Endurance... the sports car racing blog: March 2018

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge: Sebring

Round two of Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge 2018, at Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida, supporting the 66th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

Friday, March 30, 2018

More FIA WEC headlines

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Intercontinental GT Challenge news

Some more headlines coming from the world of Intercontinental GT Challenge.

Date Set for 2019 Bathurst 12H
http://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/date-set-for-2019-bathurst-12h/

WeatherTech Named New Title Sponsor of Laguna Seca
http://sportscar365.com/industry/weathertech-named-new-title-sponsor-of-laguna-seca/

Honda Ramping Up IGTC Presence

http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/honda-nsx-gt3-entries-possible-for-remainder-of-igtc-season/

Grasser, GruppeM Join Suzuka 10H Entry
http://sportscar365.com/sro/igtc/grasser-gruppem-join-suzuka-10h-entry/

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

WeatherTech Championship Battles Start To Take Shape, But There's A Long Way To Take Shape, But There's A Long Way To Go

We've gone through what seems like a lifetime of racing with the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, with the opening endurance races. Now, though, he bulk of the season, and the sprint races, are going to begin in earnest, with the next round on the streets of Long Beach, California.

https://www.imsa.com/news/032018/weathertech-championship-battles-start-take-shape-theres-long-way-go

Porsche in "Transition Year" Ahead of New GT3, GT4 cars

Porsche in "transition year" ahead of new GT3, GT4 cars in 2019, according to PMNA boss...

http://sportscar365.com/industry/armbruster-porsche-in-transition-year-ahead-of-new-gt3-gt4-cars/

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Tandy Joins Exclusive Club with Sebring Victory

In the world of endurance sports car racing, there are a few special trophies that every driver wants to hoist before their careers are complete.

For Porsche factory driver Nick Tandy, this month’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts provided the opportunity to “complete the set” of crown jewel victories. He’d already won the Rolex 24 At Daytona in 2014 in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GT Le Mans (GTLM) class, and the following year, picked up the overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

https://www.imsa.com/news/032018/tandy-joins-exclusive-club-sebring-victory

more IMSA headlines

More IMSA news from motorsport.com.

Mazda now "ready" to fight for IMSA wins, says Tincknell

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/mazda-ready-to-fight-for-imsa-wins-says-tincknell-1016581/?s=1

Is Acura Team Penske Ready to beat IMSA's established stars?

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/everyone-at-acura-and-penske-expects-to-win-says-team-manager-moyer-1016448/?s=1

Spirit of Daytona will not race their Cadillac DPi-V.R at the upcoming IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship event on the streets of Long Beach, California, and for the second straight year, they will miss this race. The reason, accident damage.

Sebring crash forces Spirit of Daytona to miss Long Beach

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-crash-forces-spirit-of-daytona-to-miss-long-beach-imsa-round-1018027/?s=1

Pagenaud: IMSA racing is "flat-out even more than IndyCar"

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/pagenaud-imsa-racing-is-flat-out-even-more-than-indycar-1018481/?s=1

Monday, March 26, 2018

Weekly Racing Roundup (3-26-18)

Reports on Australian GT and PWC TCR openers plus Super GT test at Fuji.

http://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-3-26-18/

We Just Saw PWC's Future and It Was Good

Pirelli World Challenge kicked off the 2018 SprintX and TC seasons at Circuit of the Americas in front of one of the more impressive crowds the series has drawn for a standalone event, and said crowd was in for a treat.

http://nasportscar.com/we-just-saw-pwcs-future-and-it-was-good/

Success in Florida

Porsche Road & Race document’s the Porsche North America GT team’s triumph in the 66th Sebring 12 Hours.

https://www.porscheroadandrace.com/success-in-florida/

2018 WeatherTech Data Analysis: 12 Hours of Sebring

Compiling and analyzing the data from the 66th 12 Hours of Sebring.

http://nasportscar.com/2018-weather-tech-data-analysis-12-hours-of-sebring/

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Pirelli World Challenge SprintX at COTA, Sunday Highlights

All the stories from the Sunday races for Pirelli World Challenge at Circuit of the Americas.

GMG Racing wins race two in GTS with James Sofronas and Alex Welch, driving.

GMG Audi GT4 Takes Race 2 Win
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/gmg-audi-gt4-takes-race-2-win/

Callaway: "Stars Aligned" for Ambitious Engine Rebuild
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/callaway-stars-aligned-for-ambitious-engine-rebuild/

COTA GTS Race 2 Highlights
http://sportscar365.com/features/videos/cota-gts-race-2-highlights/

Break out the broom! It's a sweep for Toni Vilander, Miugel Molina, and R. Ferri Motorsports, as the Ferrari 488 GT3 goes to the winner's circle for the second time this weekend, in Texas.

Vilander, Molina Sweep SprintX Weekend at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/vilander-molina-sweep-sprintx-weekend-at-cota/

Saturday, March 24, 2018

Pirelli World Challenge SprintX at COTA, Saturday highlights

All the news, and racing action, from Saturday SprintX at Circuit of the Americas.

The Callaway Corvette of Daniel Keilwitz won’t start race one, after an engine rebuild was necessary for the car.

Engine Rebuild Rules Callaway Out of Race 1
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/callaway-to-miss-race-1-as-team-rebuilds-engine/

Braun: GMG’s Experience a “Strength” in GTS SprintX Debut
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/braun-gmgs-experience-a-strength-in-gts-sprintx-debut/

Gottsacker Takes GTS Pole
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/gottsacker-takes-gts-pole-at-cota/

Skeen, Lone Star Mercedes AMG-GT3 Claim COTA Pole
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/skeen-grabs-cota-pole/

Maxwell, Buford Win GTS Race 1 at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/maxwell-buford-win-gts-race-1-at-cota/

Vilander, Molina Claim Race 1 Win at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/vilander-molina-claim-race-1-win-at-cota/

Adding more late breaking highlights to this storday, updated at 10:48 PM, Central Time.

COTA PWC Saturday Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/cota-saturday-notebook-3/

COTA GTS Race 1 Highlights
http://sportscar365.com/features/videos/cota-gts-race-1-highlights/

Racing action at Circuit of the Americas continues, tomorrow. Stay tuned for all the Sunday highlights to wrap up the first of five SprintX races of the season.

Friday, March 23, 2018

more Friday PWC updates from Circuit of the Americas

Here is more about what happened in practice etc. for Pirelli World Challenge at Circuit of the Americas.

Braun Tops Opening GTS Practice at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/braun-tops-opening-gts-practice-at-cota/

Soucek Quickest In Practice 1 at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/soucek-quickest-in-first-practice-at-cota/

Marcelli Quickest In GTS Practice 2
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/marcelli-quickest-in-gts-practice-2/

PWC Adds GTS Invitational Class for Long Beach
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/pwc-adds-gts-invitational-class-for-long-beach/

Ward Confirmed in Black Swan for Long Beach
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/ward-set-for-long-beach-in-black-swan-porsche-gt4-entry/

R. Ferri Paces Practice 2 at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/r-ferri-paces-practice-2-at-cota/

COTA Friday Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/world-challenge/cota-friday-notebook-5/

more Pirelli World Challenge news before the races at Circuit of the Americas (including more on their new app)

Thursday, March 22, 2018

Final 2018 Entry List Tracker - PWC TC/TCR/TCA

The Touring Car class in Pirelli World Challenge starts it's season at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, after the GT/GTA season began at St. Petersburg, and continues. The list is due to be updated. Here is how it stands thus far.

http://nasportscar.com/final-2018-entry-list-tracker-pwc-tc-tcr-tca/

Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup Moves Past Halfway Point

While we’ve only had two races thus far in the 2018 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and there’s still a long way to go, we’ve already passed the halfway point in terms of point-scoring opportunities toward the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup.

https://www.imsa.com/news/032018/tequila-patron-north-american-endurance-cup-battle-moves-past-halfway-point

300th Lamborghini Huracan Race Car Produced

Lamborghini reaches milestone with 300th Huracan race car produced on it's assembly line in Italy.

http://sportscar365.com/other-series/300th-lamborghini-huracan-race-car-produced/

FIA WEC headlines

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

12 Hours of Sebring race broadcast

The race broadcast of the 66th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring.

