The season-ending HSR Sebring Historics and Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network got off to a thrilling and competitive start Thursday at Sebring International Raceway.
In the day’s featured one-hour B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race, 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. Neapole and Cosmo narrowly 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.
The Acura squad’s victory came after a great opening and race-leading stint by Neapole and a perfectly timed pit stop at mid-race when Cosmo took over for the run to the finish. Cosmo and Foss ran in a close one-two formation in the race’s closing stages with the No. 60 taking the team’s maiden Historic Prototype class checkered flag for the win just 4.264 seconds ahead of the No. 02.
The top two shared the overall and top-three Historic Prototype podium with the ageless Travis Engen in his nearly 20-year-old 2005 No. 2 Audi R8 LMP prepared by GMT Racing.
The race win in the GT Modern (GTM) class, and fourth overall in the 31-car field, went to Vincent Barletta in the always-quick 2016 No. 95 BMW M6 GTD Prepared by Turner Motorsports.
Second in GTM went to Conor Flynn and his father Mike Flynn in the Irish Mike’s Racing 2020 No. 195 Porsche 991.2 GT3. The senior Flynn started the race but came to the pits during a yellow flag period in the opening laps to selflessly pass the Porsche over to his son who completed the balance of the race’s 60 minutes for the competitive runner-up result.
Third in GTM in the B.R.M. race was secured by frequent HSR podium finisher Colin Dougherty in his 2008 No. 92 Porsche 997 Grand-Am Cup prepared by DAS Sport.
A dual celebration of Sebring International Raceway’s rich auto racing history and patriotic military aviation legacy, the Mission Foods HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour Sebring, Pistons and Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network is an on-track and on-the-runways celebration of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and historic Hendricks Field, the World War II era military base on which the famous sports car race has been held for more than 70 years.
In addition to a full slate of HSR WeatherTech Sprint races and three more HSR Feature Races on track, a Friday highlight is the arrival of the vintage and historic military aircraft that land throughout the afternoon before parading over to the Sebring International Raceway paddock at 5:15 p.m. EST. The planes will be on display at the track and available to fans and competitors alike for an up-close look through Sunday morning.
Among the planes will be the blue B004 numbered 1942 Vultee BT-15 Valiant piloted by Tom Smith. The BT-15 is just one of four still flying today out of 1,200 produced, and Smith and his wife Kim Smith have flown it more than 1,000 hours over the last 15 years.
Back on track, this weekend’s featured HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour starts at 1 p.m. Saturday. Classic Sebring 12 Hour competitors return to the track Sunday at 12 p.m. with each Group getting one final segment to decide this year’s winners.
Tickets are available online at www.SebringRaceway.com or by visiting the Raceway’s ticket office at Gate 3.
