Ryan Briscoe pits the #67 Ford GT for a full fuel load. John Edwards pits the #24 BMW for what will likely be the last time, back timing to the checkered flag. Ryan Briscoe is fighting Nick Tandy and Tandy gets snookered on old tires. Mirkon Bortolotti pits from the GTD lead. He is a Lamborghini factory driver and knows what to do about driving these cars. The #44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini takes the lead in GTD in the hands of Andy Lally as Porsche #912 is also pitting right now. Fuel only, and of course they did not take advantage of pit strategy during a yellow flag earlier in the race. Andy Lally will finish this race, not only a racer, but a competitor in street luge. The team from Magnus can go to the end from here. It's been a great race for the whole team as Katherine Legge is running extremely well coming to the closing stage of this race, or in the closing stage.
She will finish this race with a stint of three hours and 15 minutes. The GTD cars can make it to the end on full rich maximum power fuel settings. Antonio Garcia has not hit pit lane yet. He needs to go ahead and dive in, while some other teams have split the difference. Some teams are hoping for a yellow which has not happened. Corvette is going for their 100th IMSA win. GT Daytona competition is going to come down to the wire as Felipe Nasr is slowing his pace, and Jordan Taylor is slowly reeling him back in as we have only 49 minutes on the board. The Rolex 24 GTD winner, the GRT Grasser team is running against Magnus Racing Lamborghini. Andy Lally has a chance to win the 12 Hours of Sebring. The #11 car has crash damage and has some wear on the Michelin tires. This is good stuff here, lads. So many great drivers are in the hunt in three of the four classes. We have big names all over. Pick your favorite driver, and your favorite team.
Don't get too feisty and push too hard to burn down the rear tires. Take it a little easy. This is truly the calm before the storm. We will have tight battles and the weather might just play a factor. The Cadillac DPi-V.R is quite the machine, and it continues to be the car to beat in DPi. GRT Grasser and Magnus remain 1-2 for Lamborghini in GTD as Andy Lally is all over Mirko Bortolotti. Magnus lost their engineer Lars Gersing to Paul Miller Racing and had to find new people, but they are back now. Andy Lally is really good in traffic, knowing what line he'll take. The #11 car is trying to deter a DPi car. Bortolotti is trying to keep the traffic away, the faster cars. Olivier Pla flies inside. The #44 Magnus Lamborghini was sent to the back of the grid due to a post-qualifying infraction, and they have made up the difference. Believe in the process, and then, execute.
The leaders pitted, and Jordan Taylor stays in the car because he is getting great fuel mileage. Felipe Nasr has to pit this next lap and he's in the lane now. #5, the sister AXR Cadillac has also made their final pit stop. Nasr is seeing red. He needs to move it. Antonio Garcia has made his final stop and the team needs to roll the dice if they are going to win GTLM. Well, darn it, they've rolled the dice indeed. This is a race to the finish. 36 minutes to go. Alexander Rossi fills the tank in the #7 Acura for Team Penske. Tim Cindric has been trying to call strategy, and they need something in the form of a caution, but that remains to be seen.
Nick Tandy leads Ryan Briscoe and Joey Hand. Will Porsche upset the Ford's, again? The Ford's have dominated. They got snookered in the 1,000 Miles of Sebring last night, and, they are needing to win here. Ford has never won at Sebring. They've won Le Mans. They've won Daytona. But, they haven't gotten Sebring yet. Jordan Taylor is finishing the race for WTR so there is no risk involved. Putting Renger van der Zande in the car would have been too much of a risk. They know Felipe Nasr will be tough to beat in these last 32 minutes. Wayne Taylor, again, was inducted into the South African Hall of Fame, along with people like Nelson Mandella and not just sports stars.
Felipe Nasr still leads Jordan Taylor, as Nick Tandy leads Ryan Briscoe. BMW, Corvette, Porsche, Ford... everyone is in it. Townsend Bell pits the #12 AVS Lexus to pit lane. They will grab a haul of points before we start the sprint races. GRT Grasser will be focusing on other GT championships around the world. Andy Lally is flying at the moment, unloading the car on a big bump coming off turn 17. Andy Lally is pushing, pushing, pushing with 27 minutes remaining. Mirko Bortolotti has been handling the pressure, answering Lally's challenges. Amazing stuff. Simply scintillating! What a chess match this is! Wow.
25 minutes to go. Nick Tandy, Fred Makowiecki, and Patrick Pilet battled Risi Competizione Ferrari for the GTLM win here, and scored it, last year. Can they repeat? Ryan Briscoe, meanwhile, is pressing hard, trying to reel in the Porsche. Some argy bargy, look, with Mario Farnbacher in the #86 Acura NSX GT3! Wow. Less than a second between the class leaders. Farnbacher got squeezed by a Prototype through the S curve after the hairpin. Jeroen Bleekemolen is going for it as well as Laurens Vathoor gets clipped and gets pushed out of the way by the leader. Jordan Taylor is catching Felipe Nasr hand over fist.
Jordan Taylor is moving in, and Nasr has his hands full with the Nissan of Colin Braun. He passes Braun. Jordan Taylor is all over Felipe Nasr. The #10 Cadillac has come to life, going for two in a row, going for the 36 Hours of Florida. Through Bishop Bend into Gendebien Bend and Le Mans corner. Olivier Gendebien along with Phil Hill are the only two drivers to win three Sebring 12 Hours races in four years. Pipo Derani is trying to tie that record, going for a third Sebring triumph in four years. Holy moly!
