The next generation of Chevy Corvette C6.Rs will make their racing debut at the upcoming 12 Hours of Sebring race. The newest C6.R race car will feature a widebody based on the ZR1, but will be powered by a naturally-aspirated 5.5-liter V8.

The new C6.R will be a whole two inches wider than the iteration it will be replacing, now measuring in at an impressive 80.6 inches. To put that into perspective, the race car will be 5 inches wider than the ZR1 found on the streets.

Other changes that we’ll see at Sebring to the Corvette will be an almost three inch higher rear wing mount, new dive plates on the front end, and slightly larger inlet restrictors.

The changes come after one of teams last season was granted a waiver to run a car two inches wider than the GT rules normally allowed. Subsequently, the rules were changed to allow all cars in the GT class to increase their width for the 2012 season. Since the widened C6.R had to go through the approval process again, the Corvette Racing team decided to tweak other aspects of the car within GT regulations as well.

“GM Powertrain engineers went through a similar process with updates in engine tuning and calibrations to improve driveability and throttle response,” said Gary Pratt, Corvette Racing team manager.

The 12 Hours of Sebring will start on March 17th at 10:30 AM EDT and Corvette Racing will have Tommy Milner and Oliver Gavin piloting the number four car while Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia will be behind the wheel of the number three car.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Porsche headed out to Sebring Raceway in Florida to put its new 2012 911 GT3 RSR race cars to the test ahead of their scheduled racing debut at the 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Three of the US teams running the new 911 GT3 RSRs were in attendance as the race car made its debut: Flying Lizard Motorsports, Paul Miller Racing, and Team Falken Tire. The revamped GT3 RSR race car got plenty of changes to the body for 2012, coming in at almost 2 inches wider than its predecessor.

Powered comes from a 4.0L, six-cylinder boxer engine with 460-hp mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox with paddle shifters on the steering wheel. Plenty of aerodynamic improvements have also been made to the new 911 GT3 RSR.

“Our customer teams can expect a technically mature, high performance race car with which they will be highly competitive at international long distance races,” assures Hartmut Kristen, Head of Porsche Motorsport. “Our test program on various international race tracks is currently running at full speed. We are very pleased with the car’s performance and drivability.”

GALLERY: 2012 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

Baring any surprises, with over an hour left at the American endurance classic, it was obvious that the No. 10 diesel-powered Peugeot driven by Loic Duval would take the checkered flag. With the win, Peugeot successfully defended its victory from 2010.

Holding off Peugeot from a one-two win wasn’t long-time rival Audi, but the Highcroft Racing Honda Performance Development car, driven across the finish line by Simon Pagenaud. The No. 8 Peugeot pitted in the last hour of the race giving P2 to the Honda car, and almost regained that spot in the final laps. Pagenaud pulled out some impressive lap times as the clock ticked down, holding off the third-place Peugeot driven by Franck Montagny. Making the dual all the more exciting is the fact that Pagenaud will spend much of the rest of the year racing for the French automaker in Europe.

Meanwhile in the GT Class the impressive performance by numerous Ferrari machines in qualifying didn’t lead to a similar race result. The top place Ferrari finished just 5th, and it wasn’t one of the new 458s either, but an older 430GT model.

BMW took both the first and second spots in the hotly contested GT class, with Joey Hand driving the No. 56 M3 GT across the finish line, followed by the No. 55 of Dirk Werner, marking the first time since 1998 BMW Motorsport was victorious at Sebring.

Topping out the podium was the No. 03 Corvette C6 ZR1, with the No. 04 Corvette Racing car taking fourth. Porsche’s best result was a distance sixth place finish.

The 12 Hours of Sebring marks the start of both the Le Mans racing season in Europe and North America. The next race in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) takes place in Long Beach, California on the weekend of April 15-16.

