WeatherTech Sportscar Championship – Page 2

IMSA’s early 2025 schedule release a bonus for fans, partners

IMSA President John Doonan surprised the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge paddocks with the reveal of the 2025 schedule at Sebring International Raceway last Friday, a remarkably early unveiling for a racing series. The announcement was facilitated by the continuity from the 2024 calendar – no changes in venues, nor the order of those venues. While some fans were hoping to see some different things, the calendar announcement coming in March was certainly met with approval.

Two the things that some fans were hoping would be addressed were the continued absence of Grand Touring Prototype from the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park event, and the omission of Lime Rock Park – for many years a staple of the schedule, most recently as a GTD PRO/GTD-only event.

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“We are super-sensitive to race team budgets,” explained Doonan on keeping GTP off the CTMP bill. “Adding a fifth Michelin Endurance Cup event [at Indianapolis] is more running time, it’s more tires, it’s more fuel, it’s more time on the cars. So we’re real sensitive to just adding events and adding more time. So for the time being, we’re going to stick with what we have here. And we’ll watch it and we’ll monitor it with the race teams, but we’re comfortable with what we have.”

There are 11 events on the WeatherTech Championship schedule. GTP appears at nine of them, with CTMP and the GT-only event at VIR not on the schedule for the top class. LMP2 has seven, skipping the street races, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and VIR. GTD PRO and GTD each have 10 races, as they swap the two street races – GTD at Long Beach, GTD PRO at Detroit. Bringing Lime Rock back would likely mean the elimination of GT from one of the other events to keep budgets in check, but the series is still looking at ways to make it happen.

“We’re continuing to talk to the team at Lime Rock about bringing IMSA back there. It’s a great history there, so in whatever form we go back, IMSA and Lime Rock have a long-standing tradition and I hope we can continue that for years and years to come,” said Doonan.

Disappointment from CTMP and Lime Rock fans aside, there is no getting around that fact that the early schedule release helps from a planning standpoint for teams, manufacturers and other IMSA partners, as well as hopefully avoiding conflicts with other sports car racing series in North America and around the world.

“For me, all of us in the office, we’re confident,” Doonan said. “There’s zero arrogance allowed in IMSA, we are just confident that we’ve earned the place in the sport, both here in North America and as anybody around the globe that watches us knows, to be able to do these types of things. We’ve got the agreements in place with title partners, we’ve got the agreements in place with broadcast partners, we’ve got the agreements in place with promoter partners. So why not give everyone a longer runway to be able to start their planning for next year with confidence to know they’ve got these key events to race and to tell stories around? That just makes me happy for our sport, to be honest, because everybody’s worked extremely hard to get to this place.”

IMSA’s partners agree, as noted by GM Vice President, Performance and Motorsports, Jim Campbell, who oversees Cadillac and Chevrolet’s participation in IMSA competition.

“It’s very helpful. It’s helpful for our forward planning, but it’s also helpful because we know then fans can plan their trips to the racetrack,” he said. “And that’s a key component. We love racing for the benefits that it brings our company, but obviously one of those benefits is exposing our cars and propulsion systems to the race fans. And our hope is we get on their shopping list when they’re coming back in the market for a car truck. So that allows them to plan as well. So this forward planning is super helpful for us as a manufacturer and for the fans.”

In addition to the WeatherTech Championship schedule, IMSA also announced the Michelin Pilot Challenge schedule, which again includes headlining at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with several of the IMSA-sanctioned one-make series participating in the weekend as well.

Era, Winward in elite company after ‘36 Hours of Florida’ victories

The 36 Hours of Florida…the doubleheader…doubling down…. However you want to term it, winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac in the same year is no mean feat. Era Motorsport (LMP2) and Winward Racing (GTD, pictured above) both achieved the double victory in 2024, and it puts them in some pretty impressive company. Looking back at the list of those who have won both races overall back-to-back reveals some pretty noteworthy names.

Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby were the first to do it in a Shelby American Ford GT40 Mk.II in 1966, the first year of the Daytona 24-hour race. Joe Siffert and Hans Hermann did it two years later in a Porsche 907. That little team from up the road in Jacksonville, Brumos, got the double with Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood in a Porsche Carrera RSR. Another Floridian, Preston Henn, fielded a 962 for A.J. Foyt and Bob Wollek, who took the 36 Hours in 1985.

