Chevron B19, Acura ARX-05 DPi Teams and a Pair of GT Porsches Nearly Forty Years Apart in Age Seek First Time Mission Foods HSR Classic Wins at Ninth Running of 12 Hours of Sebring Tribute Race at Sebring International Raceway
SEBRING, Florida (December 7, 2024) – A four-pack of potential first-time winners stepped up to lead their respective Run Groups at the halfway point of the ninth running of the Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network Saturday at Sebring International Raceway.
The mid-race leaders include a debuting Chevron B19 based in the UK, a former IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship winner and a pair of GT Porsches nearly 40 years apart in age.
Run Groups A and B share the track this weekend, and the respective leaders at halfway represent a longtime HSR team seeking its first Mission Foods HSR Classic victory and the debuting Chevron team looking for the win in its HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour debut.
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 were quick from the very first test session at Sebring on Wednesday. They converted that early pace into a class-leading Group A performance after the first two of four HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour rounds on Saturday. The solid performance included the No. 15 team and drivers taking the overall Group A/B win in segment two after taking division honors and P2 overall in Saturday afternoon’s opening round.
Kenneth McKinnon and Larry Ligas are veteran HSR competitors with Predator Racing but both the team and drivers look for their first Mission Foods HSR Classic race win at Sebring. McKinnon and Ligas drove the Predator Racing 1972 No. 01 Porsche 911 RSR to an overall and Group B win in Saturday’s opening race segment and backed it up with a close second-place in class in Round 2.
The results put the No. 01 Porsche in the Group B lead by more than a lap at halfway, in addition to topping the combined Group A/B standings by nearly a minute at the mid-race mark.
An in-season win record is on the line in Run Group C but another team has stepped up in a competitive “spoiler” role this week at Sebring. In Thursday’s one-hour B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race, which was part of the season-ending HSR Sebring Historics schedule of events, 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 prepared by Hudson Historics. Neapole and Cosmo 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.
Proving it was no fluke, Neapole and Cosmo kept the pressure going on Saturday and lead the Run Group C standings at the halfway mark. The mid-race lead came after finishing just one second behind the No. 02 Cadillac in the first segment and a more than one-minute victory in Round 2. Marshall, Foss and the No. 02 team trail the No. 60 team by 90 seconds at halfway and will have to make up the gap and more if they hope to be the first team and drivers to sweep all three Mission Foods HSR Classic races – Watkins Glen, Daytona and Sebring – in a single season.
Run Group D offers the competitive GT and production car showcase that is part of every Mission Foods HSR Classic race and typically delivers some of the closest racing.
The British duo of Mike Jordan and his son Andrew Jordan narrowly lost the battle in the GT Run Group at last month’s HSR Classic Daytona 24 and are determined to not be denied this weekend. The Jordans swept the opening pair of Group D segments on Saturday in their Jordan Racing Team 2011 No. 77 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup but have built a class lead only 11 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. The Group D race is still a wide-open battle with the top six cars split by 90 seconds or less.
With Round 3 races for all Run Groups slated to conclude Saturday’s schedule, 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 the race winners at The Glen and Daytona.
Still in part an active airport, the featured vintage aircraft that arrived Friday will depart the Sebring circuit and taxi back to Sebring Airport Sunday morning at 11:10 a.m. EST.
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/