The great American Le Mans Series begins this weekend at the wonderful 12 Hours of Sebring. And with all first races of the season, great anticipation brews for new race car debuts and at the top of everybody’s list is Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 458 GTC. Luckily for us, Risi Competizione brought along a photographer out on their test days and has finally reveals some photos of the car in race form to the world.

Risi Competizione is a Houston-based race team that has specialized in fielding Ferraris for many years in the ALMS series. They have taken plenty of class victories back with them with their 430 GT2, so it’ll be plenty interesting to see how successful they can get their 458 to become, and more importantly, how qiuckly.

Risi Competizione’s Founder and Team Principal, Giuseppe Risi, had a few things to say about their new car:

“This new car offers a great opportunity for us to show what, I believe, we do best at Risi Competizione,” he says, “which is to technologically develop our cars to race and win GT events at the highest level of competition. I am confident that our total race car preparation will be better than our competitors, and that will allow us to concentrate our efforts on the areas of development and evolution that new race cars inevitably present.”

Risi continues: “We will be concentrating on just one car this season, and will be making a run for the GT Championship. We are under no illusions that the 12 Hours of Sebring – traditionally a happy hunting ground for us – will be a severe test as the F458 is short on testing time and the track is punishing. It’s going to be a true test for the car and for us, although racing is a challenge in itself at any level. I’m completely confident, however, that our guys are up to it.”

We’ll be keeping our eyes glued to this weekend’s Sebring coverage. One of the best races of the year!

[Source: JonSibal.com]

GALLERY: Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 GTC

Less than a week after the Cadillac CTS-V Race Car took a bow at the Detroit Auto Show, it’s already had its first shakedown at Sebring International Raceway in Florida, and the all-black paint job looks even meaner than the Cadillac livery we saw in person.

Alas, there is no video, but it won’t be long before we can see the CTS-V in person or on television, as the car will be campaigning in the SCCA World Challenge GT championship, with the season opener kicking off in St. Petersburg, Florida on March 25th. The sound of an LSA V8 is already demonic, and we will sacrifice a bit of our hearing if it means listening to the beast roaring at wide-open throttle, sans mufflers.

[Source: Cadillac]

Gallery: Cadillac CTS-V Race Car Test Session

Last year Chevrolet announced that it would retire its GT1 Corvette Racing team after dominating the class for close to a decade. In its place Chevy would run a lower-level GT2 team in a class that has become increasingly competitive.

This year the GT1s still ran in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) during the season opener at Sebring and then at Long Beach before heading off to France to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There the team did Corvette Racing justice, taking the top spot on the podium in the last race the GT1 C6Rs would ever see. It also marked an astounding six class wins at Le Mans for Corvette Racing.

Now Corvette Racing has announced plans to return to the series on August 6th at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Two cars will take to the field to battle it out with Ferraris, Porsches and Vipers. Both cars will be piloted by familiar drivers, with Johnny O’Connell and Jan Magnussen forming one team and Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin forming the other.

“For several years now, the competition in GT2 has been the closest and most competitive among all our classes,” said ALMS CEO Scott Atherton. “With the news of Corvette Racing’s official entry into the category at Mid-Ohio, the class quite possibly becomes the most diverse and competitive ever. It also serves as another example of the continued growth and success of the American Le Mans Series. Corvette never truly left, but it’s safe to say that they were missed by the countless participants at our Corvette Corrals and fans worldwide. We would like to be the first to officially say, ‘Welcome back!’”

The two car Corvette Racing GT2 team will race for the first time at Mid-Ohio from August 6-8th.

[Source: American Le Mans Series]

Seth Thomas, piloting the No. 38 BimmerWorld/GearWrench BMW 328i, jumped into the lead off the standing start during the first race of the 2009 World Challenge Touring Car series and never looked back.

With a qualifying run that landed him in 2nd, Thomas used the BMW’s rear-drive advantage to get a quick lead on pole-sitter Pierre Kleinubing in the front-drive RealTime Acura TSX and after just three laps had put just over a second between the two cars.

