The 2022 12 Hours of Sebring (formally known as the 70th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts) was an

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...

sports car race held at

Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S., its first race being run i ...

near

Sebring, Florida Sebring ( ) is a city in the south-central Florida and is the county seat of Highlands County, Florida, United States, nicknamed "The City on the Circle", in reference to Circle Drive, the center of the Sebring Downtown Historic District. As of t ...

from 16 to 19 March 2022. It was the second round of both the

2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship The 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) is a championship of racing, the 52nd racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), which ...

and the Michelin Endurance Cup. JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing entered as the defending overall winners of the 12-hour event.

Background

2022 marked the return of the "Super Sebring" weekend, in which both the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

and

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

would compete during the same weekend; the 12 hour event joining the

1000 Miles of Sebring The 1,000 Miles of Sebring is a Sports car racing, sports car race that is held at the Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II Air Base, in Sebring, Florida, Sebring, Florida, USA. It was cre ...

. Last held in 2019, the WEC round was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The 2022 date also fell on the same weekend as the

IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...

round at

Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...

, prompting several full-time IndyCar competitors to vacate their seats for the event. On March 9, 2022, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining

Balance of Performance In sports car racing, balance of performance (BoP) is a regulation and mechanism that maintains parity between competing vehicles by adjusting limits on a car's parameters, such as horsepower, weight, engine management, and aerodynamics to preven ...

for the event. Changes were made from the BoP tables most recently established at the 2021 season-ending

Petit Le Mans The Petit Le Mans ( French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which a ...

, as the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

featured it own unique BoP tables. No changes were made across the three prototype classes, while several changes were made in GTD and GTD Pro. The Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 was given a 20 kilogram weight reduction as well as turbo boost tweaks, while the new BMW M4 GT3 and Chevrolet Corvette C8.R (in GTD trim) were given 5 and 20 kilogram weight reductions respectively following the 24 Hours of Daytona. The McLaren 720S GT3 received a slight turbo boost reduction, while the Lexus RC F GT3 received a minor horsepower increase. The Mercedes-AMG GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight reduction. On Friday morning, the Corvette received a mid-event adjustment, gaining 20 additional horsepower and a fuel capacity increase of 4 liters. Supporting the race during the week were IMSA's

Michelin Pilot Challenge The Michelin Pilot Challenge is a grand touring and touring car racing series run by the International Motor Sports Association. Originating from the Canadian Motorola Cup, the series was taken over by Grand-Am in 2001 to become the Grand-Am Cu ...

and Porsche Carrera Cup North America.

Entries

A total of 53 cars took part in the event, split across five classes. 7 were entered in

DPi A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replacemen ...

, 8 in

LMP2 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...

, 10 in

LMP3 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...

, 11 in GTD Pro, and 17 in GTD. All seven cars which contested the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona returned, albeit with altered driver lineups.

Neel Jani Neel Jani (born 8 December 1983) is a Swiss professional Porsche factory driver. His father is from India and his mother is German Swiss. He achieved his greatest success winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2016 after first joining Porsche's LMP1 ...

was drafted in to replace

Kevin Magnussen Kevin Jan Magnussen (born 5 October 1992) is a Danish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Haas F1 Team. He is the son of four-time Le Mans winner and former Formula One driver Jan Magnussen. Kevin Magnussen came up through McLa ...

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...

's #02 entry, with Magnussen rejoining

Haas F1 Team Haas Formula LLC, competing as Haas F1 Team, is an American-licensed Formula One racing team established by NASCAR Cup Series team co-owner Gene Haas in April 2014. The team originally intended to make its debut at the start of the season b ...

following the departure of

Nikita Mazepin Nikita Dmitryevich Mazepin ( rus, Ники́та Дми́триевич Мазе́пин, p=nʲɪˈkʲitə ˈdmʲɪtrʲɪjɪvʲɪtɕ mɐˈzʲepʲɪn; born 2 March 1999) is a Russian professional auto racing, racing driver who competes in rally ...

Meyer Shank Racing Meyer Shank Racing (formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American auto racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship. History Atlantic Championship Michael Shank as an owner of Michael Shank Racing, he ...

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...

was replaced by

Stoffel Vandoorne Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...

due to the former's IndyCar commitments, while

Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is a professional American racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became th ...

(Chip Ganassi Racing) and

José María López José María "Pechito" López (born 26 April 1983) is an Argentine race car driver who is currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing and 2014–2016 World Touring Car Champion. He raced in the 2006 GP2 ...

( Ally Cadillac Racing) replaced

Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...

and

Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. A seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, he competes part-time in the series driving for Petty GMS Motorsports. Johnson's seven Cup championships, ...

respectively for the same reason. LMP2 saw eight of the ten entries return, with G-Drive Racing by APR's pair of entries being the lone absence. In LMP3,

Mühlner Motorsport Mühlner Motorsport is a Belgian auto racing team competing in the FIA GT1 World Championship.

dropped to a single entry, while Jr III Racing and FastMD Racing made their 2022 debuts, boosting the class to 10 entries. GTD Pro saw the introduction of Racers Edge Motorsports and their Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, while WeatherTech Racing returned with their #97 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo following a planned one-off at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Aaron Telitz Aaron Telitz (born December 13, 1991) is an American race car driver. He currently competes full-time in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving for AIM Vasser Sullivan. Career Born in Birchwood, Wisconsin, Telitz began his racing care ...

also replaced Texas-bound

Kyle Kirkwood Kyle MacLean Kirkwood (born October 19, 1998) is an American auto racing driver. He is the currently set to drive the No. 27 for Andretti Autosport in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series. He formerly drove the AJ Foyt Racing No. 14 entry during the 2022 ...

in the #12 Lexus, while Scott Andrews filled Telitz's seat in the #14. The absence of

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

's Porsche, the #4 Corvette, and WeatherTech Racing's #15 Mercedes saw the entry list fall to 11. 17 cars were listed in GTD, five fewer than the field that contested the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Paul Miller Racing Paul Miller Racing is an American auto racing team that is part of Paul Miller Auto Group and associated with former racing driver . The team has operations that are headquartered in Buford, Georgia; the Racing team also has operations in Par ...

made their 2022 debut, while entries from Team TGM, TR3 Racing,

GMG Racing James Sofronas (born September 9, 1968) is an American racing driver and the founder of Global Motorsports Group. Motorsports career Sofronas began his racing career in the early 1990s, purchasing a Nissan NX 2000 which was eligible for the Sp ...

, T3 Motorsport, SunEnergy1 Racing, and Northwest AMR were dropped.

Qualifying

Qualifying results

Pole positions In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

in each class are indicated in bold and by .

Results

Race

Class winners are denoted in bold and .

References

External links

{{12 Hours of Sebring 12 Hours of Sebring

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...