Round three of the revamped 2020 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship schedule, brings us to the fabled, rough, worn runways of Sebring International Raceway. This former WW. II. B17 bomber base has been the home of the fabled 12 Hours of Sebring, since 1952. This year, the 12 hour endurance classic will be the finale of the WeatherTech Championship, set to be run in November. For now, it is time for a knock down, drag out sprint race on the Sebring concrete, in the sweltering summer heat, amid the orange groves, their blossoms wafting the scent of tangy, juicy citrus delight through the air, and Spanish moss. It is time, for the first sprint race at Sebring in many a year. The Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring, is coming your way, next, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog!
This is the original home of sports car endurance racing in North America. Formula 1 has also raced here, and that was the first United States Grand Prix in 1959, that Jack Brabham won. The turns have great names here. The hotel hairpin is bumpy. Turn one is always a tough one. Turn 17 at Sunset Bend is extremely quick, and extremely bumpy, at the end of the Ullman straight. We thought there'd be rain, but it looks like this race will be dry. It is humid. The small number of fans who have been allowed in, are here to watch an awesome motor race. It's not the 12 Hours of Sebring, but this Cadillac Grand Prix is sure to deliver.
On the pole, the #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac as the cars roll. DragonSpeed USA has pole position for LMP2. Corvette #3 being shared by Jordan Taylor and Antonio Garcia has GT Le Mans pole. Don't cut close to pit exit merging back onto the track as you could receive a penalty. The sharp angle of the exit of pit lane here at Sebring is a dangerous spot. Corvette and Porsche actually cover the first two rows of the GT Le Mans portion of the grid, starting between 14th and 17th positions overall. Problems for one of our contenders in DPi already. The #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac tried taking a second formation lap after missing the pit lane, and he has been told off by the Race Director.
Race Director Beaux Barfield says, "that is not allowed. You will serve a penalty", before slapping the hands of the driver with the proverbial ruler. Sebastien Bourdais has been demoted to eighth place. It messes up the symmetry of Cadillac's starting in the odd numbered places at the front of the grid. This is the #5 dark gray Mustang Sampling Cadillac run by JDC-Miller Motorsports. That's a real surprise. Sebastien Bourdais will be kicking himself for that silly mistake. Bourdais was the fastest Cadillac in the race at Daytona a few weeks back. The DPi, LMP2, GTLM, and GTD classes are all competitive.
It's odd to see a smaller number of fans, but there are ma good number that have been invited and there are younger fans, too, getting a taste of what sports car racing is all about. Pipo Derani has pole and he was magic in qualifying earlier in the afternoon. Juan Pablo Montoya is at his elbow. Rnger van der Zande, Tristan Nunez, and Helio Castroneves complete the top five. Pipo Derani is small, but he's one tough cookie. Patrick Kelly and Henrik Hedman are the top two LMP2 cars out of five in the field. PR1 Mathiasen, DragonSpeed, Performance Tech, Era, and Tower Motorsports/Starworks.
Again in GT Le Mans, it's Corvette at the top of the tree. It is a Noah's Ark formation with Jordan Taylor alongside Oliver Gavin. Then it's the two Porsche's, and the two BMW's. #911 and #912. Then it's the two BMW's, #24 and #25 being started by their respective first stint drivers in Jesse Krohn and Bruno Spengler. At the top of the deck of cards in GT Daytona, the two highlighter yellow and black AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3's are first and second. They could be referred to, with their paint schemes, as the world's fastest bumblebees. Aaron Telitz is taking the start aboard #14 and Frankie Montecalvo in #12.
The #63 Scuderia Corsa WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3 is next. That's being started by Cooper MacNeil. Then comes the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 and the #76 Compass Racing McLaren 720S GT3. The Cadillac CT5V safety car has pulled away. Pipo Derani has control of the field as they crawl around Sunset Bend at slow speed before we have a chance to get this motor race underway. The cars accelerate onto the front straight and we're off in racing at the Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring!
Renger van der Zande, like a bullet, comes to second spot right behind Pipo Derani. He wants to go for the lead in the glossy black #10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, the car that put on a dominating performance in January at the Rolex 24 to win that race. Tristan Nunez in the white, red, and black #77 Mazda RT24P also wants a piece of the action right from the get go. Nunez has moved to third past Juan Pablo Montoya. van der Zande was scored as the leader in a segment of the track before Pipo Derani said "no way, sunshine. I am leading this race" and proceeded to slam the door right in the Dutchman's face.
Derani, van der Zande, Nunez, Montoya, first through fourth. Pipo Derani keeping his cool, also keeps the lead. Tristan Nunez has left Juan Montoya in his dust. Nunez wants to challenge van der Zande as we come down the Ulman straight. This is a short race. It's not the 12 Hours. That's the finale in November. You have to have a car that can fly. The cloud cover we are seeing now will help keep the Michelin tires cool as we see a good battle taking shape in GT Le Mans as well, look. It's Corvette vs. Porsche. The Porsche's are bun. The Corvette's are sandwiched in the middle, the bratwurst with extra mustard, if you prefer.
There too, are the BMW M8 GTE's right at the back. So, the train of GTLM cars has some symmetry to it, although again, it's that Porsche vs. Corvette sandwich we are looking at right now. Laurens Vanthoor has leapfrogged both Jordan Taylor and Oliver Gavin. Porsche, Corvette, Corvette, Porsche, BMW, BMW. This train of cars is headed to the hairpin at turn seven underneath, ironically, the Corvette walkover bridge. Poor old Laurens Vanthoor was miffed as he was down the order and he had been out qualified by his team mate. Meanwhile, in LMP2, Patrick Kelly in car #52 is bish bash boshing it at the moment, putting som daylight between himself and the competition.
