We are into the final hour of racing. Toyota run 1-2 with the #50 Ferrari in third place. Question marks over the #8 which has lost eight seconds to the sister car. Sand, tire debris, and all sorts of clag on the front of the car. Jose Maria Lopez says that he, Mike Conway, and Kamui Kobayashi have run a solid race to this point in the final hour of the race. One more pit stop and a driver change with Mike Conway taking it to the flag. Can everyone get home on the fuel they have in the tank? They will have to go 50 minutes on a tank of fuel. The LMP2 cars will be running 40-43 minutes on their fuel burn. Corvette lead GTE Am. Jota #48 lead LMP2 and the Toyota's run 1-2 in the last hour with #7 ahead of #8. Will Cadillac nip Ferrari for the final step on the podiun?
Corvette #33 leads GTE. Following them are Porsche and Ferrari. Richard Mille, a single Alpine, Glickenhaus, and United Autosports have all retired. Both Peugeot's are going to make it to the finish. Earl Bamber chipping away the time from Antonio Fuoco. Cadillac vs. Ferrari. The gap is hovering between ten and eleven seconds between Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi. Everything seems to be peachy for Toyota. They have shown the incoming talent where the bar is and it is raised to an extremely high level. Toyota have been in this business now for a decade. No reliability woes for the Porsche, the Cadillac, or the Ferrari. Cadillac stop first and they can get home from here on fuel or so it appears.
They have to clear the gunk out of the radiator ducts. Antonio Fuoco is asked if he can triple stint his tires to the end. But he says "no way. I can't do it." That is why Cadillac look to be in the pound seats. Ferrari #50 to the lane. Toyota #8, likewise. Sebastien Buemi out and Brendon Hartley will take the #8 to the flag while Antonio Fuoco is going to triple stint to the end of the motor race. Slow stop for the #50 Ferrari, and slow on the left rear tire. Recalcitrant rattle gun? Where is the Cadillac? It is at turn 15. Smoke haze? It's a barbecue. I guarantee it. Cadillac goes by as #7 is in the lane for the final stop.
Mike Conway will take the car to the flag. Hertz Team Jota lead LMP2. Yifei Ye says that he is respecting every corner of this challenging circuit. He is proud of his teammates and on a different strategy than the other LMP2 cars and they could win as they await their new LMDh/Hypercar, the Porsche 963. The gap is 23 seconds between Toyota #8 and #7. Mike Conway I believe quicker than Brendon Hartley. Hartley lost time in the lane. #7 is very likely going to win this race. Four tires for Cadillac pursuing the Ferrari.
The #28 and #48 Jota cars are in the lane. The #63 Prema Racing car leads LMP2 but they need a stop before the end and Jota too will need a splash and a dash. Ferrari #51 in for it's final stop in seventh in the Hypercar class. Ferrari have experience, not with this car, but in GTE and Formula 1. Michelle Gatting chasing Alessio Picariello for the team cars of Iron Lynx and Iron Dames. The sun is now setting. Hence the name of Sunset Bend, the final turn. The #2 Cadillac is taking a second a lap out of the #50 Ferrari. The Iron Dames car is now within two seconds of Iron Lynx. Alessio Picariello vs. Michelle Gatting.
The #63 Prema LMP2 car in the lane from the LMP2 lead sharing with Doriane Pin and Daniil Kvyat. This is a crack crew of drivers that are running very well. No trouble for Inter Europol either with Jakub Smiechowski, Fabio Scherer, and Albert Costa. Toyota are an excellent team, and now, we have a lot more competition that are finding their feet. But Toyota have been around for a full decade compared to everybody else. Toyota had been there for a whole season running a Hypercar. The car was hopping up and down with terminal understeer. Now, they are far more comfortable with that car.
They were incumbent when the rules came and said they were staying in the fight. They were the last men standing at the demise of the LMP1 era. That was in 2019. Back in the days when Audi won at will, they were raising the bar, and that is true. Porsche, Ferrari, Cadillac, Peugeot, they know what they have to do to get to the same level. In the WeatherTech Championship paddock, for BMW and other teams, they know too where the benchmark lies. We will see some of the WeatherTech Championship teams come to Le Mans to try their hand at it later this summer. 35 minutes left in the motor race. Ferrari #50 pulling away. But the Toyota's seem to have everyone else totally covered. No surprise.
