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.
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