2012 12 Hours of Sebring

Background

Preview

The 2012 12 Hours of Sebring was the opening round of both the 2012 American Le Mans Series (ten races) and the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship (eight races), as well as the race's 60th running. It was the first and only event involving both the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC), the only North American round of the WEC season, and the series' debut race. On March 17, 2012, the round was held at the 17-turn 3.74 mi Sebring International Raceway road course in Sebring, Florida. The event was sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), with officials from both the ALMS and the WEC on site.

Entry list

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) track homologation meant that the event had a 64-car entry limit. Only full-season ALMS and WEC entries were permitted to compete, and no one-time entries were permitted due to the combined ALMS and WEC field. The race included five car types: Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), Le Mans Grand Touring Endurance (LMGTE), and Grand Touring Challenge (GTC). The nine car categories racing at Sebring were the ALMS' P1, P2, PC, GT, GTC, and the WEC's LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE Pro, and LMGTE Am. The race's defending winners, Peugeot, did not return to defend their title after withdrawing from endurance racing. Audi Sport Team Joest (the only factory LMP1 manufacturer after Peugeot's withdrawal) fielded three one-year-old R18 TDI cars, while Rebellion Racing entered two 2011 Lola B11/60s. OAK Racing and Pescarolo Team each entered a 2011 Pescarolo 01, while JRM, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing and Strakka Racing each entered one HPD ARX-03a. The Lola B12/60 made its début at Sebring, and Dyson Racing Team fielded one. Toyota did not enter its TS030 Hybrid car due to time constraints.

LMP2 had 13 teams from five different manufacturers. Oreca had three 03 cars in LMP2 run by Pecom Racing, ADR-Delta, and Signatech Nissan. Lola Cars also fielded three B12/80s, with two from Gulf Racing Middle East, and one by Lotus. There were also three HPD ARX-03b cars with two run by Level 5 Motorsports, and one by Starworks Motorsport. OAK Racing and Conquest Endurance each entered a single Morgan LMP2 car. Greaves Motorsport also fielded one Zytek Z11SN car. The one-make PC class included nine Oreca FLM09 vehicles, including two from CORE Autosport. PR1 Mathiasen Racing, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, Performance Tech Motorsports, RSR Racing, and Dempsey Racing each ran one car.

The WEC LMGTE field included twelve cars from four different manufacturers, with five in the Pro category and seven in the Am class. AF Corse was the only two-car team in LMGTE Pro, with two Ferrari 458 Italias, while Luxury Racing had one. There was one Aston Martin Vantage GTE from Aston Martin Racing and one Porsche 997 GT3-RSR from Team Felbermayr-Proton. Ferrari had three cars in LMGTE Am, with one 458 Italia entered by Krohn Racing, Luxury Racing, and AF-Corse-Waltrip. Larbre Compétition fielded two Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs, and JWA-Avila and Felbermayr-Proton each fielded one Porsche 997 GT3-RSR. The ten-car ALMS GT field featured two C6.Rs from Corvette Racing, two Ferrari 458 Italias from Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM), four Porsche 997 GTE-RSRs from Flying Lizard Motorsports (two) and Team Falken Tire and Paul Miller Racing (one each), and two BMW M3 GT2s from Team RLL. Risi Competizione missed Sebring due to the economic climate and the resulting lack of preparation. The one-make GTC class included nine Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars. Alex Job Racing (AJR) and NGT Motorsports had two cars and one each by Green Hornet Racing, JDX Racing, Competition Motorsports, GMG Racing, and TRG.

Balance of performance changes

The balance of performance goal for both the ALMS and the WEC was to achieve parity in all classes. The Audi R18 TDi's performance was lowered because its air restrictor was 7% smaller, its turbocharger boost was reduced, and it lost 5 L in fuel capacity. The GT-category Chevrolet Corvette C6.R received a 0.4 mm larger air restrictor and more flexibility in its rear wing placement, as did the Aston Martin Vantage GTE and the BMW M3 GT2. The WEC LMGTE Am-class Porsche 997 GTE-RSR lost 25 kg of ballast, while the Black Swan Lola B11/80 gained 20 kg of ballast, affecting their handling.