Part 1

Part 2

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

All-New Pirelli World Challenge App Preview This Weekend

Finally! The people at WC Vision have listened to fans, and are creating a mobile app for watching the races.

http://nasportscar.com/all-new-pirelli-world-challenge-app-preview-this-weekend/

Grand PrixView - PWC at COTA

another preview of this weekend’s Pirelli World Challenge races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

http://nasportscar.com/grand-prixview-pwc-at-cota/

15 GT3 Entries for SprintX, 100 Total for COTA

After a smaller number of cars than expected for the season opener at St. Petersburg, there will be a boost for the first SpirntX event this coming weekend at Citcuit of the Americas.

http://nasportscar.com/15-gt3-entries-for-sprintx-100-total-at-cota/

Double Stint: Sebring Recap; Derani, Tandy, Sellers Interviews (3-20-18)

This week’s Double Stint Podcast is in one post, as there is much to talk about, recapping the 12 Hours of Sebring, winner interviews from after the race, and also, news pertaining to the FIA World Endurance Championship, and Pirelli World Challenge as they prepare for the first SprintX event of 2018 at Circuit of the Americas, where the touring car class along with TCR cars, make their season debut.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/double-stint-sebring-recap-derani-tandy-sellers-interviews-3-20-18/

12 Hours of Sebring video footage

Some video from the 12 Hours of Sebring on Saturday, via YouTube users Lanky Turtle, and Mr. CleaN.

Monday, March 19, 2018

IMSA’s GTLM Field “better balanced now”, says BMW boss

BMW Motorsport boss Jens Marquardt says there is a far better Balance of Performance in IMSA’s GT Le Mans class now, after the 12 Hours of Sebring, than there was after the season opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/imsas-gtlm-field-better-balanced-now-says-bmw-boss-1016390/?s=1

Weekly Racing Roundup (3-19-18)

Super GT test at Okayama, and Norma becomes second LMP3 Cup manufacturer.

http://sportscar365.com/features/roundup/weekly-racing-roundup-3-19-18/

Sunday, March 18, 2018

another post-race Sebring recap

Recapping the 12 Hours of Sebring

In case you missed the extensive coverage of yesterday’s 12 Hours of Sebring, here are some brief recaps. This one is via Motorsport.com

Sebring 12 Hours: Hour 2 - Nasr leads after action-packed start

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-update-second-hour-cadillac-1015595/?s=1&r=191015&em=1

Sebring 12 Hours: Hour 4 - Bizarre yellow flag puts Penske into lead

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-12-hours-hour-4-bizarre-yellow-flag-puts-penske-acura-into-the-lead-1015662/?s=1&r=191015&em=T1

Sebring 12 Hours: Hour 6 - Nissan leads Mazda at half-distance

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-12-hours-hour-6-nissan-leads-mazda-at-half-distance-1015719/?s=1&r=191015&em=1

Sebring 12 Hours: Hour 8 - ESM Nissan leads AXR Cadillac

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-12-hours-hour-8-esm-nissan-leads-axr-cadillac-1015736/?s=1&r=191015&em=1

Sebring 12 Hours: Hour 10 - Nissan leads Cadillac and Mazda

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-12-hours-hour-10-nissan-leads-cadillac-and-mazda-1015746/?s=1&r=191015&em=1

Sebring 12 Hours: ESM Nissan, Porsche, PMR Lamborghini win

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/sebring-12-hours-hour-12-esm-nissan-porsche-pmr-lamborghini-win-1015753/?s=1&r=191015&em=1

Derani dedicates victory to sick father

https://www.motorsport.com/imsa/news/derani-dedicates-sebring-victory-to-sick-father-1015760/?s=1&r=191015&em=1

Saturday, March 17, 2018

posts wrapping up the Sebring 12 Hours

What an action packed race at Sebring today! You can read the reports of most of the hourly happenings as they are listed, in the blog. But, also, look for a couple of summaries and wrap up reports from different sources, coming tomorrow. In case you missed watching the race, there are is a lot more post-race coverage, coming your way, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, on Sunday. So, stay tuned for that. Good night, from Sebring, Florida.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hours 11 & 12 (the finish)

We are under an hour to go here at Sebring.

Pippo Derani and company continue to lead overall. Lamborghini leads GTD and Porsche leads GTLM. We have seen a few cars have some massive shunts into the tire wall, or, near misses for that matter. Pippo Derani works his way past Luca Stolz and Bryan Sellers who battle for GT Daytona honors. #48 in the lane. Paul Miller Racing really wants a win here at Sebring. Could all the GT Daytona cars pit at the same time? If there is a yellow, people could get leapfrogged. There are competing incentives. All the cards are now being played, for the win. It's crunch time, now. Tire troubles for4 the #24 BMW M8 GTE. Actually, this could be a suspension issue for Nicky Catsburg. Not good.

The sister #25 caris now in the lane. Pit stop time. Alexander Sims at the wheel of it. Just 45 minutes now remain. Nick Tandy pits from the lead in GT Le Mans. This is a quick stop. The Porsche was quicker in the lane than the BMW was on it's pit stop. Alexander Sims will have to floor it to catch up to Tandy. He will be running Harry Flatters before this race is over. Derami and Tincknell continue to run 1-2 in the overall. Nissan vs. Mazda. Ryan Briscoe in the #67 Ford GT pitted 49 minutes ago. Oh! #22 in the lane, for a full fuel load. They had a problem with the stop on entry, and they are using scrubbed tires, not stickers. They have a p[roblem with the fuel hose. Now, both Mazda's are in. The Mazda's are getting better fuel mileage than the Nissan's are.

Oh no! Another problem for the Mazda, stalling it. GYThe car is motionless in the lane. Could this be game over for Mazda? They have to try and do a bump start. This is a disaster for Mazda. They need a jump battery. Robert Alon has stopped non course. Now, the #55 car is back on track. He needs a full course yellow ton get back into contention for the victory. ooh! Robertg Alon gets clipped in the Banana Boat, by the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari GTD entry. Whoa! That was close! Felipe Nasr is told that he is going to be a couple minutes short on fuel.

No yellow as the #85 car gets back to the pits. Harry Tincknell has gone a lap down. It may be all over for Mazda in their effort to try and win Sebring this year. Less than half an hour to go now. We have some great racing before this one is over. Don't go away! This could be a battle between Pippo Derani and Renger Van der Zande, for the win. Now, remember, the #10 squad won Sebring last year, in addition to the Rolex 24, and Derani won both the Rolex 24 and the 12 Hours of Sebring, in 2016.

Alessandro Balzan runs fourth in class in GT Daytona. Bryan Sellers continues to lead GT Daytona. Alessandro Balzan has clear track and he's running at least a second quicker than anyone else. Poor old Harry Tincknell will need a miracle. He's a lap down. Alessandro Balzan loses some ground to Christopher Mies. Again, the GT cars have far more mechanical grip than the Prototypes do. Pippo Derani remains the leader. Wayne Taylor's team will be able to go to the end on fuel, and the same is true for the #22 car. The #31 Cadillac still has a question mark on it's fuel, and could need a splash and dash.

Felipe Nasr is dropping behind Renger van der Zande. So, team boss Tim Keene is probably telling Nasr, "Felipe, save fuel." Less than 20 minutes to go. Wow! Alesandro Balzan cleanly passes Christopher Mies. I have more grip in my tires than you do. Arriva derci, daddy-o. Somehow I don't think Christopher Mies will be on Alesandro Balzan's Christmas card list, unless he sends Mies a pie and slams it in his face. Think fast. Splat! That's for what you did to me, at Sebring! We are running out of time. There's little sand trickling through the hourglass now. 334 laps on the board, with just about 15 minutes left to race.

