The eloquent words of racing driver turned broadcaster and orator/writer Sam Posey, are appropriate to open this latest chapter of the 12 Hours of Sebring.
"Smell, they say, is the sense with the strongest ties to memory. From the moment you return here, the eternal scent of orange blossoms brings everything back. But, in the cockpit, nostalgia fades. This track doesn't allow for it. The first version was laid out on airplane runways. It is smoother now, and shorter, but maybe more harrowing. Still bumpy, a mix of hairpins and extremely fast turns. The concrete, slick in the day. The walls, close and hard to see at night. It has long been a battleground and proving ground for both car and driver.
The winners here, have been some of the sports' great names. Juan Fangio, Phil Hill, Mario Andretti, and Tom Kristensen, with a record six wins. The race compresses the incidents and attrition of 24 hours into 12. It has the feeling of a life cycle. When the sun sets, you won't see the light again. The cars age, the new technology is battered and tarnished. But for all those reasons, there is also a thrill of surviving to the end here. For the winners, a taste of immortality." Those words ring extremely true and have done so now, for 72 years.
The 12 Hours of Sebring, one of the most famous sports car races in the world. A wartime airfield turned into a racetrack. We have an action packed half a day of endurance sports car racing coming your way, right now. This is round two of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship as we join NBC Sports and Peacock for the coverage with our commentators, Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, and Townsend Bell. Pipo Derani, driver for the #31 Whelen Engineering Action Express Cadillac GTP team, he is going for a fifth victory this year, in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Everyone is stepping up and finding something extra. Pipo Derani's first victory here at Sebring came in 2016 and his most recent was last year in 2023. Sebring should be on your bucket list. A combination of Burning Man vs. Iron Man. On track, respect the bumps or this place will "jack you up" and ruin your race car and your race. You must be very careful.
Last year, we were celebrating the new GTP hybrid prototype era by welcoming Cadillac, Acura, Porsche, and BMW to the fold. This year, we add a fifth brand to the roster in the form of Bologna, Italy's Lamborghini Automobili. This is the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 being shared by Italian's Andrea Caldarelli and Matteo Cairoli, alongside Frenchman and former Formula 1 and IndyCar racer, Romain Grosjean. The SC63 is built to LMDh specifications. We will talk more about that car over the next dozen hours of sports car racing. We join Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch in the pit lane as we are looking at the GTD Pro and GTD cars rolling off pit lane.
Team Penske and Porsche have been on a roll winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the Qatar 1,812 Kilometers in the FIA World Endurance Championship. They also have had great success in IndyCar and in the NASCAR Cup Series with their driver, Ryan Blaney. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 GTP was to have started from the pole. But they had a minor rules infraction trying to adjust tire pressure in parc ferme and that is against the IMSA rules. You cannot touch the car after qualifying has been completed. So, Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, and their endurance driver, Toyota FIA WEC Hypercar ace Brendon Hartley, from New Zealand, they will be starting the race from the back of the GTP grid.
In GT Daytona Pro, the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 team are doing everything to reset their season after a terrible showing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Jack Hawksworth is at the top of the shop in GTD Pro sharing the car this weekend with fellow British racer Ben Barnicoat and America IndyCar standout racer, Kyle Kirkwood. They have a new GTD Pro track record. There has been a litany of penalties handed down in GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona alike. Here is the list of cars with post-qualifying penalties.
#3 Corvette Racing by Pratt & Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06 GT3.R
#4 Corvette Racing by Pratt & Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06 GT3.R
#13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06 GT3.R
#17 AWA Chevrolet Corvette C8 Z06 GT3.R
#023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3
#57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo
So, that is half a dozen cars and all of these cars have been moved to the rear of their individual class grid. The #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 has been promoted to GTD class pole, the car of Roberto Lacorte, Giorgio Sernagiotto, and Antonio Fuoco, the all-Italian team. Fuoco of course is a regular in the FIA World Endurance Championship with AF Corse and the Ferrari 499P Hypercar program. So, the class pole has been negated. Phillipp Ellis drove the #57 Mercedes from the back to the front here last year in the 12 hours.