Testing

The teams had two four-hour test sessions on March 12 and two one-hour test sessions the next day. On the first day, 61 of the 64 entered cars competed, with Audi leading with a 1:47.187 lap set by Allan McNish's No. 2 car. During the afternoon session, McNish's co-driver Tom Kristensen damaged the No. 2 car's front-left corner in a collision with Romain Dumas' sister No. 3 vehicle. The No. 1 Audi was four-tenths of a second faster than the No. 3 entry, which was more than a second slower. The highest-placed petrol-powered car was the No. 6 Muscle Milk HPD entry in fourth. Level 5's No. 95 car led LMP2 in the afternoon session with a time of 1:52.055, almost 1.5 seconds faster than the sister No. 055 entry. On the bumpy turn 17, OAK team owner Jacques Nicolet lost control of the No. 24 Morgan car, which incurred severe damage in a high-speed accident. Luxury's No. 59 Ferrari set the quickest afternoon session lap at 2:00.830. The No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche was 0.325 seconds slower, while Dominik Farnbacher's No. 58 Luxury Ferrari led LMGTE Am with a 2:02.893 lap time. Dempsey Racing topped LMPC with a 1:55.540 lap time from PR1 Mathiasen Racing, while Green Hornet's No. 34 car led the GTC class with a time of 2:06.899 from NGT Motorsport's No. 30 car.

Testing's second day saw all 64 cars compete, and Audi again led with Kristensen's lap of 1:48.138, 0.272 seconds quicker than Timo Bernhard's No. 3 car. The No. 1 Audi was third after a lap by Marcel Fässler and the highest-placed ALMS LMP1 entry was the fourth-placed Muscle Milk HPD car. Soheil Ayari's No. 49 Pecom Oreca car led LMP2 with a 1:53.527 lap in the afternoon session. After a lap by João Barbosa, the No. 055 Level 5 car was second and the top ALMS LMP2 entry, and Ryan Dalziel's No. 44 Starworks HPD entry was third, the top three LMP2 cars were within 0.362 seconds of each other. Giancarlo Fisichella's No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari led GT with a 2:01.097 lap, 0.043 seconds faster than Jaime Melo's No. 59 Luxury car. The top ALMS GT entry was Flying Lizard's No. 45 Porsche. Krohn's No. 57 Ferrari led LMGTE Am with a 2:02.991 lap time from Niclas Jönsson. Colin Braun lapped quickest in the LMPC-class CORE entry at 1:55.473, while Sean Edwards's No. 30 NGT car set the fastest GTC lap at 2:07.841.

Practice

The first practice session lasted one hour and was held on March 15 in the morning. Dumas was fastest at 1:48.626, 1.136 seconds ahead of Klaus Graf's highest-placed No. 6 Muscle Milk ALMS LMP1 entry. Graf was three-seconds ahead of Fässler in third and Andrea Belicchi's No. 13 Rebellion Lola was fourth overall. Barbosa set the quickest LMP2 lap of 1:52.680 for Level 5. John Martin's No. 25 ADR-Delta Oreca was second, 0.404 seconds slower, with the second Level 5 car third. David Heinemeier Hansson spun and stranded the No. 37 Conquest car at turn ten, stopping practice for five minutes. Practice was stopped again when Scott Tucker crashed the No. 055 Level 5 entry into the turn 17 tire barrier. Nine cars came within a second of Oliver Gavin's No. 4 Corvette's quickest GT lap of 2:01.514. With Jonathan Summerton's quickest lap, the No. 56 RLL BMW was second, and Toni Vilander's No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari was third, separated by a tenth of a second. Farnbacher led LMGTE Am with a 2:02.988 lap, followed by Paolo Ruberti's No. 88 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche and Krohn's No. 57 Ferrari of Jönsson. Muscle Milk's Memo Gidley led LMPC with a 1:55.881 lap, 0.137 seconds quicker than No. 6 CORE's Alex Popow. Michael Guasch's No. 5 Muscle Milk car stopped at turn ten, resulting in a five-minute delay. Alex Job's No. 022 car led GTC with Leh Keen's 2:07.308 lap, ahead of Henrique Cisneros' No. 30 NGT car.