The poor old boys from the #55 Mazda. They had the pace and fuel mileage, but the car let them down. Harry Tincknell is sixth in the overall, one lap down. But, they've turned things around since Daytona, and the Sebring test sessions. They are making progress now, with Reinhold Joest and Ralf Juttner assisting them. Meanwhile, Alessandro Balzan is chasing Jeroen Bleekemolen and Bryan Sellers. Tim Keene is telling Felipe Nasr, 'save fuel, but go fast. Stick with the lap times you are currently running." The pit lane delta is 31 seconds at least. That is how far he is down right now. Romain Dumas in the #54 car is fifth in the overall, but they are 44 seconds behind. Paul Di Resta slipped onto pit lane, and has lost a place.

Less than ten minutes to go. Anything can and will happen. Grandstand finish, coming up. Alessandro Balzan has gotten around Jeroen Bleekemolen. Pippo Derani, the leader in the overall, assists the pass for Bleekemolen to get around Balzan in GTD. Check that. Balzan went by Bleekemolen. Alesandro Balzan ducked to the left, and said "thanks, Jeroen. Arriva derci, buddy." Time is running out now. If Porsche got their timed fuel stops right, Porsche could very well win GT Le Mans, as well as GT Daytona. Nasr is losing time to van der Zande. It's perhaps gone pear shaped for Whelen Engineering Racing. Tim Keene was right. White flag next time by.

Nasr must be turning the times to get to the checkers in a couple minutes. Does Pippo Derani have enough left in the locker, to get this car to the finish? Derani and Johannes van Overbeek would get their second win as a team here at Sebring, but with Nissan power as opposed to Honda the last time they won. Nicolas Lapierre wants his second Sebring win. ESM and the #22 team was the only entry to have three past Sebring champions on their driver's strength. Tandy is 6.5 second clear over Alexander Sims, and Bryan Sellers is well clear of Alesandro Balzan for the GT Daytona crown. Two different teams, but two wins for Lamborghini in GTD in the first two IMSA races of 2018. This is it. Nissan has won at Sebring four times,. and they take their fifth win! Pippo Derani, Nicolas Lapierre, and Johannes van Overbeek win!

In GTD, Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, and Corey L,ewis win! Porsche gets another Sebring victory with the factory CORE Autosports run car, of Nick Tandy, Earl Bamber, and Fred Makowiecki! It's the first win for the GTLM drivers at Sebring in their careers! The winning distance... 344 laps, 1,286 and a half miles.

So, your overall and class winners in the 12 Hours of Sebring are:

Overall/Prototype: #22 van Overbeek/Derani/Lapierre     Nissan DPi

             GT Le Mans: #911 Pilet/Tandy/Makowiecki        Porsche 911 RSR

             GT Daytona: #48 Sellers/Snow/Lewis                  Lamborghini Huracan GT3

Nick Tandy has won all three big endurance races. Le Mans, Daytona, and Sebring. Pippo Derani and company are surely over the moon for their overall championship. Lamborghini has now won two endurance races in a row, with two different teams. Nicolas Lapierre passing Mike Conway had to be the move of the race. Bryan Sellers has fulfilled a dream of winning Sebring. Madison Snow and Corey Lewis have to feel the same way. Corey Lewis joined this team just a few weeks ago, and now, he is a Sebring 12 Hours champion.

Patrick Pilet has now also finally won Sebring, after gaining victgories at the Rolex 24 and the Petit Le Mans a few years ago. The French duo of Fred Makowiecki and Patrick Pilet are very happy about their win. If you want to be a Sebring winner, you have to be over the limit. Wayne Taylor Racing fought back from losing time with repairs, to finish second. So, quite a bit of time before the next North American Endurance Cup race. But, now, the bulk of the IMSA season is going to get underway, with the sprint races.

The first of those, will be on the legendary streets of Long Beach, California, for the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix, the second weekend in April, so a little less than a month from now. We'll see you at Long Beach, as the action in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, continues. So long, from Sebring International Raceway in central Florida. Bye bye, for now.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 10

The scrap in GT Le Mans, continues to heat up between Ferrari and Porsche. Toni Vilander vs. Patrick Pilet. Pilet is really pushing, trying to catch Toni Vilander. Pilet is coming, and fast. Mike Conway continues to trail Nicolas Lapierre in the overall, and Madison Snow in the #48 Lamborghini for Paul Miller Racing, still leads GT Daytona. In 1967, Bruce McLaren and Mario Andretti were challenged by Jim Hall's Chapparal's, but the Chapparal's had problems, and Mario and the late, great McLaren, won. Pilet is drag racin the Ferrari down thr straight, and he makes the pass on Toni Vilander. Acura #86 is in the lane, for their last driver change of this motor race. Execute on the stop. No mistakes. The #93 sister car comes in as well, after they had that huge wreck with Lawson Aschenbach at the wheel of it.

The #10 and #90 Cadillac's are in pit lane. No need for water on this car. Just fuel and a driver change. Cirvette #4 is also in the pit lane. Of course, there is no wheel spin allowed on pit lane excit in the FIA World Endurance Championship. The #67 Ford GT may have a door open. Oh! There's ahuge crash for the #90 Cadillac in turn 17. Oh my! We are under full course yellow. #90 was just in the pit lane. The car is stopped cold and has big damage to the front end. We were just talking about how trouble free their race has been going. This mirrors thje incident for Sebastian Saavedra from earlier on in this race.

Was Mazda trying to stretch their fuel mileage? If so, without this full course caution, it would have been very difficult to do. How did this accident for the #90 car, happen? Tristan Vautier walks away from this massive smash into the wall. Tristan Vautier ran wide in the clag and the outside of the car dragged towards the wall, and, crash! Our pole sitting car is now on the rollback truck, haded for parc ferme and the garage. McMurry was trying to turn, and the car wouldn't nturn. Tgat was on Tristan Vautier's out lap. The car wouldn'tg turn. No headlights on the #55 Mazda, leading this race. They need those lights to work per the rules.

Mazda is now in the lane. We are back to green, and Mazda has their headlight problem solved. Harry Tincknell is now fourth in the overall. Mike Conway has the #31 Cadillac in the lead, but, Pippo Derani has now taken the lead. He can find speed quicker than anyone else. Will Derani equal his triumph here at Sebring from 2016? He has taken off like a scalded cat. It is now, pitch, everywhere. After their early issues, Alex Brundle and company, have brought the car to fifth in the overall. Dirk Mueller in the #66 Ford GT has stopped on the road. So, we have a full course yellow once again.

The Ford GT will be moved, and we'll be ready to go back to racing, very soon. To this point, 304 laps, 1,137 miles have been completed. We are back to green flag racing. Pippo Derani begins to stretch his lead. Harry Tincknell is fighting with Renger van der Zande. van der Zande was focused, but now, Tincknell takes off like a rocket ship! You cannot afford to be delayed. Tinknell made the pass on Derani into Kristensen corner. Mazds led night practice on Thursday night. Tristan Nunez is fifth in the queue but is laps down from the leaders. Meanwhile, the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Luca Stolz is running down the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with Paul Miller at the wheel of it.

The Mercedes is the defending champion of this race. Now, the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche is up to fourth, with Matthieu Jaminet at the wheel of it, making his first start here at Sebring. The battle in GTLM is heating up, and the top six Prototypes are all on the same lap, working the 307th circuit of this race. We are getting down to the nitty gritty, and the final hour of this classic once around the clock odyssey. The margin between Sellers and Stolz is just 2/10ths of a second. Both GT classes need one more stop. Prototypes will need a full stop, plus a splash and dash. The Land Motorsports Audi might have faded, blended headlights. Somewhere between white and amber. GTD cars are suopposed to have yellow headlight gels.