While Wayne Taylor may not be a native of Florida, he now calls the state home, and joined with Jim Pace to win both Florida races in a Doyle Racing Riley & Scott MkIII Oldsmobile. And before the races were run under two different series with different rules, Mauro Baldi, Gianpiero Moretti and Didier Theys drove a Doran-Moretti Ferrari 333SP to the double victory.

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Since reunification in 2014, the 36 Hours of Florida had been won by seven teams before 2024, and in three years there have been winners in two different classes. Colin Braun, Jon Bennett and James Gue were the first in 2014, winning Prototype Challenge in a CORE Autosport ORECA FLM-09. In 2015, Prototype Challenge winners Mike Guasch, Andrew Palmer and Tom Kimber-Smith were joined by GTLM winners for Corvette Racing, Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe in a C7.R.

Pipo Derani was part of the team that won both in DPi in the first of his four Sebring victories, joining Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek in the Tequila Patron ESM Ligier JS P2-Honda in 2016. Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler also doubled up that year in GTLM for Corvette Racing. Finally, the last time the 36 Hours of Florida was achieved was in 2017, again a double — Wayne Taylor Racing in DPi with Ricky and Jordan Taylor in a Cadillac; and James French, Pato O’Ward and Kyle Masson for Performance Tech Motorsport in Prototype Challenge.

Now Era Motorsports’ Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch join them, along with Winward’s Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje. Both teams had won Daytona before, but this was the first Sebring victory for each.

Adding a Sebring 12 Hours trophy to its Rolex 24 triumph in LMP2 was a rare feat for Era Motorsport’s Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

For Dalziel, it’s particularly meaningful. He makes his home in Orlando, two hours away between Sebring and Daytona, plus his wife’s family is from the Sebring area.

“A lot of support I get down here,” he says. “My wife and all her extended family are from here. Many of her family are still here. Many of them were here watching the race. I have posters from her late father from the very first one he went to. He had every poster that he kind of left for me after he passed away.

“It’s special — they both are for me for different reasons. But I think at the same time I don’t think of them as home races. I just think of them as the races that you want to win. This one’s been a tough one for us, for me as well. Daytona, we’ve had a lot of success. Here there’s been a lot of, like … what could have been.”

Like Dalziel, Ward is happy to get that first Sebring win to go with a pair of Daytona victories.

“It feels great. We’ve been chasing this one for a couple of years. It’s really awesome to be able to get it done,” Ward said.

Both teams had to overcome challenges to get their respective victories. Era qualified 10th, and had to go from near the back of the field to the front three times. Ellis put No. 57 Mercedes AMG on the GTD pole, but the team lost its qualifying times due to unapproved sensors on the car and had to start from the rear. By the end of the second hour, Winward was near the front and would stay there for the duration.

“In this series, you need some luck to win it,” said Ward. “It’s not all about outright pace. We’ve got some really, really smart guys on the pit stand making the calls. We capitalized on three yellows that got us up to the lead. We were in the lead by hour two.

“For the endurance races, doesn’t really matter where I start, in my opinion. It’s always nice to start at the front, show the performance of the car, the performance of the team. At the end of the day we’re here to win the race.”

And win they did … again. Now they’re in some pretty stellar company among those who have won the 36 Hours of Florida.

Final Sebring stint catapults Deletraz to IMSA stardom

A little more than a year ago, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti sent the new guy to buy a vacuum cleaner for the team motor home. On Saturday night, they were crediting him with winning the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring – the team’s first victory …

“Louis’ closing stint is what made the difference today. The team did a good job to keep us in the fight. He really fought for that win and got it for us,” said Jordan Taylor, describing teammate Louis Deletraz’s role in capturing a Sebring victory for the trio driving the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 – himself, Deletraz and Colton Herta.

Deletraz had already made a mark on sports car racing with a pair of European Le Mans Series LMP2 titles and several IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship wins when he was tabbed as the endurance addition for Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Acura for 2023. The Swiss driver captured his first WEC LMP2 title last year as well. Now the former Haas F1 test driver is the full-timer alongside Jordan in the second ARX-06 the team added this year.

As the race entered its closing stages, Deletraz was third as the green waved for a restart. He dispatched Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 rather quickly. But then he had a bigger obstacle in front of him — Sebastien Bourdais in Cadillac V-Series.R that had been strong all race. Deletraz had one advantage — fresher tires by a few laps thanks to different pit sequences. The Cadillac had pitted a few laps before the yellow that would produce everyone’s last stop, and went for a short fill and no tires to gain track position, as did the PPM squad with the No. 7.

