At Sebring, Qualifying IS Important

Posted Mar 18, 2010 by Earl Fannin

Updated Mar 18, 2010 at 05:43 PM

This year, qualifying for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh From Florida will be on Friday (1:50 pm for GT2/GTC and 2:25 pm for P1/P2/LMPC).  With a race length of 12 hours, you’d think the starting position is relatively unimportant, but you’d be wrong!

At Sebring, starting up front truly matters. Since qualifying began in 1964 (previously, cars were lined up according to engine displacement), the fastest qualifier has won 13 times in 45 events (there was no race in 1974 due to the gas crisis).

But winning the pole in Friday’s qualifying isn’t as crucial as qualifying in the top four as no car has won since 1986 that qualified beyond the second row.

A.J. Foyt and the late Bob Wollek qualified their Swap Shop Porsche 962 just 13th, but went on to win the 1985 race. This is the 25th Anniversary of Foyt’s Sebring win, which was his last victory as a driver.

Marco Werner’s 2007 Sebring International Raceway P1 track record of 1:44.974 = 126.889 MPH may be in jeopardy by the one of Peugeot 908 HDI FAP drivers.