We watch a replay of the #90 car from a sranding camera in the pit lane. That's a massive accident.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 9

Mazda, in the lane, with the #55. Spencer Pigot will come into the car, and then, Harry Tincknell will finish the race out. The Mazda, is a padiddle, a car with one working headlight, which is legal. Ah. No, it is not a padiddle anymore. It is about to get dark here at Sebring. Soon, it will be pitch everywhere. The camera lens apertures make it look a lot lighter out there than it actually is. You can see the light stanchions, but who knows where the light actually is, other than the setting sun, and eventually, the moon. There is always drama. Recall the fight in 2007 for GT2 honors between Jaime Melo in the Risi Competizione Ferrari and Jorg Bergmeister in the Flying Lizard Porsche. One oif the classic races that there have been myriad of through the 66 year history of this fantastic motor race.

260 laps now complete. 972 miles. Nicolas Lapierre continues to push. Darkness is beginning to fall. You have to be willing to compromise. Where do I make the most of my passing? Then, you have to choose, for the long-term (i.e. the race) your aero package, your spring rates, the overall balance of the automobile. In qualifying, your setups can be entirely different than what they would be during the race itself. When you get the long shots of the cars coming at you at night, you can see that the Prototypes and GT Le Mans cars have white headlights, and the GT Daytona cars have the amber gels on the headlights. Porsche and Ferrari are in the pit lane and so is the Acura #93. Lawson Aschenbach will continue at the wheel of the #93 car, which was not the original plan.

The #911 Porsche pits and there was a driver change. Who is in the #911? Patrick Pilet, it could be. The #62 Ferrari beats Pilet out of the pits, with Toni Vilander at the controls. We have two hours and 45 minutes to go, the length of a standard IWSC sprint race. Get to the end of the stint. Reset the goalposts. Jeroen Bleekemolen is being chased by Alessandro Balzan. GT Daytona cars headed for the lane. Dylan Machavern will be taking over the GTD lead in the #96 BMW M6 GT3. Gunnar Jeanette takes over the #63 Scuderia Corsa, Weathertech Ferrari, from Alessandro Balzan.

Nicolas Lapierre finally takes the lead of this motor race into Sunset Bend. Ferrari continues to lead in GT Le Mans. Could Ford come back to top level sports car racing and race in Prototype? We'll have to wait and find out. There's some really good racing going on right now, especially in GT Le Mans and GT Daytona. No one wants to give anything up. Patrick Pilet is having trouble getting around the #29 Land Motorsports Audi. Nissan #22 is in the lane. Nicolas Lapierre will have one more stint, before Pippo Derani is the final bullet, to finish out the race. Mike Conway leads, and Jonathan Bomarito can come back and retake the lead for Mazda. It is a possibility.

Jonathan Bomarito has had a really good run today. Could they hold on for a victory? Now, they havew the backing of Reinhold Joest, Ralf Juettner, and the whole Joest Racing team. The #3 Corvette is soldiering on, despite it's problems. The #4 sister car is also hanging in threre. The experienced drivers will shine their lights right into the competitor's mirrors to maybe distract them a little bit... to mess with their game plan. Toni Vilander is continuing to push in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE. Everyone always wants more as a race car driver.

Spencer Pigot is now at the controls of Mazda #55. There's a battle in GTD between the #93 Acura and the #29 Audi. Christopher Mies used to be the closer for this team. But, Sheldon van der Linde, he could be the chap to finish this race out. The Joest Mazda program is really showing how much they've improved today, compared to where they were at the 24 Hours of Daytona. We are very close to having just two hours to go in the 66th 12 Hours of Sebring.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 8

The two Mike Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3's are both running very well as we have the #31 Cadillac in the pit lane for a scheduled stop. Curran has taken over the overall lead,k from Harry Tincknell. 230 laps, 860 miles completed. BMW has had the pace here at Sebring, and need the luck. They have had a better race here, than they did almost two months back at the Rolex 24. Temperatures will begin to cool down. We have Porsche, Ferrari, and Ford, battling for GT Le Mans honors. Now,. Alessandro Pier Guidi is in the lane and so is Fred Makowiecki in the Porsche. More debris on the road. Oh boy. It's damage to the #912 Porsche! The bumper has come completely off the car. There will be a full course yellow so Gianmaria Bruni can come in and get this serious damage repaired. He was in the lane, only ten minutes ago. Richard Westbrook also hits pit lane.

Full course yellow. #912 won't get to the flag for a freebie even though he was the chap who left the damaged pieces and parts littered all over the road. There's still more debris out there. There's dust and disintegrating bodywork all over the road. The whole rear diffuser has been torn off that Porsche. The rear diffuser, bumper, and undertray, are all one section. The team will replace the whole section of the rear of the car. Wow. These are things that can bite you in an endurance event. Not good.

More parts and pieces are prepared to fix the Porsche. The entire back section is going to be replaced. There is also tire rub on the back. But there will be a replacement of all these parts in one fell swoop. Let's hope the pickup points at the front are not damaged. All the clips on the bodywork snapped into place properly. Good, clean repairs by the Porsche mechanics. The diffuser ended up on the outside of the track. If it ended up by the spectator area, Porsche never would have gotten it back in order to study it, to see what went wrong.

We're getting close to sprint race time. But, the shadows are beginning to grow long here at Sebring. Sebring is an event, pure and simple. Some people come for the race, or the event. We're back to green and Mike Conway hits the hammer, and is back after it. These blokes, Conway and Lapierre, know each other from the FIA World Endurance Championship and are former team mates. Jonathan Bomarito is at the wheel of the #55 Mazda. Mazda has had class wins here at Sebring in the old GTO and GTU classes. But, they want an overall Sebring win. They also remain the only Japanese automaker to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, back in 1991 with the awesome 787B of course.

Romain Dumas is coming. He is a shark, smelling blood in the water. Oh boy! Bomarito drops a wheel at the exit of turn one. He was having a tough old time trying to get into the turn! Rene Rast is also pushing, in the sister Mazda. Plus, Misha Goikhberg in the Red Dragon, the #99 car, is still there. We've made it past the eight hour mark for the NAEC points. Now we can back time to the end of this motor race, ladies and gentlemen. We're 2/3rds of the way through the 12 Hours of Sebring. After this race, we have the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen at Watkins Glen International Raceway in New York, in July, and the Petit Le Mans, 1,000 miles, at Road Atlanta in the red clay hills outside of Atlanta, Georgia, in October.

Eric Curran has run 240 laps, 898 miles. The top six cars in the running order are all on the same lap, in fact. The sun is beginning to set here at Sebring, and this is why turn 17 is known as Sunset Bend. Nicolas Lapierre is still chasing Mike Conway. Oh deary me, there's lapped traffic. Nico Lapierre is coming, trying to get by Mike Conway. Lapierre is a very aggressive driver. Closing rates! Yikes! DPi vs. GT3 car. Lapierre has a run, going to the high side. No dice. Conwayu tries to block, and here comes Lapierre for the lead! Conway tries it. Oh man! Great racing between two pros. Race Director Beau Barfield stated respect should be shown to the competitors. These two blokes are team mates in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Toyota.

Here comes Tristan Vautier as well in the #90 Cadillac. He'll know what the GT Daytona cars do, because he drove one here last year. Traffic ahead, and it's getting very congested through the orange glow of the sunset. Jeroen Bleekemolen and Trent Hindman in GTD are fighting each other for their own positions. Good stuff! More good racing, coming your way, folks. Stick with us so you don't miss a minute of the action. We are getting close to the end of an action packed eighth hour.

ESM Nissan #22 is in the lane for a regular pit stop. There is a minimum full fuel load refueling time since Daytona that was implemented. 30 second for Prototype, 34 seconds for GTLM, and 40 seconds, for GTD. The #90 Cadillac has pitted. Matt McMurry will do a triple stint, and Tristan Vautier will be the man to finish this motor race. n Mike Conway tries to pass the #85 JDC Miller car... the Banana Boat. But, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor, trying to make up time. Nelson Panciatici is at the wheel of The Banana Boat. Begin back timing this race to eliminate the need for an extra fuel stop.