Hertz Team Jota, 20 seconds to the good over their competition with Jota, WRT. and Prema. It is special as we are seeing twilight. It is blithering difficult in the darkness. I think this race will end in twilight. But, in the 12 Hours of Sebring tomorrow, we are going to end in the darkness. Cannot wait to be here for that one. It is going to be mega. Join us tomorrow too at 9AM sharp. Get up early, grab some breakfast and a coffee, and join us again. This race has been development for the remainder of the season. We have seen great racing in Hypercar as well with half an hour to go.
Pay attention to the tires. That is what the Ferrari team is telling their driver. Antonio Fuoco can safely pass the lapped cars, the LMP2 and GTE cars. Hats off too to Corvette Racing for their GTE result so far. Nico Varrone had a tough time and we will hear what he has to say. Varrone tells us that things are OK. They have a good advantage that they have to manage. Nicky Catsburg is going to finish the race out. Nico Varrone is right about his co-drivers. Corvette Racing, Kessel Racing, Dempsey Proton Racing as the sun sets here at Sebring. A gorgeous sunset this evening.
19 seconds is the gap between Ulysse de Pauw and Julien Andlauer. de Pauw in Ferrari #21 and Andlauer in Porsche 911 RSR #77. Robin Frijns taking chunks out of the margin between he and Oliver Rasmussen. Stevens, Bortolotti, Albuquerque, the top three in LMP2. The Jota car might be right on the knife edge for fuel. I don't know if they have their fuel strategy stitched up. Half an hour to go = 15 laps to the end of this motor race. Will Stevens hit the pit lane with 45 minutes left on the board. Richard Westbrook is the next driver we will hear from.
He says that he has no idea. It is a good fight with the Ferrari for third place. The Hypercars are quicker than the Cadillac which is also a Hypercar but is an LMDh and not a true Hypercar. They are not happy on the gap to Toyota but they know they are going to improve and will be ready to rumble in Portimao. Richard Westbrook drove for Glickenhaus last year and is now driving for Cadillac. No one is pointing to the rulebook and saying things are not fair. Toyota are a year or so behind these new cars. They are still in the lead. There might be a wee bit of grumbling but the rules set is not going to be changed. You as a team have to step up and believe me, these teams are going to step up and so are the brands. Toyota, Porsche, Cadillac, Peugeot, Ferrari, and perhaps the regular cars like the Vanwall and the Glickenhaus, the non hybrid entries.
There is Balance of Performance in Hypercar, but it will be different than say what it is in GTE. Maximize everything from an operational standpoint making zero mistakes. We are definitely going to see a different race at the 6 Hours of Portimao next time. But Sebring is such a unique palace of speed that it is like comparing apples to oranges. The drivers are all fanboys. They are genuinely excited about these new cars. Toyota, 1:47.8 fastest lap. Last year they were in the 1:50 range. They have gone two plus seconds quicker with the same rules, same car, and same drivers. Wow.
Last year's Toyota was no further forward than the new cars this year from Cadillac, Ferrari, Peugeot, and Porsche. Stand by. There will be a space rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. Ooh. Nice. Donington Park in England has jet planes coming over. There's a rocket going up! We have liftoff. Roger, ten, Bravo, Zulu, box, box, box. I gotta get a grip! At Ferrari, Nicklas Nielsen says that Ferrari are happy with what they have done so far and are very pleased with their race performance for the final 20 minutes as well. They can come away from the lid lifter of the 2023 season happy.
It is impressive to see Floyd Vanwall ahead of Peugeot. The first stage rocket burn is complete, and in second burn stage with the rocket 40 miles down range and we are 15 minutes out from the end. The Hypercar class came about because of lockdown and the pandemic and all that crap we no longer need to talk about. The ACO had nothing else to do so they could come up with this all encompassing Hypercar formula. The #31 WRT LMP2 car is in the lane. The planning for convergence was just before the cursed pandemic happened. Ferrari have had this new baby of theirs for seven months and they are already taking the fight to Toyota. A year from now, can you imagine where we will be? There will be politics and moaning, but tune it out. Who cares?
