HSR HISTORIC SPORTSCAR RACING PHOTO
First-Time Run Group Winners Crowned at the Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network
SEBRING, Florida (December 8, 2024) – A quartet of first-time Mission
Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the
Alan Jay Automotive Network, race winners emerged for the first time in
six years Sunday at Sebring International Raceway. The four overall Run
Group winners came out on top after nine hours of non-stop competition
Saturday and three more Sunday afternoon for a symbolic 12 hours of
racing paying tribute to the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring sports car
race, which will be run for the 73rd time next March.
Competitors in Run Groups A, B, C and D took to the legendary Sebring
airport circuit for four race segments over the course of the last two
days. The teams covering the most combined distance in their four
segments were crowned Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour
Champions, and this year’s race produced the typical mix of convincing
victories, a record-stopping upset and a dramatic finish at the very
end.
The strongest runs came in the combined Group A and Group B races that
saw competitors share the track while competing for overall and Group
honors. In both divisions, the eventual race winners took the Group
leads at the start and never lost them over the course of the two days.
With the help of his countryman and multiple Mission Foods HSR Classic
race winner Nigel Greensall, Englishman John Emberson brought his
UK-based car and team to North America for the first time last month to
compete in both the HSR Classic Daytona 24 and this weekend’s HSR
Classic 12.
Emberson, Greensall and the Foxcraft Racing 1970 No. 15 Chevron B19 ran
with the support of the Atlanta-based Vintage Racing Company team in Run
Group A. The No. 15 squad overcame a broken half shaft on the Chevron
early in the race weekend to take control of the Group A race from the
start.
The solid performance included the No. 15 team and drivers taking the
overall Group A/B win in segment two after scoring division honors and
P2 overall in Saturday afternoon’s opening round. The Chevron team even
won the fourth and final A/B segment on Sunday, but by then the focus
was firmly on sealing the Group A victory. The Chevron ultimately took
the checkered flag in first place a full lap clear of its nearest A
division competitor.
In Run Group B, veteran HSR competitors Kenneth McKinnon and Predator
Racing broke through for their first Mission Foods HSR Classic victory
after a second-place finish last year at Sebring and a third-place
showing in 2022. McKinnon co-drove the Predator Racing 1972 No. 01
Porsche 911 RSR to the victory with longtime teammate Mike Bruns and
Predator coach and co-driver Charles Espenlaub.
The No. 01 took an overall and Group B win in Saturday’s opening race
segment and backed it up with another overall win in the third round.
McKinnon and company secured the Group B win by more than a lap and led
the No. 15 Chevron to the line by over a minute to top the combined A/B
standings as well.
The record-stopping upset was delivered by Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo who
broke through for their first Mission Foods HSR Classic victory with a
controlled and perfectly executed performance in Run Group C. Co-driving
the RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport 2020 No. 60 Acura ARX-05 prepared
by Hudson Historics, Neapole and Cosmo didn’t put a wheel wrong
throughout Saturday and Sunday.
Taking the Group C lead after Saturday’s second segment, the No. 60
Acura squad went on to seal the victory Sunday over their friends and
on-track rivals Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss in the 2017 No. 02 Matador
Motorsports Cadillac DPi.
Marshall and his team were racing to be the first to score a Mission
Foods HSR Classic in season triple win sweep after victories earlier
this year in the HSR Classic 6 Hour at The Glen and last month’s HSR
Classic Daytona 24 Hour. The No. 02 Cadillac team pulled out the stops
to shave a full 30 seconds off of the Acura’s lead in the final Group C
segment but the Acura team took the checkered flag with a margin of
victory just under a minute.
The late drama – and related heartbreak and elation – came in Run Group
D that offered a GT car showdown that was the closest battle in the HSR
Classic Sebring 12. The British duo of Mike Jordan and his son Andrew
Jordan went into the fourth and final segment with a scant 10-second
lead in their Jordan Racing Team 2011 No. 77 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup.
The Jordans withstood the pressure from more than one close competitor,
but maintained the overall lead the No. 77 held throughout the race for
the majority of the fourth segment until a cut right rear tire less than
15 minutes to the finish took the team out of winning contention.
The 2015 No. 002 Fortress Stabilization Porsche 991 GT3 Cup team of Ed
Wheatley and Jimmy Llibre beat the JRT team by less than a second in
Saturday night’s third segment and were quick to pounce when the No. 77
had its tire trouble. Llibre took the lead and the fourth round win by
more than a minute to join Wheatley for a deserving overall Group D
victory more than two minutes clear of the second-place finisher.
The overall Run Group winners were presented with all-new and
custom-made Wall Clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same
dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the oversized clocks have
been a big hit this year with the race winners at The Glen, Daytona and
now Sebring.
Other Sunday highlights included the late morning departure of the
featured vintage aircraft that once again were a cornerstone of the HSR
Classic Sebring 12, Pistons and Props. On Saturday, the pilots presented
their annual Pilots Choice Award for best car and team while HSR
competitors in turn selected the Best Plane of this year’s event.
The pilots chose Olthoff Racing and the team’s Superformance GT40 that
driver Dan Long and Team Principal Dennis Olthoff co-drove in Group A in
the HSR Classic Sebring 12. The plane of choice by the HSR four-wheel
contingent was the battle-scarred USAF 1968 Cessna 02A, owned and flown
to Sebring by Sam Lauff. Nicknamed “Oscar Deuce,” the twin-tail and
push-pull tandem-engine aircraft saw action in Vietnam and carries
bullet hole patches still visible on wing components. A military version
of the civilian Cessna 337, this feisty fighter included explosion-proof
fuel tanks, bulletproof seats, a full complement of military radios,
rockets, bombs and mini guns.