Following a successful debut in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship less than two weeks ago at Daytona, Team Hardpoint drivers Rob Ferriol and Spencer Pumpelly will doubledown with a WeatherTech GT Daytona (GTD) and an IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport (GS) effort this weekend at Sebring. The pair will co-drive the No. 30 Team Hardpoint/GridRival Audi R8 LMS GT3 in GTD, and the No. 31 Team Hardpoint/GridRival Audi R8 GT4 in GS.
Team Hardpoint will compete in the two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge Advent Health 120 at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Friday afternoon which can be viewed live with TrackPass on the NBCSN app. The two-hour, 40-minute WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race is broadcast live on NBCSN.
After kicking off the season with a ninth-place finish in Pilot Challenge action at Daytona back in January, the team returned to action with the rest of the sports car racing world on the July Fourth weekend. With less than two weeks since the GTD program was announced to the green flag, Team Hardpoint still persevered to a 12th place finish in the class.
“Daytona was an almost insurmountable challenge,” Ferriol allowed. “Two weeks to prepare a new team, new car, and new driver, all under the pressure of a very compressed event schedule. While we hoped for a better result in the race, the execution and professionalism across the entire team was exactly where we wanted it to be and will serve as a solid foundation to build on as we head to Sebring.”
Ferriol’s first podium appearance as a professional driver came at Sebring during the IMSA Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA race in 2018. From there, boosted by the Audi R8 platform, he has climbed the IMSA ladder – racing in Pilot Challenge a year ago and making his WeatherTech debut at Daytona. Now, he’ll move from one Audi R8 to the other on the same weekend, though the abbreviated schedule means that the team will complete the Pilot Challenge schedule before moving to the GT3 car.
“I think Spencer said it best, the GT3 is like the GT4 on fast-forward,” Ferriol said. “Similar chassis balance, identical cockpit, only much, much faster. I’m confident that over the long term, the double duty will be a net positive. The GT4 rewards momentum, which will provide an even bigger reward when paired with the power and downforce of the GT3. The GT3 rewards deep brake zones and big speed, which will have me pushing the GT4 even harder.”
Pumpelly knows Sebring well, scoring a GTD podium in 2019 in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, a Michelin Pilot Challenge class pole in 2018, and a race win in Michelin Pilot Challenge in 2017. That experience will boost Team Hardpoint in their first visit as a team.
The weather in Central Florida may impact the race weekend in different ways that the traditional March weekend, with temperatures forecasted in the upper 80s or low 90s for this weekend’s July race
“There will be a little adjusting when we transition to the GT3 car but we tested both cars in the same order a few weeks ago and the team and drivers handled it well,” Pumpelly said. “The testing we did was in similar conditions to what we should find this weekend. High ambient heat and humidity, coupled with a hot track surface makes it different than when we are traditionally here in March but we learned a lot about what we are likely to face.”
The event begins with Michelin Pilot Challenge practice on Thursday, followed by a Friday morning qualifying and the two-hour Advent Health 120 at 2:30 p.m. EDT. The team will immediately switch over to the Audi in WeatherTech trim for practice on Friday evening, with GTD qualifying on Saturday afternoon and the two-hour, 40-minute race on Saturday evening beginning at 5:35 p.m. EDT. The Michelin Pilot Challenge race can be seen live with TrackPass on the NBCSN app, while the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race will be broadcast live on NBCSN.