Sean Edwards inherited third place in the GTC class on the final lap of the 12 Hours of Sebring to give NGT Motorsport a podium finish to start off their American Le Mans Series (ALMS) campaign.
“I was pushing the last two hours like crazy,” said Edwards, who drove both the first and last stints for the #30 team. “The car was amazingly quick. It was unfortunate we got hit by the 45 car. I think it took the whole front bumper off and they didn’t even get a penalty for it which really ruined out race. Then on the last lap, I was cruising around and I saw a GTC car struggling out there so I dropped it down a gear and started pushing it. It was the third place car. I managed to get by him with two corners to go. It was a great end to a not so good race but we’ll definitely take it for the podium.”
“What a fantastic finish!” added team owner Henrique Cisneros who also drove alongside Edwards and Marco Seefried in the MOMO sponsored car. “We knew we didn’t have the car to go for the win but we were hopeful for a podium. The team did a fantastic job on the pit stops all day. For overall time, I think we were the second or third team with the least amount of time in the pits. We were very consistent and the team did a great job. In the end during the last hour we always said we need a little luck on our side to be able to make it to the podium and luckily, with literally three corners to go, the third place car had a problem. I think they ran out of fuel, and we passed them on the very last lap. Obviously luck was on our side. We couldn’t have asked for a better finish. We’re proud of the work everyone did and all the other drivers. We’re leaving with a very happy third place.”
NGT Motorsport’s other car in the class – the #31 of Kuba Giermaziak, Carlos Gomez and Mario Farnbacher – led the class for several hours before a seemingly minor problem with one of the car’s rear lights derailed their challenge.
“We were leading the race quite easily with about an eight second gap,” said Giermaziak. “The crew tried to fix the light and they managed. Unfortunately, it took over 10 laps because of how they had to fix the wiring. At least we got a podium on the second car. We should be happy for that because they drove much of the race without the front splitter, which is difficult to drive so they did a great job. This is a good finish for them for the season. For us, I think we will come back here next year and try to win it again.”
Cisneros and Edwards will return to ALMS action for the team at the second round of the championship on the Long Beach street circuit on April 20.