'Christopher Mies has lost third to Toni Vilander. Save fuel, or stand on it? There's just 19 minutes left. Time is up. Light the afterburners and go for it. Don't wait too long or you will miss your chance. Mirko Bortolotti has been spot on, and Patrick Long is in the pit lane. Nick Tandy leads Ryan Briscoe now by less than two seconds. Antonio Garcia has gone past John Edwards. Jordan Taylor is in a hurry, trying to get by Felipe Nasr. Nasr has moved ahead as Antonio Garcia moves ahead of John Edwards. The #96 BMW is in trouble. You bdon't want to have a Full Course Yellow. If he doesn't move, that will be a yellow. The left front is completely broken in the suspension. Poor old Bill Auberlen has brought out a Full Course Yellow, with just 15 minutes to go!
Wow! Can you believe it! Just like the FIA WEC race last night, late race drama! Only 13 minutes to the end of the motor race. This will be a slug fest to the end. Cinch down those belts, and hold on tight, chaps. This race is going to be bonkers! Nasr might have the better of Taylor unless he makes his move in the first five turns. Tandy might be able to hold on in GTLM. With GTD, the Lamborghini vs. Lamborghini battle might still be there, and Toni Vilander could be a spoiler. Other outsiders might have a chance. Let's get it on! Ten minutes remaining. Take a deep breath, and hold on tight everyone.
Felipe Nasr raced in Formula 3, winning the Sunoco Driver Challenge, and got to race in the Rolex 24, going to Formula 1, and then, returning to IMSA. Andy Lally will be all over Mirko Bortolotti for the GTD win. He and John Potter won Sebring in 2014. Green flag, coming. This is what all racing drivers dream about. The leader must run 3-4 perfect laps to win. Even if you have won once, you want another Sebring trophy. They are on the Ulmann straight headed for Sunset Bend. This is the run for all the money! One of the biggest sports car races in the world! Go! Nasr flies and is gone. He says, catch me if you can, Jordan! He caught Jordan Taylor, napping. Taylor is going to0 have to race for his life.l
Taylor slides through turn five. Nasr is flying. Hr's cooking. Tandy and Briscoe are fighting in GTLM. Andy Lally is flying too. Nick Tandy and Ryan Briscoe are coming. Can Briscoe close on Tandy? Less than six minutes to go now. The delta between the GTD cars is going to be key. Joey Hand is being mugged by traffic. Bortolotti chops Lally. Ryan Briscoe slides off the road! Oh no. That's the end of it for Ford, maybe. Andy Lally is pressing hard.
Ryan Briscoe got loose and spun off the road. No Sebring joy for Ganassi in either of the big races. Maybe not. Tandy wants it. Joey Hand has gotten a good restart. Four minutes to go. In the overall, Nasr's gap has ballooned to 1.5 seconds. The GTD cars are making life hard for the GTLM boys. Hand rounds up the Lamborghini, wrangling the bull. No love lost between Ford and Porsche. Time is running ourt for Jordan Taylor to catch Nasr. Will there be a last lap pass? Mirko Bortolotti is cooking with a damaged GTD car. Felipe Nasr, Pippo "Dynamo" Derani, and Eric Curran lead, coming to the white flag. Jordan Taylor has shrunk the gap to 1.3 seconds but it will be the final lap. Lally is still pressing Bortolotti as John Edwards is chasing the Corvette with Laurens Vanthoor bearing down.
One lap to go. Felip Nasr, Pipo Derani, and Eric Curran have run so well today. They've done everything they needed to do. Everything. 1.4 seconds between Nasr and Taylor. Taylor needs traffic. He needs Nasr to get stymied. Porsche is going to win GTLM and Mirko Bortolotti will win GTD. Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani, and Eric Curran, win Sebring! Wow! Porsche will go back to back in GTLM, winning the 1,000 Miles yesterday and the 12 Hours today! Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet, and Fred Makowiecki, go back to back. Ford CGR comes up short again, and GRT Grasser will win GTD. They get the Rolex 24 and the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, backing up a 2018 Rolex 24 triumph. Honorable mention, to LMP2 winners, Kyle Masson, Cameron Cassels, and Andrew Evans.
Overall/DPi: #31 Nasr/Curran/Derani Cadillac DPi-V.R
LMP2: #38 Masson/Cassels/Evans ORECA 07 Gibson
GT Le Mans: #911 Tandy/Pilet/Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #11 Bortolotti/Ineichen/Breukers Lamborghini Huracan GT3
For Pipo Derani, he joins an elite group of drivers to win three 12 Hours of Sebring races. Pipo Derani joins an elite club of three-time Sebring winners including Marco Werner, Hans Stuck, Mario Andretti, and Olivier Gendebien. Derani ties Gendebien who also won three Sebring races in four years for both Ferrari and Porsche. The racing world sees another three-time Sebring champion in Pipo Derani.
So, half of the North American Endurance Cup is done. There are two more races later on in the year, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, in Watkins Glen, New York, coming up in early July, and then, the season finale, the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in Georgia, coming up in October as the season finale for 2019. But now, it is time to focus on sprint racing, shorter races, that will be just as exciting to watch. Next up, a street fight at the legendary street course in Long Beach, California, for the Long Beach Grand Prix, happening in a month. It's the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Everyone, it has truly been a pleasure, to bring you coverage of the Endurance Racing Super Weekend, from Sebring. We'll see you, from Long Beach, for the first sprint event of the year, in a couple of weeks. Farewell, from the orange groves of central Florida. So long, and good night, everyone.
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