Team Hardpoint EBM: new livery for 12H Sebring
While Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911 GT3 R was mainly white at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the number 99 has changed livery for the 12 Hours of Sebring following the arrival of GridRival as a partner.
Brazilian Bia Figueiredo and American driver Trenton Estep will join Team Hardpoint EBM for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, March 17-19, at Sebring International Raceway. Figueiredo will team with Katherine Legge and Christina Nielsen in the No. 88 Richard Mille Porsche 911 GT3 R to complete the all-female line-up, while Estep joins Earl Bamber and Rob Ferriol in the No. 99 GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R for the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Daytona (GTD) season.
Sebring was the site of Team Hardpoint’s best finish in their inaugural season of 2020, but much has changed since that fifth-place finish in the rescheduled race last November. Only Ferriol remains from the driver line-up and the now two-car team has coupled with Earl Bamber Motorsport to run as Team Hardpoint EBM and campaigns the pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs for the full season.
The race is Team Hardpoint EBM’s first as a two-car program, as the team’s four regular drivers combined for a 10th-place finish at the season opening endurance race at Daytona International Speedway.
The No. 99 car partners with fantasy motorsports platform GridRival for Sebring. GridRival provides private and public fantasy Formula One and MotoGP leagues and is the only fantasy sports platform dedicated solely to motorsports.
“GridRival and Team Hardpoint EBM have a long relationship and we’re thrilled to continue that with the 12-hour race this week at Sebring,” GridRival CEO Ross Fruin said. “The race fans at Sebring and watching at home are the same people who play fantasy sports on the GridRival platform. With the Formula One and MotoGP seasons right around the corner, they’ll be able to compete with friends and fellow fans to see who can win the bragging rights in their group.”
Figueiredo reunites with Legge and Nielsen after sharing a ride with them at endurance events in 2019, where the trio finished eighth at Sebring. Figueiredo has most recently been racing stock cars in her native Brazil after previously making 29 IndyCar starts and winning twice in Indy Lights in her open-wheel career. Nielsen was on the podium during the race in 2015, 2016 and 2017, including a win in 2016.
The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring gets underway on Thursday, March 18 with three practice sessions, including the famous “night practice” from 7:30 p.m. EDT to 9 p.m. EDT. Qualifying is at 11:45 a.m. EDT on Friday, March 19 to set the grid for Saturday’s 12-hour race, with the green flag at 10:10 EDT.