Matteo Llarena has spun the #42 Lamborghini under the bridge at Sunset Bend. Jaden Conwright and Don Yount are the co-drivers for NTE/SSR. The gearbox might be locked up o that car. The GTD Pro cars are ready to go and so are the GTD's and so the LMP3 drivers are being told to make the GT cars work for it. #54 is Colin Braun sharing with Jon Bennett, and George Kurtz. Ryan Hardwick very nearly slammed right into the #42 Lamborghini! Yikes! Gar Robinson is now back at the wheel of the #74 Riley Motorsports pole sitting car back to the front. Dwight Merriman has spun the #18 Era Motorsports Oreca at the exit of turn 14 in the esses. Merriman sharing with Kyle Tilley and Ryan Dalziel. It is the time of day where the track goes to junk and is losing grip. The 90-degree heat, the tire clag, baking in the sun. You just have to survive as the track is extremely greasy. The #20 High Class Motorsports LMP2 car has hit a piece of signage. Dennis Andersen may ahve gotten together and the #8 Tower Motorsports car was stopped on the road.
Rui Andrade aboard the Tower Motorsports entry, the Portuguese driver. Stay on the brake pedal and don't just roll out of the throttle. #20 has been in and out of the pit lane already. The safety trucks are a blocker on the racing line onto the Ulmann straight. Andrade clipped the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 of the all-Italian trio of Antonio Fuoco, Giorgio Sernagiotto, and Roberto Lacorte. Do not hit the sandbags to hold the signage in place because the sandbag will destroy the front end of the race car. Thankfully, Dennis Andersen missed the sandbag. Oh. It's topsoil in the bag. Andersen was a lucky boy to get away with that. This is the third Full Course Yellow of the day as we await DPi pit stops.
Closed pit lane. Short yellow procedure. It is within 15 minutes of the previous yellow. The prototypes will still have to hit the lane in ten minutes or so. Mike Conway and others short filled. We have passed the points grab for the North American Endurance Cup and so those have been earned while we will also have it at eight hours, and I believe at the very end of the 12 hours. Malthe Jakubsen is the new LMP3 leader. For Pfaff Motorsports and the Porsche team, Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet are the defending GT Le Mans champions here at Sebring.
We are coming back for another restart here at the 70th renewal of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Green flag. Conway gets the jump. Bamber cannot get close to Duval for third place. The field is begining to spread out well now. There was no track sweep during a short yellow. Dwight Merriman, fifth in LMP2 passes third place LMP3 man Gar Robinson, being harried by George Kurtz. Cameron Shields from Australia aboard the #38 Performance Tech car is running well, who was on a trajectory to open wheel racing but has now gone to sports car racing. Michael de Quesada pits the #28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 from the GT Daytona class lead.
Luis Perez Companc takes over the class lead in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari. It will be Maximilian Goetz I would guess, getting into the #28 car. The top speed dynamic between LMP3 and GT Daytona is very close. The TR3 Lamborghini goes off and on. Keep your hands straight through turn three. Be careful. Malthe Jakobsen and Sean Creech Motorsports lead LMP3. They have experience in vintage racing, and are out of Jupiter, Florida. Cameron Shields, from Toowomba, Australia, same hometown as IndyCar and Indianapolis 500 champion, Will Power. Scott Andrews, also from Australia, running with Vasser Sullivan, and Josh Burdon, who is running with Andretti Autosport who have had a fraught race today.
Gar Robinson compares driving Sebring to driving the tractor on his family's ranch in Texas. Gar Robinson is camping out with fans. He is having a good time. His dad George Robinson also raced sports cars including in the Trans Am championship. Russell Ward in the #57 Winward Mercedes leads GT Daytona as Mike Conway pits from the lead of the motor race in the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac. Pipo Derani gets into the car now. Fuel and tires and Derani is down and away. Action Express are ticking the boxes because of continuity and consistency. Chris Mitchum, Tim Keane, Gary Nelson, and more, including team boss and owner, Bob Johnson. Tristan Nunez, drafted into the AXR fold and he too is running very well.
