It's the Super Sebring double header this weekend, featuring some of the fastest sportscar racing in the world. The World Endurance Championship (WEC) will hold its 1000Km of Sebring race today, with the International Motorsport Association's (IMSA) Sportscar Championship holding the 12 Hours of Sebring tomorrow.
The WEC is available on various TV channels around the world, as well as their paid subscription service. IMSA is available on TV in North America, and FOR FREE outside of North America at imsatv.imsa.com
Both championships are multiclass, so there's different specification cars all racing their own race within the race itself. This makes for some interesting battles in the classes, as well as faster cars having to get past slower cars as the race progresses.
The WEC is made up of 4 classes:
LMP1 - Le Mans Prototype Class 1 - The fastest sports prototypes in the world. These cars are purpose-built and act as a testbed for manufacturers - currently Toyota, who have developed their hybrid technology on their TS050 - and engine manufacturers, for the privateer entries. The Toyotas have around 500hp from their combustion engines, and a further 500hp from their electric motors. The privateers are non-hybrid and have around 700hp at all times. These cars have traction control.
LMP2 - Le Mans Prototype Class 2 - Essentially the "gentleman" racer equivalent to LMP1, with a mix of pro and amateur drivers. These cars have slightly less power and aren't as aerodynamically efficient as the top class. There's a single engine for each car, the Gibson V8, putting out around 650hp. The main difference between the cars is the different chassis available, with the 3 most popular being Oreca, Ligier and Dallara. These cars have traction control.
GTE-Pro - Grand Tourer Endurance Pro Class - Based on road-built sportscars, these are all factory-run teams made up of professional drivers. The cars have around 450-500hp and are incredibly aerodynamically efficient. These cars have traction control.
GTE-Am - Grand Tourer Endurance Amateur Class - These cars are a year older than the current GTE-Pro cars, so are less developed. They're a mix of pro and amateur drivers. These cars have traction control.
IMSA is made up of 4 classes:
DPi - Daytona Prototype International - An evolution of the old Daytona Prototypes. These cars are based on LMP2 chassis, but are different to LMP2 in that they act like a testbed for manufacturers, in a similar fashion to LMP1 (though they're not as advanced or as fast). Teams take an LMP2 chassis and modify the aero kit to include styling cues from road cars, as well as use the engines from manufacturers or manufacturer affiliates. E.g. the Cadillac DPi is based on the Dallara LMP2 chassis, but has styling cues from the Cadillac CTS V road car. These cars have traction control.
LMP2 - Same as the WEC class.
GTLM - Same as WEC's GTE-Pro class.
GTD - Grand Tourer Daytona - Based on road-built sportscars and built to global GT3 spec, this is a mix of pro and amateur drivers, with a large variety of cars. These cars are the slowest category, but are still potent. They have more horsepower than GTE/GTLM cars, at around 500-600hp, but aren't as aerodynamically efficient, so are much slower in the corners. These cars have traction control and ABS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcQzm8r9Mto
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKh2ba9RnA8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke6dZSwQ_P4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiqdqLYGzOg
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