IMSA Esports Global Championship Race Preview: Sebring
December 1st, 2023 by Justin Melillo
IMSA, in conjunction with iRacing, the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO), and Michelin, presents the 2023 IMSA Esports Global Championship. Four high-profile events are scheduled over November and December for the series’ second season. 45 teams, with two drivers sharing the seat of each car, are set to compete across the GTP and GTD classes.
This Sunday, the third race of the season is set to take place at Sebring International Raceway. Each race of the IMSA Esports Global Championship is broadcasted live on IMSA’s and iRacing’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch social media channels, with the “Countdown to Green” pre-race show beginning at 1:45PM ET.
Last Race:
Two weeks ago at Watkins Glen, it was all about Team Redline in both classes. The #71 BMW M Team Redline entry of Diogo Pinto and Chris Lulham scored the win over the GTP class, taking the lead during the middle section of pit stops from the pole sitters in the #89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION entry. Team Redline’s #170 Ferrari of Gianni Vecchio and Ole Steinbraten also dominated the GTD class, taking control from the #143 Altus Esports Porsche early, running away with the fight from there on out. Both Team Redline teams lead their respective class points as well through the midpoint of the season.
Entry List:
45 full-time teams are due to compete, 20 in the GTP class and the other 25 in the GTD. Each of the nine cars available (four GTP, five GTD) will be balanced with five teams competing in each. The organizers of the series also reserve the ability to award an additional “wildcard” entry on a per-round basis. Sebring will feature the first GTD wildcard in Lys Esports, after Nitro Circus competed at Road Atlanta and Texaco Racing by TK raced at Watkins Glen as GTP wildcards. Substitute drivers for the championship contending teams are italicized.
- GTP (20 Entries)
- 3 Timo Roorda | Marcus Hamilton | CrowdStrike Racing | Acura ARX-06
- 4 Sam Michaels | Scott Michaels | CrowdStrike Racing | Acura ARX-06
- 7 Phil Kraus | Adam Blocker | PRIVATE LABEL Team Hype | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 11 Josh Lad | Matt Farrow | Williams Esports MAHLE | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 15 Péter Zuba | Balázs Remenyik | Race Clutch | Acura ARX-06
- 16 Robin Glerum | Daniel Craft | Puresims Esports | Acura ARX-06
- 18 Pablo Espes | Nathan Olson | WAVE Italy Racing Team | Porsche 963
- 43 Marcos Nunez | Edoardo Leo | Altus Esports | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 46 João Vaz | Ilkka Haapala | Orion Race Team | Porsche 963
- 62 Austin Young | Graham Sanders | HydroRace Geodesic Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 64 Alex Gal | Alex Ellis | Satellite Racing | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 69 Jakub Maciejewski | Przemyslaw Marek Lemanek | Drago Racing | Acura ARX-06
- 71 Diogo Pinto | Chris Lulham | BMW M Team Redline | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 89 Niklas Beu | Pedro Sanchez | BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 90 Dominik Hofmann | Daniel Alves Lourenco | URANO eSports Datagroup | BMW M Hybrid V8
- 91 Julien Soenen | Charlie Collins | VRS Coanda | Porsche 963
- 92 Michael Romanidis | Zac Campbell | VRS Coanda | Porsche 963
- 95 Casey Kirwan | Owen Caryl | XSET | Cadillac V-Series.R
- 96 Samuel Graña | Pablo Lazar | Obsidian Racing | Porsche 963
- 99 Peter Berryman | Maxime Brient | Apex Racing Team | BMW M Hybrid V8
- GTD (25 Entries)
- 101 Alejandro Sanchez | Luke McKeown | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team ART | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 102 Sven Haase | Nicolás Rubilar | Virtualcoach.gg by GnG | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 103 Rico Wenzel | Gabriel Streitmatter | Grid and Go eSports | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 110 Felix Quirmbach | Oskari Rinne | MAHLE RACING TEAM | BMW M4 GT3
- 111 David Toth | James T Armstrong | Arnage Competition | BMW M4 GT3
- 114 Tristán Iglesias | Gabi Montoro | Simufy eSports | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 116 Ross Macfarlane | Lukas Prada | Puresims Esports | BMW M4 GT3