He leads Cameron Cassels, the driver of the #38 Performance Tech entry by three seconds or so. Henrik Hedman has been passed, and now, the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 car did a full tire change. They were only supposed to change one in emergency service. Boys, you shouldn't have done that. They are going to drop like a stone down the order. We don't have the checkered stripe at the finish line so it's hard to see where they are even though they are on the front straight. In GT Daytona, it's Frankie Montecalvo, Aaron Telitz, Robby Foley, Cooper MacNeil, and a new contender, Gar Robinson. We've got good variety in GTD.
Two Lexuses... is is is is, followed by a BMW, a Ferrari, and a Mercedes Benz. All cars powered by V8 engines, but all the V8 engines in different formats. If you are looking for a blue and yellow Turner Motorsport BMW, you won't find it. It's in the red, white, and blue livery of Liqui Moly lubricants followed by the all white WeatherTech backed Ferrari. Robby Foley has gone around MacNeil. The Ferrari has a new evo aero kit on it. Toni Vilander will run the second half of this motor race. MacNeil and Vilander are hungry for a win. They've not tasted the champagne in GTD since Petit Le Mans 2018.
There's a minimum drive time stipulation for LMP2 and GTD, at 45 minutes. It doesn't fit into the window for pit stops, though. It's done for that reason so you can't split the race into manageable chunks. It's not like a Formula 1 race that can be split evenly. We wonder if rain will appear. That's a question mark. Laurens Vanthoor is pulling a small distance out on Oliver Gavin. Gavin is half a second ahead of Jordan Taylor, followed by Fred Makowiecki and then, the two BMW's. Down the Ulmann straight, and into Sunset Bend. We do see the #18 Era Motorsports entry making it's drive through penalty pit stop. He cannot stop in the lane, and must drive all the way through, on the rev limiter, as the name of the penalty suggests.
It's a drive through, but no ordering dinner, mate. Save the hamburger and the milkshake for later. They changed tires after it was too late. Dwight Merriman takes his penalty and will be stuck behind the GT Le Mans field. Meanwhile, Pipo Derani leads Renger van der Zande by 2.1 seconds and then van der Zande has 2.3 seconds over Tristan Nunez. Helio Castroneves is a second away from his team mate Dane Cameron. Patrick Kelly is really running well for PR1 in LMP2. He is gapping Cameron Cassels, and his lead has ballooned to 12 seconds. 1:53.3 for Patrick Kelly and 1:55 dead for Cameron Cassels. 1:55.0.
Kelly is edging away from Henrik Hedman. The #18 car is back on track but it's dropped behind a number of the GT class cars. The blue, red, and white livery on the #52 PR1 car is reminiscent of the Paramalat sponsored Brabham BT52 Formula 1 car from back in the early 1980s. A fascinating observation from IMSA lead play by play man on the radio, John Hindhaugh. Good spot there, John. Meanwhile, the GTLM battle is still hot and heavy. The top four in GTLM are putting a tremendous amount of daylight between themselves and the BMW's. The BMW's don't have the same pace at Sebring that they did at Daytona.
The two drivers, Dwight Merriman and Kyle Tilley, have signed up to race at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in September, with IDEC Sport. 60 cars on the final entry list for Le Mans unless we lose entries through cars withdrawing. Yours truly does hope to be covering the race at Le Mans again this year. So, look for that, in September. Pipo Derani is already beginning to lap the GT Daytona cars including Corey Fergus and Gar Robinson. Pipo Derani is really motoring, putting himself ahead of many other top drivers, by 3.2 seconds. Be decisive making passes whether it's DPi's or cars in the other classes. There are no newcomers, and he knows these drivers will be doing well. Only one spotter is allowed compared to two, because of the virus risks.
15 minutes now done and dusted as the Acura's are carving past the GT Daytona cars. Pipo Derani and Renger van der Zande are now running identical lap times, at 1:51.5. Tristan Nunez is starting to close up on Renger van der Zande, and Sebastien Bourdais is still stuck behind Stephen Simpson in the sister JDC-Miller Cadillac, the #85 "Banana Boat" as we dub that bright yellow racer. Meanwhile, Pipo Derani extends his lead over Renger van der Zande. The gap has increased to 3.2 seconds and between second and third, is four seconds. Sebastien Bourdais is stuck between the two Lexuses. He's blown past Frankie Montecalvo, but in their own class, they are fast, moving ahead of Robby Foley. Lexus had GT Daytona and the field, covered, at Daytona, last time out.
We've run 20 minutes already. Pipo Derani and Patrick Kelly are the fastest drivers in the prototype divisions while it's anyones race in GTLM, and a Lexus 1-2 in GT Daytona. Pipo Derani flashes the headlights to let the GTLM runners know he wants to get by them. He cleanly passes a Porsche through the first turn, and nw the Corvette's and the sister Porsche will be the next cars on his shopping list. Bish, bash, and bosh, he should get by them with little worry. The kind of racing we are seeing now is very reminiscent of the American Le Mans Series, or, the early days of the new IMSA when the ALMS and Grand Am had their championships combined, in 2014, to formulate what is now the WeatherTech Championship.
The tire durability for Lexus with the Michelin's has improved greatly and of course they won last time out at Daytona. Frankie Montecalvo leads Aaron Telitz. Jack Hawksworth and Townsend Bell are their respective team mates. They are flying in formation, not worrying about positions. This is a team game. They are racing for a manufacturer, just as everyone else is in this field. Robby Foley has opened a gap to Cooper MacNeil as well in third and fourth in class. Patrick Kelly, leading LMP2 moves past the two Lexus cars. Kelly leads Cameron Cassels now by 19 seconds, followed by Henrik Hedman and then John Farano.