The fans, the heartbeat of sports car racing, they come to Sebring year after year and have the same spot. There is a western saloon that has been here for 43 years. People of all ages who love sports car racing are here. Our mate, James Hinchcliffe, along with Matt Yocum, are reporting from the pit lane and James Hinchcliffe, he is also on the driver's strength for the #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3. The Canadian racer is sharing with Swiss/German driver Marvin Kirchhofer and with Englishman Oliver Jarvis in today's race.
Sebring is fast, bumpy, physical, and hot! Hydrate! Hydrate! Hydrate! Stay hydrated! This is a massive part of the deal. In LMP2 it is the first career pole for owner/driver P.J. Hyett aboard the #99 AO Racing Oreca 07. This is the purple and orange car on their team, "Spike" the dragon. Hyett is sharing "Spike" with Matt Brabham, the U.S. domiciled Australian and son of David Brabham, grandson of Sir Jack Brabham, and that famous family of racers, and Frenchman Paul-Loup Chatin who is a standout LMP2 driver who races all over the world. P.J. Hyett called his first pole the third best moment of his life aside from meeting his wife and having his children, his daughter and son.
Here is the class breakdown of cars in this 58-car field. We have 11 GTP prototypes, 13 LMP2's, a dozen GT Daytona Pro GT3 cars, and 22 regular GT Daytona GT3 cars. Again, the only difference in those two classes has to do with driver ratings from IMSA and the FIA, the French worldwide motorsport governing body. Watch the LMP2 class. That will be wild and crazy. The magnitude of the 12 Hours of Sebring is colossal. Mobil 1 motor oil is celelbrating it's 50th anniversary. Gold liveries for the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillav V Series.R and the two factory Chevrolet Corvette's.
Here are the key storylines. Manage the body blows. Don't get into roughhousing with other cars within your own class or as the car classes blend together during the competition today. Secondly. It is hot as we said. Don't melt down. Keep your cool as far as body temperature and temperament behind the wheel. Guaranteed, drivers will be screaming at their race engineers. "The car isn't working! I am losing power! This is frustrating!" Keep a cool head, and drive through it. Head down, eyes forward. Ambient temperatures at 90 degrees. Get ready to fight at night in the final hours in darkness here at Sebring.
We are starting the race half an hour earlier this year than normal. There was no scheduled morning warmup to dial in the cars before the race. This is the calm before the storm. Now it is time to go racing. This race is half the duration, but it is twice as difficult as the Rolex 24. Roger "The Captain" Penske, looking on. They had to fix one of their cars after qualifying and an incident. But they are ready to go. So are we! The 72nd running of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring is go! Pipo Derani flies into the lead in the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac sharing with Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist.
The #40 maroon colored Acura ARX-06, the second Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Global Acura is making a move.
Cadillac are going for their fourth straight 12 Hours of Sebring victory since 2021. In the meantime, here comes the GTD Pro/GTD field to the green flag. Split starts for safety, of course. Felipe Nasr starting the race in the #7 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsports is forcing his way through on the aforementioned Acura, the #40 car. Jack Hawksworth takes the lead in the #14 SealMaster, Mobil 1 Lexus RC F GT3 for Vasser Sullivan. That is another gold liveried car for the Mobil 1 motor oil 50th anniversary. His teammate Parker Thompson files in behind in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus in the GTD class. Two cars, same team, two different classes of GT3 cars.
Lexus 1-2 and a Ferrari is off spinning across the track! How on earth did he get missed by everybody through Kristensen corner?! That was insane! Davide Rigon starting this car just won the lottery. He was pushed wide, and everyone stacked up. Damage to the #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 of Oliver Jarvis sharing with James Hinchcliffe and Marvin Kirchhofer. The car has a flat left front tire. I wonder if Kirchhofer tagged Rigon. If the tire comes apart, the bodywork will be damaged and so will the electronics, the sensors that control the car's systems. Pipo Derani is consolidating his lead out in front of the field. He is running away fro the other Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, #01 with Sebastien Bourdais driving.
Felipe Nasr in third in the first of the Porsche 963's, and trouble for another McLaren as well. Brendon Iribe in the #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 has a flat right rear tire. Center of the screen, there was contact, a hip check from the #64 factory Ford Mustang GT3 of Mike Rockenfeller, tagged the Davide Rigon Ferrari 296 GT3 and the sister #65 Ford Mustang GT3 of Joey Hand had to take evasive action. Contact between both the Pfaff and Inception McLaren's! Oh my heavens! That will be a bad deal for their organizations and for the McLaren brass in England. The Mustang got hit and ping pongs right off of one of the Lamborghini's.