We can see the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin and we have not called their number all day. The #48 Ally Cadillac is running the endurance events with Action Express and so, Kamui Kobayashi is running well and Mike Rockenfeller, one of his teammates, said the balance of the car was being worked on. Yikes! Loic Duval is giving Kobayashi a spot of bother. Loic Duval takes over the lead in the #5 JDC-Miller Cadillac. The communcation between the drivers for Action Express, it works out very well. Back to the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin... that car is shared by John Potter, Andy Lally, and Spencer Pumpelly.
#48 in the lane now for fuel. Loic Duval leads. This #5 is the car that won the 12 Hours of Sebring last year. Mike Rockenfeller, meantime, he is back into the #48 Ally Cadillac. Pipo Derani now at the wheel of the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac. Loic Duval in the lane for the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. No driver change and Duval will stay in the car. #31 short filled earlier and needed more petrol after gaining points for the North American Endurance Championship. Pipo Derani, Alex Lynn, Loic Duval, Mike Rockenfeller. This is the battle. Albuquerque has shuffled to the lead of the motor race in the interim. But the battle is on in earnest, look. The extreme ambient temperatures are having a big effect on the outlap and the tire temperatures.
Will Stevens pits the #10 Acura for Wayne Taylor Racing and he will get fresh Michelin tires on that car. The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura is in the lane as well. They are going for a driver change. So Stoffel Vandoorne will give way to either Tom Blomqvist or Oliver Jarvis. Pipo Derani sets new lap records at 1:47 dead. Blomqvist now in the #60. Russell Ward has the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 leading in GT Daytona. Daniel Juncadella is next up in the #32 Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes AMG GT3 sharing with Mike Skeen and Stevan McAleer.
Luis Perez Companc third, followed by Richard Heistand, Michael Dinan, John Potter, Jon Millere, Maxi Goetz, Roberto Lacorte, and Brendon Iribe. Pipo Derani leads again. Ben Keating leads LMP2 and Malthe Jakobsen in LMP3. Stoffel Vandoorne has already experienced everything in his first endurance race. Vandoorne has experience in Formula 1 and Formula E. Alex Lynn is 9/10ths of a second behind Pipo Derani. Ben Keating, the LMP2 leader, is ahead by 16 seconds over Frits van Eerd. The stints here at Sebring are far shorter than they are at Daytona for the Rolex 24. The #74 Riley Motorsports LMP3 has nosed it into the tires in turn one and he is backing up, trying to get back on the course.
Robinson slews around early on in the turn in turn one. Yikes. The #57 Winward Mercedes is in the lane. Russell Ward will stay in for a double stint. The greasy track is affecting the car, making it understeer a tad. Winward is campaigning a full season in IMSA in the WeatherTech Championship. Russell Ward's father, Bryce, in school, heard cars race around the Kyalami circuit in South Africa and was majorly inspired. Cooper MacNeil pits in the #79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. 100 wins at Sebring for Porsche as a brand across all classes. Incredible. The #97 WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3 is also in the lane for service. Jules Gounon and Maro Engel sharing that car with Cooper MacNeil. So it is one of the other two drivers who are in that car presently.
Luis Perez Companc leads GT Daytona, and we see a spin for Jonathan Bomarito in the #11 Win Autosport LMP2 car. Contact for the Lamborghini and the BMW in GTD Pro. #63 stops and misses the pit box and the #25 BMW makes contact. Yikes! One of the Mercedes', the #32 has a loose tearoff. There are at least eight to ten tearoffs on each windscreen. Massive LMP2 battle too here, look. Guy Smith passes Kyle Tilley. Pipo Derani continues to lead the motor race as the #14 Lexus is in the lane. A driver change for them. Not sure who is now in the car. Gar Robinson says it is extremely hot in the car and the track is very greasy. It is slick and hot. Gar Robinson made a couple mistakes but is looking at the big picture,.
Felipe Fraga is now at the wheel of the #74 Riley Motorsports entry. Jonathan Bomarito goes deep in the corner and spins off the road and continues. That is due to the greasy conditions. That is the #11 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca. Steven Thomas, Jonathan Bomarito, and Josh Pierson sharing the car. Corvette #3 in the lane and Nicky Catsburg will take over from Jordan Taylor. Four tires, fuel, and cleaning the windscreen.
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