The second practice session, during that afternoon, lasted an hour in clear, windy conditions. The three Audis led, with André Lotterer's No. 1 car fastest in 1:47.761, ahead of Dumas and Rinaldo Capello's No. 2 entry. Guillaume Moreau's No. 15 OAK Pescarolo and Graf were fourth and fifth, respectively. Nick Leventis stopped practice when his No. 21 Strakka car stopped on track before a collision between an unknown Prototype and GT car caused another stoppage. The No. 95 HPD of Ryan Hunter-Reay lapped fastest in 1:53.094 late in the session, 0.322 seconds faster than Level 5 teammate Christophe Bouchut's No. 055 car. Martin Plowman's No. 37 Conquest Morgan was third in class. Gianmaria Bruni paced GT with a lap of 2:00.034 in AF Corse's No. 51 Ferrari. Bill Auberlen's No. 155 RLL BMW was 0.360 seconds slower in second place. Pedro Lamy's No. 50 Larbre Corvette improved the fastest LMGTE Am lap to a 2:02.747, leaving Farnbacher over a second behind. Pablo Sanchez's No. 7 Merchant car led LMPC in 1:55.573, ahead of Raphael Matos' No. 18 Performance Tech car. Edwards' No. 30 NGT car led GTC with a 2:06.819 lap, 0.358 seconds faster than Damien Faulkner's Green Hornet entry.

That evening, a single one-hour and 45-minute practice session was scheduled. Kristensen set the quickest lap late in the session, 1:47.049, ahead of teammates Lotterer and Loïc Duval's No. 3 Audi, and Graf and David Brabham's No. 22 JRM HPD car. With a 1:51.824 lap, Stéphane Sarrazin's Starworks HPD vehicle led LMP2 ahead of OAK's No. 24 entry of Olivier Pla and Hunter-Reay. Joey Hand's best GT lap of 2:00.258 was 0.065 seconds faster than Bruni's. Farnbacher led LMGTE Am with a lap of 2:01.864, half a second faster than Jönsson. Matos (1:56.789) was 0.127 seconds faster than Sanchez in LMPC. TRG's Spencer Pumpelly topped GTC with a lap of 2:07.623 from Green Hornet's Sebastiaan Bleekemolen. A CORE LMPC car spun the No. 31 NGT Porsche in the hairpin, forcing Nick Heidfeld's No. 12 Rebellion to stop in heavy traffic at the exit to avoid contact. Duval struck Heidfeld's rear, and Duval's rear was then hit by teammate Fässler. The No. 3 Audi missed the rest of the session due to major front and rear-end repairs, but all other drivers returned to the pit lane. Maxime Jousse crashed the front left of the No. 28 Gulf Lola at high speed into the outside turn 11 tire barrier, stopping practice for 14 minutes. He was uninjured. Steven Kane stopped the No. 16 Dyson Lola in turn one with a loss of power and halted practice for five minutes. All three incidents extended the session by 20 minutes.

On March 16, the final morning practice session lasted one hour. Audi kept their No. 1 and 3 cars out of the session after finishing their pre-qualifying preparations, as Dumas went fastest overall with a lap time of 1:48.200. Moreau, Belicchi and Lucas Luhr's No. 6 Muscle Milk car occupied second to fourth, respectively. Pla set the LMP2 pace with a time of 1:51.318, a half-second faster than Sarrazin and John Martin. On his final lap before practice ended, Richard Lietz in the No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche set the first sub-two-minute GT lap at 1:59.987. Ferraris were second and third in class with Melo (No. 59 Luxury) ahead of Vilander (No. 51 AF Corse). Jönsson's lap of 2:01.348 was fastest in LMGTE Am from Ruberti and Lamy. E. J. Viso's No. 06 CORE entry led in PC after lapping at 1:55.606, ahead of Bruno Junqueira's No. 9 RSR car. Keen paced GTC from Faulkner with a lap of 2:06.365. Kévin Estre's No. 11 JDX car spun and crashed into the turn ten tire barrier, prompting an early end to the session with two minutes to go.