“I didn’t expect that kind of advantage going into Turn One,” Thomas said. “The BMWs have rear-wheel drive and they launch really well off the start. Pierre [Kleinubing] has a lot of experience starting up there and I expected him to be tough and get a little better launch. The way it worked out, I went into the brake zone for Turn One and looked in the mirror and saw the gap. I just thought ‘just maintain that and see what we can do.’”

Kleinubing and RealTime teammate Kuno Wittmer attempted to chase Thomas down, but after Whitmer retired due to mechanical problems, the race belonged to the Bimmerworld team, taking the podium 2.563 seconds ahead of the RealTime Acura.

“I’ve been coming here for many years,” Thomas said. “I always had good success at Sebring in the BMW Club stuff I did. Then we came to World Challenge and things went a little haywire. After last year, it’s definitely redemption here. Last year, we should have started on the pole but a technical infraction got us in trouble and we had to start from the back. I felt like this year was going to be the year.

“I keep telling everybody, there’s no words that can describe winning. It’s the best feeling. We’ve worked so hard to get here and it’s finally happened.”

Kleinubing admitted he pretty much lost the race right at the beginning thanks to an overly eager right foot.

“Halfway through first gear I spun the tires pretty badly on the big painted stripe and lost a little bit there from first to second. [Thomas] pulled a huge gap at that point. Every time I’d get a little closer, he seemed to answer and pull it back out. I just did what I could and finished second.”

Kleinubing states that he was eager to get to the next race where he will pilot a brand new TSX. At Sebring, only RealTime owner/racer and defending series champ Peter Cunningham had one of the new TSXs on the track and finished in 9th place after loosing body work in an incedent.

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Can a gasoline engine best a diesel one in endurance racing? It can during qualifying, as Acura proved by claiming the pole for the 12 Hours of Sebring race, set to take place tomorrow.

Scott Dixon shocked pretty much everyone on Thursday by piloting the de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a to the pole with a time of just 1:45.27. Neither Audi or Peugeot (both favored to claim the pole over Acura) could post a better lap. Impressively this pole position is the first for Acura, during it’s first ever race in the top-level LMP1 class.

“I’ve watched this race for many years and it’s always been exciting so now it’s great that I get to race here,” Dixon said. “I’ve tested on the short track many times with IndyCar but never on the big track. So you can’t help but grin from ear to ear to be excited to drive here.”

“Overall it’s been a great week especially now having Acura on the overall pole,” Dixon said. “It was unexpected. We always shoot for the pole from the get-go. But realistically I thought we were only to be third or fourth. It was interesting when I heard I was going to qualify the car. I’m not sure why Gil picked me in the end, but I think all three of us could have done it.”

The battle for pole was a close one, however, with Tom Kristensen just 0.082 seconds behind in the new Audi R15. In fact, the fiels was so close that all top-five qualifiers were just 0.281 seconds apart.

The third fastest time was posted by Christian Klien in one of the Peugeot 908 HDi coupes.

In the LMP2 class, Acura also claimed the top spot with Adrian Fernandez in the Lowe’s Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01b posting a 1:49.686.

As for the remainder of the classes, Corvette clinched the GT1 pole with a Oliver Gavin behind the wheel in what will be the last Sebring race for the C6.R as it retires later this season.

The final class, GT2 saw a Porsche on the pole with Dirk Werner in the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 RSR running a time 2:03.051.

Complete qualifying results after the jump:

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The No. 34 Kleinschmidt/Blackdog Racing Chevrolet Corvette topped the standings yesterday during the first round of practice sessions before the World Challenge GT season opener at Sebring International Raceway this Friday. Driver Tony Gaples of Libertyville, Ill., was just as surprised at his finish as anyone.

“It feels pretty good [to be on top], of course, but it also makes me a little nervous,” Gaples said of his unfamiliar position. “I’m wondering why, because I’m just driving like normal.