Hats off to the GT Daytona drivers. Mike Conway is in the lane. Hit your marks. No holdups. Conway gunning the 5.5 liter V8, waiting on the fuel, and he's back on track. The sun is just beginning to slip below the horizon and night will fall soon.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 7

We are into hour seven. Yours truly, took a short nap and watched coverage on the IMSA app. We're past halfway through the 66th renewal of this once around the clock odyssey. So many great names have raced here at Sebring. That's still true, in today's race as we are past the halfway mark. We are about to restart after a full course yellow, with the #55 Mazda RT24P of Harry Tincknell, leading this motor race. His manager and mentor, Allan McNish has won here. Renger van der Zande is pushing by Eric Curran and there's so sure argy bargy there. Tristan Vautier is going for it, and Renger van der Zande could have damage. The dive planes on the front are as sharp as knives and so, you risk cutting down a tire. Dodge 'em cars indeed. Nowhere for Eric Curran to go, and the rear bodywork got hung up on the #31, the Whelen racer.

van der Zande's Cadillac neds the bodywork. The aerodynamics are a problem. Pit the car under caution and change the whole rear clip. That's the hbest way to go. Emergency service under this short full course yellow. Desperation isn't worth it if you end up in the pit lane. Pit lane is closed, even though these chaps are entitled to make emergency service. The marshals may or may not buy the emergency service claim. There's some damage even to the safety car, the Chevrolet Corvette safety car.

You have to take the green before you are allowed to come in. Mazda leads Sebring. Go! It's restart time. The aero loads on the side plates are going to be damaged on the Cadillac. The #48 Lamborghini is pushing right now, too. 31 seconds worth of pit lane delta time. The #10 team only has 80 seconds in hand before they would lose a lap. Some serious battles between team mates. Mario Farnbacher in the #93 MSR Acura and Katherine Legge in the sister #86. The #69 HART Acura is also right up at the sharp end. Kurt Baker is the team boss. Ryan Eversley, Chad Gilsinger, and Tom Dyer sharing the driving chores.

The #10 team pitted and it took 65 seconds to replace the damaged bodywork. We have drama on the track as the #5 Cadillac of Joao Barbosa has spun and so has James French in the #38 Performance Tech Oreca 07 Gibson. Some damage for sure on both automobiles. You want to push, but if you push too hard, it will bite you. They are going to change the front nose section of the car. Part of the toe link is broken on the lefr front. Left front contact to right front. Barbosa flew in the air! Crunch! That's a big issue with turn 17. It's long radius and high speed, but the car can bound into the air at the same time.

The whole upright on the #5 Cadillac is damaged. So, the Rolex 24 winners have some work to do. #55 is in the lane. Harry Tincknell is a shade off sequence. Tristan Nunez in the #77 sister car has run the fastest lap for Mazda with a 1:49 flat. Johannes van Overbeek, on his merry way in the hairpin. Tequila Patron ESM has only one bullet left. Olivier Pla got hit and the transmission got shocked and had all the gears stripped out. Game over. The shock is sent through the half shaft, driveshaft, and transmission. The #54 CORE Autosport car has been running very well with Colin Braun and Romain Dumas among the drivers.

The runways are very bumpy, and the infield section is less rough. Performance Tech Motorsports has run through the IMSA development series and have moved up to prototype this year. Meanwhile, Alessandro Pier Guidi is applying the blowtorch to Laurens Vanthoor in a battle for GT Le Mans. Once the sun goes down, you can change tire compounds to find more speed. Pier Guidi drops a wheel off in the dirt! Renger van der Zande is pushing as well. He's slicing through this traffic like a hot knife through butter. Jesse Krohn has a fast race car with the #24 BMW M8 GT, but he is eight laps behind right now.

Phil Hanson is giving the #32 United Autosports entry a good run, diving past the Corvette. They didn't qualify the car, changed the engine, and started at the tail end of the field. United Autosports has good experience in Europe. Paul Di Resta has raced in Formula 1, and he is also back racing in DTM for 2018. Alex Brundle was drafted in to replace Bruno Senna as we've already explained. Phil Hanson, at 18 years old, is becoming a very good sports car racer. He is being chased by Tristan Vautier. Don't chop defensively across your rival's nose or you will be pinged by the stewards.

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12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 5

Hour five starts. We will be with you for oh, 3/4 of it. We are under yellow, and getting ready to go back to green. Once again, in about 15 minutes time, if you have the IMSA App or the Fox Sports Go App, please switch over to your mobile device, to follow the race, from 2PM Central Time/3PM Eastern Time, to 5PM Central Time/6PM Eastern Time, when we rejoin coverage on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, to take you all the way to the finish of the race. Helio Castroneves in the #7 Acura has taken over the lead, and we have completed 120 laps, 449 miles. We restart this race, and Mike Conwayu was caught napping as Helio Castroneves leads. The #32 United Autosports Ligier is stalled. Alex Brundle at the controls, trying to restart the engine and get back in the fight.

Brundle spun. He was splitting away from other cars. He is filling in today for Bruno Senna, who is recovering from a surgery he had. We go back to yellow because of Brundle's stalled automobile. In replay, we see Brundle run wide, and he was passing loads ofg cars, having been told "go" by one of his crewmen. Oliver Gavin leads GTLM for Corvette. Jeroen Bleekemolen leads GT Daytona in the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3. Helio Castroneves leads the field away on the restart and he can go right at the turn in to turn 17, Sunset Bend. Pippo Derani will be in attack mode, but there's a long way to go. Don't push it too hard and make a mistake. Don't wait too long and give up too much track position.

Oh boy! One of the Ford's tipped another car off the road. Dirk Mueller in the #66, and he may have lost the headlight cover. Scott Dixon in the #67 sister car. John Edwards pressing on in the #24 BMW M8 GT. Mueller checked up for a GT Daytona car, and it was a concertina effect. Pippo Derani and Mike Conway are both keeping the pressure on Helio Castroneves. Corvette in the lane again, with a problem for the #3. Deja vu, unfortunately, as these blokes ran into issues just a couple of hours ago. There is a debris flag at the start/finish line. There's damage to the left hand side of the #66 Ford GT. This isn't good.

There was argy bargy between a couple of the GT Daytona cars as well. We are undoubtedly under yellow and poor old Mike Conway had to serve a drive through penalty for passing under the yellow flag. There was already rear end damage to the Dirk Mueller driven Ford as the left front tire delaminates. The rear wing of the car is askew as well. You hardly see a Michelin tire fail in that fashion without some sort of assistance. The sweet taste of champagne, may be replaced by the bitter pill of defeat. We still wonder where poor old Dirk Mueller had his issues. That was severe damage to the Ford.

At first it seemed to be a small hit, but it was a hit in two different places on the rear tail. Prototype and GTLM cars in the lane. The nudge from John Edwards didn't look significant, but it was more damage than previously assumed. Filipe Albuquerque in the #5 Cadillac is the new race leader. GT Daytona cars pit for service. The temperature is going up, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Mercifully, the #66 comes out of pit lane, but right into the garage. Oh dear. More trouble for one of our GTLM contenders. You don't want to lose points so you can take a hit in the overall standings. Teams who had a problem at Daytona don't want to have issues here at Sebring.

React on the fly quickly. and gain points. Action Express is not giving anything away, to chase points for both championships. Collect points every time on the track, and keep being consistent. Heat is an enemy of brakes. As good as the ABS systems on the GT3 cars are, the components can be worn down. Do an early brake change, so you don't end up having to scramble towards the end that will dull your weapon. Your weapon (the car), must be kept sharp at all times to conquer these endurance sports car races. The brakes with ABS run at 1,200 degrees. That cooks the brakes.