It took a couple of extra cautions for debris before the battle truly began, but once it did, it was on in earnest. Deletraz attempted a bold move on the outside of Turn 17, but couldn’t make it stick. Jordan Taylor would later note that they had studied other drivers and teams, and Bourdais was one of the strongest in Turn 17, so for Deletraz to nearly pull off a pass there was impressive.

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Bourdais was on the defense, especially in some of the slower corners. But Deletraz was observing. When Bourdais once again took the middle of the track in defense on the approach to the Hairpin, Deletraz went all the way to the right, took away Bourdais’ apex, and a couple of turns and several bumps later, had the lead that would deliver a victory.

“The car was really strong in the end,” Deletraz said. “I knew we were in a position to win, which, to be fair, was a lot of pressure. I’ve never really done that. Daytona was my first time. That’s my second time finishing a race. I just obviously wanted to win and bring points for the championship. I saw I had the opportunity. Seb was tough, but fair, so thanks to him. Yeah, in the end I saw the gap, I went for it. I had more pace and we won. That’s fantastic. I think I’ll remember this one for a long time.”

The manner of the victory made it all the sweeter for Deletraz. Jake Galstad/Lumen

Bourdais made it known that he thought there was a bit too much contact in the battle, but in the end both cars made it to the finish without trouble. Up to the point of that fight, Deletraz’s teammates had done their part, as had Deletraz, in keeping the No. 40 in contention. Still, they had great praise for the finishing driver, especially since the victory put them in a tie for the points lead for the season championship after a third-place finish in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“I can’t say enough about what Louis did in the last stint to bring it home, what type of pressure he was under, able to perform through it and put a pretty spicy move on Seb,” said Herta.

Deletraz seemed slightly embarrassed by the praise, yet his smile revealed he was also proud of the remarks from his accomplished teammates.

“It means a lot,” he said of the comments. “I think winning this coming here was an objective, but for sure was going to be hard work. To do it this way means really a lot. I got the car in a very good position. It’s thanks to these two – Jordan and Colton didn’t do any mistakes, gave me the car up there, then I could fight. Obviously with them having won so much in their career, having them by my side, I can learn from different categories and keep improving. That’s always the goal in the end.”

Vasser Sullivan, Winward claim Sebring GTD PRO, GTD victories

Vasser Sullivan Racing took the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac pole position and victory in GTD PRO, but it wasn’t quite that straightforward. On the final restart, and in less than a lap, Jack Hawksworth battled from third to the lead in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 he shared with Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood, a nice recovery from a disastrous Rolex 24 that saw them out of the race early.

The defending champion had to get by Daniel Juncadella in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R and then Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 within several corners — a run to a 0.121s margin of victory that had Barnicoat and Kirkwood both averting their eyes and screaming with delight.

“We knew it was going to be a battle,” said Hawksworth. “These long races, you have to do everything perfectly. Everyone has to do their job absolutely perfectly just to be there to even have a chance at the end. Then you just hope that the cards fall your way. We had a tough day. But the team, we made good steps over the off-season. We wanted to come and show what we could do, right? This has been a proper bounceback.

“Today everyone was perfect. We had the one drive-through early in the race, a wobble there [a crewmember was bumped by the car as it started to leave the pits]. Other than that it was rock solid all day. The guys on pit lane were unbelievable all day. Ben and Kyle were absolutely monsters out there. Yeah, we ended up in the fight there at the end. Come out on top. I couldn’t be prouder of everybody.”

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The victory was the first for the team since Watkins Glen last July, and the second endurance racing victory for Lexus. And the final half-hour had the pit box on the edge of their seats.

“It was insane,” said Kirkwood. “I’ve never screamed so much in my life over any instance in racing, other than probably today. It’s a different feeling being a part of a car when you’re not in it and you’re relying on someone else to go do it. For us, we’re screaming like, ‘C’mon, Jack!’ Yeah, that was a cool moment for the team, right? Of course, the win was great. Everyone was hooting and hollering then. During that last bit, we knew that he needed to get it done right there to hang on to the lead. That was probably the moment that would have won us or lost us the race.”