We also have the #120 dark green and yellow Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R in the pit lane with front end damage. The Inception McLaren is in the pit lane. Great evasive driving by the birthday girl, Sheena Monk, aboard the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 she is sharing with Katherine Legge and Tatiana Calderon. Oliver Jarvis has finally limped to the pit lane with the flat tire. The #9 will go a lap down. This is a brutal start for Pfaff Motorsports. Oliver Jarvis avoided the Ferrari, but got run into by the other McLaren. Change the tire and assess the damage. That was a massive hit especially under green. They can get laps back but assess the trouble. Thank goodness it was just a flat tire. There could be bodywork that needs taping up.
Louis Deletraz, the Swiss driver starting the #40 WTR/Andretti Acura is probing for a way 'round Felipe Nasr in the #7 Porsche 963 for Team Penske. This car was on the podium at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January. In fifth spot is a real surprise, the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports bright yellow Porsche 963 in the hands of Phil Hanson. This is the car affectionately called "The Banana Boat". Hanson from England is a longtime stalwart in LMP2 moving to GTP in IMSA this year. He shares the #85 car with fellow British racer Richard Westbrook, a former factory Cadillac driver, and with Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm.
BMW to the inside on the #5 Mustang Sampling Porsche 963. Julien Andlauer driving the Porsche, which is being run by Proton Competition with the gray and gold Mustang Sampling livery, for an oil and gas testing company. Andlauer of France is sharing that automobile in GTP with Belgian Alessio Picariello and Italian Gianmaria Bruni, all of whom are Porsche contracted drivers. He has his hands full with both of the Team Rahal Letterman Lanigan factory BMW M Hybrid V8's and all of these GTP cars are going straight by the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, the dark green and yellow entry very reminiscent of the Team Lotus F1 colors from back in the 1960s.
That is Adam Adelson sharing the car with Elliott Skeer and American domiciled Dutchman Jan Heylen. We are also watching the new #63 Lamborghini SC63. Success for them today in the first race in North America, their first time here at Sebring, is to finish the race on the lead lap at the end of 12 hours. The Lamborghini boys and girls are going through the same teething issues we saw last year for the other GTP brands. Cadillac, Acura, BMW, and Porsche. Lamborghini have taken on the services of Brad Kettler. Brad Kettler was a manager for the Audi team, both the factory team that was run by the legend Reinhold Joest, and the Champion Racing Audi team run by the late, great Porsche and Audi dealer Dave Maraj, 20+ years ago, who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2005.
Brad Kettler is now within the Lamborghini organization on the motorsports side. They are learning things and it is the same conversations we had with the other teams last year. A penalty has been assessed for a tire change after the formation lap for the #5 Porsche 963 and they will need to serve a drive through penalty. Even top teams make mistakes. The customer Porsche 963's are in touch with the factory cars. Pipo Derani now leads Sebastien Bourdais by a second and a half as we look in on the GTD Pro and GTD races. Four different races in one which is what makes sports car racing very confusing to the uninitiated, but also makes it great for fans who know a lot about it and are willing to try and teach newcomers to the sport.
Jack Hawksworth and Parker Thompson lead both GT Daytona classes, Pro and regular. Oh dear. Olver Jarvis is now taking the #9 McLaren 720S GT3 for Pfaff Motorsports out of Canada, behind the wall to the garage for more repairs. Be very careful in the paddock because the parking lot is also there and you have street going cars moving around the track holding up the race car trying to get to the garage. Race car drivers hate traffic jams, and this is proof. Always, as a fan at the track, in a car or on foot, let the race cars have the right of way. Move over. The team will have all their tools ready for making repairs. Maybe they need to remove and replace the floor of the car.
We are watching the two Pratt & Miller Corvette Racing Z06's and they look great in the gold Mobil 1 livery. All Corvette's in the field were penalized for technical infractions on the rear diffusers not being homologated by IMSA. Julien Andlauer in the #5 Proton Competition Porsche is making his way to the pit lane. Tommy Milner said that their strategy at Corvette will change, topping off on fuel or stretching it. Everyone will struggle during the day to get to the nighttime hours. One of the two AWA Corvettes of Orey Fidani, cops a drive through penalty for jumping the start. Orey Fidani, the Canadian, sharing with German Lars Kern and British racer Matt Bell.