Pit stop time for Helio Castroneves in the #7 Acura, but very early. What's going on? At Daytona, the #7 car caught fire. Now, they have engine issues and the crew is looking at it, and we have an LMP2 car stopped on the road. That's the #8 Tower Motorsports/Starworks car, John Farano at the wheel of it. There's no fire in the motor. Aaron Telitz, meantime, leads GT Daytona, and now, look, we have a Full Course Yellow. The Penske Racing Acura team is looking at the turbocharger. That could be the culprit for the woes of the #7. The pass for the lead in GT Daytona may have been planned down the Ulmann straight before the yellow came out. The Acura has re-fired. They are doing a tire change to fresh tires and a crewman grabbed the wrong tire.
This is a new set of tires. They found the problem on the car and Helio Castroneves is back in the race. The #8 Starworks LMP2 car is under a flat tow brhind a safety truck. The #8 car is getting a flat tow because the fuel pump broke on the car. If your fuel pump goes bang, you get no fuel to the motor. Simple explanation. The #8 car also had a damaged floor after contact with one of the GTLM Porsche's, and now, the fuel pump is busted. It's a star crossed afternoon for the boys at Starworks Racing. Pit stop time for the leaders in the overall, the DPi cars. We have takers. The two Cadillac's for Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing are in the lane, as is the #77 Mazda, and the two Acura's. The #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac is also pitting.
Pipo Derani is in the lane, staying in the car for a double stint. Fresh Michelin tires, and fuel for the car. It's early for LMP2 to pit, and now, other cars exit the lane. A tight release for the #10 ahead of one of the Penske Acura's. Derani, van der Zande, Montoya, Bomarito, Nunez. Tristan Nunez got snookered on that pit exchange. Thr Acura's have not had the fuel consumption they've wanted, compared to the Mazda's and Cadillac's so far. Patrick Kelly had a slow stop in LMP2 and has relinquished the lead to Cameron Cassels in the #38 and also, Henrik Hedman in the #81 DragonSpeed car has gone by as well, the Flex Box (Flexi Box) car.
Laurens Vanthoor leads all the GTLM cars into the pit lane. It looks like a very expensive car show as the supercars are in the pit lane. BMW's and Corvette's, fuel and tires only for the Corvettes. Robby Foley is in the lane and has had a lot of driver time. The two Lexus cars are going for it, but there's disaster for Porsche #912! The whole front nose section is chopped right off the car! Deary me. This is disaster for the boys at Porsche! At the same time, Oliver Gavin loses a position to the sister Corvette C8.R. But, what on earth happened with the Porsche's? We need to figure out this crackup at Porsche North America in the pit lane. Laurens Vanthoor and Earl Bamber were leading the GTLM points championship coming into this race!
Now, they are left with a majorly crumpled Porschre, with no front bumper, and a car that has become a padiddle, with one working headlight. Unfortunately, in sports car racing, for safety, a car that is a padiddle is not allowed. Both Corvette's jumped past the Porsche's before that smash. It was a touch between the team mates heading out of the lane. Nick Tandy got away first. There was no room in the fast lane, and he stops, forcing Laurens Vanthoor to run right into him and Vanthoor has to be saying, "good grief! What was that all about?!" with a few expletives thrown in here or there.
Big damage for the #912. No front valance. No left fender. The wheel arch on Tandy's car dragged the front end off the sister car. Three wide in the lane is never a good idea. Two cars motoring down the fast lane, fine. But three? Not on your life. That was a tight squeeze. That's close to if not officially an unsafe release from the pit lane. Unreal. Vanthoor is still in #912 as Nick Tandy takes over the #911 machine. Vanthoor back to pit lane for repiars. The pits are open for anyone right now and this is emergency service. They have a new fender, tank tape, and a new nose clipped into place.
Vanthoor momentarily stalls the car and now, he's back on track. It is a game of inches in IMSA racing. No question. The AIM Vasser Sullivan team, for both cars, had disastrous pit stops. They were hampered by the Porsche's running into each other. That's what delayed them and they have a boatload of ground to make up as the #96 BMW M6 GT3 is the new leader in GTD, the Turner Motorsports car. Then comes the WeatherTech Ferrari, the Keating Motorsports Mercedes, and a couple more. Lots of shuffling.
The #912 Porsche needs more work and is liable to go a lap down. Pipo Deranoi stayed in the #31 Cadillac and there were no driver changes in LMP2 or GT Daytona as they are short of the minimum drive time. Jordan Taylor and Oliver Gavin lead GTLM for Corvette with under two hours remaining. #912 gets a drive through penalty for not observing pit lane protocol. I think there's still work to do on the car. How could they get a penalty? Well, maybe they will. Race Control called that penalty a little early. He'll have to serve the penalty, being dinged by the stewards. Pipo Derani has 3/4 of a second on Renger van der Zande, then the two Acura's and the #55 Mazda which has actually moved to fourth spot, Jonathan Bomarito at the wheel of it.
When it rains, it pours. At Porsche, salt is being rubbed into their wounds, making them sting even more. Right rear fender damage, and rubbing bodywork, trailing some very expensive smoke for the #911 machine. Its a punctured Michelin tire on the right rear, and Tandy is off the road! He's on a wild ride, hopping up and down on the grass like a rabbit bouncing through a field being chased by a hound dog. Tandy was trying to pressure the Corvette's but it didn't work. He just barely hung onto that car. He misses the edge of the tire barrier by four or five inches. What a lucky chap to not crash!
He's shredding and shedding tire and bodywork debris all over the shop here, lads. He is going to be limp home mode for half a lap at least around this 3.74 mile circuit. What a bugaboo for Porsche. We look again, and the cars are always on the edge in turn one here at Sebring. It's a massively fast corner. Helio Castroneves gets his lap back, caboose on the field in DPi. The #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 car is back on the lead lap in LMP2 as Patrick Kelly is still the class leader who has uncorked the fastest lap in the class. #911 is in the lane for new tires and bodywork repair. Full service, so, fuel and new tires. The old tire carcass is on the Ulmann straight between turns 16 and 17.
