Sebring 12 hour race in 1998

The vector M12 (start number 15) in the pits. The car, driven by Bill Eagle and Dorsey Schroeder , retired after 16 laps due to a technical defect

The 46th Sebring 12 Hours of Sebring , also The 46th Annual Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring, Sebring International Raceway , took place on March 22, 1998 at the Sebring International Raceway and was the first IMSA GT series of that year .

Before the race

With the change of various racing organizers to the newly founded United States Road Racing Championship , the end of the IMSA GT series was foreseeable in 1998 . Only 9 races were part of the series. The traditional opening event, the Daytona 24-hour race , had switched to the competitive series ( 1998 winners Giampiero Moretti , Arie Luyendyk , Mauro Baldi and Didier Theys in the Ferrari 333SP ). So this year Sebring was the first race of the season.

The race

At the 12-hour race at Sebring in 1998 it was again shown that exciting car races take place even if the entry list has fewer participants than in previous years. The drivers of two Ferrari 333SP fought a close duel for the overall victory for more than eleven hours, which was decided in favor of the Theys / Baldi / Moretti team by a fire on the car of Wayne Taylor , Eric van de Poele and Fermín Vélez .

Results

Final ranking

Item	class	No.	team	driver	vehicle	Round
1	WSC	30th	Momo Doran Racing	Didier Theys Mauro Baldi Giampiero Moretti	Ferrari 333SP	319
2	GT1	4th	Panoz Motorsports	Andy Wallace David Brabham	Panoz Esperante GTR-1	318
3	GT1	74	Champion Motors	Thierry Boutsen Bob Wollek Andy Pilgrim	Porsche 911 GT1 Evo	318
4th	GT1	5	Panoz Motorsports	Eric Bernard Jamie Davies Doc Bundy	Panoz Esperante GTR-1	312
5	GT2	66	Konrad Racing	Nick Ham Franz Konrad	Porsche 911 GT2	300
6th	GT2	65	Saleen Allen Speedlab	Steve Saleen Ron Johnson Tommy Archer	Saleen Mustang	297
7th	GT1	91	Rock Valley Racing	John Heinricy Stu Hayner Roger Schramm	Chevrolet Camaro	297
8th	GT2	04	CJ Motorsports	John Morton John Graham Ron Fellows	Porsche 911 GT2	296
9	GT2	99	Larry Schumacher	Robert Nearn John O'Steen Larry Schumacher	Porsche 911 GT2	296
10	GT3	10	Prototype Technology Group	Bill Auberlen Boris Said III	BMW M3	295
11	GT3	6th	Prototype Technology Group	Peter Cunningham Ross Bentley Mark Simo	BMW M3	293
12	WSC	20th	Dyson Racing	Dorsey Schroeder Butch Leitzinger James Weaver	Riley & Scott Mk III	290
13	GT3	23	Alex Job Racing	Charles Slater Cort Wagner Darryl Havens	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	286
14th	GT3	07	G&W Motorsports	Danny Marshall Steve Marshall Patrick Huisman	Porsche 993	285
15th	GT3	76	Team ARE	John Ruther Jake Vargo Nick Anegelos Peter Argetsinger	Porsche 993 Carrera RSR	283
16	WSC	95	TRV Motorsport	Jeret Schroeder Tom Volk Lyn St. James	Kudzu DL-4	283
17th	GT3	24	Tim Vargo	Jack Refenning Tim Vargo Josh Vargo Brady Refenning	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	277
18th	GT3	25th	Alex Job Racing	Charles Slater Don Kitch Angelo Cilli Dale White Michael Petersen	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	268
19th	GT1	2	Mosler Automotive	Shane Lewis Vic Rice Tom Reese	Mosler Raptor	263
20th	GT3	96	Olive Garden Racing	Kevin Wheeler Mike Davies Ron Zitza	Porsche 993	259
21st	GT1	71	Arthur Pilla	Arthur Pilla Grandma Kimbrough David Kitchak	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	253
22nd	GT3	32	Phoenix Motorsports	Don Knowles Jim Michaelian Jim McNeely John Heinricy	Pontiac Firebird	246
23	WSC	12	Genesis Racing	Chuck Goldsborough Michael DeFontes Mark Neuhaus Rick Fairbanks	Hawk MD3R	244
Failed
24	WSC	7th	Doyle-Risi Racing	Wayne Taylor Eric van de Poele Fermín Vélez	Ferrari 333SP	298
25th	GT3	46	Bill Radar	Max Schmidt Chris Bingham	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	249
26th	WSC	39	Matthews-Colucci Racing	David Murry Hurley Haywood Derek Bell Jim Matthews	Riley & Scott Mk III	247
27	GT3	68	The Racers Group	Stephen Earle Philip Collin Kevin Buckler	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	242
28	GT1	11	Robinson Racing	Jack Baldwin Irv Hoerr George Robinson	Oldsmobile Aurora	235
29	GT3	55	AASCO performance	Tim Ralston Kelly Collins Jorge Trejos	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	232
30th	WSC	28	Intersport Racing	Jon Field Butch Brickell Rick Sutherland	Riley & Scott Mk III	173
31	GT2	77	Konrad Motorsport	Wido Rössler Peter Kitchak Matt Turner	Porsche 911 GT2	170
32	GT3	1	Prototype Technology Group	Craig Carter Andy Petery Giovanna Amati	BMW M3	170
33	GT2	01	pipe	Sylvain Tremblay Martin Snow Jochen Rohr	Porsche 911 GT2 Evo	160
34	GT2	38	Mark Hein	Mark Hein Gary Blackman John Green Pete Halsmer	Acura NSX	159
35	GT2	38	John Annis	John Annis Lee Hill Randy Pobst Mick Robinson	Chevrolet Camaro	152
36	WSC	8th	Transatlantic Racing Services	Johnny O'Connell Henry Camferdam Scott Schubot	Riley & Scott Mk III	130
37	WSC	59	Intersport Racing	Alex Smith Simon Gregg Joaquin DeSoto John Mirro	Spice SC95	129
38	GT3	54	Bell Motorsports	Carlos DeQuesada Scott Neuman Terry Borcheller Joe Varde	BMW M3	125
39	GT3	93	Team Ecuador	Henry Taleb Rino Mastronardi	Nissan 240SX	95
40	GT3	57	Cryderacing	Luis Sereix Frank Del Vecchio Reed Kryder	Nissan 240SX	42
41	WSC	63	Downing Atlanta	Jim Pace Yōjirō Terada Jim Downing	Kudzu DLM	36
42	GT3	86	First Union	Darren Law Steve Pepper Mike Fitzgerald	Porsche 993	34
43	GT3	67	The Racers Group	Peter Baron Dennis O'Keefe Steve Pelke	Porsche 911 Carrera RSR	24
44	GT2	15th	Jon Lewis	Bill Eagle Dorsey Schroeder	Vector M12	12
45	WSC	16	Dyson Racing	James Weaver Elliot Forbes-Robinson Butch Leitzinger	Riley & Scott Mk III	7th
46	GT2	69	Gustl Spreng	Gustl Spreng Kersten Jodexnis Ray Mummery	Porsche 993 Carrera Turbo	6th
47	GT3	33	Phoenix Motorsports	Steve McNeely Jim Michealian Joe Aquilante	Pontiac Firebird	4th
48	GT1	3	Greg Malvasc	Jerry Chin Chuck Singletary Gerre Payvis	Chevrolet Camaro	1
Not started
49	GT2	58	Al Broadfoot	Bob Mazzuoccola Sam Wolkoff Mark Raccaro John Fillipakis	Porsche 944 Turbo	1