Now, the #58 Porsche has spun. We are back to green. Christina Nielsen is still stationary. Jonathan Bomarito has taken over behind the wheel of the #55 Mazda. #58 is now in the pit lane. Nielsen tried to avoid the Park Place Porsche, and spun in the process, but she escaped major damage. However, she has lost a lap. They can't afford another bad race. John Potter at the wheel of the #44 Magnus Racing Audi. Lawson Aschenbach is third in class, after Justin Marks had a monster sized crash that we've already documented.

David Heinemeier Hanson has won Le Mans before and has six wins and 20 podiums in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Alvaro Parente is the driver who is leading in GTD in the #86 Acura. He is racing his first 12 Hours of Sebring, today. Justin Marks had a major incident on Thursday, as was documented, and they have come back. Wow. Some close action between the #69 HART Acura NSX GT3 with Tom Dyer at the wheel. Check that, Chad Gilsinger, who is being harried by Phillip Frommenwiler. HART Racing is a volunteer crew from the Honda/Acura plant in Marysville, Ohio.

Derani, Castroneves, and Albuquerque, are the top three right now. Alvaro Parente is sore, from a crash in another series... and of course, that was in the Pirelli World Challenge race at St. Petersburg that was documented on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, last week. Conway gets squeezed. Alvaro Parente has bruises and sore ribs. He's toughing it out. Thomas Jaeger has taken over the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3 from Kenny Habul. Mike Conway gets balked by a GTD car. James Calado is being harried by Earl Bamber. Check that. Calado was harrying Bamber and trying to make a pass.

Bamber is using all the road, but there are tire marbles and loads of clag everywhere, off line. Risi Competizione team boss Giuseppe Risi is back home in Houston, Texas, after a car accident. He is recovering. Get well soon, Giuseppe. Pippo Derani continues to lead Helio Castroneves in the overall and the Nissan's aero package is very much improved. We'll see you for more racing, coming up in a few hours. Follow on the IMSA app or Fox Sports Go. We'll see you soon.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 4

Ford has been keeping their pit stops consistent. #67 in the lane as #66 continues on the track. BMW has finally gotten the Balance of Performance adjustments they've wanted, and there's a major scrum between Eric Curran, Nicolas Lapierre, and Jordan Taylor. The rear end of the car in the Cadillac works extremely well.n Close shave between Jordan Taylor and Nicolas Lapierre. It was a clean move. They have had good speed, but they have one bullet in the gun for victory. This is the only driver lineup with three former Sebring winners. Lapierre won with Peugeot in 2011, and of course Pippo Derani and Johannes van Overbeek, they were part of the winning ESM team in 2016. Harry Tincknell is in the Mazda now, and he hasa bit of argy bargy with the #99 Red Dragon from JDC Miller Motorsports, with Mikhail "Misha" Goikhberg at the wheel of it.

Tincknell may be penalized. He is managed by Allan McNish, and he runs with Ford in the GT in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Tincknell is serving his drive through penalty. In Prototype and GT Daytona, the Continental Tires available are spec tires. Night practice is a majorly critical component in the lead up to this race. Eric Curran tried to pass the Turner Motorsportsn BMW M6 GT3, but decided discretion is the better part of valor coming to Kristensen Corner. Lapierre wants by Curran. He has a head of steam. He wants by. Now he is trapped behind a lapped Mercedes AMG GT3, but only briefly. Through Bishop Bend. Wow. The Nissan is closing onn the Cadillac. The fuel window will close soon, and mean pit stop time.

Cadillac #5 in pit lane. Tires and fuel, as Joao Barbosa stays in the car. They are cleaning the windscreen and trying hard to not use up the tear offs. #5 has the first pit stall in the lane. You can use only six to eight tear offs because of the curve of the windscreen. Nicolas Lapierre is really poushing, forcing the issue and Eric Curran goes by, while Jordan Taylor gives Lapierre a little love tap. The fuel window is only 40 minutes, because of a 68 liter fuel tank. Lapierre and Nissan now take the lead here at Sebring. Mike Conway will take over the #31 Cadillac.

Lapierre and Nissan hold P1 at the moment. #22 hit the lane for a pit stop and now the #10 Cadillac is leading, but Mike Conway has now set the fastest second sector of the whole race in the Prototype division. Tristan Nunez is now at the wheel of the #77 Mazda RT24P. The #10 Cadillac is in the pit lane, with water being added to the car. Joirdan Taylor stays in the car. Correction. Oliver Jarvis is at the wheel of the #77 Mazda. Will the #10 Cadillac continue having to add water to their radiator? We'll have to wait, find out, and watch. The exit valve is forcing water and air through.; Was their water going into the radiators? The car might run a shade hotter than expected. James Calado has the controls of the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, fifth in GTLM, 20th in the overall.

Actually, Alessandro Pier Guidi is in the car. Again, Tristan Nunez is in the #77 leading Mazda right now. Porsche first won Sebring in 1960 and since then, they have had 18 overall wins and 70 class wins. Incredible. Sebastien Bourdais is in the #66 Ford GT.. Bourdais of course, won the opening IndyCar race at St. Petersburg, last weekend. Phillip Frommenwiler has a slide off the road, but he is running just behind his team mate, Jack Hawksworth. The defending GTD champions, Ben Keating, and Jeroen Bleekemolen are running really well,n with third driver, Luca Stolz. These three will race a Ferrari at Le Mans with Risi Competizione.

Trent Hindman in the #86 Mike Shank Racing entry is running really well. This is Hindman's first 12 Hours of Sebring. The #48 Lamborghini is running well. Paul Miller Racing will continue for the full season, as the sprint races will commence after Sebring is complete. The Land Motorsports Audi continues to lead. Alessio Picarello of Italy is at the controls. Harry Tincknell understeers into a bump off turn 17, and he's a lucky boy to have saved the car, and there is a lot of tire clag coming out of the air inlets to the engine. 111 laps, 415 miles complete.

Nicolas Lapierre continues to lead to the tune of seven seconds. Bill Auberlen is making his 25th 12 Hours of Sebring start, and he is the only driver to have the most starts, besides the great Hurley Haywood. Connor De Philippi is another driver, who is a rising star. Bill Auberlen is chasing Scott Pruett, for a tie to the most wins. The other thing is, he is racing car #25, which is a lucky number for BMW. In 1975, BMW won sebring with the #25, in the 3.5 CSL shared by Hans Stuck, Brian Redman, Sam Posey, and Allan Moffat.

Mike Conway is running really well, and he will be racing for Toyota in the FIA WEC and doing some IndyCar races as well. Joao Barbosa is in the lane for service. Filipe Albuquerque takes over the car. Ooh! We have a tent canopy on the race track. There was a gust of wind that blew this awning onto the road. The wind caught that canopy and it flew onto the track. Helio Castroneves pits, right on time. Incidentally, referring back to Mike Conway, he is managed by former Formula 1, IndyCar, and sports car veteran, Mark Blundell.

Ford has a long history at Sebring. In 1966, Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant stalled at the start, and they secured the lead. Gurney pushed his car to the line, but another Ford GT40, the X1 Roadster, of Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby, was the race winner. We are coming to the end of the fourth hour. Pit lane is open for Prototype and GT Le Mans. Pippo Derani will be in the #2 Nissan. Mike Conway stays at the wheel of the #31 Cadillac. GT Le Mans cars have all pitted. Ford #67 had the nose pulled off the car for servicing.

No water was added or vented out of the #31 Cadillac as we saw with the #10 car earlier on.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 3

Tristan Vautier stayed in it at the start when he ran into the Nissan DPi. The #90 Cadillac didn't get much damage. But the Nissan had a gearbox issue. The #90 Vector Blue Cadillac has a little St. Patrick's Day green on it. Now, the #54 CORE Autosport Oreca is in the lane to change a door that was damaged. The doors are so lightweight, they floex a little bit. The windscreens are already really full of grit, sand, and other things. Nicky Catsburg runs wide as Eric Curran is now leading this race over Graham Rahal in the #7 Acura. James Calado continues to lead GT Le Mans in the Ferrari, this time over Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche. Sheldon van der Linde in the #29 Land Motorsports Audi is still leading GT Daytona.