Serra, Davide Rigon and James Calado finished second. A late-race battle between Juncadella and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R sent Juncadella off track and out of the race, while Heinrich received a drive-through penalty, handing third to the Iron Lynx Lamborghini squad of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Frank Perera.

The winning ways continue for Winward Racing and its Mercedes AMG GT3 in GTD. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Winward Racing ran a near-flawless race to come from the back of the grid to the lead, controlling most of the race to take its second consecutive win in GTD, and its third in four races going back to Indianapolis Motor Speedway last season.

Philip Ellis had qualified the No. 57 Mercedes AMG on pole, but the car was moved to the back due to unapproved sensors on the car. Nevertheless, the team was at the front by the end of the second hour, and Ellis, Russell Ward and Indy Dontje controlled the race from there.

“We knew we had the car for it,” said Ward. “We just wanted to keep our heads clean. We started off the season in such a great form winning Daytona. Our goal really was just to get the maximum amount of points that we could out of this race. This track really suits this race car well. The Mercedes-AMG gives you a ton of confidence here. You need it at Sebring — a dangerous racetrack. A lot of chances to make a mistake. The crew performed flawlessly. No mistakes on their part. Few mistakes on the drivers’ part. Came out on the top.”

Winward is on quite a role after a rough start to last season, and full-timers Ward and Ellis are eager to keep it going.

“I think all of us have the speed to go to where we want to be,” declared Ellis. “We just have to have clean races, not take too much risk like sometimes we did last year, unfortunately. I think we all learned from the mistakes, not only as drivers, but the team as well. It just matured into a more successful team. I think as long as everybody pulls in the same direction, we’ll be up there again.”

The No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Roberto Lacorte, Antonio Fuoco and Giorgio Sernagiotto languished in the middle of the race, but it came to them after sunset. In the closing stages, Fuoco had to get past Elliot Skeer in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R to claim second and pursue Ellis, but came 0.646s short of following up Cetilar’s 2022 victory in the race.

After starting 13th in GTD, Skeer, Adam Adelson and Jan Heylen had the Wright Motorsports Porsche in contention for most of the race, bouncing in and out of the front as the team’s off-sequence pit stops moved them to the middle of the field and back. In the end a third place was a solid reward for the day’s work.

RESULTS

WTRAndretti claims Sebring crown, as Era Motorsport backs up Daytona LMP2 victory

A caution with 1h20m left in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac turned strategy on its head and put all the GTP contenders back on equal footing, turning it into a contest of fuel conversation balanced by pace…until a pair of …

The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon, along with the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 of Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron and Matt Campbell, were in the situation of requiring one more stop than the other contenders to make it to the end. But with everyone pitting under the yellow, and the Cadillac and Porsche both having stopped minutes before the caution, they needed less energy and left the pits ahead of the others, Bourdais followed by Nasr. The best of the others was Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.

In a contest of pace, it was Deletraz and the Acura — on fresher tires, because the Acura took tires on the final stop and the Cadillac didn’t — that had it. On the first restart, he easily got past Nasr. It took after the next two cautions, though, before the final battle would commence. Bourdais pulled out a bit of a lead on the final restart, but Deletraz, who had set the race’s fastest lap on lap 187, came charging back. A move alongside in 17 didn’t get the job done, but a couple of laps later, as Bourdais took the middle of the track in defense into Turn 7, Deletraz dove even further inside, taking away the line into the Hairpin. A few turns and several bumps between the Cadillac and the Acura later, and Deletraz had the lead.

RACE-WINNING MOVES!

Louis Delétraz passed Bourdais with under six minutes to go to take victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring!@IMSA | @WTRAndretti pic.twitter.com/vTwNq6P0T5

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) March 17, 2024

“I saw I was strong on braking, especially the low speed like T7, T10,” related Deletraz. “But every time I was close he was defending very well on the inside and I was on the outside and he squeezed me off. So I realized quickly I was never going to make it on the on the outside, which, fair enough … IMSA racing is tough and that’s the way, so I thought about it.

“I saw a gap in [Turn 7] and I just just went for it — bleed off the brake, go in and try to avoid him crossing back. Then I think there was some more contact on the straight, which again, hard racing, but I think fair and in the end we both made it to the flag, which is also down to two drivers. I could not have done it by myself; if he didn’t respect me, we’d both be in the wall too, so I’m really thankful for that.”

