Final 2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring results: Chip Ganassi Racing, Bamber rebound for win

By Mar 19, 2022, 10:30 PM EDT
0 Comments

2022 Twelve Hours of Sebring results: In only the car’s second race, Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 02 Cadillac DPi-V.R captured the 70th running of prestigious Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Earl Bamber, co-driving with Alex Lynn and Neel Jani, took the checkered flag after overcoming two incidents (that encompassed a spin and a drive-through penalty) during his final stint at Sebring International Raceway.

“Honestly it’s right up there,” Bamber, the 2019 GTLM champion for Porsche who joined Ganassi this year, told NBC Sports reporter Brian Till. “Chip Ganassi Racing and the Cadillac was amazing this weekend. We had such a good lead, and I managed to throw it away twice. Once on the out lap, and I thought, ‘Man, I can’t do this, these guys have worked so hard on the car.’ Got back to the lead and then got clipped by a GTD.

RESULTS: Click here for the final overall finishing order l Click here for the class breakdown.

“I’m just exhausted. Thanks to everyone at Cadillac and Chip giving me the chance to drive this car, it’s just incredible.”

Ganassi expanded to a second Cadillac this season after entering the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series’ premier division last year with the No. 01, which earned the pole position Friday with Sebastien Bourdais.

Though mechanical problems knocked the No. 01 out of contention, the No. 02 picked up the slack as Bamber managed to stave off a late charge by Tristan Vautier, who was trying to deliver the second consecutive Twelve Hours of Sebring victory for JDC MotorSports.

“Just the level of competition,” Bamber said when asked what left him so spent after his second Sebring victory (but first overall). “We had all the cars within a 10th (of a second), and we all finished within about 10 seconds at the end. I’m so happy to get our first win in the 02 and to get one for Chip so early in the season. And a big one, Sebring. They deserved it last year, and now they’ve finally got it.”

It marked the 61st IMSA victory for Chip Ganassi Racing and second at Sebring (but first in the DPi overall category).

A rundown of winners in other categories:

GTD Pro

Corvette Racing rebounded from a disappointing outing in the season opener as the No. 3 C8.R of Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor and Nicky Catsburg scored the brand’s 12th victory at Sebring.

After the No. 3 dominated in winning the 2021 championship of the final year in the GTLM division, its debut in the new GTD Pro class resulted in a 30th in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Garcia found redemption by taking the checkered flag for his 27th career victory in IMSA.

“Really, really happy for Corvette Racing,” Garcia told NBC Sports’ Parker Kligerman after his 27th career win and fourth at Sebring. “This C8.R managed to get all the way. There was unfinished business from last year. Big thumbs up to Jordan and Nicky. They drove really, really good. It was a tough race with all the conditions.

“I’m also learning and Corvette Racing is also learning. Now we have the first real data from the race, and next year, we’ll come back even stronger next year.”

GTD

In the first victory for Cetilar Racing, Italians Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto and Antonio Fuoco drove the No. 47 Ferrari 488 GT3 to the win. All three drivers were first-time IMSA winners.

LMP2

With a victory from the pole position, the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 of Ben Keating, Scott Huffaker and Mikkel Jensen won the Twelve Hours of Sebring for the second consecutive year (and the third straight for PR1 Mathiasen).

LMP3

The No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 of Joao Barbosa, Lance Willsey and Malthe Jakobsen scored the victory. It was the 25th career win and third at Sebring for Barbosa while Willsey and Jakobsen earned their inaugural IMSA victories.

STATS PACKAGE FOR MOBIL 1 TWELVE HOURS OF SEBRING:

Fastest laps by driver

Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)

Fastest laps by driver and class after race

Fastest lap sequence

Leader sequence

Lap chart

Race analysis by lap

Time cards

Best sector times

Race distance and speed average

NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will resume with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 8-10.

Read more about Motorsports

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global...
Ryan Hunter-Reay Carpenter
Ryan Hunter-Reay hired as replacement for Conor Daly at Ed Carpenter Racing
Thunder Valley Motocross numbers
Thunder Valley Motocross by the numbers: A new 450 winner will be crowned

With throaty roar, NASCAR Next Gen Camaro is taking Le Mans by storm on global stage

Associated PressJun 8, 2023, 4:00 PM EDT
Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Chris Graythen/Getty Images
3 Comments

LE MANS, France — The V8 engine of the NASCAR Chevrolet Camaro has a distinct growl that cannot go unnoticed even among the most elite sports cars in the world at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

When the Hendrick Motorsports crew fired up the car inside Garage 56, NASCAR chairman Jim France broke into a huge grin and gave a thumbs up.

“The only guy who didn’t cover his ears,” laughed seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.

GARAGE 56 SPECS: Full comparison of NASCAR Cup car to Le Mans car

BUTTON’S BIG MOVE: Hendrick drone tour was NASCAR entryway for F1 champion

France has been waiting since 1962 – the year his father, NASCAR founder Bill France Sr., brought him to his first 24 Hours of Le Mans – to hear the roar of a stock car at the most prestigious endurance race in the world.