¹ not trained

Only in the entry list

Here you will find teams, drivers and vehicles that were originally registered for the race but did not take part for a variety of reasons.

Item	class	No.	team	driver	chassis
50	GT1	13	Luis Sereix	Luis Sereix Daniel Urrutia Daniel Urrutia Jr.	Chevrolet Beretta
51	WSC	19th	Davin Racing	Edd Davin AJ Smith Mark Montgomery	Kudzu DLM
52	GT3	22nd	Paul Reisman	Paul Reisman John Reisman	Chevrolet Camaro
53	GT2	31	Hi-tech performance	Michael Smellie Chris Harris Michael Lewis Chris Smellie	Toyota Supra Turbo
54	WSC	33	Jacobs Motorsports	Michael Jacobs	Argo JM20
55	WSC	51	Fantasy Junction	Bruce Trenery Spencer Trenery Grahame Bryant	Cannibal

Class winner

class	driver	driver	driver	vehicle	Placement in the overall ranking
WSC	Didier Theys	Mauro Baldi	Giampiero Moretti	Ferrari 333SP	Overall victory
GT1	Andy Wallace	David Brabham		Panoz Esperante GTR-1	Rank 2
GT2	Nick Ham	Franz Konrad		Porsche 911 GT2	Rank 5
GT3	Bill Auberlen	Boris Said III		BMW M3	Rank 10

Racing data

• Registered: 55
• Started: 48
• Rated: 23
• Race classes: 4
• Spectator: unknown
• Race day weather: warm and dry, but windy
• Route length: 6.035 km
• Driving time of the winning team: 12:00: 22.895 hours
• Total laps of the winning team: 319
• Total distance of the winning team: 1925.178 km
• Winner's average: 158.208 km / h
• Pole position: Wayne Taylor - Ferrari 333SP (# 7) - 1: 55.052 - 189.241 km / h
• Fastest race lap: Didier Theys - Ferrari 333SP (# 30) - 1.57.257 - 184.861 km / h
• Racing series: 1st round of the IMSA GT series in 1998

literature

• JA Martin and Ken Welles: Prototypes - the History of the IMSA GTP Series . Bull Publishing, Phoenix 2000, ISBN 1-893618-01-3 .

Web links

• Race results at Racing Sports Cars

Previous race 1.45-hour race at Laguna Seca 1997, 2nd race

IMSA GT Championship

Successor to the 3.45-hour race of Las Vegas in 1998