Tandy is on a mission to get back to the front with an hour and 53 minutes on the board. Without a yellow, they'll struggle, as the Corvette's and the BMW's are going faster. Pit stop time for the Gradient Acura, the #22 car. The only Acura NSX GT3 here. Till Bechtolsheimer will step in to take over from Marc Miller who has completed his stint. The #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura is not here since this event at Sebring counts only towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship and not the entire IMSA season in GT Daytona.
The #81 Dragonspeed LMP2 car was in the lane for service. Henrik Hedman out of the car, and he hands it over to Gustavo Menezes who will finish the motor race. The AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus cars are cutting through the GTD field like a hot knife through butter. Frankie Montecalvo is still clocked with the fastest lap time in the class. Track position is crucial, and overtaking at Sebring is just not as easy as it looks, but the Lexus boys have performance to spare. Robby Foley and Cooper MacNeil are being reeled in by Aaron Telitz in the sister Lexus.
The Porsche's should not have been released when the Corvette's were bottled up in the lane. But, in the heat of battle, you just have to do what you can to try to win the race even if that may result in a mistake. Corvette wants a win again. It took them almost two years to go from 99 to 100 wins. They did that last time out at Daytona. Now, Gar Robinson is in hot pursuit of Cooper MacNeil in GT Daytona as the #7 Acura is back in pit lane with Helio Castroneves. More woe for the boys from Penske. Aaron Telitz has also gone around Cooper MacNeil.
We've not had a full fuel stint yet in this race with nearly an hour of the event gone. We are 54 minutes into the race. Andy Lally has taken over the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini from John Potter. The Porsche boys want their lap back and will be desperate for a safety car. Meanwhile, Pipo Derani leads Renger van der Zande by 3.7 seconds. The two Mazda's are close together, followed by Stephen Simpson, keeping a watching brief in the #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac. Cooper MacNeil has the second Lexus of Aaron Telitz, the #14 car. Frankie Montecalvo in the sister car is following Gar Robinson. So, the GTD battle is hot and heavy at the moment as well.
Poor old Robby Foley gets sandwiched by two DPi cars! You have to have your head on a pivot with the GTD cars if you are driving one. They are very, very quick, albeit not anywhere near as quick as the DPi machines. Stephen Simpson tries to go mano e mano with the #77 Mazda and decides discretion is the better part of valor. He slots right in behind Tristan Nunez. He was inside, alongside, and then, got wedged because of Robby Foley having the opportunity to hold his line in the middle of the corner. Foley did exactly the right thing. If you are in a production car, stay on your line and let the prototype boys find their way around you.
Foley is defending from Telitz in GT Daytona while Frankie Montecalvo has the best lap time at 2:03 dead. We've only seen the previously documented driver changes in GTD. Marc Miller in the #22 Gradient Acura and John Potter in the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini, as Nick Tandy runs a 1:58 dead in the Porsche. Tandy has turned up the heat to full on afterburner at the moment. Side by side stuff, look, for the GTD lead. Foley is going for it, but the low end grunt from the Lexus powers it by as if poor old Robby Foley was chained to a stump or a four wheel drive stuck in the mud. Aaron Telitz bish bash boshed it through Sunset Bend, and Foley was home and hosed. He couldn't get by that Lexus no matter how hard he tried.
Patrick Kelly pits from the lead in LMP2 for service and a driver change to Spencer Pigot, the IndyCar/IMSA star. Gustavo Menezes and Kyle Tilley will be his competition. The leaders in LMP2 are a lap down to the overall leader, which remains the #31 Whelen Cadillac of Pipo Derani. 29 laps, 108 miles. Patrick Kelly is not a familiar name, but he is quick. A dozen years back he raced in the Porsche GT3 Cup series. Speaking of Porsche, Ryan Hardwick at the wheel of the #16 Wright Motorsports GT Daytona spec 911 GT3, has a spot of bother with his rear wing. It is askew, completely disconnected from the post on the left side and hanging off the right side post by a thread.
Hardwick is sharing the car with Patrick Long. So, he's been off the road and has he backed that automobile into the fence? Pit stop time, for the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3, as Cooper MacNeil finishes his stint and hands the car over to Toni Vilander, the fast Finn. A full service pit stop. Cooper MacNeil piloted himself to the track via helicopter as he has a helicopter pilot's license. Incident at turn 13. That's just before the esses. That might be the Tower Turn, or just after it. If you've walloped the wall in that spot, you're lucky if you get out of there unscathed.
From the onboard camera on the #76 Compass McLaren, we can see that Ryan Hardwick loses control, is headed for the wall nose first, and the car must've just swapped ends, and boom, he backs into the fence. He's in pit lane now for emergency service as the pit crew tears away the busted wing and the engine cover, getting a new tail section onto the car. The rear wing is askew but there's not much more damage. We've seen big crashes over there down through the years. Juan Pablo Montoya weaves his way through the traffic. Montoya is third and he has fallen behind the two Cadillac's of Pipo Derani and Renger van der Zande.
The reason Oliver Gavin stopped was because there was a crewman and an air hose from the sister car's pit stall just ahead. Glad he was safe. There had to be a radio call. The #38 Performance Tech LMP2 car has made a pit stop and is headed back on track. Spencer Pigot is sailing along in the lead of LMP2 right now. He leads a charging Gustavo Menezes by eleven seconds. Pigot has been a stand in driver in IMSA for Mazda, and he has a limited scheduled in IndyCar with Bobby Rahal and the RLL team. Pigot was recommended to PR1/Mathiasen team boss Bobby Oergel by Jonathan Bomarito who is of course a driver on the factory Mazda DPi team.