A path finally opened when NASCAR developed its Next Gen car, which debuted last year. France worked out a deal to enter a car in a specialized “Innovative Car” class designed to showcase technology and development. The effort would be part of NASCAR’s 75th celebration and it comes as Le Mans marks its 100th.

Once he had the approval, France persuaded Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear – NASCAR’s winningest team, manufacturer and tire supplier – to build a car capable of running the twice-around-the-clock race.

The race doesn’t start until Saturday, but NASCAR’s arrival has already been wildly embraced and France could not be more thrilled.

“Dad’s vision, to be able to follow it, it took awhile to follow it up, and my goal was to outdo what he accomplished,” France told The Associated Press. “I just hope we don’t fall on our ass.”

The car is in a class of its own and not racing anyone else in the 62-car field. But the lineup of 2010 Le Mans winner Mike Rockenfeller, 2009 Formula One champion Jenson Button and Johnson has been fast enough; Rockenfeller put down a qualifying lap that was faster than every car in the GTE AM class by a full three seconds.

The Hendrick Motorsports crew won its class in the pit stop competition and finished fifth overall as the only team using a manual jack against teams exclusively using air jacks. Rick Hendrick said he could not be prouder of the showing his organization has made even before race day.

“When we said we’re gonna do it, I said, ‘Look, we can’t do this half-assed. I want to be as sharp as anybody out there,” Hendrick told AP. “I don’t want to be any less than any other team here. And just to see the reaction from the crowd, people are so excited about this car. My granddaughter has been sending me all these TikTok things that fans are making about NASCAR being at Le Mans.”

This isn’t NASCAR’s first attempt to run Le Mans. The late France Sr. brokered a deal in 1976, as America celebrated its bicentennial, to bring two cars to compete in the Grand International class and NASCAR selected the teams. Herschel McGriff and his son, Doug, drove a Wedge-powered, Olympia Beer-sponsored Dodge Charger, and Junie Donlavey piloted a Ford Torino shared by Richard Brooks and Dick Hutcherson.

Neither car came close to finishing the race. McGriff, now 95 and inducted into NASCAR’s Hall of Fame in January, is in Le Mans as France’s guest, clad head-to-toe in the noticeable Garage 56 uniforms.

“I threw a lot of hints that I would like to come. And I’ve been treated as royalty,” McGriff said. “This is unbelievable to me. I recognize nothing but I’m anxious to see everything. I’ve been watching and seeing pictures and I can certainly see the fans love their NASCAR.”

The goal is to finish the full race Sunday and, just maybe, beat cars from other classes. Should they pull off the feat, the driver trio wants its own podium celebration.

“I think people will talk about this car for a long, long time,” said Rockenfeller, who along with sports car driver Jordan Taylor did much of the development alongside crew chief Chad Knaus and Greg Ives, a former crew chief who stepped into a projects role at Hendrick this year.

“When we started with the Cup car, we felt already there was so much potential,” Rockenfeller said. “And then we tweaked it. And we go faster, and faster, at Le Mans on the SIM. But you never know until you hit the real track, and to be actually faster than the SIM. Everybody in the paddock, all the drivers, they come up and they are, ‘Wow, this is so cool,’ and they were impressed by the pit stops. We’ve overachieved, almost, and now of course the goal is to run for 24 hours.”

The car completed a full 24-hour test at Sebring, Florida, earlier this year, Knaus said, and is capable of finishing the race. Button believes NASCAR will leave a lasting impression no matter what happens.

“If you haven’t seen this car live yet, it’s an absolute beast,” Button said. “When you see and hear it go by, it just puts a massive smile on your face.”

For Hendrick, the effort is the first in his newfound embrace of racing outside NASCAR, the stock car series founded long ago in the American South. Aside from the Le Mans project, he will own the Indy car that Kyle Larson drives for Arrow McLaren in next year’s Indianapolis 500 and it will be sponsored by his automotive company.

“If you’d have told me I’d be racing at Le Mans and Indianapolis within the same year, I’d never have believed you,” Hendrick told AP. “But we’re doing both and we’re going to do it right.”

Le Mans 24 Hour Race - Car Parade
Fans gather around the NASCAR Next Gen Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 that is the Garage 56 entry for the 100th 24 Hours of Le Mans at the Circuit de la Sarthe (Chris Graythen/Getty Images).

General Motors is celebrating the achievement with a 2024 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Garage 56 Edition and only 56 will be available to collectors later this year.

“Even though Chevrolet has been racing since its inception in 1911, we’ve never done anything quite like Garage 56,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “A NASCAR stock car running at Le Mans is something fans doubted they would see again.”

The race hasn’t even started yet, but Hendrick has enjoyed it so much that he doesn’t want the project to end.

“It’s like a shame to go through all this and do all this, and then Sunday it’s done,” Hendrick said. “It’s just really special to be here.”