GT – Jorg Bergmeister and Jaime Melo might have company when it comes to barnburner finishes in the GT class at Sebring. Joey Hand and Olivier Beretta raised the bar with their final lap theatrics in the final minutes of the 12-hour race.
Most of the other Ferraris had issues, but Beretta, the ex-Corvette driver in his first start in a GTE-spec 458 (he ran a Grand-Am spec one at the Rolex 24 at Daytona), kept the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari in contention throughout the night. Hand, meanwhile, produced several hours of brilliance in slowly but surely dragging his No. 56 BMW Team RLL M3 up the leaderboard to where it was in contention.
Then the final lap happened.
Beretta and Hand had exchanged the lead several times in the previous laps, but on the last one, Beretta's sister car got involved in the mix. The No. 51 AF Corse car, more than 100 laps down, appeared to make contact with Hand at turn 5, and Hand slid wide and off course. But despite the incident, Hand saved the car and Beretta spun in avoidance. Hand thought Beretta had been the guilty party in contact, while Beretta thought otherwise – he wound up falling to third by the flag behind the No. 03 Corvette.
“Coming down the last laps, we stinted 1 and a half or 1 and 3/4 and we just took fuel at the end,” Hand said. “I was a little surprised. Then Beretta got around me, then I got back around him again. We got sideways again, the next thing I was around him. In a car-to-car competition, you have no chance making the move Beretta tried, it worked out for me, mainly because I was expecting it. When I was spinning, I kept it straight, but I knew he had a right front flat, so I knew if I could get up to him and get him jammed, it would be easy to get around.”
Beretta countered: “I think he caused the problem himself. This is only racing, he lost it and he went in the sand. I got on the brake, I lost it too. He wants to win, and we want to win and that was just racing. No one took him out. He was on the outside line and it is dirt, not as much grip especially as the last lap of the race. I did not have a cut tire, we wanted to win, and he wanted to win. It was just the racing circumstance.”
Hand aside, the win for BMW Team RLL was a repeat of its 2011 triumph at Sebring and was with Dirk Mueller and Jonathan Summerton. Summerton secured a win on debut in the ALMS.
Regardless, those three were the top finishers. The second Corvette and BMW were fourth and fifth among GT runners.
Team Felbermayr-Proton took the GTE Am class win while Alex Job Racing scored the GTC class win with drivers Townsend Bell, Bill Sweedler and Dion von Moltke. Von Moltke fought back after he was hit by another GTC car while the two were battling for the lead. It caps, for now, AJR running a No. 23 Porsche (No. 023 for this race per a WEC conflict) as Bell and Sweedler will debut the team's new Lotus Evora in Long Beach.
Von Moltke, the young South African entrusted with bringing the car to the finish, explained what happened from his perspective. He adds this win to one at Lime Rock last year.
“I had a scare with two hours to go when I got hit in Turn 17, and I had to push the last two hours and was able to get a gap, make the last stop and bring it home for the win.”
The ALMS resumes in Long Beach April 14, while the WEC next races at Spa-Francorchamps on May 5.
