SEBRING, Fla. — Hints that Saturday’s 73rd Running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring would be action-filled, literally came at the drop of the green flag.
Dries Vanthoor in the pole-winning No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 led the 56-car field to the starting line but changed columns just as he took the flag and was promptly issued a drive-through penalty from the lead instead – leaving the opening minutes and hour of the grand endurance race to the pair of Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s up front.
It was indicative of a drama-filled opening four hours into the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s second race of the season – but characteristic of the lore that has always made the venerable Sebring track so beloved, a victory so cherished.
At the four-hour mark, Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series R held the overall lead in the GTP class – an impressive afternoon considering the car started 13th (last) in class with problems during Friday’s qualifying session. Starter Jack Aitken propelled the car forward to seventh on his stint, then leapt to the lead on a pit stop sequence, where Frederik Vesti took over and promptly maintained a seven-plus second gap on-track throughout his stint.
The Whelen Cadillac held a 1.739-second margin over Colin Braun in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 with Nick Yelloly in the other team car, the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06 in third place. The No. 7 Porsche Penske was fourth with Nick Tandy behind the wheel.
“That was honestly one of the most fun races that I’ve ever done; obviously, it’s not done yet,” said Vesti, who ran a long middle stint – mostly out front – in the race-leading No. 31 Whelen Cadillac.
“The stints were really good, and we’re really pleased with the car as well. I knew we had a good car, and this gives us a lot of confidence the rest of the race. Now it’s time to chill and my great teammates will do the job and I’ll be back in the car later. Good job by all.”
LMP2
TDS Racing’s Mikkel Jensen put the No. 11 ORECA LMP2 07 in front of the 12-car Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class over a pair of United Autosports USA ORECAs, the No. 2 car driven by Juan Manuel Correa and the No. 22 car driven by Rasmus Lindh.
GT Classes
In the always super competitive GT classes – the Paul Miller Racing team was running first and third in the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) Division, Max Hesse in the No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with teammate Connor De Phillippi in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW. Nicky Catsburg, in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R, split the pair in second.
“The spiciest part of my run was the start getting by two guys,’’ said Catsburg’s co-driver Tommy Milner. “We’re pushing hard for sure but taking care of the car right now. We have to do that for quite awhile. We don’t have the straight-line speed and power out of the corner. It makes it really hard to race like that, but with a long race you have to do the right things for 10 hours and then for the last two we can make something happen.”
The GTD polesitting No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 had a roller-coaster first stint, with Alessandro Pier Guidi incurring a drive-through for incident responsibility early after an off-course excursion. But through good strategy and Pier Guidi’s pace, the car carved its way back to the lead at the four-hour mark with co-driver Lilou Wadoux on board. The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 ran in second.
The opening action was indicative of a busy first four hours of racing under clear blue skies and pleasant mid 70-degree temperatures – the cloud of an early morning space launch from across the state fading into the Central Florida sky. The weather was calm. The spirited early racing, not so much.
The first caution flag in the opening four-hours of the famed race came out only five minutes after the green flag for an incident involving a pair of LMP2 class cars. There would be three more yellow race stoppages for varying issues at varying locations on the track in the first four hours.
The early setbacks proved to be huge motivators, however. Things calmed down substantially beginning in hour three.
Beyond the No. 21 Af Ferrari’s recovery, the overall polesitting No. 24 BMW also had a first-third recovery drive. It climbed back into the top five with varying pit stop strategies and led at the three-hour mark while its sister car, the No. 25 consistently ran among the top five despite a 10th-place qualifying effort.
The fourth hour also marked the first segment of Michelin Endurance Cup points awarded this race, with five, four and three points apiece issued to the top three in each class and two to all other runners.
The No. 31 Cadillac and Nos. 60 and 93 Acuras ran first through third in GTP, with other Hour 4 class leaders the No. 11 TDS ORECA (LMP2), No. 1 PMR BMW (GTD PRO) and No. 21 Af Ferrari (GTD).
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