Any race that ends at night has a magic to it. While people are asleep you are awake. This track will tear your car apart. You have to push hard. 50+ years ago, Mario Andretti had a great win here. Who will be the great driver teams to win today? This is round two of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR Cup legend, is a Sebring rookie. Ricky Taylor and Bill Auberlen are two more of the drivers who are legends and are ready to go. This will be a long day. The weather will be manageable, nice. 75 degrees ambient. This feels normal with the 12 Hours of Sebring following the Rolex 24. Where will the toughest competition come from? The cars roll off behind the safety car. The darkness in the final two hours will be a big deal.
Sunset Bend, has the most visually impressive bumps. Watch for the bumps in turn seven as well. Plenty of places where tires can be dropped off, too. Jimmie Johnson late in qualifying spun in turn 16 and spun again at turn 17, smashing the wall at Sunset Bend, the final turn. DPi will be competitive with the two Action Express cars and the Wayne Taylor car. Pipo Derrani, Steven Thomas, Rasmus Lindh, Antonio Garcia, and Jan Heylen are your class pole sitters. Stay classy. Be cool when hot. Focus on the endgame.
Get the setup right. The tire compounds at night will be softer. This place is well worn. Sebring International Raceway is right in the heart of Florida. #RespectTheBumps. Turn one is a blind apex and a high speed approach. Turn three at Kristensen corner is very slow. The braking zone in turn seven is bumpy and you can runn off the road and back up. Watch the big bumps at Sunset Bend, turn 17. Chad Knaus and Rick Hendrick are here watching the #48 Ally Bank Cadillac team.
Renger van der Zande, Kevin Magnussen, and Scott Dixon, at Chip Ganassi Racing, are also very confident. There's a split between prototype and GT classes. The field forming up for the world's toughest sports car race. Here we go. This is amazing. Everyone is up for it. Round two of IMSA 2021 is ready to rumble. Get ready, get set, punch it! Pipo Derani takes the lead and here comes Renger van der Zande past Ricky Taylor. Cadillac 1-2, Acura 3-4. Corvette Racing leads the GT field with GTLM and GTD. Connor De Philippi in the BMW is in the mix as the Win Autsport LMP3 cars spinds off the road. That's Rodrigo Sales, I think.
No harm, no foul. #83 is the WIN Autosport car, Rodrigo Sales, Matt Bell, and Niklas Kruetten. Jimmie Johnson is making his first laps since yesterday's melee. He has moved around Loic Duval. Simon Pagenaud went out in the morning warmup and Kamui Kobayashi also ran in the morning warmup. Loic Duval, Sebastien Bourdais, and Tristan Vautier in the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac did not test here and the three Frenchmen have been on the back foot all weekend. Tommy Milner may have jumped the start as Connor De Philippi in the #25 BMW says he did not start properly.
There's a rule that you can't cross columns at the start/finish line. Renger van der Zande ran afoul of that rule last November here at the 12 hours. Cooper MacNeil in the #79 WeatherTech Porsche 911 RSR-19. MacNeil sharing the cat with Matthieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell, Porsche factory drivers. Jan Heylen, polesitter for GT Daytona, leads over Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz in the two Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3's as the cars go through Cunningham Corner and the Collier Curves. Carry a lot of speed through this section of the track.
The entry into Sunset Bend is like a big parking lot. You don't have any reference points. You have to feel through that corner as you hit the bumps differently all the time. Daniel Morad is moving in on Frankie Montecalvo. Morad aboard the #28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3. Morad sharing with Michael de Quesada, and Billy Johnson. You have to have patience through traffic early on. LMP3 did not create chaos at Daytona but it could here today at Sebring. The LMP3 cars might just provide for some argy bargy today.
In the last couple hours it will be pitch dark. Jan Heylen has been penalized and so is Tommy Milner for start infractions. Stay in line at the start of the race. This is a new rule to clean up the starts. Don't block the column, wait until you cross the start/finish line. So, Pipo Derani leads early. We watch a replay of the GTLM start and clearly one of the Corvette's jumped the start or cut across the track. What will the marshals say about that? Now, it appears Renger van der Zande in the Ganassi Racing Cadillac has moved past Pipo Derani for the lead. It's early doors yet, but the battle is already hot and heavy.
Jimmie Johnson has spun in turn 17 and dives for the pit lane. He has damage. He ran wide, got loose, and made contact with the wall. Jimmie is upset with himself. Thankfully he was so close to the pit lane. A new nose on the car. Crew Chief Chad Knaus is guiding the crew at Action Express/Hendrick Motorsports. Johnson may have lost grip, and was clear of the Aston Martin, but the bumps in turn 17 caught him out. There could have been contact with Loic Duval. It was a lucky escape for Kenny Habul in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3 in bright green instead of it's traditional bright blue.
Loic Duval was also involved in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. With the yellow, Jimmie Johnson is catching up. The steering wheel is fine. They are topped up with petrol and could be in a strong spot when the leaders hit the pit lane. Renger van der Zande leads the motor race. Jimmie Johnson has not only driven the sports car here, but also tested an International Formula 3 open wheel car, and an IndyCar, here at Sebring. We are under Full Course Yellow for the first time this morning. Now, the #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac is going to be playing catch up as well. Loic Duval, Sebastien Bourdais, and Tristan Vautier, the all-French trio, are playing catch up.
