+13.818

+0.084

53

GTD

66

J. Hand / T. Bechtolsheimer / T. Calderon

Gradient Racing

2m01.880s

+13.996

+0.178

54

GTDPRO

20

C. Schiavoni / M. Cressoni / R. Lietz

Proton Competition

2m02.158s

+14.274

+0.278

55

GTD

19

R. van der Steur / V. Hasse-Clot

A. McIntosh

van der Steur Racing

2m02.187s

+14.303

+0.029

56

GTD

45

D. Formal / T. Hindman / G. Doyle

Wayne Taylor Racing

2m02.362s

+14.478

+0.175