Bomarito drove for Bobby Oergel when he ran a team in the U.S. Formula 2000 single seater series a few years back. Gar Robinson is still being hounded by Frankie Montecalvo in GT Daytona. The Lexus is forced the long way around turn 17. The horsepower of the Lexus shows, and they are super slippery in a straight line, and iwth just over 90 minutes to go, Gar Robinson's stint is done and dusted and he will hand the car over to Lawson Aschenbach. Gar and his father George Robinson, a former driver, have a ranch, a hunting ranch in Texas. Lawson Aschenbach is now back on track. Meanwhile, Pipo Derani leads by ten seconds, and he is doing what he does best, gapping the field, being consistent and absolutely bish bash boshing it on the track right now.
Renger van der Zande is still second and Helio Castroneves is stretching the pit window for the Acura, the #7 Acura. The weather has been better than we have expected so far, and a touch between the Mazda and the Acura. Some hip and shoulder or argy bargy from Juan Montoya on Tristan Nunez. Nunez gives Montoya a little shove as they make their way 'round the #76 Compass Racing McLaren. Castroneves was ahead of the Mazda and Nunez came back on him briefly. Nunez redresses the balance and is all over Montoya like el cheapo suito.
Robby Foley also does simulator racing and this weekend he will be doing a nations cup for sim racing. Juan Montoya, meanwhile, he just wasn't ready to give up the place to the Mazda. Pit stop time now for the #30 Team Hardpoint Audi R8. Rob Ferriol hands the car over to Spencer Pumpelly. Corey Fergus has brought the #76 McLaren in and handed the car over to Paul Holton. Likewise, the #86 Turner Motorsports Liqui Moly BMW M6 GT3 is in the lane and Robby Foley is handing the car over to veteran sports car driver and BMW campaigner, Bill Auberlen. Tires, fuel, and a driver change. A clean pit stop for the boys at Turner Motorsports.
Auberlen is looking to become the most successful driver in IMSA history as far as class victories. He wants to go ahead of the legend he is tied with right now, the great Scott Pruett. They are tied at 60 class wins, and Auberlen wants number 61. It will happen. Auberlen is a very competitive driver and he is a wheel man. Now, the Acura is in the pit lane. It is Juan Pablo Montoya in car #6. Stephen Simpson is also in the lane in the #85 JDC-Miller "Banana Boat" Cadillac. The #14 Lexus pits from the lead in GT Daytona. Jack Hawksworth gets into the car to replace Aaron Telitz who has now completed his stint for the day. Frankie Montecalvo will hand the sister car to Townsend Bell coming up in a lap or so.
Dane Cameron is now in the #6 Acura as we are three minutes away from halfway. We have had just one Full Course Yellow in this race as into the lane comes Tristan Nunez and also Jonathan Bomarito. Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell will be the drivers to take over both the #77 and #55 Mazda's. Gustavo Menezes has passed Spencer Pigot for the LMP2 class lead. So, DragonSpeed #81 leads the PR1/Mathiasen #52. Menezes has smashed the old lap record for LMP2 here at Sebring to pieces. Grab a broom and dustpan and clean that up, please. I think I will.
Pit stop time as well for the #31 Whelen Engineering Action Express Cadillac. Felipe Nasr is due to take over from Pipo Derani. Derani clocked a best lap of 1:47.675 and the Cadillac is able to go a couple laps longer on fuel than their competition at Acura and Mazda. Cadillac #10 is also in the lane for routine service. The Cadillac's have run 24 lap stints and have gotten very good gas mileage compared to the turbo cars. The Cadillac's are not just fast, but also, frugal.
One of the AVS Lexus' is in the pit lane, and it's the #12 as GT Daytona cars now pit. Townsend Bell replacing Frankie Montecalvo, who has driven exactly half the race. However, they are dopping like a stone and they will be back to sixth position in class. The #12 car went 21 laps on the last stint and the #14 did 19 laps before Aaron Telitz handed the car to Jack Hawksworth. Toni Vilander leads GT Daytona aboard the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari. Now, Felipe Nasr has taken over the lead again and he is being chased hard by Helio Castroneves in the #7 Penske Acura. Ryan Briscoe is 20 seconds behind as we see Castroneves is actually off sequence.
Oliver Jarvis is closer to reeling in the #10 car. We are watching the two Corvette C8.R's running in lock step, leading GT Le Mans. Helio Castroneves is closing up a little bit on Felipe Nasr. Laurens Vanthoor is ahead in GTLM by just 75 seconds. BMW is in the pit lane for the #25 M8 GTE. Fuel and tires, and Connor De Philippi taking over from Bruno Spengler. GT Le Mans teams will not double pit their cars for the rest of the race. No stacked pit stops for the final portion of this motor race. Dane Cameron is riding a bucking bronco with that Acura ARX-05b over the bumps here at Sebring. That's got to hurt inside the car, straining every sinew and then, feeling the shock of the bumps through the driving seat.
We do say "respect the bumps" here at Sebring, but this track seems more vicious and diabolical than usual when we come here for the 12 hours in March, or in this year's case, in November for the grand finale. Scuderia Corsa's early pit stop has paid off, paying dividends for the Vilander/MacNeil driving duo. Vilander is now leading GT Daytona by four seconds over Jack Hawksworth, Aaron Telitz, Bill Auberlen, and Lawson Aschenbach, all a similar distance apart, before we find Townsend Bell in the sister AVS Lexus in fifth in class. The #8 Tower Starworks LMP2 car stopped on the road and it likely had a meatball flag, a mechanical black flag, earlier on, before it was game over. It was game over for that automobile. No, it is not game over.
Ryan Dalziel is actually back on track at the wheel of it. Never count your chickens until they hatch. That's the lesson we are taught by endurance sports car racing, yes, even in sprint events. Helio Castroneves is in the pit lane for service as Felipe Nasr was leading him by 10.3 seconds. We watch the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Mustang Sampling Cadillac, the gray car, out on track, in eighth spot, with Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel of it. Castroneves did a full green flag stint on fuel, for 19 laps. Actually, he ran 20, so we're short changing him by a lap. The Cadillac's ran 24 laps, 20 under green plus four laps under yellow.
