SEBRING, Fla. (March 14, 2008) 聙聯 Former Floridian Randy Pobst聙聶s local weather pattern knowledge helped make the pivotal decision to pit early for rain tires, as he came back through the field to win the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge GT Championship season opener, part of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by Fresh From Florida at Sebring International Raceway. Andy Pilgrim, of Boca Raton, Fla., and Michael Galati, of Olmsted, Ohio, completed the top three.Dark clouds rolled in as the cars prepared to roll off the grid and by the formation lap preceding the standing start, heavy drizzle began to fall around the 3.7-mile circuit. After seeing cars having difficulty negotiating the track, SCCA Pro Racing officials elected to run an additional pace lap and begin the race with a rolling, single-file start. Pobst immediately moved his No. 1 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3 past polesitter Brandon Davis聙聶 No. 10 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra as the cars kicked up spray and searched for grip on the opening lap.聙聹On the start, when I got by Brandon, he had big wheel-spin on the start-finish line paint striped,聙聺 Pobst said. 聙聹He got sideways and I lifted and then got back in again it once I got by him.聙聺Defending race winner Eric Curran, of E. Hampton, Mass., brought out the first of three lengthy full-course cautions when he went straight off at Turn One, making heavy impact with the tire wall in the No. 30 Whelen Engineering Chevrolet Corvette. Pobst took advantage of the caution to pit from the lead. Pilgrim and Davis followed in the ensuing laps, handing the lead to Galati聙聶s No. 23 K-PAX Racing Porsche 911 GT3.聙聹We started with the rain early on and it was quite livable, but then somebody crashed which didn聙聶t surprise me one bit,聙聺 Pobst continued. 聙聹So then, we聙聶re riding along under yellow, watching the skies, the windshield, and the road. I looked at the weather and decided to go with the wet tires. I felt that the rain tires, were a kind of intermediate tires, that would be okay in the dry too. So we changed the tires and went to the back, and to our great fortune it started raining harder and harder. As I watched that water build up I knew that everybody on dries was in trouble. When we changed, it still wasn聙聶t a sure thing. We took a gamble. It could have quit raining right there, but it didn聙聶t.聙聺On the ensuing restart, Tomy Drissi spun into the Turn One inside wall in his No. 15 Horton Hears a Who Chevrolet Corvette, and left considerable debris around the course necessitating the second full-course yellow. By the time the lap nine restart transpired, Pobst was up to fourth behind Jason Daskalos聙聶 No. 05 Daskalos Development & Investments Dodge Viper, the No. 11 ACS/Sun Microsystems Ford Mustang Cobra of Mike Davis and Tommy Archer聙聶s No. 13 Woodhouse Performance Dodge Viper. When the cars came by on lap 10 to receive the third full course yellow, Pobst was back in front. The field restarted on lap 11 and Pobst sped away from the field to win the time-shortened 12-lap, 44.4-mile race by 4.014 seconds, averaging just 51.594 mph. The race came down to strategy, with the cars taking rain tires first finishing up front and the cars choosing to stay on dries falling behind at the end or off the course.聙聹I could drive right by anybody on dries,聙聺 Pobst said. 聙聹On the front straight I was extremely careful. Full throttle? Forget about it. But coming out of Turn Three on the way to the Hairpin, I knew the traction was good on the outside. I must have passed 10 cars on dries. 聙聹The Porsche also has a rear-engine and the weight of the wheels helps put power down and makes it want to understeer under power. That made the Porsche the choice in these conditions and I went from last to fifth on that lap and kept hanging on from there.聙聺Driving the No. 8 Remington Shaving Cadillac CTS-V, Pilgrim came home second, but was not happy with the conditions.聙聹It was raining and the guys on the team were saying 聙聵it聙聶s going to be ten minutes, just a ten minute shower, it聙聶s going to dry out,聙聶 but then I said 聙聵I聙聶m coming in now. It doesn聙聶t matter if it stops raining now, it聙聶s still going to be disgusting the rest of the race.聙聶 So I made the call to come in at that point and it was a good call,聙聺 Pilgrim said.聙聹I was tenth [on the last restart] and in one lap I got to third. I did not pass seven people, they just spun off and hit each other in front of me. I think I passed three, but four spun out. 聙聹It was no fun at all, absolutely treacherous. You would get to a point where you aquaplaned, then you tell yourself 聙聵I think if I catch enough pavement before the corner, I聙聶m going to be able to slow down,聙聶 and that聙聶s what I did.聙聹It has to be very difficult for the officials and we appreciate that,聙聺 Pilgrim added. 聙聹I聙聶m happy I聙聶m here with a top three finish for Team Remington Cadillac. I聙聶m just going to go to Long Beach and hope it doesn聙聶t rain.聙聺Galati turned the race聙聶s fastest lap at a tentative 3:04.924 (72.029 mph)聙聰nearly one minute slower than the cars practiced聙聰and was happy to make it to the finish.聙聹I called in on the radio that I wanted to pit and my team said 聙聵no they聙聶re going to throw a red flag again like Road Atlanta,聙聶 so I stayed out,聙聺 Galati said. 聙聹It was treacherous out there. I don聙聶t want to sound like a cry baby, but it was really tricky conditions. You couldn聙聶t see anything the spray was so bad. I聙聶m happy that we聙聶re here with car in one piece.聙聺Brandon Davis recovered from a late-race brush with the wall on a restart to record a fourth-place finish in his Mustang, followed by Jeff Courtney聙聶s No. 99 Kenda/MPI Coin TJM Wealth Management Dodge Viper. Tony Gaples, of Libertyville, Ill., finished sixth in his No. 34 Kleinschmidt Inc/Blackdog Racing Chevrolet Corvette, earning the Sunoco Hard Charger award after starting 25th.Mike Davis, Daskalos, James Sofronas (Porsche 911 GT3) and Paul Brown (Porsche 911 GT3) completed the top 10.Gunter Schaldach, of Aspen, Colo., earned the Racing Electronics Holeshot Award for advancing nine positions on lap one in his No. 9 Valaya Racing Dodge Viper. Schaldach was in line for a good finish, but crashed in Turn One on lap 11.None of the drivers involved in incidents were injured.Today聙聶s race will be broadcast on SPEED Friday, March 21 at 1 p.m. (EDT). The series next visits the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for the Long Beach SPEED GT Presented by ACS, April 20. For more news, results and photos visit