Toni Vilander, actually might be driving the #62 Ferrari 488 GTE. They want to get the handling right on that car. Gianmaria Bruni is driving the #912 Porsche at this moment. It isn't Laurens Vanthoor. Eric Curran in the #31 Cadillac leads overall at this moment. Someone ran wide in turn one and kicked up dust. All that dust gets into the engine, and the filters. Not good. Toni Vilander leads in GT Le Mans in the Ferrari. Different temperatures and different surfaces. Constant duty cycles for the different parts of the car, and also, for the drivers. Sebring is the ultimate seven post shaker rig with the driver strapped into the seat.

There are bumps, plus a big crown in the middle of the road. Gianmaria Bruni and Fred Makowiecki are running very well for Porsche. Meanwhile, C.J. Wilson and the #36 team running their Acura NSX GT3, are doing very well. Kuno Wittmer, Marc Miller, and Till Bechtolsheimer share the car. For C.J. Wilson, who used to be a baseball player, he is now in motorsports. He is also driving in the Porsche GT3 Cup here in IMSA. Sheldon van der Linde holds a 12 second advantage over the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, with Corey Lewis still driving. There is a scrap afoot between the Matt McMurry driven #90 Cadillac, and the #7 Acura ARX-05 DPi of Ricky Taylor.

Corey Lewis continues to give the #48 Lamborghini a very good run. Lamborghini Motorsport boss Giorgio Sanna is still very proud of their successful win at the Rolex 24 two months ago. Ooh. The skid plate hits the deck on the bottom of the car, into turn one. You move a half a foot and hit a bump at this place, not even knowing it. Corey Lewis leads GT Daytona at this stage. Eric Curran leads Prototype and in GT Le Mans, it is a 1-2 for Porsche.

Scuderia Corsa has their championship winning Ferrari immortalized as a LEGO set. Meanwhile it could be game over for the #3 Corvette C-7-R-. They've won this race before in GT Le Mans, but not today. The #22 ESM Nissan has been leading, with Johannes van Overbeek, and now, that car pits and will have a driver change. Ditto for the #90 Cadillac of Matt McMurry. They needed to pit before their fuel tank ran dry. Jordan Taylor in the #10 Cadillac has taken over the overall lead briefly, with the two Mazda RT24P's in second and third in the overall. Jordan Taylor comes to pit lane for scheduled service, and will stay in the car.

Ryan Hunter-Reay is again, the third driver. Now, the car was pushing water out the vents for the radiators. Let's hope that this shorter stroke 5.5 liter V8 does not overheat. They had to go to the garage area abd Taylor touches the #36 Acura into the corner! Oh, wait. It was the #44 Magnus Racing Audi R8. Ooh! Harry scary there. Look out for body damage. nTaylor was really squirming around. There are three different medium compound tires Michelin are using for the GT Le Mans cars. 80 laps, 300 miles, now done and dusted. Mazda, BMW, and Audi, are your respective class leading manufacturers.

We're coming to the last quarter or so of the race's third hour. It looks like the #44 Audi R8 was the car that swept into the side of the Cadillac. Everyone seems to be ratcheting up their performance. No action taken by Race Control. It's a shared responsibility incident. There was also an incident with the aforementioned #36 Acura and the #52 Ligier of PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports with Gustavo Yacaman at the wheel of it. Yacaman is team mate with fellow Colombian Sebastian Saavedra who was mentioned earlier, and Mexico's Roberto Gonzalez.

Meanwhile, Jan Magnussen has brought the #3 Corvette C-7-R- back on track. They had an alternator issue which is now fixed. The hours are flying by. The third hour will be done and dusted in eight minutes or so. Corvette has won at Sebring now, 11 times. The bar gets raised every year. The same was true with Audi in the LMP1 days so many years ago. Pit stop time for the #86 Acura NSX GT3. Katherine Legge, sharing with Alvaro Parente, and Trent Hindman. Hindman is at the controls, chasing the Honda America Racing Team Acura NSX GT3.

The CJ Wilson Acura had more contact, in the pit lane. That was an unsafe release, and damage for the #36 with either Kuno Wittmer, or one of the other drivers at the controls. Back to the HART entry, that one is shared by Chad Gilsinger, Ryan Eversley, and Tom Dyer. Three of those "Sneaky Silver" drivers.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 2

BMW #24 hits pit lane. Tires and fuel for Jesse Krohn. The #67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook takes over the GT Le Mans lead. C.J. Wilson, whose teams have been running Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, he is now in IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. C.J. Wilson was a pitcher in Major League Baseball, but is now also a race car driver. Ford, in the lane. Both cars. Westbrook stays in the car. Wow! Some near contact between the two Ford's coming off pit lane! James Calado and Ferrari lead GT Le Mans, while GT Daytona sees Jack Hawksworth and Lexus ahead in class right now. Calado is 16th in the overall, and Hawksworth, is 25th in the overall, presently.

One hour down, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Pippo Derani is coming, and fast, applying the blowtorch to Felipe Nasr in the #31 Cadillac. Nissan has changed something in their engine. The turbo cars were decreased in boost, and ten kilograms of weight were added to the Cadillac's, and these changes were made in the Balance of Performance, by IMSA of course. The middle of the speedway might be repaved. But, the concrete runways cannot be removed because they are slabs of concrete that are six feet thick. Cadillac #5 and Acura #6 in the lane. Simon Pagenaud will take over the Acura. At Action Express, there is a driver change for #5. Christian Fittipaldi may have gotten into the car. That ground shaking rumble of the Cadillac motor, compared to the higher pitched buzz of the Honda V6 motor in the Acura.

Ricky Taylor will double stint in the #7 and this brings the two Mazda's of Jonathan Bomarito in #55 and Rene Rast in #77, to the lead, as we are back timing the race from this point forward, say if you were a team manager deciding your driver rotation. The #31 Cadillac has another great pit stop, and Felipe Nasr remains at the wheel of it. The GT Daytona cars are faster now, on hot tires, while the Prototypes have cold tires with the pressures down. So much more racing yet to come, folks. We're open all day here at Sebring, except for a slot between 2:40 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. when you can follow the race either on Fox Sports Go, or on the IMSA app.

Jack Hawksworth leads GT Daytona, and their performance has been ramping up. The longevity of the RC F GT3 is still being worked on. Sean Rayhall is their new recruit after Scott Pruett's retirement. There is a shade of damage on the #15. Keep an eye on the right hand corner on the front of the automobile. The rear view mirrors on the BMW M8 GTE are a part of the aerodynamics package. They also have their effort for the FIA World Endurance Championship "super season", coming up. Penske team manager Tim Cindric says the two cars are separate in strategy. They are still trying to race and beat each other, even though they are team mates. There is no one more important to beat, than your team mate.

Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen is satisfied with their efforts to this point in the 12 hours. Corvette and Ferrarti for GTLM in the pit lane. The #3 goes back on track. They were in for a good while, and there was a battery that needed replacement. The #3 has gone back behind the wall! Oh deary me. This means Corvette could have just one bullet in the gun to go for the GT Le Mans class win today. Porsche is now leading in GT Le Mans, running 1-2. Nick Tandy leads Laurens Vanthoor at the moment. There was a lot of damage done to Sebring International Raceway during Hurricane Irma. But, that has made the place even better than it already was.

Spirit of Daytona got some sponsorship after their pole position earned yesterday. Porsche has pitted, and maybe made a driver change. Jesse Krohn, Joey Hand, and Richard Westbrook are 1-2-3 in GTLM and Ricky Taylor had a very close shave with Jon Bennett in the #54 CORE Autosport car. Corey Lewis is now replacing Madison Snow in the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Lewis, Brian Sellers, and Madison Snow, are sharing the car, and they did driver changes, on the drive to the track as well.

