SEBRING, Fla. - Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Chevrolet's lone triumph in the 63rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, Christian Fittipaldi, Joao Barbosa and Sebastien Bourdais teamed in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Mustang Sampling Corvette DP to make new history for the Bow Tie Brigade.
Jim Hall II opened the day by running exhibition laps in the Chaparral 2 his father and Hap Sharp drove to victory in the 1965 event. The Action Express trio then took over, teaming for a dominant victory, becoming the first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship team to lap the field. They led 246 of the 340 circuits, including every lap after Barbosa passed Scott Dixon to take the lead at the seven-hour mark.
"Definitely, it's very important for the team," said Fittipaldi. "The teamwork starts back at the shop. It doesn't start on Friday morning. Basically it's back at the shop. When we left Daytona, we didn't have the pace on track, and we made a couple of mistakes in the pits. We went back to the shop and analyzed everything we did. I think it went quite well. It's awesome man. To be able to complete every single lap out there is more than just us drivers, it's the whole team. We're always trying to improve no matter what we're doing. If we don't improve, we learn how to minimize our mistakes. If we do that, it will pay off at the end of the year."
"It was very special to check this one off the list," Barbosa said. "We couldn't have done it without a flawless car. It's pretty amazing what our guys are doing at the shop to give us this car. The car was consistent, it was still improving over the length of the race."
Definitely, it's very important for the team. The teamwork starts back at the shop. It doesn't start on Friday morning. Basically it's back at the shop. When we left Daytona, we didn't have the pace on track, and we made a couple of mistakes in the pits. We went back to the shop and analyzed everything we did. I think it went quite well. It's awesome man. To be able to complete every single lap out there is more than just us drivers, it's the whole team. We're always trying to improve no matter what we're doing. If we don't improve, we learn how to minimize our mistakes. If we do that, it will pay off at the end of the year."
"It was very special to check this one off the list. We couldn't have done it without a flawless car. It's pretty amazing what our guys are doing at the shop to give us this car. The car was consistent, it was still improving over the length of the race."
"This is a place that's been pretty mean to me many times," Bourdaid said. "I remember losing here with Peugeot when we got a puncture with just two hours to go. Winning in Prototype with a lap on the field
Thursday
May 9th, 2024
7:42PM
