Tune In Info
Race: Mar 19 10:40am to 10:40pm
Television: Fox Sports Racing – 4pm to 7pm, 10pm to 11pm
Live Stream - Race: www.imsa.com/camera/imsatv 
Live Stream - Qualifying: www.fanschoice.tv (Mar 18 3:30pm)
Live Timing & Scoring: scoring.imsa.com

This weekend's 12 Hours of Sebring marks the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, as well as the 2nd round of the series-within-a-series Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup for the 4 longest races in the series, Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and the Petit LeMans.

After Daytona, there is usually a pretty big drop of in Canadian content moving to Sebring, but that's certainly not the case this, in part because the Canadian count for this year's Daytona was lowest it's been in years. But there will be a significant number of Canadians participating in both the 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as the 3 support races leading into the 12 Hours.

Sebring will help answer some big questions, notably, was the pace shown by the Delta Wing at Daytona a one-track, one-off or can it come to Sebring and lead on sheer pace? The same question goes for the SpeedSource Mazda's, led by Canadian ex-pat Sylvain Tremblay. After a couple of seasons far off the pace running diesel powered cars, the team switched to a more conventional gasoline unit this season, which paid dividends almost immediately with the car legitimately leading at Dayona. If both teams can avoid bad luck, then either could find themselves on the podium.

If the Delta Wing and Mazda's stumble like at Daytona, then Sebring will likely come down to a battle between the out and out speed of the 2 Ligier's and the reliability of the stable of Corvette DP's.

The battle in GTLM will again see the focus on the Markham, Ontario Multimatic built Ford GT's. They ran into mechanical problems early at Daytona and never had a chance to compete, so the Sebring will be another chance to prove that all the hype surrounding the cars leading into Daytona wasn't just talk. Even if they don't win, the Ford GT's need to make it to the finish, ideally both of them. The team has a solid driver line up with Joey Hand, Dirk Muller, Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Indy Car

Prototype Class

In the top Prototype class, there are no Ganassi cars this time around, so Lance Stroll won't get a chance to repeat his impressive performance from Daytona.

Canadian content in the Prototype class will be taken up by Daniel Morad, who gets his first series start in the #24 Riley BMW DP car. BMW powered Riley's haven't been the most competitive in the last couple of years, and between the outright speed of the Ligier P2 cars and the bullet-proof speed of the Corvette DP's, Morad will need some luck to hit the podium this weekend.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
Mar 19 Race - Twelve Hours of Sebring 10:40 AM - 10:40 PM ET

Canadian Prototype Drivers
Daniel Morad - #24 Riley-BMW DP (Team mates - Carlos de Quesada, Cameron Lawrence, Dominik Farnbacher)

Prototype Challenge Class

Protoype Challenge will again see the biggest Canadian contingent, and probably the best opportunity for a class victory. Mikhail Goikhberg is back to defend his Daytona 24 Hour win with JDC-Miller Motorsports team, while both Mark Wilkins and Kyle Marcelli are back with their Daytona teams as well. Both Marcelli and Wilkins had very different races than Goikhberg's with Wilkins driving through the field into the lead, only to have the car fail, while Marcelli, a last minute addition to the team at Daytona, only got a handful laps before his car also failed.

All three cars are fast and capable of winning, if they can make it to the finish.  

Canadian Prototype Challenge Drivers
Kyle Marcelli - #38 ORECA FLM09 (Team mates – James French, Josh Norman)
Mark Wilkins - #54 ORECA FLM09 (Team mates – Jonathan Bennett, Colin Braun)
Mikhail Goikhberg - #85 ORECA FLM09 (Team mates – Chris Miller, Kenton Koch, Stephen Simpson)

GTLM Class

The GTLM class again means one thing for Canadians, BMW Team RLL. Both Canadians in the class are racing for the North American factory BMW effort, with DTM star and 2012 champion Bruno Spengler back behind the wheel of the #25 M6, and Kuno Wittmer returning to the #100 team car.

The cars showed a lot of speed at Daytona, however a brake disc failure during the night for the #100, still on the lead lap, put the car out of the race, and forced the #25 car, already a lap down from contact early in the race, into the pits for a precautionary brake change immediately, and again later in the race.

If brake concerns have been solved, then the BMW's should be able to compete for the win.   

Canadian GTLM Drivers
Bruno Spengler - #25 BMW M6 GTLM (Team mates – Bill Auberlen, Dirk Werner)
Kuno Wittmer - #100 BMW M6 GTLM (Team mates – John Edwards, Lucas Luhr)

GTD Class

Like at Daytona, Paul Dalla Lana will again be the only Canadian in the GTD class, driving the #98 Aston Martin Vantage. In the Roar Before the 24, the Aston Martin did not look particularly quick, and certainly didn't look like it was going to be a contender on race day.

In a wild GTD race though, the car was competitive and lead for while during the night. With a strong driver line up that includes former F1 driver Pedro Lamy and Niki's son Mathias Lauda, there's no reason to expect the car won't be competitive again at Sebring.  

Canadian GTD Drivers
Paul Dalla Lana - #98 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 (Team mates – Pedro Lamy, Mathias Lauda, Richie Stanaway)

Support Races

In addition the big race, there will be a strong Canadian contingent in all 3 support races this year at Sebring. Continental Sports Car Challenge & Porsche GT3 Cup USA will see Canadians in with a real chance to win, while in Mazda Prototype Lites James Dayson's ability to adapt from open wheel to closed wheel will likely be a deciding factor in Canadian chances for the podium in the Mazda Prototype Lites race.  