Qualifying

A 65-minute qualifying session divided into four 15-minute sessions was held in the afternoon of March 16. The rules required each team to nominate one qualifying driver, with the quickest laps determining each class' starting order. IMSA and the FIA awarded a championship point to the pole-sitting team and their drivers in each category. Audi led from the start once more, with Lotterer taking Audi's tenth Sebring pole with a lap of 1:45.820 recorded during the closing minutes of qualifying despite serving a penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The time was nearly four-tenths of a second faster than Kristensen's fastest lap in second. Dumas qualified the rebuilt No. 3 Audi third, completing a top three sweep for the manufacturer. Graf's No. 6 Muscle Milk HPD car was the top ALMS qualifier in fourth and Moreau's No. 15 OAK Pescarolo car was the highest-placed WEC petrol-powered entry in fifth. OAK earned the LMP2 pole position with a time of 1:50.467 set by Pla after duelling the second-placed Sarrazin and Greaves Motorsport's third-placed Elton Julian. Bouchut's No. 055 Level 5 car was the fastest ALMS LMP2 entry. He swerved to avoid a car emerging ahead of him from the pit lane exit and collided with both the inside and outside barriers at turn one. He was uninjured; the session was stopped for seven minutes.

Junqueira's lap of 1:54.510 won RSR their first ALMS PC pole position in their class debut. Viso's No. 06 CORE car and Dane Cameron's Dempsey entry were second and third in class. Bruni's lap time of 1:58.427 with a minute to go secured him a second consecutive GT pole at Sebring and broke the 2011 category track lap record by more than two seconds. Bruni avoided striking the barrier in a lateral slide leaving turn 17 by engaging first gear and turning the car around. Second in GT was Melo's No. 59 Luxury Ferrari and Jan Magnussen's No. 03 Corvette was the highest-placed ALMS GT entry in third place. Farnbacher reset the LMGTE Am lap record with a time of 2:00.184, putting the No. 58 Luxury Ferrari on pole. Jönsson qualified the Krohn Ferrari second and Lamy's No. 50 Larbre Corvette was third in class. Edwards' No. 30 NGT car secured pole in the GTC category with a 2:06.674 lap time, earning him his third career ALMS pole. Edwards' lap time was 0.023 seconds faster than Faulkner's Green Hornet vehicle's best effort. Keen took third in class with the No. 22 AJR entry.

Post-qualifying

Francesco Dracone became unwell and was replaced as a driver of the Conquest LMP2 car by Jan Heylen, who was granted a waiver despite not participating in night practice. This driver change demoted the entry to the back of the grid. Gulf No. 29 Lola was excluded from the race for failing to meet the minimum qualifying time due to engine installation issues that limited it to two qualifying laps, dropping the number of race starters to 63. OAK's No. 15 car was moved to the rear of the field for failing a post-qualifying stall test.

Qualifying result

Pole position winners in each class are marked in bold.

Warm-up

A 25-minute morning warm-up session for drivers to examine their cars before the race began on March 17 under sunny but foggy conditions. McNish was fastest with a lap time of 1:50.804. Starworks' Dalziel was fastest in LMP2, Richard Westbrook's No. 4 Corvette led in GT, Rui Águas' AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari topped LMGTE Am, Matos of Performance Tech paced PC and TRG's Pumpelly led GTC. The session was interrupted when John Martin crashed the ADR-Delta Oreca car into the turn one inside barrier. Bryan Sellers' Falken car suffered an engine failure with smoke billowing from its left-rear; the team began changing the engine to allow it to take the race start.

Race

Start and early hours

The race, which started at 10:30 a.m. local time, drew more than 90,000 spectators. FIA president Jean Todt commanded the drivers to start their engines. Competitors were focused on heavy traffic, and traffic management was a factor. Following the withdrawal of the No. 29 Gulf Lola, 63 cars were scheduled to start, but the No. 17 Falken Porsche (engine change), No. 22 JRM HPD entry (steering wheel change after a safety car switch problem on another one), and No. 28 Gulf Lola were all in the pit lane. During the second (and final) formation lap, Jörg Bergmeister's No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche and Farnbacher's No. 58 Luxury Ferrari collided entering turn 17. Farnbacher entered the pit lane with frontal damage, while Bergmeister was towed in with his left-rear suspension wheel bent and undertray damage that took 26 laps to repair in the garage. The Luxury Ferrari did not complete a single lap, and was retired following an inspection and repairs. The Flying Lizard Porsche returned to the track after spending most of the first hour replaced the damaged suspension. Because it was deemed a "racing incident," no action was taken, and Farnbacher apologized to Flying Lizard in the paddock for the crash.