Wayne Taylor Racing had its first Twelve Hours of Sebring victory since 2017, and Acura its first (although the second win for Honda Racing Corporation, which won in 2016 with ESM). The No. 01 Cadillac was second, and the No. 7 Porsche third. The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly and Maxime Martin finished fourth to make it four different manufacturers in the top four. The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura had shown winning pace, but a fluid leak in the late stages that took some time to repair left them salvaging a fifth place to go with the team’s victory, its first in the new GTP era.

“It’s a huge win for the team,” said Jordan Taylor. “It’s their first win in the GTP class for Acura. So it’s a big win for the team, first time as a two-car team as well. I think our plan was we stayed at a triple all day, didn’t have any big issues. The 10 car was extremely quick, drove to the lead at one point, but had their little issue that they recovered from and recovered to a top five. Overall, Louis’s closing stint was what made a difference today. I think the team did a good job keeping us in the fight, but he really fought for that win and got it for us.”

Both Cadillacs had dominated the early going, but the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing car went out in a big crash, and the No. 01 had to battle through some electrical gremlins.

“We had ABS failure, like time and time and time again, we had to do some defaults and stuff and it seemed to come back every time we cleared it,” said Bourdais. “But then the motor stopped coming out of [Turn 7]; that’s where lost the two spots to the two Acuras and the BMW. We got going again. And we never heard that anymore. So it was kind of weird. I don’t remember when it was but it was during my second stint. I had no regen for a while so the rear brakes start to get on fire and the real tire pressures take off and it didn’t look pretty for a minute, but the guys did a great job — they debugged the problem and found the solution and and we got going and we were there at the end, so it’s all you can ask for.”

Era Motorsport’s ORECA once again had the legs on the LMP2 field when it counted. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

LMP2 boiled down to a battle between Connor Zilisch in the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA and Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA. Colin Braun and the No. 01 CrowdStrike Racing by APR entry would have been a part of the final battle, but in making a move on Fraga, he made contact and spun, dropping out of contention.

The No. 74 would later suffer a problem and drop down the order, leaving Zilisch to fend off a late charge by Mikkel Jensen in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA. He did so and thus claimed the second consecutive victory for Era Motorsports and teammates Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel after the Rolex 24 at Daytona victory in January.

“It was really tough to pass out there,” said Zilisch. “It was kind of just whoever could get track position and get to the lead was gonna end up winning. So there with about an hour to go, we were all running in a train. I think I was seventh, and I knew I wasn’t going to pass them. So I just started saving fuel and was going to wait for the last pit stop. I saved enough to get back and I took the lead when I came back out.”

It was far from an easy day for the team, as they had to go from the back to the front three times due to a variety of maladies, including a puncture and blocked radiators.

“Every time we got to the front we ended up in the back and think when I got in the car — the plan is double me, double Connor — I get in the car, we were in the lead,” explained Dalziel. “Then we had one of the GTPs went off and threw up some carbon and so in the space of one lap, we had overheating and then we got a puncture, so that’s when we pitted off sequence. That was only four or five laps after the restart. Honestly, I thought that was it. Without a yellow I knew we were going to be struggling to make time back.

“We still knew we had the pace in the car. We definitely didn’t give up. We were already a little bit offset with the fuel time and Connor just started saving a little bit of fuel. There was a whole conversation for a few minutes on the intercom which is, this call is going to be the hero or zero call for the team.”

It was the first Sebring victory for the team and the drivers, although Dalziel has won at Sebring in a WEC race. It was a relief for Merriman after a bunch of podiums at Sebring.

“I’m super happy because every time I’ve been here before we podium, but never won,” said the emotional Merriman. “So, first time I was really excited. The third time, it was like, ‘Are we ever gonna win this race or not?’ The team did a great job, including these guys, but also engineering and the whole crew. These these off-sequence stops, either the one for debris or the one that was just off sequence by strategy, they were fast. Mistakes were not made.”

Jensen, Steven Thomas and Hunter McElrea finished second by only 1.127s, ahead of the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA of Dan Goldburg, Paul Di Resta and Bijoy Garg. In an impressive turnaround after a rough Rolex 24 At Daytona, the Sean Creech Motorsports squad of Lance Willssey, Joao Barbosa and Jonny Edgar finished fourth in the No. 33 Ligier.

