Narrow margins augur an epic GTP battle over the bumps at Sebring

The stage is set for a thrilling Sebring 12 Hours tomorrow following this afternoon’s gripping GTP qualifying session, which saw BMW Team RLL’s Dries Vanthoor edge out Acura MSR’s Tom Blomqvist by less than a tenth in the shootout.

Will that duel continue in the race all the way to the flag tomorrow night? The crews at RLL and MSR certainly hope so, as both are gunning for historic victories in Central Florida this week.

For RLL and BMW, marking the 50th anniversary of BMW North America and its Sebring win with the 3.0 CSL with a trip to victory lane would be oh-so-sweet. The M Hybrid V8s were fast at Daytona but failed to convert their qualifying performance into a win. They're banking on a different outcome here.

In previous years BMW’s LMDh has struggled on the notoriously challenging surface at Sebring. But the car has improved dramatically over the past year and has the potential to follow a similar arc as the 963 if both RLL here and WRT over in the WEC can take just a few more steps forward.

“I think the bumps are tough for us, and for every brand,” Dries Vanthoor, a Sebring rookie, told RACER. “We have to improve our damping, I think, but the car feels so much better than last year with the steps we’ve taken on the car. We have shown at Daytona and Qatar we can be strong, so why can’t we be up the front here?”

In order to win the 12 Hours for the first time since 1999, BMW will have to get past Acura, it seems. The ARX-06 was victorious 12 months ago, though a lot has changed since the 2024 running. Wayne Taylor Racing is now at Cadillac, Meyer Shank Racing has returned and HRC US has opted to pour more resources into its GTP program than ever before.

The car itself has proven it’s capable of riding the bumps, but to this point, the Ohio-based team has yet to claim a victory in this race, which owner Mike Shank understandably considers “the hardest of the year.”

Will it finally all come together this time? There’s firm belief in the camp that 2025 represents their best chance yet.

The team is recharged and ready for battle following an impressive return to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at Daytona. There, after a year hiatus, the No. 60 finished second in the team’s first event as a two-car GTP team, and the No. 93 showed good pace before falling victim to a suspension problem.

The Rolex 24 was also the outfit’s first event working fully hand-in-glove with HRC US. In 2025, while both organizations are functioning as one team, MSR is operating the No. 60 while staff from HRC US are running the No. 93 car. The relationship between the two is tighter than ever before and according to Blomqvist, it was a smooth start to the partnership behind the scenes.

“We lived up to the expectations, I had a tiny concern that it would be tough with so many new people,” he said, reflecting on the season opener. “We’ve grown in size, and for instance, my engineer on car No. 60 is new to IMSA and my strategist is new to IMSA. Yet we did the race with minimal mistakes. It’s a testament to the preparation that we did.

“We’ve set the benchmark now and want to get stronger and stronger as a unit. We’ve got a lot of smart people and I see us being strong as a team all season. We’re one team -- there are a lot of Honda guys who are new to operational work at the track, but it’s good for them and the challenge is part of the enjoyment.

“It feels like such a close relationship with Honda, and there’s excitement from their side because they’re more hands-on for this joint effort.”

The task is clear for Shank and HRC US tomorrow, but far from simple. They will need to execute a perfect strategy and pray Lady Luck is on their side.

Michael Levitt/IMSA

“We’ve got a really good car for this circuit,” Blomqvist explains. “Everyone has their tracks they’re good and bad at but I feel the Acura is good here and good in most places. Last year (with WTR), the car came alive at night and they made a good call on tires.”

This is a race which traditionally rewards teams that make bold strategy calls at the end of the race and find a sweet spot in car setup that enables them to be effective both in the heat of the afternoon and the cooler temperatures when the sun goes down.

“This track is so hard to nail. It’s so sensitive to temperatures and the wind,” Blomqvist notes. “And maybe more to the wind. There’s a huge delta in the performance, the lap time of the car and the balance. These cars are quite different when the night arrives -- the aero behavior shifts. So it’s about getting that right -- you have to make sure you have a car to be there at the end on pace.

“We go through phases in the race here where you go through a bit of pain,” he continues, “because your car needs to be racey at the end and there’s a high chance of a sprint at the end fresh from a restart. Being good over a stint is important, but if you look at the past, this race is won at restarts.

“We (Meyer Shank Racing) have struggled a lot here -- I haven’t even had a podium here -- but hopefully we can change that. I think we’ve got a good shot, but the BMWs are super fast and I feel like they’ve got an advantage on the field if they execute this weekend. It’ll be tough, but a good, close race.”

Of course, you'd be foolish to rule out either Porsche or Cadillac, the other two well-established players of the current era. The Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s were close in qualifying, with the Daytona winners in the No. 7 taking third on the grid, and Cadillac has real form to draw from.

"Fast Friday" was tough on the trio of V-Series.Rs, with a mechanical drama preventing a challenge from the No. 31 and the WTR examples ending up eighth and ninth, but that won’t dampen spirits too much. The GM brand has won this race five times since 2017, and only one of those came from pole.

Sebring has shown us time and time again that anything can happen when night falls over the airfield. It's why hordes of fans pack the infield every year and keep coming back for more.