2019 Sebring WEC race moved to Friday

The planned FIA World Endurance Championship round at Sebring in March 2019 has been brought forward by more than 24 hours in a bid to ease the schedule on its double-header weekend with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

As part of the new 13-month 'super season, starting with next month's 6 Hours of Spa, the WEC announced it would be sharing a weekend with IMSA's 12-hour race at Sebring on the March 16-17 weekend in 2019.

The original plan was to run the IMSA race from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. on the Saturday before starting the WEC race at midnight, running for 1,500 km, leading to concerns about the logistics of hosting two international sports car series on the same track on the same day.

In a joint statement issued by the championships, it was confirmed the WEC race will shift to Friday and has been shortened to 1,000 km at a maximum of eight hours, starting in the afternoon. IMSA will retain its original slot.

"The WEC will make use of a separate, newly installed pitlane adjacent to the Ulmann Strait thereby allowing a smoother, faster transition between on-track sessions for the different championships," the statement reads.

"The revised schedule will be more comfortable for spectators, corner workers, media, teams and commercial partners, and will provide even more entertainment for the fans. The WEC paddock will run concurrently to the IMSA paddock – which remains in its usual location – towards Turn 16 and, as at all WEC races, will be open to fans."

"Everyone went into the meeting with a willingness to find a solution which worked well for all of us, knowing that some flexibility would be required on both sides, and the key points such as the schedule and the pitlane and paddock were agreed very quickly," WEC CEO Gerard Neveu said.

“We would like to sincerely thank Scott Atherton and all his team at IMSA, Wayne Estes and his staff at Sebring Raceway for the co-operation, flexibility and positive attitude they displayed throughout the recent weekend.

"We received a very warm welcome, had many meetings while in Florida, and a lot of the logistical bumps have already been smoothed out ready for the WEC’s visit next year."

IMSA president Scott Atherton said: "The decisions that came from our discussions with the WEC, FIA and track management promise to make the 2019 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts weekend an absolute must for sports car racing fans from across North America and around the world.

“There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the initial announcement of this combined event, but we always believed we could all find solutions to the many questions and challenges that needed to be addressed to host two world-class events on one weekend. And that’s exactly what we did.

"In the weeks and months ahead, we know this spirit of cooperation will continue as we complete the process of planning what promises to be an unprecedented showcase of sports car endurance racing for the fans - and competitors in each championship."