RESULTS

Deletraz, J. Taylor, Herta claim Sebring 12 Hour victory for WTR

With a series of late yellows negating any strategy, victory in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac came down to pace in the final hour, which Louis Deletraz and the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 had enough. In the final hour, he passed Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 and, in a battle royale, Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R to claim victory for himself, Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta.

The No. 1 Cadillac of Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon was second, with Nasr, Dane Cameron and Matt Campbell third.

Era Racing, after a winless season in 2023, opened 2024 with victory in the 36 Hours of Florida, claiming wins at both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and now Sebring. Strategy after an early puncture and great pace got them to the front as Connor Zilisch closed out a victory for himself, Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel.

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In less than a lap, Jack Hawksworth battled from third to the lead in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 he shared with Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood to claim a GTD PRO victory for the Vasser Sullivan Racing squad — a nice recovery from a disastrous Rolex 24 that saw them out of the race early. The defending champion had to get by Daniel Juncadella in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R and then Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 within several corners. Serra, Davide Rigon and James Calado were second. A late-race battle between Juncadella and Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R sent Juncadella off track and out of the race, while Heinrich would receive a drive-through penalty, handing third to the Iron Lynx Lamborghini squad of Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Frank Perera.

There were two 36 Hours of Florida winners this year, as Winward Racing controlled GTD for most of the race. The No. 57 Mercedes AMG and drivers Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje were near flawless all race to claim their second victory of the season. The No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Roberto Lacorte, Antonio Fuoco and Giorgio Sernagiotto were second, coming oh-so-close to following up Cetilar’s 2022 victory in the race. Elliot Skeer, Adam Adelson and Jan Heylen brought the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche home third.

Full reports to follow.

RESULTS

Sebring wide open into final quarter

The third quarter of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring ended under the race’s ninth caution after Fred Makowiecki in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 made contact with the GTD-class No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 while attempting to pass in Turn 17. The Acura made heavy contact the wall, sustaining heavy damage, but Legge walked away.

The primary drama during the third quarter of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac was the crash between Pipo Derani and Miguel Molina that took out both the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R and the GTD-class No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. While attempting to pass the Ferrari, Derani made contact that sent both cars off course, the Cadillac nosing hard into the tire wall and rolling over. After the safety crew righted the car, Derani walked away. He was checked at the care center and released.

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That left a fight at the front between the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 driven by Maxime Martin and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 with Brendon Hartley at the wheel. Hartley pushed the Acura into the lead, but smoke was trailing behind him. During the FCY, the team spent a long time working on the car and lost a lap.

That left Makowiecki in the lead even as the incident between him and Legge was being reviewed. Makowiecki was followed by Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 5 Proton Competition 963, but both of the lead Porsche’s were on different pit sequences than the rest of the field and stayed out when the rest pitted under yellow.The No. 7 PPM 963 was running third, the first car of the group on the same pit sequence.

LMP2 is still wide open. Connor Zilisch got the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA to the front before handing the lead to Ryan Dalziel. Hunter McElrea ran second in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, followed by Nico Pino in the No. 2 United Autosports entry.

The class split during the yellow separated the GTD PRO and GTD leaders. The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 with Ben Barnicoat in the cockpit led GTD PRO, followed by Christopher Mies in the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 in second and Franck Perera in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2. However, three cars are on different pit sequences and looking strong – the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R.

Winward Racing continued to lead GTD, now with Indy Dontje at the wheel of the No. 57 Mercedes AMG. On a different pit sequence, the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin was in second, Spencer Pumpelly in the cockpit. Devlin Defrancesco was third in the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini.

Aside from the No. 31 Cadillac and the No. 21 Ferrari, two other cars have retired since the halfway mark. The No. 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2, which had been suffering mechanical problems throughout the race, gave up shortly past halfway. The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports became the first retirement from GTP after breaking a left-side halfshaft.

STANDINGS AFTER 9 HOURS

Whelen Cadillac leads Sebring at halfway

The halfway point of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac arrived under caution after LMP2 polesitter and early contender PJ Hyett buried the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA in the tires at Turn 11. The safety crew pulled him out and he …

After getting caught out by the timing of an earlier caution that meant three trips through the pits, the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was back at the front, Pipo Derani having returned to the cockpit. However, for much of the previous couple of hours, the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 had been at the front, and looking to have the pace to fight. Ricky Taylor was in the car at the top of the hour in second, followed by Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963. The sister No. 6 PPM 963 had to come in for a rear bodywork change and dropped a lap, but is now back on the lead lap, running lat in GTP. Sebastien Bourdais is fourth in the No. 01 Cadillac, with the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura, Louis Deletraz at the wheel, is fifth.