Remger vam der Zande sent it down through turn one past Pipo Derani to take the lead of the motor race. Derani was being conservative, which he is not known for. They call him "The Dynamo" for a reason. Green flag. Let's race again. Derani tries it, van der Zande throws the block. These two are scrapping already. Ricky Taylor, Olivier Pla, Oliver Jarvis, Jimmie Johnson, and Loic Duval, all are back there. Jimmie Johnson is back in the game as if that earlier melee didn't happen. Derani was told to save fuel. Maybe he can do that. Jimmie Johnson has had less grip than he has had all weekend.
#48 has more fuel than anyone right now. The GTLM and GTD battle is hot and heavy. Last November was very hot, 86 degrees. Today, will be in the mid 70s ambient. Aaron Telitz and Frankie Montecalvo lead Daniel Morad. Tommy Milner is serving his drive through penalty in the #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R he is sharing with Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims. Rasmus Lindh leads LMP3 by 4+ seconds. The Swedish teenager sharing with American Dan Goldberg and Matteo Llarena from Guatemala. The BMW team reminds both their cars, "we don't need any contact in hour one of this motor race."
We should soak up the appearance of the BMW's. They won't be here for the sprint events, just for the endurance races. So, now, we can see the #4 Corvette in pit lane and the team is working on the underside of the automobile, or checking something before sending the car back on track. The GTLM cars are working their way steadily through the LMP3 traffic and there's a whole cluster of GTD cars as well. A battle ensuing in LMP3, look, with the #33 and #7 cars. Plus, we can see another good scrap between the bright green SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3 and the Team Hardpoint EBM Porsche 911 GT3R. Kenny Habul from Australia sharing with Mikael Grenier of Canada and Maro Engel of Germany.
Meantime, Renger van der Zande continues to lead and Pipo Derani is keeping a watching brief. There are no weak links in the DPi division between Cadillac, Acura, and Mazda. Kenny Habul makes some contact with Loic Duval. No damage there. Duval cut in on the Mercedes for no real reason except to open the turn radius. This has been a frustrating weekend for the French trio in the #5 automobile, the Mustang Sampling Cadillac. Pit stop time coming soon. Cadillac's had to pit earlier than the Acura at Daytona. Will that be true today? A misfire problem for the #4 Corvette C8.R. Hmmm. Vasser Sullivan are at the sharp end of GT Daytona. Andrew Gilleland from Lexus is observing the team today and watching the race.
Ricky Taylor is applying the blowtorch to Pipo Derani. Tommy Milner has done a power reset on the #4 Corvette. The Habul/Duval fracas has not had a penalty incurred, but Duval has been warned by the IMSA stewards. Many drivers are making their debuts here at Sebring. Olivier Pla in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 is chasing Ricky Taylor. Pla is the lead driver with Dane Cameron in that automobile and the third driver this weekend is Juan Pablo Montoya. We ride aboard the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R from Canada, that car, stacked with a talented lineup of drivers. Zachary Robichon from Canada, Lars Kern from Germany, and Porsche factory pilot, Laurens Vanthoor. Now, the #31 is in the lane for scheduled service from the lead.
Pipo Derani stays in the car. Renger van der Zande picks up the lead of the motor race by 3.1 seconds over Ricky Taylor. Mazda is in the lane now. Oliver Jarvis brings the #55 in. They have had a problem with locking brakes. Jarvis sharing with Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito. Jimmie Johnson is going to be in contention again soon as Renger van der Zande makes a pit stop, just about colliding with the #22 United Autosports LMP2 car. A driver change for Chip Ganassi Racing. Ricky Taylor brings the #10 Acura into the pit lane for service. Jimmie Johnson now cycles to the lead of the motor race and there's a battle afoot between Ricky Taylor and Olivier Pla. Two Acura's battle each other.
Jim McGuire was the driver in that #22 United Autosports LMP2 machine, an Oreca. McGuire, the American, sharing with Brits Guy Smith and Wayne Boyd. Now, Jimmie Johnson leads the motor race, but Renger van der Zande slams Pipo Derani into the wall! Derani has a broken tie riod on the car! Good grief! The Aston Martin came across on Renger van der Zande. That's the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Ian James, Roman De Angelis, and Ross Gunn. More work going on on the #31 with the back engine cover off.
Again, look to the inside and the right hand side and Ian James did not know the DPi cars were even there. The #31 team are reasonably upset. They are clearly upset with the #01 team. We watch Steven Thomas and Ben Keating battle each other in LMP2. #11 is the Win Autosport Oreca. Hold on a second. The #48 Cadillac is in the pit lane for service. Jimmie Johnson has led seven laps and now Simon Pagenaud is into the car. In DPi, you must drive for an hour. The scrap ensues between Corvette and BMW in GTLM and both BMW's head for the pit lane at the same time in a dodgy move.
Meantime, the #31 Whelen Cadillac remains in the pit lane. Quick service for both BMW's and they resume on track, scrubbing in the Michelin tires. What a place this is, Sebring International Raceway, with spectators here at the track, not at capacity, but a healthy crowd. That's good to see. Oh! Jesse Krohn was very close to tagging Antonio Garcia on his way to pit lane. The #79 WeatherTech Porsche is in the lane as well. The two Lexus cars will pit soon as Steven Thomas continues to lead the motor race in LMP2. He is a lawyer by trade, saw the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix, and he said "I want to drive a race car."
Now, he has the chance.
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