Aaron Telitz seemed to be losing steam in the last few laps before he pitted. But everything is OK. Jordan Taylor is now in the lane, after winning Daytona. It is time for a driver change and Antonio "The King of Spain" Garcia is into the car. Laurens Vanthoor will bring the #912 Porsche into the pit lane soon, and so will Nick Tandy in the sister car. Felipe Nasr now leads the motor race by 20 seconds with just over an hour to go. Mazda #55 goes around Acura #6 into the first turn as something could be amiss on one of the Lamborghini's.
Harry Tincknell moves past Juan Pablo Montoya. The #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini has a broken part somewhere. Andy Lally pulled into the lane and it's just sitting there, with the pit crew studying it and working on it. Hardly any IMSA PR people are at the track due to the Coronavirus restrictions and even if they are they are going Marco Solo to be sure. They are not with any of their team members, again because of the virus. Stay safe and stay well, everybody in the paddock, teams, drivers, PR people, marshals, everybody. Pit stop time now for the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. The crew came on the radio asking Oliver Gavin, "would you kindly bring the car into the lane?" "Why certainly" replied Oliver.
Now it is time for his co-driver Tommy Milner to go out there and give it all he has to see where the boys at Corvette can finish this race in a shade over an hour's time. More fuel in the tank, and four fresh Michelin tires for the two-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner as he heads back on track. Actually, Oliver Gavin will stay in the car. These new Corvette C8.R's look great. Toni Vilander aboard the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari for Scuderia Corsa, maintains his lead in GT Daytona, and has extended the margin over the Lexus with Jack Hawksworth at the wheel of it, the #14 machine. Toni Vilander is stretching his gap in GTD. Meantime, more trouble for the #8 LMP2 car.
Moving at a turtle's pace, the #8 Starworks automobile, coming into the esses. He will need to be in limp home mode for another half a lap or so. That is Ryan Dalziel at the controls. Spencer Pigot pits from the LMP2 lead and Gustavo Menezes stopped a short time ago as well. The DragonSpeed team was the first LMP2 car to pit after the Full Course Yellow earlier on. From here, the LMP2 cars should make it home on one more pit stop. 21 laps for Menezes on fuel. 19 laps for Pigot. Still 64 minutes on the board. So, just over an hour left.
Nick Tandy is still on the lead lap. It was assumed he was a lap or so down, or more. But he seems to be on the lead lap, 37 seconds behind Connor De Philippi. Corvette #3 is second in GTLM, pursuing the DragonSpeed LMP2 car. Oliver Gavin went a lap longer than Jordan Taylor, and so now, Tommy Milner leads GTLM in the #4 Corvette C8.R but a couple seconds. Jordan Taylor came in first and Oliver Gavin came in on the next lap after that. Tommy Milner actually leads by three or so seconds as we watch the Audi, the #30 Team Hardpoint Audi racing around the track here at Sebring. Nick Tandy is under 40 seconds away from the BMW.
Connor De Philippi is getting up to speed. The Porsche's are fighting their way back, wiuth an hour to go. Ryan Briscoe meanwhile, has moved the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Cadillac back into second spot. Strategy is going to play it's part. Felipe Nasr and Ryan Briscoe each have 10-11 laps in their stints. Ditto for the Mazda boys, Oliver Jarvis, and Harry Tincknell. The last pit stop will be critical for everyone. No one has done fuel only. They've all done full service pit stops. Nick Tandy has made a pit stop already, aboard the #911 Porsche 911 RSR-19. He would need a Full Course Yellow to get home, and might need a splash and a dash.
It won't be long before the leading GTLM cars make their final pit stops of the race. Gustavo Menezes leads LMP2 for DragonSpeed USA, and Spencer Pigot isn't far behind, aboard the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry. We thought Menezes was taking it fairly easy. But, we see him going off the road through the first couple corners of the lap. He does indulge in a little bit of rallycross, on the grass. Ah yes. Ah yes. Curse of the commentator, and as I look that up in the dictionary, yep. There's a picture of yours truly with a smug smile on his face, about to get attacked with a whipped cream pie for saying that Menezes was running well.
Hey man, think fast! Splat! OK. One whipped cream pie later, and we resume this motor race. It's back to your regularly scheduled program live, on the Sarcasm Channel. Poor old Gustavo Menezes will have clag all over his tires. Not necessarily rolled up rubber, but bits of dirt and sand anyway. Into the pit lane, the #74 Mercedes AMG GT3 and also the #912 Porsche 911 RSR-19. Lawsopn Aschenbach is into the pits, and he will stay in the car as the #912 car is also in. Four tires for Bill Riley and the pit crew. His lap belt was a tad loose. Now, we also have just seen a good pit stop as Earl Bamber is back in the car.
Felipe Nasr continues to lead, by 15 seconds over the rest of the field. He has eight to ten laps before a final pit stop to be able to go to the end of the race on fuel. 54 minutes left on the board and Nasr should be in the pound seats if he makes one more stop. Final pit stop now for the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 from third in GTD. That could be his final stop. Full service. Maybe they will need one more. Townsend Bell also in the pit lane for service. They are back timing to the end, but many cars might just need one more visit to the lane before this motor race is fully done and dusted.
Toni Vilander is also pitting the #63 Ferrari. He has run 22 laps on the most recent fuel load. The #63 car did pit several laps before the #14 car did. Vilander is now back on track. The only two cars who haven't made their final stops are the #14 and the #76. The McLaren is pitting as we speak. Being out on warm tires in GTD seems to work as well as in GTLM. But, Hawksworth is in the pit lane, as the team does not want to be caught behind the safety car if there is one. A full fuel tank and four fresh Michelin tires at AVS Lexus. 17 laps run by Hawksworth on that stint compared to 20 for Aaron Telitz earlier on. Jack Hawksworth runs ahead of Bill Auberlen, on cold tires. Auberlen is the shark, and Hawksworth is the minnow.