157-160 miles an hour top speed for the GTD cars on the Ulmann straightaway as Davide Rigon is on the comeback trail. Davide Rigon, channeling his anger and aggression into driving through the field after spinning on the opening lap. Don't let the little things pick at you. Clear your mind and drive, sunbeam. That is what you must do. Risi Competizione know how to race with a Ferrari either the 458, 488, or 296, the Rolex 24 GTD Pro winners. Tommy Milner #4 and Alexander Sims #3, the two Corvette Z06 GT3's from Pratt & Miller are chasing down the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis. Ellis was forced to the back of the grid too. The two Cadillac's continue to lead and Felipe Nasr is being monstered by Louis Deletraz.
Nasr upset with the GTD Corvette's but don't barge a GTD car because a dive plane, a nose, a tire, will be damaged. Coexisting in traffic is the key. I thought there was trouble for the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 entry but that isn't the case. That is the car shared by Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, and Connor Zilisch. You have to co-exist on this 3- and 3/4-mile track as the #10 Acura is coming back. Last year, going for the victory Acura #10 and Porsche #6 came together and took each other out of the race with only moments remaining. The Acura's seem to be coming alive in the middle of this stint.
In replay, Dwight Merriman did go off the road over the dirt through the third turn and he got off the throttle, straightening his hands out. For those of you who were not with us in qualifying yesterday, or did not catch my qualifying recap in the pre-race news blog entry, Matthieu Jaminet had a horrendous accident. The lap befoe he danced the dangerous line. Then he ran over the curbs, landing on the dirt, snapping the car sideways and into the fence. He was jolly lucky to only escape with a torn off nose. We surely thought the monocoque, the tub of the race car, was going to be damaged. Porsche's Jonathan Diuguid mentioned it was a 36G hit! The team even changed the battery pack for the hybrid unit.
These cars are very robust. They are robust and safe. The GTP cars scythe their way through GTD traffic with Sarah Bovy of Belgium in the #83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 the obstacle for the leaders. Bovy sharing with Denmark's Michelle Gatting and Switzerland's Rahel Frey. Pipo Derani in the lead, working the traffic with the Chip Ganassi Racing #01 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais right behind. This is a major rivalry in the Cadillac camp between Ganassi Racing and Action Express. Only 15-16 minutes into the race and the BMW is in the lane very early doors. Not sure if this is #24 or #25.
They have a tire going down. It is the #24, Philipp Eng of Austria at the wheel of it. New tires and fuel will put them off strategy. The BMWs were plagued with technical woes at the Rolex 24. The multi-class racing, the traffic, keeps drivers on their toes and keeps fans like us who watch and talk about these races right on the edge of our seats. It is extraordinary to watch this. Formula 1, are you listening? Are you paying attention? Connor De Philippi defending from Matthieu Jaminet as we are onboard with Louis Deletraz in hot pursuit of Phil Hanson. Porsche running just ahead of the Acura. Acura better under braking but Porsche with the straight line speed.
The Porsche is very clean dialed in for Le Mans in June. But with the cut and thrust at Sebring it also minimizes pieces that can be knocked off the race car. Let's revisit the Balance of Performance tables. This is the necessary evil of sports car racing to keep the technically savvy fans like me both happy and frustrated at the same time. But it is what they have to do. Here are the Balance of Performance changes between the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Manufacturer: Lbs. Horsepower
Acura -38 -11
BMW -2 -11
Cadillac +66 +13
Porsche -4 -15
Acura looking good because they lose 38 pounds. Porsche lost 15 horsepower. Cadillac gained weight and horsepower. 66 pounds of weight with 13 horsepower added. We will get into it briefly because we could talk about it all day. If you go back and watch some of the Formula Jonah YouTube material I have linked in blog posts, that will give you a good idea of what is going on with Balance of Performance. Jonah, as a fellow sports car racing fan, like I am, I think he is far better qualified to talk at length about it, than me.