“The track was a little slippery, which plays into my benefit, because I’m used to driving in the wet. It’s good to be at the top. We’ve been coming here seven years now. It’s my favorite flat track and we usually do pretty well here. It still surprised me that we’re number one though. We get to enjoy for the next eight hours, until the next practice. We always hope to do well, whether that’s what’s happening or not is yet to be seen.”

Gaples ran a 2:11.686 around the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring course on his second to last lap.

The 2nd and 3rd spots for the day belonged to Porsches with Rob Morgan posting a 2:11.771 in his No. 47 EverCleanse/NADA/TruSpeed Porsche 911 GT3 and Tony Rivera finishing with a best of 2:11.855 in the No. 97 Tax Masters/Mirage Group Porsche 911 GT3.

Gunter Schaldach grabbed 4th with a 2:12.083 in the No. 9 Lala Motorsports Dodge Viper with another Corvette (the No.3 Whelen Engineering  machine driven by Eric Curran) rounding out the top five.

With surprises at the top of the pack, there were also plenty of surprises at the bottom with defending GT champ Randy Pobst completing just half a lap in his K-PAX Volvo S60. Other series frontrunners, Andy Pilgrim (Volvo S60), James Sofronas (Porsche 911 GT3) and Dino Crescentini (Porsche 911 GT3)never even got onto the track.

As for the lone Lamborghini entry, the No. 7 Gallardo driven by Dan Pastorini, it finished a distant 20th with a time of  2:30.707.

Full Practice Session results after the jump:
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Mazda finished the day at Sebring yesterday with the fastest car during the first practice session ahead of the 2009 World Challenge Touring Car season.

Jason Saini, piloting the Tri-Point No. 74 Mazdaspeed/Stoptech/Racinghart Mazda, posted the best lap time at the end of the day with a 2:25.294 on the 17-turn, 3.7-mile circuit.

“Conditions were a bit variable,” Saini said. “It was damp this morning, but it got better throughout the session. It was hard to learn what the car was really doing in the changing conditions. I was lucky to have a late lap when the conditions were getting better every lap.”

“The team has done such a great job pulling things together in short order. So many people pulled together to make this happen at the last minute. All credit to the team for staying up late all last week and getting these cars together.”

The Tri-Point team of Mazda6′s also claimed 4th and 6th for the day with Charles Espenlaub piloting the No. 73 car and rookie Eric Foss in the No. 75 car taking the respective positions.

Much of the rest of the top 10 was filled with the RealTime Racing Acura TSXs with Kuno Wittmer taking 2nd, Pierre Kleinubing taking 3rd and Toby Grahovec taking 7th. Defending World Challenge Touring Car Champion Peter Cunningham, the only driver piloting a new TSX vehicle, placed 5th.

Finishing out the top ten were Andrew Aquilante and his Subaru WRX in 8th, Nick Esayian in his BMW 328i in 9th and James Clay in his BMW 328i in 10th.

The World Challenge Touring Car Series kicks-off with the opening race this Friday, March 20th .

Full Practice Session results after the jump:
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Chrysler continues to expand the use of its new dual-clutch transmission, offering it in a total of three models – just not in North American. Originally offered in the Dodge Journey in European markets, the transmission will now also be available in the Avenger and Sebring.

Designed in partnership with Getrag, the state of the art transmission is similar in design to Audi’s DSG unit or the new PDK transmission found on new Porsches. Essentially it operates like an automatic transmission from the driver’s perspective, and gears can be selected through a manumatic-type system. Because of the dual-clutches, the next gear is always pre-loaded, meaning gear changes are incredibly quick and smooth.

According to Chrysler, it also makes for an improvement in fuel economy of six percent.

Currently the dual-clutch transmission is only available on 2.0-liter turbo diesel engines found in the Journey, Avenger and Sebring overseas.

Official release after the jump:

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