LAB Motorsport tackled one of the most demanding tracks on the calendar this past weekend as GT World Challenge America powered by AWS returned to Sebring International Raceway. The Quebec-based team walked away from the Florida heat with a deeper data bank, a Hard Charger Award, and a renewed sense of direction for the rest of the season.
Despite early struggles with the car’s setup during practice and qualifying, the crew worked relentlessly behind the scenes to unlock more pace from the No. 92 Porsche 992 GT3 R. Their persistence paid off with improved qualifying performances: Jean-Frédéric Laberge placed the car 9th in Qualifying 1, while Kyle Marcelli lined up 6th in the Pro-Am class for Race 2.
“We ran into some issues with the brake system on Friday, which limited our progress early in the weekend,” explained race engineer Juan Rodriguez. “Thankfully, the team resolved it in time for qualifying, and JF put in a strong lap, though unfortunately, he was blocked in the final corner of what could have been his best run.”
Saturday’s race saw a spirited start from Laberge, who rocketed forward five positions in the opening two laps. He spent his stint in a tight battle with Ross Chouest and made decisive moves across the board.
Marcelli took over and pushed through a field where passing required a significant pace advantage. Though a pit stop timing miscue led to a 0.85-second post-race time penalty, LAB Motorsport earned the Hard Charger Award after climbing multiple positions, ultimately finishing 5th in Pro-Am.
Sunday’s outing presented its own set of challenges. After contact with another competitor on Lap 5, the No. 92 machine was caught in traffic and off-course excursions that tested the team’s resilience. Laberge and Marcelli recovered to run a clean second half of the race, until JF Laberge went off track and into the tire barrier, effectively ending the weekend prematurely.
“Sebring was a tough one,” said Jean-Frédéric Laberge. “We’re learning every session, and I’m proud of the work the crew put in to keep us in the fight. I was, however, disappointed with the end of Race 2. But the car felt good, though we lacked some straightline speed, so we will be looking into that ahead of the next event. The focus now shifts to translating this knowledge into results.”
“We continue to make progress as a team with our processes and work in pit-lane, as well as trying new ways to extract more performance from the race car,” said Marcelli. “Race 1 at Sebring was our best result of the season so far, P5. And Race 2 was shaping up to be a similar result.”
“While we expect more from ourselves as individuals, we remain positive and proud of the progress we’ve made as a team. We have not yet shown our full potential.”
LAB Motorsport will return to action July 18–20 at VIRginia International Raceway as the GT World Challenge America season continues.