The Total lubricants-backed Paul Miller Racing team has notched a sixth-place start for the 69th annual 12 Hours of Sebring in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s all-new GTD qualifying format.
Consisting of two parts, the new qualifying format has separate sessions to set grid order and score championship points for the GTD class in 2021. Madison Snow set the seventh fastest time of the first 15-minute session, but was promoted to sixth place following technical inspection. Seven has been a theme for the Paul Miller Racing team this weekend, having also recorded the seventh fastest lap in each of the three practice sessions on Thursday.
Bryan Sellers completed the second qualifying session for the team, scoring a 10th place finish and amassing 21 points towards the championship for the team.
Snow and Sellers, alongside co-driver Corey Lewis, are seeking their second victory at the 12 Hours of Sebring after taking first place in the 2018 edition of the race. The team currently sits third in the overall championship, as well as in the Michelin Endurance Cup—a title they scored in 2020—of which Sebring is the second of four events.
“Sebring’s all about getting into the rhythm of the race and not making unforced errors. You can win from first, or you can absolutely win from the back here,” Paul Miller Racing team owner, Paul Miller said.
“Madison and Bryan did a solid job with the new qualifying format. But, more importantly, I think the team has made positive changes to the car that should help us have a better opportunity to compete in tomorrow’s race.”
Madison Snow
“We’re still learning about the car on this track. We changed the setup for qualifying a little bit and it was definitely better, and we think it’s going to be better for the race. There’s a lot of strong competition out there this year—there always has been, I mean that’s why we’re racing in IMSA—but it won’t make things easy for us. That being said, it’s a 12-hour race, and these endurance races are where our team really excels. Even starting sixth, I think we’ll be able to work our way up to the front and end up with a good finish.”
Source. Paul Miller Racing
Comments