Auberlen, target acquired. He tries the inside, but can't make it stick. The #3 Corvette has pitted in GTLM from the class lead, Antonio Garcia. Porsche #912 has now split the two leading GT Daytona cars. Oops. We have an Audi, slow, with a left rear tire puncture on the Ulmann straight. He does not have too far to go before getting to pit lane. John Edwards and Connor De Philippi now lead GTLM and run 1-2 for BMW Team RLL. They can run 1-2 pretty well, and meanwhile, two GT cars and the #10 Cadillac for Wayne Taylor Racing go three wide! What a close shave!
There's no marshals post for flagging in the middle of the Ulmann straight. Only at the corner at turn 16. Mazda #77 in third overall, splits the leading GT Daytona cars. The #25 BMW came in for fuel and tires for Connor De Philippi. Corvette also pitted on separate laps for fuel and tires for #4 and #3. Everything is OK on the #12 Lexus. They believe they are good on fuel. Felipe Nasr leads by 16.2 seconds over Ryan Briscoe with just 45 minutes to go. Less than that now. Two Cadillac's followed by two Mazda's. Sebastien Bourdais is fifth. Joao Barbosa did the middle stint, or did he? Barbosa had to get into the car in the middle stint and maybe we just didn't notice.
Meantime, the Mazda's are in the lane? Mazda team strategist Lena Gade is surely on top of things for that bunch. BMW #24, the black one, is in the lane. Fuel and tires for John Edwards, and he stays in the car. They won the Rolex 24 but since then, their season, since the resumption, has not gone the way they'd hoped so far. Mazda #77 in the pit lane a short time ago. Oliver Jarvis stays in the car and likewise, the #55 Mazda also came in. It does not hinder the Multimatic team. An errant tire is moved out of the way. That's good. You don't want an errant tire rolling across the pit lane. Earl Bamber moves around the aforementioned BMW of John Edwards.
Meanwhile, into the pit lane, from the lead is the #31 Action Express Whelen Cadillac. Felipe Nasr is in for his final pit stop. The tear off is taken off the windshield, with brand new tires and fuel. Felipe Nasr knows what it is like to take a car to victory here at Sebring, but never in the daylight. Could he find out how that is, tonight? It looks likely. Usually, when Action Express has won here at Sebring, and they have a few different times, it's been in the darkness at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Nasr will be good to go to the end in less than 40 minutes as Ryan Briscoe has taken the lead in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Cadillac.
Sebastien Bourdais in the #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Cadillac should come to the pit lane as well. Maybe he'll be in on the next lap. Ah yes. He is into the lane and back out on track, fueled to the end, and #10 is in the lane now. The Mazda's are going to likely need to stop again before the end. They can't run full rich before the end like the Cadillac's can. Ryan Briscoe has been able to go a lap extra on fuel compared to the #31 and the #5, however, the #31 machine has dominated so far. Briscoe is back on track now.
In DPi, the #31 and #10 Cadillac's will be close enough to go to the end of the race in 36 minutes. Team Penske are third, in the #7 Acura of Ricky Taylor. Cadillac #10 is in the pit lane now. Dane Cameron in the sister #6 Acura has nine or ten laps left on the fuel stint. The Mazda's will have to fuel save without doing a splash and a dash which might mean Sebastien Bourdais can go for it. In LMP2, Gustavo Menezes might stop fairly soon aboard the #81 DragonSpeed Oreca. Spencer Pigot just hit the lane and so they are doing the undercut for the #52 team, for PR1 and so is DragonSpeed. Gustavo Menezes is pitting now, in the #81 car.
Spencer Pigot has not spent nearly as much time behind the wheel of an LMP2 machine as Gustavo Menezes has. The final pit stop will decide the race in LMP2. In GT Le Mans, Tommy Milner might be able to make it to the end on fuel. They've been able to run as far as 28 laps on a stint. Antonio Garcia and Connor De Philippi are a lap better off, but it remains to be seen if the Porsche's can go to the end on fuel without stopping again. BMW's are good to go to the end as well. In GTD, Turner Motorsports are going to be about a lap off, whereas the Lexus cars and the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari will be fine.
The #74 Mercedes for Keating Motorsports is going to be very close on fuel, but everyone else should be fine on fuel. Felipe Nasr has a really good cushion in the lead of this motor race. He had a close shave with one of the GTD cars, the #30 Hardpoint Audi who was off line being passed by a couple GTLM cars, the Porsche and the BMW. Spencer Pumpelly was off line. Pit stop time too for Dane Cameron in the #6 Penske Acura. Dane Cameron locks a brake and they've had a tough race today for the boys at Acura.
In LMP2, #81 exited the lane just ahead of the #52. Ryan Briscoe is also charging in the #10 Cadillac through Le Mans corner, down the Ulmann straight and into Sunset Bend as the shadows grow long before this race ends. Gustavo Menezes is not wasting time and he passes Spencer Pigot, his rival in LMP2. Check that. Menezes just lapped the #18 car, the Dwight Merriman/Kyle Tilley driven entry. Tilley is being chased by Kyle Masson in the #38 Performance Tech entry. Connor De Philippi races in third in class in GTLM being harried by Earl Bamber in Porsche #912. Corvette #3 is in the pit lane as well, look. It's a replay of a stop for the Corvette as the car hit the ground and was lifted back up.
It did not run over an errant air hose as was first thought. Bill Auberlen is just ahead now of Toni Vilander in a battle in GTD as Jack Hawksworth ekes out a gap in the class lead over Bill Auberlen. It's been a fascinating race all day. Keep your eyes pealed for Sebastien Bourdais in the #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Cadillac, and Earl Bamber is clashing with Connor De Philippi. These two blokes are side by side before Bamber sensibly gives way to De Philippi and then, he goes 'round the outside at turn seven in the hairpin. Bamber is really going for it and again, Bamber dives to the outside and puts the move on De Philippi. Holy smokes!