- 120 Damon Woods | Jonas Rütten | Dörr Esports | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 143 Jordan Caruso | Dino Lombardi | Altus Esports | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 144 Yannick Lapchin | Simone Maria Marcenò | Altus Esports | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 153 Vasilios Beletsiotis | Daniel Pasztor | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Williams Esports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 155 Alessandro Bico | Daniel Lafuente | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team Williams Esports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 157 Chris Shorter | Matthieu Victorino | Impulse Racing | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 162 Hunter McDaniel | Stephen McDonald | Brabham Esports | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 163 Greg Hovesen | Carl Modof | DeltaSport | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 169 Ricardo Rico | Manuel Troncoso | Drago Racing | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 170 Gianni Vecchio | Ole Steinbraten | Team Redline | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 171 Josh Thompson | Florian Lebigre | Team Redline | Ferrari 296 GT3
- 175 Antti Ahola | Marvin Strehl | Team75 Bernhard by SimRC | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 178 Luca Wunsch | Tim Matzke | Maniti Racing | Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO
- 188 Bryn Collins | Xander Reed | VRS Coanda Junior | Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
- 190 Constantin Tscharf | Luca Kita | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team URANO | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 192 Niclas Laubisch | Alexander Thiebe | Mercedes-AMG E-Sports Team URANO | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
- 196 Rainer Talvar | Phil Denes | BS+TURNER | BMW M4 GT3
- 199 Salva Talens | Quentin Vialatte | Apex Racing Team | BMW M4 GT3
- Wildcard Entry – GTD
- 177 Andrew Caron | Guillaume Lévesque | Lys Esports | Mercedes-AMG GT3 2020
The Schedule:
Only two races remain in the 2023 season after Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen kicked off the championship in November. After Sebring, the final race will be in two more weeks at Daytona.
Remaining Schedule:
- Sunday, Dec. 3: Sebring International Raceway
- Saturday, Dec. 16: Daytona International Speedway
Each event will start at 19:00 GMT (2PM ET) and will run for two hours and 40 minutes.
Last Season:
In its inaugural season in 2022, the IMSA Esports Global Championship ran with GTD and Touring Car classes. The series attracted some of the world’s best sim racers and teams, some with ties to teams inside IMSA, the FIA World Endurance Championship and Formula 1.
After four races, the GTD title went to the #98 Apex Racing Team Porsche driven by Alejandro Sanchez and Kevin Ellis Jr. For the Touring Cars, the championship was won by the #176 SimRC Hyundai driven by Corentin Guinez and Kieran Harrison.
Sebring was not on the schedule last year. It replaces the Indianapolis Road Course as the third race of the season.
Track Facts:
Respect the bumps! Sebring International Raceway is a 3.7-mile, 17-turn permanent road racing fixture located in Sebring, Florida. The first race held at the circuit was in 1950, and in 1959, it hosted the United States Grand Prix. However, Sebring is better known and suited for sports car racing, hosting the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring every March.
For more information on the IMSA Esports Global Championship, visit iracing.com/imsa-esports. For more information about the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO), visit vco-esports.com For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iracing.com.
You may also like...
OFFICIAL PARTNERS:
Customize Cookie Settings
Performance Cookies
These cookies gather data on how visitors use this website – which pages are visited most often, for example.
Functional Cookies
These cookies remember website preferences and generally improve the performance of the site for the user.
Marketing Cookies
These cookies are used to provide a customized experience and can be used to provide targeted ads through advertising networks.
Enhance Your Experience with Cookies
We use cookies to improve your site experience. Customize your cookie preferences below.
Copyright © 2024 iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations, LLC. All Rights Reserved.