Sebring 2026 Season Opener
The 2026 season opener at Sebring International Raceway saw one of the largest International GT entries ever at the historic raceway. After qualifying, the field was set for our first sprint race on Friday afternoon.
Unfortunately, the skies opened for a brief shower while the IGT cars sat on grid. Some chose not to take the green after a couple pace laps but the 32 cars (of the 45 entries) that did race, had a very competitive run.
Friday night after the sprint race we held our traditional celebration of the previous year’s champions. It was a fantastic evening which we will cover in detail in the next newsletter.
Sprint race 1 was won overall by TADAS KARLINSKAS #213, owner of XO9 Racing. Tadas was one of 12 entries in the brand-new International GT category, GT992. Tadas dominated the category all weekend, not always taking the overall win but always on top of the GT992 class – four wins in four races!
Also having a very strong run in the new Porsche 992 class was ANTHONY YEZEK #374 from AutoQuest Motorsports out of Ft Myers, FL. Anthony took second in all three sprint races.
Things switched up a bit in the enduro and second went to TROY PETERSEN #272 with co-driver DARIUS TRINKA from XO9 Racing (more on Darius a bit later). Troy in his super bright yellow ROYAL Pet Porsche also stood on the podium in sprint race 2.
To round out the GT992 category, ROBERTO DALLA COSTA #17 came in third in sprint race 1 and the always enthusiastic DAVID TUATY #268 from South Florida’s TLM USA took a pair of thirds in sprint race 3 and the enduro.
With such a full GT992 category there were several drivers who had really good weekends but finished just off the podium: BILL OLIVER #058, Matrix Motorsports; MUSTAFA BAKIR #06; MARC JULIEN #87, STAK Auto Lifts; CLIFF CAYER #08, Matrix Motorsports; MARK SANDRIDGE #58, Team Salad; WOODY WHICHARD #212, Matrix Motorsports and FRANCISCO DE JESUS #221 with TOPP Racing.
With the 992s forming their own class, it gave a new look to the GT4R category. Don’t Panic Racing, REG WILLIAMS #008 with Goldcrest Motorsports had a fantastic weekend, taking the win in all four races!! Reg was followed closely by JUAN GONZALEZ #81, Mission Foods/Car Amigo Racing. Juan, who rarely does the enduro races, competed on Sunday at Sebring taking second place in the 60-minute enduro, to go with a third in sprint race 3. Also in the GT4R category was newcomer MATT COHN #210 from Off Leash Motorsports. Matt and team had a few challenges early in the weekend but came on strong with a second and a couple of third place finishes. Matt was also presented a free set of Pirelli tires on the sprint race 3 podium.
We’ll switch it up and go to Stuttgart Cup. Both the 4 liter and 3.8 had full fields and provided some great racing!
We were introduced to a new face with a familiar last name at Sebring. COLEMAN HALL (Chris’s son) #79 from Sean Creech Racing, dominated the CAY4.0 category throughout the sprint races, winning all three. An early caution in the enduro caught out the 17-year-old who shared the enduro with his dad. The team had to complete their 5-minute mandatory pit stop later in the race, after the 30-minute mark when co-drivers are allowed to take over driving.
We were also introduced to newcomer ZACH BRADFORD #14 from ZRB Motorsports, who was hot on the heels of Coleman in all the sprint races taking second in all three.
On the same theme, two other newbies to International GT, JEFF AFFLERBACH #10 from ZOTZ Racing and RYAN CAMP #9 under the Extreme Velocity Motorsports umbrella both had strong debuts on the weekend. Jeff took a couple third place finishes in the sprints and won the enduro race on Sunday! Ryan took a third in sprint race 3 and was second to Jeff in the enduro.
KURT KROPP #641, Extreme Velocity Motorsports rounded out the enduro podium finishing third.
In the Cayman 3.8 liter category, DAVID and DANIEL HERRINGTON #63, another from Goldcrest Motorsports, shared their Clubsport through the weekend. Daniel drove for sprint races 1 and 3 grabbing the win in sprint 1 and second in sprint 3. Together the father and son duo took third in Sunday’s enduro.