McNish passed Lotterer in the fast turn 17 for the lead at the end of the first lap. Vilander brought the GT leading No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari into the garage for 45 minutes with an alternator failure on lap five; the car rejoined the race 20 laps down. This gave Melo's No. 59 Luxury Ferrari the GT lead. The first full course caution was necessitated for 15 minutes for an incident on lap eight. Alternator problems forced Águas to stop the AF Corse-Waltrip Ferrari at the side of the course before restarting and stopping again. McNish lost the overall lead to teammate Fässler during the pit stop cycle for fuel and tires, as his crew was eager to be out of sequence to avoid pit lane traffic. When racing restarted, the No. 44 Starworks and No. 24 OAK Racing teams battled for the LMP2 lead. Olivier Beretta moved the No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari past Gavin's No. 04 Corvette on the inside to take second place in GT. McNish lapped quicker than any other driver and returned the No. 2 Audi to the overall lead when the other two Audis and Graf's No. 6 Muscle Milk entry made pit stops.

Afternoon

Fässler collided with a Luxury Ferrari in the middle of the second hour and lost control of the No. 1 Audi, but he continued without losing much time. After going off the circuit at turn 10, Keen's No. 22 AJR car suffered a left-rear puncture and wheel damage, handing the GTC class lead to Estre's No. 11 JDX entry. The second full course caution was issued when Hansson's LMP2 Conquest Morgan entry stopped at the hairpin braking point with no fuel and was towed to the pit lane. After 23 minutes of caution, racing resumed before a four-car crash involving the No. 01 ESM Ferrari, No. 5 Muscle Milk PC entry, No. 28 Gulf Lola, and the Luxury Ferrari did not necessitate any intervention because all four cars were able to return to the pit lane. A third full course caution was required for track cleanup when Olivier Lombard's No. 23 Signatech Oreca, Melo's GT-category leading Luxury Ferrari, Hunter-Reay's No. 95 Level 5 car, and the No. 22 AJR Porsche collided on fluids at turn 13. The Signatech Oreca and Luxury Ferrari were both retired due to car damage.

When racing resumed, Dalziel's Starworks HPD car took up the LMP2 class lead, while Edwards' No. 30 NGT car reclaimed the GTC lead. Jordan Taylor's No. 03 Corvette gained on the GT-leading No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche of Patrick Pilet and passed him just before the fourth hour ended. Benoît Tréluyer slowed on the Ullmann Straight due to an electronic downshift gear selection issue that was traced to the electric motor driving the gearbox's selection mechanism. He briefly brought the No. 1 Audi into the garage to rectify the fault by changing some car components early in the fifth hour. Felbermayr-Proton's No. 88 Porsche spun behind the No. 55 JWA-Avila Porsche at turn four, prompting Tracy Krohn's LMGTE Am leading Krohn Ferrari to spin in avoidance. This moved Patrick Bornhauser's No. 50 Larbre Corvette into the LMGTE Am lead. Duncan Ende lost control of the Dempsey PC car and lightly collided with the turn four tire barrier, causing the fourth full course caution. Some teams made pit stops for fuel during the caution. After racing resumed, Dominik Kraihamer in fifth overall lost control of the No. 15 OAK Pescarolo at the exit of a turn, damaging the car's rear-left gently against the barrier but continuing to drive. In LMP2, Pecom's Ayari led, but he was two seconds slower on one lap, and he was passed by Bouchut and Sarrazin.

Markus Palttala ceded the No. 55 JWA Porsche's GTC lead to Cisneros' No. 30 NGT car when Palttala served a penalty for overtaking the safety car under caution. The GT lead became a multi-car battle between Beretta and Andrea Bertolini's No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari, the Nos. 04 (Gavin and Tommy Milner) and 03 Corvettes (Magnussen and Antonio García), Liet and Marc Lieb's No. 77 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche with all cars running close behind each other and overtakes occurring between them. Fässler's No. 1 Audi slowed on course until it was brought into the garage for several laps due to a recurrence of its gear selection issue. This moved the No. 6 Muscle Milk HPD car to third overall. RSR's PC leading car entered the pit lane and lost the class lead to the No. 06 CORE entry. Heylen's No. 37 Conquest Morgan entry necessitated the fifth full course caution after it stopped past the bridge at the first corner with a lack of drive and required recovery to the pit lane. After 15 minutes of caution, Roger Wills' No. 5 Muscle Milk PC car crashed backwards into the turn seven tire barrier and returned to the pit lane with bodywork and car damage, necessitating a sixth full course caution for barrier repairs.