You blank out the garbage and remember the good stuff. 11 cars here and there will be double next year and a bunch at Le Mans and later in the season. Plus, we have IMSA and the 12 Hours of Sebring tomorrow. Sports car racing is a great thing for up and coming and established drivers and for the fans. We will have more fans for the first time since the 1980s and the original Group C and the original IMSA GTP. It is twilight now and we are getting to the end of this race. This track is unique and needs no help as the sun is hitting the horizon. When it goes dark at Sebring it goes dark fast. We'll see more of this in the 12 Hours tomorrow for the WeatherTech Championship. We need frites mayonnaise. Mayo on fries?! Will Americans like that? What... no ketchup?
The #48 is in the pit lane. #63 is going to be close! The LMP2 fight is going to be nuts! Bortlotti takes the lead on the road! They gambled. Mirko Bortolotti, Lamborghini factory driver. He will be with them next year in Hypercar. Will Stevens is going to be in his final LMP2 race for 2023 it appears. #t63, #48, #22. Ten minutes remaining now. Mirko Bortolotti vs. Will Stevens. Filipe Albuquerque in the fight too. Are Prema saving fuel too? Are they lifting and coasting? How close are Prema to the brink?
Can Inter Europol go for it? They will be third in points tonight. Bortolotti and Stevens are very close. The lead gap is under eight seconds between Mike Conway and Brendon Hartley as Antonio Fuoco is ahead of Earl Bamber. This is the first time since 2012 that a World Endurance Championship race at Sebring goes a full 1,000 miles with Hypercars, rocket launches, a beautiful sunset. What more can you ask for? This is fabulous! Bortolotti is giving it everything and I mean everything! Michelle Gatting chasing Ricardo Pera. No matter how quick the Hypercars are the rocket is going 2,200 miles an hour. You cannot bring a rocket into the pit lane for an astronaut change or use air jacks and rattle guns on it.
Kessel Racing to the lane from second place. Julien Andlauer might inherit second in GTE! It is not the fuel amount but the length of the pit lane. Dempsey Proton move to second. Corvette, Porsche, Ferrari. Julien Andlauer, Christian Ried, and Mikkel Pedersen are running very well. Christian Ried in his 79th consecutive race. Proton Competition will bring another Porsche 963 to Hypercar later in the year. Five minutes to go. Brendon Hartley will have to find kore time to Mike Conway. Mirko Bortolotti is well ahead of Will Stevens in LMP2. Antonio Fuoco opening the margin on Earl Bamber in the Ferrari vs. Cadillac scrum.
It is dark now. We are coming to the end of this one, folks. Prema's car coughs! They have to come into the pit lane for a splash and a dash! How did you figure that? Holy cow! United are going into second. The #48 Hertz Team Jota entry is not for the full season as we see this amazing sunset fading into darkness. The #21 Ferrari in and out of the lane. So, #21 was running low on fuel but Ulysse de Pauw did not pass Daniel Serra. OK. Toyota #7 leads the sister car #8 by 5.3 seconds. One to go next time by. Through Le Mans corner and into Sunset Bend. Mike Conway knows he is under pressure. Twilight's last gleaming just like the Star Spangled Banner.
One lap to go. This is the first race for a brand new era and we are going to go 1,000 miles. This was the scene of the first WEC race way back in 2012. Ferrari, Cadillac, Porsche, each have a car in the top five order. Into the sunset for the final lap. Toyota will go 1-2 and win. Mike Conway, Jose Maria Lopez, and Kamui Kobayashi are your winners ahead of Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi, and Ryo Hirakawa. Ferrari home and hosed and on the podium for their first race in 50 years! Hertz Team Jota #48 wins LMP2! GTE won by Corvette #33!
Overall/Hypercar: #7 Conway/Kobayashi/Lopez Toyota GR010 Hybrid
LMP2: #48 Da Costa/Stevens/Ye Hertz Team Jota Oreca 07
LM GTE: #33 Keating/Catsburg/Varrone Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
That's all for now from Sebring for the 1,000 Miles of Sebring. We have Doriane Pin as a female driver on her LMP2 debut here at Sebring. Wow! What a race for the lid lifter of WEC 2023! We'll see you next time out for the 6 Hours of Portimao on the Algarve coast by the seaside in Portugal in mid-April, and well, we'll see you tomorrow for the big one, the 12 Hours of Sebring for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship. See you tomorrow. Bye bye for now.
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