Nine LMP2s remained on the lead lap, led by the No. 52 Euro Interpol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, currently driven by Jakub Smiechowski. Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA and Paul Di Resta in the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA were in pursuit. The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA that struck trouble early with a puncture has hauled itself back into contention, getting back on the lead lap with the cautions and Colin Braun moving the car up in the order.

Kyle Kirkwood had the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 back to the front of GTD PRO. Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R was in second, followed by Mirko Bortolotti in the No. 18 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Hurscán GT3 Evo2.

Winward Racing remained in control of GTD, Russell Ward still keeping a bunch of GTD PRO cars in between his No. 57 Mercedes AMG and the next GTD car, Jan Heylen in the No, 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 was third.

A couple of runners are experiencing ongoing mechanical difficulties. The No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R is battling clutch issues. The No. 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2 has been in and out of the pits and even back to the paddock with an unknown technical issue.

Other issues include the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG suffering a broken rear suspension after contact with the No. 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Klaus Bachler. Bachler was also involved in contact with the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S which had contact and puncture on the first lap, and the McLaren is now 23 laps behind the GTD PRO leaders.

The third official retirement is the Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA LMP2 entry, which cause the caution at the end of the third hour.

Note: IMSA President John Doonan announced on IMSA Radio that this year’s attendance at Sebring for the Twelve Hours is an all-time record.

HOUR SIX STANDINGS

Cadillac in control of first quarter at Sebring

Both Cadillac Racing cars have taken their turn up front as the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring entered its second quarter. Scott Dixon in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared V-Series had been leading Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing car. Pipo Derani had led the first segment of the race in the No. 31, but after the first round of pit stops, Sebastien Bourdais pushed the No. 01 past.

“Pipo was kind of holding us in tempo that was fairly comfortable,” said Bourdais. “I felt I had a little bit more grip to use in the stint and when I had the chance to get by I did and felt it was pretty good. The 01 Cadillac is pretty strong and Cadillac in general, so hopefully it holds true the whole time. We’re in a bit of a wait-and-see phase of the track, but you still want to be in position. We’ll have to double stint a couple sets of tires, which we’ve already done. Early going, but so far so good.”

First lead change for GTP of the day!

TUNE IN
12 Hours of Sebring | 4:00pm ET on USA | Start to Finish on Peacock#IMSA #Sebring #SebringInternationalRaceway #12hoursofsebring #Weathertech #Michelin #MichelinMotorsport #MotulMotorsport #NBCSports #CadillacVSeries… pic.twitter.com/QAOrlgD1A7

— IMSA (@IMSA) March 16, 2024

A full-course caution, the third of the race, for the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA LMP2 pulled off course meant the end of the third hour came under yellow, although it was good timing for most of the GTP field that were under 20 percent remaining energy. The ensuing stops did jumble the field a bit, though, as the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 took a short fill of energy to gain track position, putting Dane Cameron in the lead as the hour ticked over. The No. 7 had had to do a full power cycle during an earlier pit stop to fix an improperly operating data logger, dropping it down the order.

As a result, Cameron led Aitken and Dixon, with Richard Westbrook in the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 fourth and Fred Makowiecki in the No. 6 PPM 963 in fifth.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1406]

For most of the LMP2 field, however, the yellow was quite bad timing, and the top half of the field had to enter closed pits for emergency service. That meant two stops for each of them. As a result, what was a top three of the No. 2 United Autosports ORECA, the No. 99 AO Racing machine and No. 18 Era Motorsports entry became Bijoy Garg in the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA in first, followed by Rasmus Lindh in the No. 81 DragonSpeed entry and Lance Willsey in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier.

Several of the GT cars had exceptional timing on their second pit stops, stopping for fuel just before the previous full-course caution was called for Michael Dinan putting the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 car into the tires at Turn 13. That includes the cars that were at the lead of GTD and GTD PRO before the yellow. Russell Ward was at the head of the entire GT field after the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG — which was the fast qualifier in GTD but was found to have unapproved sensors on the car — had to start from the back. The No. 96 Turner BMW M4 GT3 and the No. 78 Forte Racing benefitted from the same stroke of luck.

