Two one-hour B.R.M. Chronographes Endurance Challenge races and a full slate of WeatherTech Sprint Series doubleheaders brought the season-opening HSR Spring Fling at Sebring International Raceway to a competitive conclusion Friday.
The HSR Spring Fling’s big winner was Todd Treffert who went a perfect five-for-five in race victories throughout the event in his Speedconcepts 1974 No. 141 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by the 901 Shop.
Two of Treffert’s wins were secured in HSR feature races that took place both Thursday and Friday on the legendary 3.740-mile Sebring airport road course. Treffert also swept all three Group 5 WeatherTech sprints run the last two days, including both races in Friday’s doubleheader schedule.
In Friday morning’s B.R.M. Vintage and GT Classic (GTC) one-hour endurance race, Treffert once again took control at the drop of the green flag and never looked back. He finished first overall while scoring GTC class honors.
The B.R.M. feature race win followed a similar convincing run by Treffert in Thursday’s Sasco Sports International/American Challenge sprint. Treffert led every lap from the start to take the overall and Porsche class Sasco victories.
The B.R.M. Vintage class win Friday morning went to George Balbach who finished a strong second overall behind Treffert in his Ecurie Engineering 1966 No. 0 Porsche 911.
Yves Scemama completed the overall B.R.M. podium in third and took second place GTC honors in his Heritage Motorsports 1974 No. 52 Porsche 911 IROC.
Third in GTC, and securing fourth overall, was the duo of Damon DeSantis and David Hinton in the Heritage 1974 No. 82 Porsche 911 RSR. The showing backed up a podium finish by the duo in the same Porsche in last December’s Classic Sebring 12 Hour when they scored an overall third-place finish in Run Group B.
Lisa Hansen made it two Ecurie entries on the B.R.M. Vintage podium with a solid drive to third in her Ecurie Engineering 1969 No. 110 Porsche 911 S.
The Ecurie teammates bookended the B.R.M. Vintage podium while Travis Engen took second-place honors in his GMT Racing 1962 No. 1 Lotus 23B.
Engen was quick to return to his typical first-place form in Friday’s other feature race, which was the B.R.M. Chronographes Endurance Challenge for the Prototype, Historic and GT Modern (GTM) divisions.
Engen scored both the overall and Prototype victories in his GMT Racing 2005 No. 2 Audi R8 LMP despite starting at the back of the grid. Shaking off a minor mechanical issue that took away any chance of a flying qualifying lap, Engen steadily worked his way through the field after the race start. He took the lead on lap six and stayed in control of the race from that point on for the win.
The B.R.M. GTM win went to Thomas Gruber in his TAG 2016 No. 991 Porsche 991 GT3 prepared by Speed Syndicate. Crossing the finish line second overall, Gruber was the only competitor to finish on the lead lap with Engen.
The B.R.M. Vintage victory was earned by Francesco Melandri in his 1996 No. 96 Porsche 993 GT2 prepared by Amalfi Racing.
Additional podium players in the second B.R.M. race included Aaron Weiss who finished third overall and second in Prototype in his unique 2016 No. 72 Praga R1T.
The B.R.M. GTM podium was completed by a pair of competitors that crossed the finish line in the overall top five.
Paul Marino was second in GTM and fourth overall in his 2016 No. 22 Ferrari 458 while Paul Reisman came home third in GTM and fifth overall in his Hudson Historics 2009 No. 75 Porsche 997 Cup.
Third in B.R.M. Prototype went to the ex-Ruby Tuesday/Alex Job Racing 2007 No. 23 Porsche Crawford Daytona Prototype piloted by Wallis Owens.
The season-opening HSR Spring Fling was the first of HSR’s annual pair of races on the legendary Sebring International Raceway circuit this year. Nine months from now, the HSR racing year once again concludes with the season-ending HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour and Sebring Historics, December 1 – 5.
Next up for HSR is the 43rd HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, April 21 – 25. Entry forms, ticket information, the provisional race schedule and more event details are available at the official HSR Mitty event page by clicking here.