Just off the podium but having a good weekend in her first ever visit to Sebring Raceway was 2023 Stuttgart Cup Champion, MARIA MEJIA #11, Quirt Racing.
RICHARD WALKER #67, from Extreme Velocity Motorsports won sprint race 3 and the enduro and took a couple second place finishes in sprint races 1 and 2. DERICK COOPER #114 from AutoQuest Motorsports also had a successful weekend with the win in sprint race 2 and a second in the enduro.
We welcomed back JOHN ALEXANDER #27 and saw for the first race his son JASON ALEXANDER #29 both in the Cayman 3.8 class from Eksten Autoworks joining us all the way from the Watkins Glen area of New York. Jason was third in all three sprint races.
Bringing his beautiful CAY3.4 liter car from upstate New York was MICHAEL MAMMANO #723, also with the Eksten Autoworks group. Mike swept the category with wins in all three sprint races.
Before we leave the Stuttgart Cup category, we want to say a warm “Welcome Back” to some drivers we haven’t seen in a while. TOM BIGONY #55 and 2022 Stuttgart Cup Champion, JOE RIZZO #24 returned to IGT competition in their Cayman 4 liters and brought along a new team to the series, BGB Motorsports.
Returning to the Mission Foods GT3 Cup Trophy class, the 4 liter category saw some very close racing! STEVE DUNN #105, Charles Wicht Racing, ran the category winning all 4 races on the weekend. In fact, Steve was so fast that he was never outside of the top 4 in the overall results in all races.
Finishing second to Dunn in sprint race 1 and 2 was JORDAN SANDRIDGE #49 who stepped up from his 3.8 to a 4 liter at Sebring for Team Salad. 2024 Mission Foods GT3 Cup Champion, TOMMY BALLESTER #189, Quirt Racing was third in sprint races 1 and 2. Tommy jumped up one step in sprint race 3 and the enduro to finish second in both. Also on the podium was JULIO DE JESUS #12 from TOPP Racing out of Texas who stood on the podium in third for sprint race 3 and the enduro which he shared with RYAN YARDLEY.
Debuting at Sebring as part of the Off Leash Motorsports team was CHARLES BILODEAU #41 in a GT3.8 car. Charles, a Canadian, swept the category winning all four races and we hope had a great time racing with International GT for the first time.
Last but certainly not least the GTX category had four entries although ALEX LIMA #7A never got his Lamborghini to cooperate and was unable to race most of the weekend as his team chased mechanical gremlins.
XO9 Racing brought out their new Lamborghini Huracan driven by DARIUS TRINKA #33. Darius won overall sprint race 2 and 3 and joined with Troy Petersen to co-drive in the enduro in Petersen’s Porsche 992.
New for 2026, STAK AUTO LIFTS has created a “Fastest Lap” Award. The award will go to different categories throughout the year however for Sebring it went to the truly fastest posted race lap of the weekend and was presented to Trinka in the Lambo.
CHARLES WICHT #7, CWR Motorsports brought his new Bentley GT3 to Sebring (a hop, skip and jump from the CWR headquarters). The classic British marque hosted the iconic Bentley green livery. Wicht set a blazing fast time in qualifying but decided to sit out the slightly damp sprint race 1. Charles was back on grid for sprint race 2, finishing second.
Also, in GTX was NICK GROOMBRIDGE #218, from SpeedSport, in a slightly modified Porsche 992. Nick was on all steps of the podium, winning sprint race 1 and the enduro, second in sprint race 3 and third in sprint race 2. Finally, we welcomed JEFF WILLIAMS #31 with TLM USA in a BMW M2. Although a bit short on horsepower compared with the rest of the field, Jeff posted an impressive third in the GTX sprint race 3 and came in second in the enduro.
Our sincere thanks goes to all who came out to the season opener at Sebring and for a successful weekend of excellent racing!
It’s just a week until paddock load-in as Racing America hosts the second round of the International GT season at Road Atlanta, March 12-15.