Ferrari #51 pits and no major changes, except for changing water bottles for the driver's. They have four drivers in the #51. They each need to do a minimum of two hours. Four drivers lightens the load, but complicates the strategy. In the professional classes, one hour is the limit. It's easier to slice the pie that way. Then, with three drivers, no one is arguing about the final slice of pie. Sheldon van der Linde passes Corey Lewis. Land Motorsports Audi R8 vs. Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 has a penalty for excessive wheel spin. Robert Renauer crashed the car on the reconnaissance lap at Daytona. Monster wiggle for Renger van der Zande! He was slide jobbiung the Cadillac! Yikes! Flat sliding through turn 17. That's unreal!

We are 48 laps, 180 miles into this race. Spencer Pigot in the #55 Mazda RT24P is running well. David Heinemeier-Hanson in one of the Lexus GTD cars has a penalty after running over pit equipment, probably a hose for one of the rattle guns to change the tires. We are 3/4 of the way through the second hour, here at Sebring. Sheldon van der Linde will take over the GT Daytona lead with the looming penalty for the Lexus. Team manager Peter Baron is part of this equation at Land Motorsports. Sheldon van der Linde will want to make the pass on the Lexus of Jack Hawksworth.

Lexus #15 now in the lane. The #75 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Kenny Habul is off the road. He is trying to get back on the road, going in a little hot into Cunningham corner, turn ten. Cooper MacNeil was in the emergency room for a reaction to a peanut allergy. MacNeil was cleared to race. Game over for the #64 car. Frank Montecalvo is OK. Pit stop time again, for the #5 Cadillac with Christian Fittipaldi at the wheel of it. Chris Miller was another chap to go off at turn ten. Calamity corner? It could be.

This track changes from year to year. There are bumps, sure, but also incredible camber changes. Jesse Krohn continues to wheel the #24 BMW M8 GT. Joey Hand in the #66 Ford GT remains second in class in GT Le Mans. The #54 prototype has no driver side window. The #7 Acura pits. Ricky Taylor out, and it looks like Graham Rahal is now in the car. Roger Penske himself, is calling strategy for the sister car, #6. Problems for the #6 Acura. Something wrong with the rear wing. One of the wing mounts has been bent. Felipe Nasr brings the #31 Cadillac to pit lane, and Renger van der Zande in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. Mazda's now run 1-2. Once again, they are leading. Spencer Pigot in the #55 car, and Oliver Jarvis at the controls of #77.

Driver change for the leading #24 GT Le Mans BMW M8.

12 Hours of Sebring: Hour 1

A World War II. B17 bomber base, in the middle of an orange grove in central Florida, has become a true classic, on a track that demands respect. A race of survival has now become a race of speed, as we bring you, live, the 12 Hours of Sebring. This is perhaps the most challenging endurance race in the United States if not the world. Cadillac wants to repeat here at Sebring, but three of the four Cadillac DPi-V.R's have had to replace engins due to overheating troubles. In the GT Le Mans class, BMW has pole. In GT Daytona, Daniel Serra took pole by over a half a second. We are getting ready for what should be an incredible event today.

If you want to win Sebring, you have to have the same grit of the B17 bomber pilots who traind her, for war. It will be hot and greasy during the day, and then it might cool off in the evening. Renger van der Zande and company have to dig out of a hole today. Tristan Vautier has his first Prototype pole her at Sebring. The #99 Red Dragon will start from the pit lane due to electrical troubles. Acura NSX #93 starts caboose on the field, and we are green at Sbring!

Here comes Olivier Pla going for thre lead and Pla slides off the road immediately! Yikes! This is 12 hours, bo0ys. Cool it foir a while. But, now, IU guess these chaps want to go like gangbusters. These "endurance" evnts have now practically become sprint eventa. The Mada's have speed, as we see Daniel Serra with a cut down tire, and a tire down on ther left rear of the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- as well. Start to find your rhythm. Chris McMurry and Helio Castroneves run 1-2. In replay, no action from the marshals. Olivier Pla tried to do the squeeze play. Tristan Vautier is still in the Cadillac. He started the blue bullet.

Daniel Serra is now in the pit lane. The temperature is 20 degrees warmer today than it has been in Sebring throughout the week. Sebring is a very unique track and there's no place like it. Corvette #3 went to the pit lane. They have a system to pressurize the radiator which they didn't have that luxury at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Daniel Serra was slammed by the #15 Lexus RC F GT3 to damage that tire. Sean Rayhall at the wheel of the Lexus. Luck on this St/ Patrick's Day is a big deal, but so is reliability.

Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber are two top contenders for Portsche in GT Le Mans, followed by Joey Hand nin the Ford GT and Antoniuo Garcia in the Corvette. Katherine Legge and John Potter scrap in GT Daytona, and it could be game over for the #2 Nissan DFPi. Check that. It's the sister #93 Acura nSX GT3 of Justin Marks, who had rear brake failtures and slammed the wall in practice causing an immediate red flag. Lawson Aschenbach was fastest in the morning warmup before this race began.

Katherine Legge says she is trying to find the balance of the car. The #99 car has zero telemetry and zero power sterring. It's going top be as real tough road to hoe for Stephen Simpson. It's like steering a tank or a big truck around this track. The steering will become really, really heavy. It used to be that you could compromise on setup, but now, the race track is changing so much, on this day, that there will be more variables than expected. There was a false neutral in the trasnsmission of the #999. BMW haas been really strong here at Sebring for the new M8 GT. Oh! A car has flipped!

That's the #64 Ferrari 488 GT3. Sebastian Saavedra has crashed into Frankie Montecalvo and Montecalvo is on his lid. Saavedra spins, and then, Montecalvo is launched over the right front of the Prototype! Holy cow! Frank Montecalvo is out of the car and is just fine. What a relief! Saavedra's car is in the lane having the nose repaired. Patrick Dempsey is here, watching, and he is working on a film. Dempsey is racing with his team, in the FIA World Endurance Championship in LM GTE Am. Pit lane is open for teams to take service. Both Action Express Cadillac's in the lane. Filipe Albuquerque gets tires and fuel. Many other Prototypes hit the lane and now are back on track.

Much more racing still to come. We are a half an hour into this once around the clock classic. Corvette is making their 200th start today, going for their 12th 12 Hours of Sebring win. People are gambling. Jesse Krohn in the #24 BMW M8 GTE has stayed out, along with the two Ford GT's. At Daytona, there were so few yellows, people couldn't get their laps back. Game over for the #2 ESM Nissan DPi. Poor old Olivir Pla squeezed Tristan Vautier and put himself out of the race. Both Nissan's were way down at Daytona. Now, they are continuing to sink into a hole.

If Scuderia Corsa can get out on the track, they should be able to repair it. They have lots of work to do. We are now back to green with Ricky Taylor in P1 for the #7 Penske Racing Acura ARX-05. Helio Castroneves leads a couple of the Cadillac's. As the temperature warms up, will the Cadillac's have trouble? They may have made some adjustments to the cars. Nick Tandy is battling the two Corvette's. The GT Daytona cars are very fast and, they have ant lock brakes. Jack Hawksworth dives inside katherine Legge. New red livery on the #15 Lexus RC F GT3. Christopher Mies is also battling hard in the Audi for Land Motorsports.

There is a new wrinkle in the rules while the Prototype cars get a wave by. The GT Le Mans cars will have to really go for it on pit stops. It's the same sort of deal in GT Daytona. Team boss Mike O'Gara, at Ford, says ther want to sav tires. Ford likes to run the soft compound tires, making choices before the race. Don't put all your ggs in one basket. Compromise your tire allocation.
Prototype and GT Daytona all use a spec tire from Continental.