– RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport 2020 No. 60 Acura ARX-05 of Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo Edges 2017 No. 02 Matador Motorsports Cadillac DPi of Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss for First Top-Tier HSR Feature Race Victory
– Vincent Barletta Secures GT Modern Class Honors in 2016 No. 95 BMW M6 GTD Prepared by Turner Motorsport
– Vintage Military Aircraft Arrive Friday Afternoon at Sebring International Raceway
SEBRING, Florida (December 5, 2024) – The season-ending HSR Sebring Historics and Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, moved off to a thrilling and competitive start Thursday at Sebring International Raceway.
In the day’s featured one-hour B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race, Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo broke through for their first Historic Prototype and overall race win in the series in the RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport 2020 No. 60 Acura ARX-05. Neapole and Cosmo narrowly came out on top in a race-long battle with their friends and on-track rivals Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss in the 2017 No. 02 Matador Motorsports Cadillac DPi.
The Acura squad’s victory came after a great opening and race-leading stint by Neapole and a perfectly timed pit stop at mid-race when Cosmo took over for the run to the finish. Cosmo and Foss ran in a close one-two formation in the race’s closing stages with the No. 60 taking the team’s maiden Historic Prototype class checkered flag for the win just 4.264 seconds ahead of the No. 02.
The top-two shared the overall and top-three Historic Prototype podium with the ageless Travis Engen in his nearly 20-year-old 2005 No. 2 Audi R8 LMP prepared by GMT Racing.
The race win in the GT Modern (GTM) class went to Vincent Barletta in the always-quick 2016 No. 95 BMW M6 GTD Prepared by Turner Motorsport. In addition to taking GTM division honors, Barletta was the also the first non-Prototype in the 31-car field to take the checkered flag a solid fourth overall behind only the top-three Prototypes.
Second in GTM went to Conor Flynn and his father Mike Flynn in the Irish Mike’s Racing 2020 No. 195 Porsche 991.2 GT3. The senior Flynn started the race but came to the pits during a yellow flag period in the opening laps to selflessly pass the Porsche over to his son who completed the balance of the race’s 60 minutes for the competitive runner-up result.
Third in GTM in the B.R.M. race was secured by frequent HSR podium finisher Colin Dougherty in his 2008 No. 92 Porsche 997 Grand-Am Cup prepared by DAS Sport.
A dual celebration of Sebring International Raceway’s rich auto racing history and patriotic military aviation legacy, the Mission Foods HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour Sebring, Pistons and Props, is an on-track and on-the-runways celebration of the 12 Hours of Sebring and historic Hendricks Field, the World War II era military and civil aviation facility on which the famous sports car race has been held for more than 70 years.
In addition to a full slate of HSR WeatherTech Sprint races and three more HSR Feature Races on track, another Friday highlight is the arrival of the vintage and historic military aircraft that land throughout the afternoon before parading over to the Sebring International Raceway paddock at 5:15 p.m. EST. The planes will be on display at the track and available to fans and competitors alike for an up-close look through Sunday morning.
A returning favorite after a one-year absence is the blue B004 numbered 1942 Vultee BT-15 Valiant piloted by Tom Smith. The BT-15 is just one of four still flying today out of 1,200 produced, and Smith and his wife Kim Smith have flown it more than 1,000 hours over the last 15 years. The Vultee missed last year’s HSR Classic Sebring awaiting a new engine, but its return will be more than special this weekend.
Among the plane-enthusiast guests in attendance will be Jack Hill, a friend of the Smiths whose father – in addition to a stint as B-17 instructor at Hendrick’s Field in Sebring in 1943 – served in a similar capacity in Bainbridge, Georgia in 1942 teaching trainees how to fly BT-15 Vultees. The Smith’s Vultee was delivered to Bainbridge in August of 1942, one of just seven BT-15s stationed there, so it is very likely Hill’s father, 2nd Lieutenant Roland V. Hill, instructed in the very plane the Smith’s will have at Sebring this weekend a full 82 years ago!
Back on track, this weekend’s featured HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour starts at 1 p.m. EST Saturday, December 7, with each of the four Run Groups taking to the three times in succession in a rotation that races into the night with the day’s final checkered flag just before 10 p.m. EST.
Classic Sebring 12 Hour competitors return to the track Sunday, December 8, at 12 p.m. EST with each Group getting one final segment to decide this year’s winners. Overall Run Group winners will be 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 race winners at The Glen and Daytona.
More information on both the HSR Classic 12 and HSR Sebring Historics events, including entry lists, ticket purchases and the event schedule, can be found on the official event page by clicking here.
About HSR: An International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) property, Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) was formed in the mid-1970s with an event at Road Atlanta. There was one goal then and it remains true today: to celebrate the racing cars from the past. As a “time machine” of sights and sounds, HSR provides a venue for competitors and spectators alike to share in the wonderful history and excitement created by the cars that competed at race tracks around the world. HSR currently sanctions eight vintage and historic racing events at some of the world’s most renowned race tracks, including Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and more. The complete schedule and full event information can be found on HSR’s website at www.HSRRace.com. Look for the HSR Channel on YouTube and follow HSR on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/HSRrace/