James Hinchcliffe tells us that the tail of the McLaren is damaged having to take the car back to the garage to assess the damage and the time to repair it. The #9 team won the 12 Hours of Sebring last year when they were representing Porsche. James Hinchcliffe has not even been in the race car yet and we are just 20 minutes into the race. If and when you drive if you are out of contention, it is very disheartening. Oh no. A flat left rear tire for the #04 CrowdStrike by APR LMP Oreca of George Kurtz, team boss and the man behind CrowdStrike. Watch those dive planes on the front because they can slice a tire if they come loose.
I think the tire was already cut down, down the frontstretch. Almost a mile of this fabled track is on the old concrete runways from WW. II. when the B17 and B25 pilots were flying here. Nurse the car back at low speed so the tire does not shred. Charlie Scardina aboard the #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 was a lucky luck boy to get out of the line of fire with no damage. Scardina sharing that automobile with Onofrio Triarsi, the car and team owner, and with Alessio Rovera. Two Americans and an Italian on that team, but all with Italian surnames. Pipo Derani extending his lead over Sebastien Bourdais to 1.2 seconds as the Cadillac's are out front early doors at Sebring. Two different teams. The red Whelen Engineering Action Express Cadillac and the gold Mobil 1 Ganassi Racing Cadillac.
Pipo "The Dynamo" Derani in the lead. Coexist and play nice. There's the #2 LMP2 car going off the road and back on again. That is the United Autosports Oreca 07 being shared by American Ben Keating, Chilean Nico Pino, and British driver Ben Hanley. Pipo Derani and Sebastien Bourdais run 1-2 for Cadillac followed by the Penske Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr, the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 in the hands of Phil Hanson, and the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing/Andretti Global Acura ARX-06 driven by Louis Deletraz of Switzerland. We will break down the top five places in the other classes, too.
In the LMP2 division it is Dan Goldburg in the sister #22 United Autosports Oreca 07 sharing that automobile with Monaco domiciled and licensed Scotsman Paul di Resta, a veteran of both Formula 1 and sports cars, who also races with Peugeot in the FIA WEC, and with American racer and LMP2 rookie Bijoy Garg from the U.S.A. Second place is the aforementioned #2 United Autosports Oreca for Ben Keating, Nico Pino, and Ben Hanley. In third it is the #52 Inter Europol Competition Oreca of the Polish bakers. Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, so a Polish and American effort, with American racer Nick Boulle starting the car, sharing with Jakub Smiechowski of Poland (his father I believe is behind the Inter Europol commercial bakery), and with Frenchman Tom Dillmann who is a former racer for the now defunct Vanwall Vandervell WEC Hypercar program.
Fourth place in LMP2 is the #88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca being driven by Argentinian Luis Perez Companc alongside Dane Nicklas Nielsen, a member of the Ferrari WEC Hypercar effort, and Lilou Wadoux from France, listed on the entry list for IMSA for this race as Lilou Wadoux Ducellier. Fifth place is the #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 in the hands of Steven Thomas, the American racer sharing with Dane Mikkel Jensen and Australian Hunter McElrea.
Currently in GTD Pro it is the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth at the top of the shop, sharing with Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood, two British racers and the American star of IndyCar racing. Mario Farnbacher is second in the #23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. The German driver is sharing with Englishman Ross Gunn and Spaniard Alex Riberas. In third spot it is Madison Snow aboard the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 sharing with Bryan Sellers and Neil Verhagen, three American drivers in that car. Frenchman Franck Perera is fourth in the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 driving alongside South African Jordan Pepper and Mirko Bortolotti from Italy.
Fifth place in GTD Pro is "Rexy" the dinosaur, the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Sebastian Priaulx, son of former World Touring Car champion and GT racer Andy Priaulx, sharing with Dane Michael Christensen and Germany's Laurin Heinrich. Michael Christensen of course, drives for the factory Porsche 963 Porsche Penske Motorsports team in the two-car FIA WEC squad. He is driving with AO Racing in IMSA. In the GT Daytona class, it is the sister #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Canadian Parker Thompson, sharing with Americans Aaron Telitz and Frankie Montecalvo, who leads.