Auberlen's No. 155 RLL BMW took the GT lead from Milner's No. 04 Corvette when racing resumed in the eighth hour. Darren Turner's No. 97 Aston Martin triggered the eighth full course caution when his left-rear wheel disconnected from the car entering the hairpin and went down the main straight. Turner's car stopped on the side of the track and required a 25-minute recovery to the pit lane to replace a new wheel. Soon after racing resumed, Henri Richard's Dempsey PC car spun in front of Performance Tech's Anthony Nicolosi, who collided with him in the turn 10 braking zone. Richard struck the concrete barrier just before the backstraightaway with the car's front and underside, necessitating its retirement and the eighth full course caution for debris cleanup by track marshals. He was uninjured. Krohn's Ferrari appeared to get caught out by a slowing car ahead of him in the concertina effect and collided with the outside wall at the start of the Ullman straight, extending the safety car period to allow turn workers to repair the barrier. The Krohn Ferrari entered the garage for 71 minutes to replace the rear suspension and splitter.

Sunset to finish

When racing restarted as the sun fell, Cisneros' No. 30 NGT vehicle lost the GTC lead to Townsend Bell's No. 023 AJR car. Cisneros later collided into the turn 13 tire barrier head on, forcing the No. 30 NGT team to withdraw as well as the ninth full course caution for 20 minutes to rebuild the six-deep tire wall. He was uninjured. The engine in Moreau's No. 15 OAK Pescarolo failed, sending smoke rising from the engine cover, prompting the tenth full course caution soon after. Moreau's car stopped at turn seven on the track and had to be extricated to the pit lane. When racing resumed, Luhr's No. 6 Muscle Milk car and JRM's Peter Dumbreck battled for third overall until Dumbreck's rear-right tire punctured. The ensuing collapse of the right-rear suspension, which came after a pit stop to replace the ruptured tire, cost the No. 22 car 15 laps in the garage.

The race's 11th and final full course caution (a new Sebring record) came when Nicolosi stopped in the opposite direction in the grass and the stranded Performance Tech entry was recovered to the pit lane. Nicki Thiim's No. 031 NGT Porsche collided with Dion von Moltke's No. 023 AJR vehicle at the bumpy turn 17 after the safety car was recalled, and both cars spun. Both drivers were able to continue, although Thiim ceded NGT's hold on second in GTC to Faulkner's Green Hornet car as he entered the pit lane for repairs. The first six cars in GT were on the same lap, with Milner's No. 4 Corvette, Hand's No. 56 RLL BMW, and Beretta's No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari sharing the class lead. When Faulkner spun at the entry to turn 17, his team's hold on second in GTC was lost. Nicolas Prost's No. 12 Rebellion Lola was forced to drive on the starter motor after the exit of turn 16 in a safe place on the Ullman straight due to an electronic glitch. The car was recovered to the pit lane and the problem was fixed.

In the final hour, Simon Pagenaud experienced a refueling valve failure due to a loose buckeye during a pit stop, and a failed swap to another valve resulted in a fuel leak, forcing the No. 6 Muscle Milk car to retire. Sarrazin's Starworks LMP2 HPD car advanced to third overall after he and Barbosa raced nose-to-tail for the final two hours, exchanging the LMP2 lead several times. Sarrazin passed Barbosa after the final round of pit stops and began to draw away as Barbosa was slower on the soft compound tires. Bernhard's No. 3 Audi was a lap behind the sister No. 2 car when he collided with a GTC-class Porsche, necessitating a pit lane rear end change. Lamy's No. 50 Larbre Corvette lost the LMGTE Am lead when its driveshaft failed and the car stopped on track with 16 minutes remaining, advancing Ruberti's No. 88 Felbermayr-Proton Porsche to first place, which he held to the finish. Pit stops changed the GT order, making it a duel between BMW and Ferrari. Beretta's 71 AF Corse Ferrari and Hand's 56 RLL BMW traded the class lead in the preceding laps until Bruni's sister No. 51 Ferrari bumped Hand in an attempt to unlap himself at turn three on the final lap and spun him off the track. Beretta suffered a puncture after spinning in avoidance of the incident. Hand regained control of his car and overtook Beretta, believing the latter had hit him.

