The format of the weekend, as both the 12 Hours of Sebring for IMSA and WEC will occur on the same weekend, will see the IMSA 12 hours race from 10am to 10pm on the Saturday and the WEC endurance event beginning at midnight and running through to midday on the Sunday.
There were concerns from some about the WEC 12 Hours of Sebring taking away some of the specticle of the IMSA version of the race. To make sure this is not the case, the WEC round has been capped at a 1,500-mile distance (2,414km) or 402 laps. Gerard Neveu, WEC boss, had already suggested that the 12 Hours of Sebring be a distance race when it was first announced it was joining the WEC calendar.
It is understood that the IMSA organisers were not happy with two events being titled the 12 Hours of Sebring and that they pushed hard for WEC to have a different duration or distance so there was a clear separation of the two events and that they were not the same.
The 2017 12 Hours of Sebring only had 348 laps complete by the winning Daytona Prototype International car when the chequered flag fell. However, the fastest speeds of the LMP1 cars and the chance of less caution periods suggests that the WEC 12 Hours of Sebring will most definietly be a similar distance and duration to the IMSA 12 Hours.