Packed Field of 55 Cars Takes to Legendary Sebring for IMSA’s Second 2026 Race
By Tony DiZinno
Entry List (Click Here)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The second leg of the annual “36 Hours of Florida” to kick off the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season takes place next week at Sebring International Raceway with the 74th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
German brands opened the year strongly as Porsche won overall in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, BMW won in Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Mercedes-AMG won in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). Porsche swept both GTP and GTD PRO at Sebring last year and looks to double up for a second year in a row, while Winward Racing with its No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 seeks its own Sebring three-peat in GTD.
A field of 55 cars across all four classes (11 GTP, 12 LMP2, 13 GTD PRO and 19 GTD) is set to compete, including a few changes of note compared to the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Pfaff Motorsports is set to give the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 its global race debut, with the full-season pairing of Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell now joined by Lamborghini veteran Franck Perera in the team’s No. 9 car.
JDC-Miller MotorSports has a pair of changes. Its traditional No. 85 Porsche 963 GTP entry switches to No. 5 with the same lineup of Tijmen van der Helm, Nico Pino and Kaylen Frederick. The team also brings back its LMP2 car, with Gerry Kraut, past LMP3 Sebring winner Josh Burdon and Sennan Fielding sharing the No. 79 ORECA LMP2 07.
As previously announced, 2021 Sebring overall winner Tristan Vautier rejoins the WeatherTech Championship grid as part of Tower Motorsports’ No. 8 ORECA LMP2 07 in LMP2.
Additional nuggets of information for race week are below:
Fast Facts
74th Running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
Sebring International Raceway – Sebring, Florida
March 18-21, 2026
Race Day/Time: Saturday, March 21 – 10:10 a.m. ET
Peacock Streaming Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 10 a.m. ET (IMSA YouTube outside the U.S.).
NBCSN Live TV Race Coverage: 5-10:30 p.m.
NBCSN Live TV Qualifying Coverage: Friday, March 20 – 11:20 a.m. ET
Live Qualifying Stream: 11:20 a.m. (Peacock in the U.S, IMSA YouTube outside the U.S.)
Circuit Type: 3.74-mile, 17-turn road course
Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), Grand Touring Daytona (GTD)
Race Length: 12 hours
Track Social Media:
- X / Twitter: @SebringRaceway
- Instagram: @SebringRaceway
- Facebook: @SebringInternationalRaceway
Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #Sebring12
WeatherTech Championship Track Records – Sebring International Raceway
GTP: Pipo Derani, Cadillac V-Series.R, 1:45.836 / 127.215 mph, March 2023 (DPi track record is Sebastien Bourdais, Cadillac DPi-V.R, 1:45.166 / 128.025 mph, March 2022)
LMP2: Giedo van der Garde, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:48.311 / 124.308 mph, March 2022
GTD PRO: Jack Hawksworth, Lexus RC F GT3, 1:58.714 / 113.415 mph, March 2024
GTD: Daniel Serra, Ferrari 488 GT3, 1:58.710 / 113.420 mph, March 2018
2025 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Motul Pole Award Winners:
GTP: Dries Vanthoor, No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8
LMP2: Steven Thomas, No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07
GTD PRO: Albert Costa, No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3
GTD: Alessandro Pier Guidi, No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
2025 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Winners:
GTP: Felipe Nasr/Nick Tandy/Laurens Vanthoor, No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963
LMP2: Tom Dillmann/Bijoy Garg/Jeremy Clarke, No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07
GTD PRO: Laurin Heinrich/Klaus Bachler/Alessio Picariello, No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
GTD: Russell Ward/Philip Ellis/Indy Dontje, No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Storylines
- German Manufacturers vs. the Field: German brands Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-AMG won their classes at the 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona, leaving everyone else in the dust. Three GTP brands have won in three years at Sebring, with Cadillac (2023) and Acura (2024) winning before Porsche broke through in GTP last year for its first overall Sebring win in 17 years.
- Lamborghini Temerario GT3 Debut: The global debut of the all-new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 comes from Pfaff Motorsports after an extensive fall and winter testing program. Andrea Caldarelli, Sandy Mitchell and Franck Perera will share the No. 9 entry.
- Corvette Bounce Back? Four of the five Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs entered at the Rolex 24 contended for the wins in either GTD PRO or GTD at Daytona, but none took home a victory. Both Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports GTD PRO entries, as well as the 13 Autosport, DXDT Racing and DragonSpeed Corvettes in GTD, will look to atone at a track where Chevrolet has more than 40 lifetime wins.
- Seven Manufacturer Winners: The opening month-plus of the IMSA season produced seven different winning automotive manufacturers: Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-AMG in WeatherTech Championship, Aston Martin and Hyundai in Michelin Pilot Challenge, Toyota in VP Racing SportsCar Challenge and Mazda in Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by Michelin. Who will add their names to the win list?
- IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup: Three of the four Rolex 24 class winners also scored the most points toward the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, which awards separate points at different hourly markers in the five endurance races. At Sebring, points are awarded at the four-, eight- and 12-hour marks. Leading in each class following the Rolex 24 are the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 in GTP, the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07 in LMP2, the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 in GTD PRO, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GTD.
- CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award: The No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo (WeatherTech Championship) and No. 13 McCumbee McAleer Racing Ford Mustang GT4 (Michelin Pilot Challenge) were awarded the CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award for their performance at the Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend. The teams will be presented with the award during Sebring prerace ceremonies.
Who’s Hot?
- Winward Mercedes-AMG: The back-to-back Sebring GTD winners are fresh off their third Rolex 24 win in six seasons. Philip Ellis, Russell Ward and Indy Dontje go for a Sebring hat trick in their No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3.
- Felipe Nasr: Nasr won his third straight Rolex 24 to start the year and now has a chance to go back-to-back for the 36 Hours of Florida for a second consecutive season.
Who’s Good Here?
- Porsche: With more than 100 Sebring wins on its resume, there is no substitute for the most successful manufacturer at this track. Porsche enjoyed a GTP/GTD PRO sweep in 2025 and looks for back-to-back GTP wins to start 2026.
- Antonio Garcia and Nick Tandy: The pair of four-time Sebring winners commence a drive-for-five, although only one of them would be able to achieve it as both race against each other in GTD PRO.
- Jordan Taylor and Colin Braun: The two American three-time winners in the field seek their fourth Sebring win, and like Garcia and Tandy, only one can achieve it as they are rivals in GTP.