Pos Cl Drivers Team/Car Laps
1. P1 McNish/Kristensen/Capello Audi 325
2. P1 Bernhard/Dumas/Duval Audi 321
3. P2 Potolicchio/Dalziel/Sarrazin Starworks HPD 319
4. P2 Tucker/Bouchut/Barbosa Level 5 HPD 319
5. P2 Nicolet/Lahaye/Pla OAK Morgan-Judd 318
6. P1 Collard/Boullion/Jousse Pescarolo-Judd 318
7. P2 Companc/Kaffer/Ayari Pecom ORECA-Nissan 317
8. P1 Dyson/Smith/Kane Dyson Lola-Mazda 317
9. P2 Zugel/Gonzalez/Julian Greaves Zytek-Nissan 316
10. P1 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD 316
11. P2 Martin/Kerr/Graves ADR-Delta ORECA-Nissan 315
12. PC Popow/Viso/Friselle CORE FLM 312
13. PC Leitzinger/Dobson/Junco PR1 FLM 311
14. P2 Holzer/Shultis/Moro Lotus Lola 310
15. PC Bennett/Braun/Lux CORE FLM 310
16. P1 Lotterer/Treluyer/Fassler Audi 310
17. P1 Brabham/Chandhok/Dumbreck JRM HPD 309
18. GT Hand/Müller/Summerton RLL BMW 307
19. GT Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor Corvette 307
20. GT Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci AF Corse Ferrari 307
21. GT Gavin/Milner/Westbrook Corvette 307
22. GT Müller/Auberlen/Alzen RLL BMW 307
23. GT Lietz/Lieb/Pilet Felbermayr Porsche 306
24. GT Miller/Maassen/Bell Miller Porsche 303
25. PC Ducote/Echeverria/Sanchez Merchant FLM 303
26. GT Law/Neiman/Lally Flying Lizard Porsche 303
27. GT Brown/Segal/Lazzaro Extreme Speed Ferrari 303
28. P1 Luhr/Graf/Pagenaud Pickett HPD 302
29. GTE-AM Ried/Roda/Ruberti Felbermayr Porsche 298
30. P2 Pappas/Curtis/Fogarty Black Swan Lola-HPD 298
31. GTE-AM Bourret/Gibon/Belloc Larbre Corvette 297
32. P1 Prost/Jani/Heidfeld Rebellion Lola-Toyota 296
33. GTC Sweedler/Bell/von Moltke Alex Job Porsche 292
34. GT Mucke/Fernandez/Turner Aston Martin 292
35. GTC MacNeil/Keen/Dumoulin Alex Job Porsche 291
36. P1 Belicchi/Primat/Bleekemolen Rebellion Lola-Toyota 291
37. GTC LeSaffre/Faulkner/Bleekemolen Green Hornet Porsche 290
38. GT Henzler/Sellers/Ragginger Falken Porsche 290
39. GTE-AM Bornhauser/Canal/Lamy Larbre Corvette 288
40. GTC Pumpelly/di Guida/Bunting TRG Porsche 287
41. GTE-AM Kauffman/Waltrip/Aguas AF Corse Ferrari 283
42. PC Guasch/Gidley/Wills Pickett FLM 282
43. GTC Cumming/Bullitt/Estre JDX Porsche 282
44. P2 Plowman/Hansson/Dracone Conquest Morgan-Judd 281
45. GTC Faieta/Avenatti/Wagner Competition Porsche 279
46. GT Sharp/van Overbeek/Cosmo Extreme Speed Ferrari 278
47. P2 Giroix/Jousse/Johansson Gulf Lola-Nissan 277
48. GTC Sofronas/Welch/Villeneuve GMC Porsche 276
49. PC Nicolosi/Vera/Matos Performance Tech FLM 274
50. GTE-AM Krohn/Jonsson/Rugolo Krohn Ferrari 265
51. PC Junqueira/Drissi/Gonzalez RSR FLM 255
52. GTE-AM Binnie/Palttala/Camathias JWA-Avila Porsche 252
53. GT Bergmeister/Long/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche 251
54. GTC Benitez/Benitez/Thiim NGT Porsche 236
55. P1 Moreau/Baguette/Kraihamer OAK Pescarolo-Judd 233
56. GT Fisichella/Bruni/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 215
57. GTC Cisneros/Edwards/Kauffmann NGT Porsche 205
58. PC Richard/Ende/Cameron Dempsey FLM 173
59. P2 Tucker/Diaz/Hunter-Reay Level 5 HPD 85
60. P2 Tresson/Mailleux/Lombard Signatech ORECA-Nissan 85
61. GT Makowiecki/Melo/Vernay Luxury Ferrari 83
62. PC Marcelli/Downs/Stirling Merchant FLM 38
63. GTE-AM Ehret/Farnbacher/Jakubowski Luxury Ferrari 0
DNS. P2 Fatien/Ihara/Deletraz Gulf Lola-Nissan