You’re Gonna Tell Your Kids about Sebastian Montoya’s First Run at Sebring

Renowned racer Juan Pablo Montoya and his 16-year-old son Sebastian sat at a table outside their DragonSpeed USA transporter last Friday afternoon in the steamy Central Florida sun – a day before making their first major race start as teammates in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts.

The race fans who came up for autographs got smiles, handshakes, conversations and even selfies with the Montoya family pair.

Some were visibly giddy at the chance to meet these drivers – to have interaction with a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, Formula One, IMSA and NASCAR star in Montoya. And they walked away also that confident young Sebastian’s time with them was an early gift from a future racing star too.

“I’m going to be able to tell my kids about this one day,’’ said 19-year-old Daniele Cattabariga. “I follow Sebastian on Instagram and I really like what he’s doing. It’s great for the sport.”

Such are the excitement and expectation levels for Sebastian’s burgeoning career. And he didn’t disappoint in his first major race outing competing alongside his father and their co-driver, Henrik Hedman, over the weekend.

Sebastian set the fastest lap for the team and moved the car into the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class lead at one point during his very first driving stint early in the famous 12-hour race Saturday. Only minutes after taking the wheel from his son, however, Juan Pablo was collected in a multi-car incident and the No. 81 ORECA LMP2 07 had to be retired.

Still, the promise of Sebastian’s productive debut in such a big event helped temper the disappointment that the team wouldn’t contend for a trophy. And Juan Pablo seemed open to giving the father-son pairing another race chance soon.

“We’ll see, hopefully later in the year we’ll put something together,’’ said Juan Pablo, who’s scheduled to drive the full IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in the No. 81. For now, Sebring was the only time Sebastian was slated to be in the car.

“We’ll have to wait and see,” Juan Pablo added. “You know, he did an amazing job. If somebody was expecting a mistake, it was going to be from him and not me, and it’s kind of frustrating. I don’t think I could have done much (to avoid the crash). It’s tough.”