WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring 2023 Preview

With the Prologue of the 2023 WEC season in the review mirror, the start of the 2023 World Endurance Championship is now upon its loyal fans. Just like last year, the series returns to sunny Central Florida for the opening race of the season. A total of thirty seven teams from across the globe descend on Sebring International Raceway for the 1000 Miles of Sebring. With this growing hype behind this season, it is time to preview each class ahead of Friday’s race.

Le Mans Hypercar (LMH)

The third running of the 1000 Miles of Sebring is the biggest race yet for the WEC’s new top prototype class. Central Florida’s signature raceway will act as the stomping ground for an eleven-car LMH class, the largest top class of prototype racing in the 1000 Miles of Sebring’s history. As it stands, a clear top two teams are heading into the weekend: Cadillac Racing and Toyota Gazoo Racing. The four-time WEC champions from Japan looked poised to start their 2023 campaign on a strong foot. Both Toyota prototypes finished at the top of testing in all but one session, finishing second and third in Session Three. 

Cadillac Racing, however, looked like an imminent threat for the reigning champions. They followed a strong outing at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January with an immense performance at the Prologue. The number two car finished third in all but one session, in session three where they beat out the Toyotas. They have shown the single lap pace, it is merely a question of if they can outrun the red and white Japanese machine.

Outside of the top two, a clear tier list is now apparent. Porsche Penske and Ferrari AF Corse are the clear best of the rest, with Ferrari showing a compelling pace in free practice. Peugeot exists in their own tier heading into the race, while Scuderia Glickenhaus and the Floyd Vanwall Racing Team remain off the pace. 

Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2)

Throughout the Prologue, the clear number one team was the No. 22 United Autosports team. The veteran stable of Felipe Albuquerque, Phillip Hanson and Frederick Lubin appears poised to rebound from their 7th-place finish in last year’s championship. Another notable performance in the Prologue was the No. 9 Team WRT car. Iconic WEC drivers Robert Kubica and Louis Delétraz joined from Perma Orleon alongside and Rui Andrade to complete this stable. They finished top three in every session but Session Three.

 Outside of that duo, the No. 63 Prema Racing and golden No. 48 Hertz Team Jota cars remain the two other notable entries from the Prologue heading into the race weekend. Prema completely revamped their lineup with Mirko Bortolotti, former F1 driver Daniil “The Torpedo” Kvyat and the rising French female star driver Doriane Pin. Hertz Jota meanwhile only retained Will Stevens from their 2022 LMP2 Championship-winning lineup. Alongside Stevens, the German David Beckmann and Chinese youngster Ye Yifei.

Despite underperforming in the Prologue, the No. 31 Team WRT car should not be underestimated. Ferdinand Habsburg, Sean Gelael and Robin Frijns compose the best LMP2 lineup over the last two WEC seasons. They finished second place in Sebring last year, so a strong performance is not out of the question this year.

Le Mans GTE

It feels dangerous to say, but Iron Lynx and the Iron Dames look poised for a strong Sebring performance. It feels especially dangerous to put faith in the Iron Dames given their history of poor luck. Despite a strong finish to last year’s with three podium finishes, they opened the season with fifth, tenth and sixth-place finishes. A potential class win would be a monumental motorsports moment, hopefully, it happens. Iron Lynx, however, was less consistent in the Prologue despite matching pace with the Dames.

Outside of those two teams, there was highly variable performances among the GTE class. The No. 33 Corvette Racing lineup only returns Nicky Catsburg after being forced to drop down to the GTE Am class, but they added talented gentleman driver Ben Keating. Northwestern AMR return this year with two-thirds of their second-place finish from the 2022 WEC season, alongside AF Corse bringing back near identical rosters from 2022 as well. Notably, the championship-winning TF Sport lineup from 2022 did not return this year as they went their separate ways. In the GTE class, anything can happen which should make this 1000 Miles of Sebring very compelling.

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