After the pit stops shook out, Michael Christensen led GTD PRO in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, with Neil Verhagen second in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 second. Antonio Garcia was third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R.

The No. 57 Winward car remained in the GTD lead, with Indy Dontje enjoying several GTD PRO cars between him and Aaron Telitz in the No 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RX F GT3. Robby Foley was right behind Telitz in the Turner BMW.

The move of the race so far goes to the entirety of the GTD PRO and GTD fields, for avoiding Davide Rigon as the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 spun all the way across the track at the exit of Turn 1 moments after the green flag. There were some unfortunate side effects, however, including the two McLaren 720S GT3s in the field making contact. The No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports car got the worst of it, and had to make a trip to the paddock before returning, and is running 12 laps down.

There are two official retirements. The No. 17 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R hit alternator trouble almost immediately, and changing it didn’t fix the problem. Mike Skeen brought the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG into the pits reporting funny noises, and the car was sent to the paddock, never to return.

RUNNING ORDER AT 3 HOURS

Sebring 12 Hours pre-race primer

All Corvettes moved to the back All four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the field for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac – the two GTD PRO entries from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and the GTD cars entered by …

All Corvettes moved to the back

All four Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the field for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac — the two GTD PRO entries from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and the GTD cars entered by AWA — have been moved to the back of their respective fields. The particular rule cited in the penalties was, “The original, As-Homologated Configuration of the Car Model must not be modified unless permitted by these Technical Regulations.”

Corvette Racing accepted the penalty and provided an explanation:

“The four Corvettes that qualified Friday at Sebring were equipped with additional diffuser reinforcement. The purpose of the modification was to solely increase reliability. As the sanctioning body was not informed before qualifying, Corvette Racing accepts IMSA’s decision and has worked with the series’ technical staff on an approved solution for the race.”

No. 6 963 expected to be ready to race

The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 that Mathieu Jaminet crashed in qualifying is expected to be ready to take the green for today’s race. The team reports that it was only bodywork damaged in the incident.

Record numbers

For the past few days, there have been more than 220 cars in the Sebring International Raceway paddock, a record for an IMSA weekend, including those combined with the FIA WEC. That includes not only the 58 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams, but Michelin Pilot Challenge cars, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup. That means more than 240 transporters lined up between’s Sebring’s Turns 16 and 17 along the back straight — enough to almost circle the 3.74-mile, 17-turn raceway if placed end-to-end.

Nighttime is the right time

It’s generally acknowledged that to win the 12 Hours of Sebring, the car has to be good as the temperatures cool down after sunset. But it’s equally important that the finishing driver is ready as well.

“One of the most important things is kind of backlogging to the end for your driver time,” explained Bryan Sellers, who won GTD last year with Madison Snow and Corey Lewis. “I’m personally a big believer that you do not, under any circumstance, want to have to put a driver in with just one hour remaining in the race, because they aren’t familiar with track conditions. A lot of times with tire temp, when you’re just getting in the car and leaving, it’s very difficult with the vision and adapting to the cars behind you. So I think one of the key elements to having a successful finish is to time that appropriately.”

This year Sellers, Snow and Neil Verhagen are going for the GTD PRO victory in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M.4 GT3.

Tire allocation

GTP has 11 sets of Michelin medium compound tires to use for qualifying and race. Double stinting will be required in the heat of the day in order to have fresh sets ready for the finish. LMP2 has 12 sets, and GTD PRO and GTD teams were allocated 15 sets total for the event.

Drive time

Minimum drive time for GTP and GTD PRO is one hour. Minimum drive time for LMP2 and GTD is three hours. The maximum drive time for all classes is seven hours, and four hours in any six-hour period.

Weather

Hot. While Sunday’s temperatures are expected to set records for March in central Florida, it’s expected to not be as warm on Saturday, staying much as it was for Friday. Highs are expected to be about 87 degrees Fahrenheit, while it will be low 70s for the start of the race, and mid-70s for the end. Chance of rain is almost non-existent.

How to watch/listen

The race will be streamed in its entirety on Peacock, with the USA Network carrying the second half beginning at 4pm ET. The IMSA Radio team will be commenting, and the feed can be found on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins at 9:30am ET (Sirius channel 211, XM 207, Web/App 996, at track 100.9 FM, Sebring local 99.1 FM).