Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has spoken about the new experience of driving on the Sebring International Raceway in America ahead of the prestigious 12 Hour race.
The Red Bull Holden Racing Team driver has teamed up with the WeatherTech Racing squad to pilot a GTD class Mercedes AMG GT3 alongside Cooper MacNeil and Gunnar Jeanette.
First run as a race track in 1950, the Florida circuit occupies a portion of Sebring Regional Airport, an active airport that was originally built as Hendricks Army Airfield, a World War II training base for the U.S. Army Air Forces.
The 17-turn 6.02km layout is a mixture of asphalt, concrete, as well as a section with sea shells embedded in the concrete laid during the 1940s.
Following MacNeil's effort in qualifying, the trio will start eighth in the GTD class.
“My first impressions of Sebring is it is very bumpy,” said van Gisbergen.
“I have never raced on concrete before. I am getting better every lap. There are some sections that I still need to work on. We will see where everyone is at, as far as our competitors go in the race.
“We were unlucky at Daytona, so we are looking to have a good run for 12 hours tomorrow.”
The race is scheduled to start at 10:40am. US-EDT, 01.40am Australian AEDT.