50 years ago, BMW’s win at Sebring changed the course of the brand and its future in racing. Today, it’s able to enjoy a special start to its anniversary win as BMW’s 50th anniversary livery will lead the front of the field for the 73rd running of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
In his first-ever weekend racing at Sebring, BMW M Team RLL’s Dries Vanthoor clinched the pole in the #24 BMW M Hybrid in a limited GTP qualifying session that was red-flagged mid-way after Jack Aitken with the #31 Cadillac Whelen car came to a stop in Turn 1 at the start of the session.
BMW, utilized the red flag to change into its planned second set of tires, which proved beneficial for the shortened session. Vanthoor told Motorsport.com, “It was anyway our goal to go for two sets, no matter if it was going to go red flag or not. It made it a bit more difficult because we had the shorter time to get the tires in.
“It worked out fine. It’s hot enough today, so the tires came in quite well on the second lap. The first lap was a bit too early, but it worked out.”
Vanthoor set a 1:47.091 lap time for BMW — only .025 ahead of Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura.
In LMP2, Steven Thomas, bronze driver for the #11 TDS Racing earned pole for the category at 1:51.804, narrowly beating PJ Hyett in the #99 AO Racing “Spike” car. He briefly thanked his wife for the “permission” to drive over the weekend, and was appreciative of his Pro drivers, Hunter McElrea and Mikkel Jensen, who coached him through the pole-winning laps.
Finally, it’ll be “red” at the front of the GTD and GTD Pro fields Sunday as a Ferrari earned pole for each category, with Alessandro Pier Guidi the #21 Af Corse Ferrari at the front for GTD, and Albert Costa with the #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari for GTD Pro.
The green flag waves for the 73rd Twelve Hours of Sebring at 10:10am EDT in Florida. You can watch in the states on NBC and Peacock, and international viewers can watch the stream on IMSA’s YouTube.
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