Tag: Action Express

Short report: AXR Cadillac wins wild 12 Hours of Sebring

A big crash while the leaders were trying to navigate traffic in the final stage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring took out the top three GTP cars as well as several GT cars, and produced a surprise winner that should have been no surprise. …

A big crash while the leaders were trying to navigate traffic in the final stage of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring took out the top three GTP cars as well as several GT cars, and produced a surprise winner that should have been no surprise.

When it all shook out, the polesitting No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken — Aitken at the wheel for the finish — won the Twelve Hours of Sebring, with the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 of Nick Yelloly, Connor De Phillippi and Sheldon van der Linde finishing second. The LMP2 winner, the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA of John Farano, Kyffin Simpson and Scott McLaughlin, finished third overall.

The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports squad of Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy and Dane Cameron finished third in GTP while their wrecked heap of a 963 was carried on a flatbed back to the Penske transporter.

With several late race yellows, a fight to the finish was set up with the top five GTP cars on the lead lap all full of fuel and with fresh tires. Jaminet led Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 with Jaminet’s teammate Felipe Nasr’s No. 7 PPM 963 in third. As Jaminet hit traffic in Turn 1, Albuquerque attacked and went inside. But as Jaminet was trying to navigate a pack of GT cars, he moved left, Albuquerque went off track, lost control and slid through the inside of Turn 3 and hit Jaminet’s Porsche on the other side of the apex. Nasr was next on the scene, hit the Acura, and then the No. 6. All three cars were done, and Aitken sailed through for the victory.

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All the late yellows also allowed several GTD and GTD PRO cars to go far farther on fuel than they would have been able to otherwise, the top cars in both classes running around an hour and 50 minutes from their last pit stop to the finish. It was the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Patrick Pilet, Klaus Bachler and Laurens Vanthoor winning GTD PRO, and the No. 1 BMW squad of Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers and Corey Lewis claiming GTD for Paul Miller Racing.

One of the late-race incidents ended the LMP3 battle between the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier and the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier. Shortly after a restart for the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura losing a wheel, Pietro Fittipaldi went off course and hit the tires. A wheel from Fittipaldi’s No. 51 Rick Ware Racing ORECA LMP2 bounced across track – whether that was the cause or the result of the crash is unknown. Fraga in the No. 74 avoided it, Grist in the No. 30 hit it square on as it fell from the sky. That left Fraga a lap in the lead in the car he shared with Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon, able to cruise to victory.

Full reports to follow.

RESULTS

Action Express Cadillac leads 12 Hours of Sebring headed into evening

The eighth hour of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring ended under caution as a battle for the lead in GTD came to a head. Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG and Zacharie Robichon in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 had …

The eighth hour of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring ended under caution as a battle for the lead in GTD came to a head. Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG and Zacharie Robichon in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 had a light touch in Turn 1, sending Robichon spinning into the tires, but continuing with what appeared to be minor wing damage. Ellis wasn’t so lucky, as the right front suspension gave way two corners later, forcing him to park the car and bringing out the full-course caution.

That left Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 in the lead, followed by Andy Lally’s No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage, Kenton Koch in the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, Roman De Angelis in the Rolex 24-winning No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin and Robby Foley in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW. The polesitting No. 93 Racers Edge with WTR car is out of contention after Ashton Harrison had contact with another car on a restart.

With four hours left, the GTP and overall fight is still wide open as the real racing heats up as the temperatures cool. Seven GTP cars are together on the lead lap – the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 has retired due to an unknown technical issue – led by Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R. Polesitter Derani is at the front for the first time since the early stages of the race, last leading on lap 27.

The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 is running second with Matt Campbell at the wheel, followed by Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac and Helio Castroneves in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, although the latter two were engaged in a fierce fight as the hour closed. The yellow was a big help to the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura, in which Ricky Taylor was having to work his way through traffic after being handed a penalty for pit lane speed violation. All the GTP cars still running are on the same lap.

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As the race moves toward the setting sun – the blinding light of which may be subdued by some clouds, much to the drivers’ relief – those who have wisely set their car up for the nighttime finish will start to get serious. The drivers and teams will transition from survival mode into racing mode.

The GTD PRO battle between Corvette vs. Mercedes-AMG was raging when the yellow came out, as the No. 3 Corvette and the No. 79 WeatherTech car continued to pull away from the rest of the field with any time of racing. Tommy Milner led in the Corvette as the hour ticked over ahead of Maro Engel, but the Corvette had a problem with the left-rear shock and went a lap down while the team changed it during the yellow. Davide Rigon was third in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 when the yellow came out, followed by Bill Auberlen in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW and Jordan Pepper in the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán.

Five LMP2 cars remain on their lead lap, led by Nolan Siegel in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing ORECA. Ed Jones ran second for High Class Racing, followed by Scott McLaughlin in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports car, Paul-Loup Chatin for PR1 Mathiasen and Pietro Fittipaldi for Rick Ware Racing.

LMP3 has five cars in contention, Felipe Fraga leading for Riley Motorsports in the No. 74 Ligier. Garret Grist was second in the No. 30 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier, while the car that took pole and has looked the strongest all race — the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier — was third in the hands of Glenn van Berlo.

The race is now live on USA Network to the finish.

RUNNING ORDER