That was half a lap of side by side driving, and that's why racing is IMSA is among if not absolutely the best sports car racing going right now. No point in pushing your rival off the road. Keep it clean. Bill Auberlen is being hounded, still, by Toni Vilander. The GTLM leading #4 Corvette scythes past these two GT Daytona cars. The cloud cover is moving in as the sun sets, and thankfully, the chance of rain we had, has diminished entirely. Track position has been a major deal all day. Porsche have been on the back foot in GTLM for most of this motor race.
It's feast for Corvette, and possibly famine for Porsche. 20 minutes to go. The battles are at full boil right now. Boiling and simmering, indeed. The gap between Jack Hawksworth and Toni Vilander has expanded to 4.7 seconds. Sebastien Bourdais could make the podium in the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac for JDC-Miller Motorsports. The gap between Felipe Nasr in the lead and Ryan Briscoe in second place is just about at 20 seconds. Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell are running in lockstep in third and fourth spot. Sebastien Bourdais was closing in on the Mazda's and falling behind. He's got some work to do in the last 17 minutes.
#5 is pushing the Mazda's to see if they will be on fumes. Sebastien Bourdais has turned on the afterburners. The #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini has retired due to a broken differential. The battle is hot in GTD for second as Toni Vilander makes the pass on the inside in turn three on Bill Auberlen! He had enough oomph to get by the BMW in the third turn. Good driving from the Flying Finn. Sebring seems to suit the Ferrari for the type of car it is. The old horses for courses idea. Vilander might be able to reel in Jack Hawksworth in the leading #14 Lexus for AIM Vasser Sullivan. Less than 15 minutes remain in this motor race.
Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell for Mazda, they are still glued together in third and fourth place. Mazda seems to be saving fuel, but doing so with good lap times to boot. You can't always do both of those things at once. This is going to be very close on fuel for some cars. The battle for third and fourth is nose to tail in LMP2. Kyle Tilley and Kyle Masson are scrapping. Ah yes. It is the Kyle and Kyle show! Dane Cameron has just clocked the fastest lap in Penske Acura #6. They are good to go on fuel.
Tristan Vautier in the #85 "Banana Boat" Cadillac for JDC-Miller Motorsports is still in the hunt as well in seventh place. Toni Vilander has no slow speeds. He has fast speed, and parked. He and Jesse Krohn (both from Finland) stayed in the same house. They rode 300 kilometers home from Daytona and it took them 15 hours but they made it work! Holy cow! You two blokes are braver than I am! Egad! Anyone who says race car drivers aren't athletes, you are kidding yourself. Less than ten minutes to go in the Cadillac Grand Prix of Sebring. Vilander is four seconds behind Hawksworth. Hawksworth has been taking time back from Vilander.
Ryan Briscoe seems to be fading just a tad away from Felipe Nasr. Nasr just ran a 1:48.5 and he is whistling off into the distance. Darkness is falling, and it's darker than we expected it to be. Meanwhile, it is a wrestling match at Corvette. Sunset is an hour later than what we see for the 12 Hours in March or what we will see at this year's 12 Hours as the finale in November. Mazda's still run together as we see on the screen and there are other battles in the GT classes as well, internecene battles for Corvette in GTLM and Lexus in GTD.
Vilander is reeling in Hawksworth, and is 3.1 seconds behind. The Mazda's are running well even with fuel concerns. They are 21 laps into their stint. The longest they've gone, with caution flags, has been 23 laps. The #85 Cadillac has just pitted and so, Tristan Vautier is now just behind Felipe Nasr. We have at least two laps to go in less than four minutes. Three and a half minutes. Ryan Briscoe is losing ground to Felipe Nasr. 1:28 dead for Felipe Nasr, and so he is flying out there. Jack Hawksworth is taking chunks of time out over Toni Vilander and the battle is on in GTLM between the two Corvette's. #4 vs. #3. The GTLM lead battle is on. #3 took Corvette's 100th win at Daytona in the WeatherTech 240 two weeks ago.
Milner leads Garcia. If you are team manager at Corvette, do you get on the phone and tell the boys to simmer down? Or do you just leave them bish bash bosh it to the end? White flag for Action Express. One more lap to run. Felipe Nasr should have clear sailing. He is 35 seconds ahead of second place. The Corvette boys start their final lap, headlights on. It is darker than we thought it would be. Vilander is catching Hawksworth hand over fist and is just two seconds behind, and Lawson Aschenbach is right on Bill Auberlen's decklid for the final podium step. Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr,. and Action Express will win, and that has not been in dispute since Pipo Derani flew to pole position in qualifying earlier today.
Action Express and Cadillac win Sebring! In GTLM, it is Corvette C8.R #4 winning their 101st race, after two weeks between their 100th victory and this one. Milner/Gavin win for the first time since Long Beach 2018! Yikes! LMP2 goes to DragonSpeed and in GT Daytona, AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus wins with Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz. Cadillac sweeps the podium as Sebastien Bourdais holds third. Wow. The #55 Mazda has run out of gas coming to the finish line. The #77 car is also out of petrol. Masson passes Kyle Tilley for the final step on the podium in LMP2! Patrick Kelly and Spencer Pigot for PR1/Mathiasen win LMP2.
Overall/DPi: #31 Derani/Nasr Cadillac DPi-V.R.
LMP2: #52 Kelly/Pigot Oreca 07
GT Le Mans: #4 Milner/Gavin Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
GT Daytona: #14 Telitz/Hawksworth Lexus RC F GT3
So, another fantastic IMSA sprint race is done and dusted. Sebring, and the Cadillac Grand Prix is in the record books. It won't be long 'til the next race and we shall get our next WeatherTech Championship fix at the picturesque and fast four mile palace of speed that is Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, coming up, next weekend. Excited to bring it to you, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog. So long for now, from Sebring International Raceway.
