Rewind to the 2018 12 Hours of Sebring

December 4, 2018 Joseph Dale 972 Views

Earlier this year we were invited by Lexus to come out to Sebring International Raceway for the 12 Hours of Sebring. It was my first time being at a full on endurance race and we had planned to be there the whole 12 hours, it seemed like a easy task. But it proved to be a challenge towards the end.

We arrived at Sebring Friday afternoon got checked in and wondered around the track trying to see what we could see before the sun went down.

One of my friends that came with us met up with his co workers that travel to Sebring every year and setup their RV’s and assemble it like a bachelor pad at the track. Above you can see what they built to sit above the fences and get a proper view of the race.

The view from the top of the structure showed the kitchen / living room area filled with sofas, televisions and any type of food and alcohol you could ask for.

Ran into a guy that free hands portraits of race cars from the races he attends. He was actually part of the Sebring media team that helps broadcast the race. But in between working he goes and draws the sites of the race. Amazing artist by the name of Stefan Marjoram @stefanmarjoram

By the time we arrived, qualifying had finished, and all the teams were in their garages making last minute adjustments for the race in the morning.

We also missed the Continental Sports Car challenge, but caught some of the Audi’s being loaded up for the weekend.

When the sun went down, and all the garage doors closed up for the night. The track transformed into a completely different atmosphere. Imagine lifted Tacomas, with green underglow lighting , Post Malone blasting , Miller Lite, Carnival food, and a drunk group of guys dressed in cow suits. We were not mentally prepared for the night life at Sebring so we headed back to our super sketchy hotel we booked at the last minute.

We arrived back at the track on Saturday morning and met up with world famous Mike Forsythe . Lexus was generous enough to feed us all weekend in their VIP lounge and offer an amazing spot at turn 1. Each participating manufacturers set up an area strictly for their customers and staff for the weekend. The other manufacturers were set up close to the pits, but I do believe we had the best spot with the most action.

Part of our VIP experience was going on a few hot laps in a Lexus GSF around Sebring. After many laps in Forza, it was exciting to finally be able to hit the track in real life.

Each manufacturer had their own vehicle out for their guests to take rides in.

Riding in the Lexus GSF was really a wake up call. From the outside the GSF does not look like its much of a monster on the track. Our driver drove the car to the absolute max, I was so sure that we were gong to spin out several times but the car stuck to the road like nothing i have felt before in a sedan. But most impressive was the stopping power of the GSF.

After our hot laps, we headed over to the grid walk to check out the field of cars up close and personal. The 12 Hour Sebring race was the debut of the Lexus RC GTD #15 in the red livery.

The Mark Levinson blue #14 car

Of course I had to make a stop at the Mazda Team Joest Prototype

The beautiful Team RLL 8 Series GTLM

My first time seeing a Ford GT in person was in LM form. Whats crazy is how similar the road version is to the LM car.

The crowd around the C7R was insane. You would think that these guys never seen a Corvette before.. And there I was trying to squeeze in and take a photo of it.. haha

We scrambled over to the Lexus hospitality to catch the start. And just like in Forza there was a wreck on the first turn. Which coincidentally one of the Prototype cars that was involved ended up winning its class.

The cars were running extremely hard on fresh tires, fresh gas, and drivers eager to get a good pace set for the 12 hour race.

Sebring is laid out really well for capturing photos. And with it being so flat, you could almost see a piece of the track from every where. The only downfall to this is getting from one side to another was a pretty nice walk.

For lunch Lexus had one of the drivers come and talk with us in the hospitality trailer. And they gave away a few prizes. Pretty cool to have the driver leave the race and come talk to us and give us some actual update on what is actually happening on the track with the Lexus team.

We were also able to walk the hot pits for a few minutes, and listen in on some of the radio chatter from Team Lexus.

One of the pit crew members reading the cars live telemetry, so they can prepare for the next pit stop.

Seeing these guys stare at these readings and type and write notes. Shows how much it takes for these cars to not only win , but last the whole race.

Another important element to victory is proper tire management. We were there in the pits for at least 30 minutes, and these guys must have checked and made notations every 10 seconds regarding the tires.

Midway through the race it seemed like the cars were in cruise control , there was less pits, less action , and not much drama.

One of my good friends Justin Semon recently joined the Paul Miller Race Team. So were also rooting for the #48 Huracan. The car looked really smooth and was consistent all day.

We took a break from the track for a few hours and went on the opposite side of the straightaway during sunset. To try and catch the race from a different perspective. To our surprise there was hardly anyone on that side.

As the sun set, the pace slowly started to pickup as the clock neared the 12 hour mark.

As the lights came on the drivers got much more aggressive and the competition got more fierce. The drivers started to really push the cars the last few hours.

It was incredible watching the cars push the last hour. And watching the Prototype cars bully the other classes was insane. There was so much going on the last hour, we had to go to the trailer and catch it on from the live broadcast. The last hour Mazda Prototype was in the lead but had been battling clutch issues, and an electrical issue that caused the headlights to cut off randomly. But the car was still running podium, up until it ran into something on the track from a previous wreck, and the clutch finally gave out.

Staying till the end was well worth it seeing the teams celebrate and finally catch a breather from the 12 hour marathon. I could not believe that I was able to stand after being on my feet 12 hours shooting. The experience was something I will never forget. First time at Sebring and first time being at such a historical race. The Lexus GTD team finished in 5th after a hard fight in the last hour.