Unhindered since the second half of the event, the No. 1 Audi completed 325 laps, leading all but 66 laps to secure McNish's fourth Sebring victory, Capello's fifth, Kristensen's sixth, and Audi's tenth, four laps ahead of Bernhard's No. 3 car in the R18 TDI's final race. The No. 16 Pescarolo in sixth overall was untroubled and completed the LMP1 class podium. Dyson Racing won ALMS P1 as the category's sole classified finisher, finishing eighth overall. Starworks' HPD LMP2 car won the class and finished third overall, with a 32-second lead over the highest-placed ALMS P2 entry, Level 5's No. 055 car, in their third Sebring category win when most LMP1 privateer entrants had trouble. Hand recovered to claim RLL's second consecutive Sebring GT victory by 1.740 seconds over Magnussen's No. 03 Corvette. Beretta's No. 71 AF Corse Ferrari fell behind Magnussen by slowing following his final lap spin but won in WEC LMGTE Pro and was third overall in GT. Felbermayr-Proton won the WEC's LMGTE Am class by one lap over the No. 70 Larbre Corvette. AJR took their eighth Sebring class win and second in succession in GTC with the No. 023 car a lap ahead of the sister No. 022 entry.

Post-race

The top three finishes in each of the nine classes appeared on the podium separately before being interviewed. Capello said the win was not easy and added that slower cars were a major issue, "We were careful, we finished with just little scratches on our car, nothing serious. It was one of the keys to our success today." McNish added, "We didn't necessarily have the best of seasons in 2011. The thing we're looking towards now is the next race in the world championship. From my point of view, we've had a really good run and we should really be proud of that." Kristensen said the speed difference was now a challenge and that it "was amazing to come here and celebrate the team effort." Bernhard argued that his car had slightly more performance but conceded "it didn't work out for us today." Sarrazin called the duel with Level 5 "a great race all the way through" and that Starworks became gradually faster in the concluding two hours. Dalziel praised his team's work in the preceding weeks and co-driver Enzo Potolicchio added that third was "the first step for us, being 3rd overall in a P2 car was amazing."

Beretta spoke on his last lap accident: "The BMW went sideways. I jumped on the brakes and lost it." He added that he felt Hand caused the crash but said that "He wants to win, and we want to win and that was just racing." Hand argued that Bruni had no opportunity to unlap himself and had expected the collision. Nevertheless, Hand said he enjoyed driving for RLL and was motivated by both team owner Bobby Rahal and his co-drivers, adding, "Did you see how many times we came in second and left in first? I hope everybody got a show. If you didn't like that, you don't like racing." Bruni was fined $15,000 by the race officials for the final lap accident, and the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari was disqualified for "unsportsmanlike conduct". Ruberti called his LMGTE Am win "like a dream" and said he completed the final stint in the last hour with no power steering. Von Moltke explained that following his accident with Thiim, he had to push hard during the closing two hours in which he built up a gap to enable AJR to win in GTC.

ALMS president and CEO Scott Atherton said that the race exceeded his expectations and that "it had all the makings of a real challenging and potentially fraught-with-danger experience. Still, this was a textbook example of cooperation, compromise and mutual respect that started at the top and permeated every aspect of the event." Racer's Tony DiZinno wrote in an opinion column that spectators ideally wanted to witness a simpler and understandable sports car race with no confusion over each car category in which racing series, adding: "the obvious point is that next year's Sebring needs to be a cleaner and simpler event. The race, the ALMS and the fans all deserve better. Grand as the 2012 race may have been, the confusion and politics that affected it should be, like the race, consigned to history." The WEC did not return to Sebring until the 2019 1000 Miles of Sebring as the series' American event was established at the Circuit of the Americas.

Race result

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 70% of winner's distance (227 laps) marked as not classified (NC).