Continental Sports Car Championship
Mar 18 Race - Continental Tire Challenge 12:20 PM - 02:50 PM ET
Live Stream: www.fanschoice.tv www.imsa.com/camera/imsatv  
Live Timing & Scoring: scoring.imsa.com

The Multimatic Shelby will again be the car to beat in the GS (Grand Sports) class, driven by long-time Multimatic driver Scott Maxwell of Toronto, and team mate Billy Johnson. Daniel Burkett of Winnipeg has also shown tremendous speed in the flat black Porsche Cayman GT4 known as Darth Cayman, so, with a little luck, we could see a pair of Canadians on the podium.

In the ST (Street Tuner) class Michael Valiante is usually running up at the front in the Honda Civic Si, while Remo Ruscitti and James Vance will likely have to overcome team mates that aren't on their pace.  

Continental Sports Car Challenge Canadian Drivers
Scott Maxwell # 15 Ford Shelby GT350R-C (GS) (Team mate Billy Johnson)
Daniel Burkett #33 Porsche Cayman GT4 ("Darth Cayman") (GS) (Team mate Marc Miller)
Remo Ruscitti #18 Porsche Cayman (ST) (Team mate Aaron Song)
James Vance #52 Mini (ST) (Team mate Ramin Abdolvahabi)
Michael Valiante #93 Honda Civic Si (ST) (Team mate Chad Gilsinger)

Porsche GT3 Cup USA
Mar 17 Race 1 - Porsche GT3 Cup 03:50 PM - 04:35 PM ET
Mar 18 Race 2 - Porsche GT3 Cup 09:10 AM - 09:55 AM ET
Live Stream: www.fanschoice.tv (both races)
Live Timing & Scoring: scoring.imsa.com

Five regulars from the GT3 Cup Canada series will be added to GT3 Cup USA regular Jesse Lazare increasing the Canadian content to a total of 6 drivers in the 32 car field, and the Canadians will make an impact at Sebring. After first practice today, three of the Canadians found themselves in the top 5.

Jesse Lazare is opening his championship bid in strong fashion. The 17 year old from Montreal led opening practice by almost 3/4 of a second on 2nd place driver Lucas Catania. 2015 GT3 Cup Canada champion Chris Green was 3rd quickest, while GT3 CAN regular Marco Cirone rounded out the top 5 and led all Masters class drivers.

Canadian Porsche GT3 Cup Drivers
Chris Green - #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche (GT3 CAN)
Orey Fidani - #13 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche (GT3 CAN)
Jesse Lazare - #21 Kelly Moss Road & Race Porsche (GT3 USA)
Marco Cirone - #88 Mark Motors Racing Porsche (GT3 CAN – Masters)
Shaun McKaigue - #34 Fiorano Racing (GT3 CAN – Gold Cup)
Gerald Panneton - #57 Mark Motors Racing Porsche (GT3 CAN – Gold Cup)

Mazda Protoype Lites
Mar 17 Race 1 - Mazda Lites 01:35 PM - 02:05 PM ET
Mar 18 Race 2 - Mazda Lites 08:00 AM - 08:45 AM ET
Live Timing & Scoring: scoring.imsa.com

Three Canadians will be competing in the Mazda Prototype Lites race at Sebring, including James Dayson, the long time open-wheel driver making the switch to the Mazda Prototype Lites class this year with the Exteme Speed Motorsports team.

Canadian Mazda Prototype Lites Drivers
James Dayson - #12 Extreme Speed Motorsports Elan DP02
Guy Laporte - #68 Performance Tech Motorsports Elan DP02
Max DeAngelis - #07 Eurosport Racing Elan DP02 (L2 class)

Canadians Teams

Multimatic – While Multimatic isn't the team running the Ford GT's, the Markahm, Ontario based company did build the cars that are being campaigned by IndyCar & NASCAR team owner Chip Ganassi. Multimatic is the team that runs the Ford Shelby GT350R-C in the Continental Sports Car Challenge, driven by Scott Maxwell and Billy Johnson.

Pfaff Motorsports – Pfaff, the long-time GTA Porsche dealer has brought a pair of cars to Florida for their GT3 Cup Canada drivers Chris Green and Orey Fidani.

Mark Motors Racing – Like Pfaff, Mark Motors is an Ontario-based Porsche dealer (from Ottawa) that has brought a couple of cars to Florida. GT3 Cup Canada stand out and Masters class favourite Marco Cirone drives the #88 while #57 will be driven by Gerald Panneton of Trois Rivieres, in the Gold Cup class.

Compass360 – Another GTA-based team, C360 will field a Ford Shelby GT350R-C in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge GS class, driven by Americans Paul Holton and Pierre Kleinubing. The team will also field a pair of Audi S3's in the ST class, with the #74 driven by Jim McGuire and Nico Rondet and the #75 driven by Roy Block and Kyle Gimple, all 4 drivers hailing from the USA

Alumni Report

Like most races in North America, Sebring will see a number of drivers competing that have come through one of the many Canadian based racing teams & series, both in the 12 Hours and in the support races.

Carlos de Quesada USA #24 Riley BMW (P) WeatherTech Sports Car Championship (Porsche GT3 Cup Canada)

Spencer Pigot USA - #55 Mazda Prototype (P) WeatherTech Sports Car Championship (Brian Graham Racing, Ontario Formula Ford Championship)

John Edwards USA - #100 BMW M6 (GTLM) WeatherTech Sports Car Championship (AIM Autosport, Pro Mazda)

Trent Hindman USA - #12 Porsche Cayman GT4 (GS) Continental Sports Car Challenge (Brian Graham Racing, Ontario Formula Ford Championship)