Second in GTD is the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the hands of Mikael Grenier from Canada, driven with Americans Mike Skeen and Kenton Koch. In third spot, the aforementioned #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Antonio Fuoco, Giorgio Sernagiotto, and Roberto Lacorte. Fuoco, the Ferrari factory WEC Hypercar racer is at the wheel of the #47 currently. Fourth is the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 with Italian Loris Spinelli at the wheel of it for the opening stint, sharing with Canadian racers Devlin Defrancesco (a former IndyCar driver) and Misha Goikhberg.
In fifth spot in GTD is another Mercedes-AMG GT3, the #80 Lone Star Racing entry with Australian Scott Andrews the starting driver, sharing the car with Salih Yoluc of Turkey (a standout in LMP2 cars), and Rui Andrade from Angola, another driver going back and forth between LMP2 and GT3. Mobil 1 head of marketing Jennifer Durgin got to wave the green flag when the race started. She had to practice the technique for waving the flag. This is the 30th anniverary of Mobil 1 partnering with the 12 Hours of Sebring and of course this is Mobil 1's 50th anniversary hence the gold livery on the Corvette's and the Ganassi Cadillac.
Sebastien Bourdais right now is in hot pursuit of Pipo Derani. Mobil 1 will be putting golden anniversary liveries on many race cars and motorcycles this year. Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Fred McGriff was the Grand Marshal for the race today with 493 home runs. He played with teams like the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, the WTRAndretti team Acura's are running together. Louis Deletraz went slightly off the road and now he is being chased by his teammate Ricky Taylor. The red and black #40 Dex Imaging Acura is the #40 and the blue Konica Minolta Acura is the #10. We are nearly half an hour into the race. In the meantime, we look at the leading cars, the two United Autosports entries.
Dan Goldburg is in the lead aboard the more traditional navy blue with red and white stripes liveried #22 entry while Ben Keating is second in the sister #2 car done up in the purple Wynn's lubricants livery with the trademark pink and orange stripes. Nick Boulle is right on their tails in the #52 car, the PR1/Mathiasen, Inter Europol car. Coming to the hairpin these chaps will need to negotiate a cluster of GT Daytona cars. Goldburg goes to the outside of Keating, getting alongside his flank right into the hairpin turn. Keating and Goldburg nose to nose going for the lead! Keating makes a fabulous move using the GT Daytona Ferrari 296 GT3 as a pick! That is the #34 car, the Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
Sharing the Conquest Racing automobile, it is American Manny Franco, Spaniard Albert Costa, and Monegasque driver Cedric Sbirrazuoli. Nick Boulle had his nose pinched in turn 11 and poor old Goldburg is trapped. Nick Boulle wants a bite of the cherry. Oops. A spin in the hairpin for the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier and that car is back on the button immediately. Ben Keating has been racing here at Sebring for a dozen years since he drove the Dodge Viper. Boulle and Goldburg go side by side through Sunset Bend, turn 17. Boulle gives the #22 a bit of space.
But you need to be respectful over the bumps in turn 17 as we are just half an hour into the race. Boulle will have a Captain Cook as well. Sadly, the #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren is 11 laps down. The car is fixed but they are way, way behind according to James Hinchcliffe. Bent suspension on both ends of the left side of the car. The plan is to make this situation an 11-and-a-half-hour test session. It is devastating with all the effort that goes into the big endurance races. Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis, Petit Le Mans. The McLaren is getting back on the circuit now.
A battle of the Porsche 963's in GTP, Penske vs. JDC-Miller. Factory vs. customer. Phil Hanson applying the heat to Felipe Nasr, one of the winners of the Rolex 24. Off goes the #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 car. They won this race in LMP2 last year with IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin on the driver's strength. This year, John Farano, the Canadian, has started that car, sharing with American racer Michael Dinan who has been a GT specialist for some years now, and with Irishman Charlie Eastwood who has gone back and forth between GT cars and prototypes. Pipo Derani continues to lead the race. Farano carries too much speed through turn five and goes off into the grass, but saves it.
It is pretty amazing to see the customer Porsche 963, the Phil Hanson driven "Banana Boat" really applying the pressure to the Penske factory car with the Brazilian Felipe Nasr behind the wheel for this first stint. The #9 McLaren is remounting race tires onto the car and there is a penalty for too many people over the wall for the #04 LMP2 car. The CrowdStrike entry will need to serve a drive through. That's George Kurtz, Colin Braun, and Toby Sowery. Connor De Philippi chasing Phil Hanson. De Philippi finished second with his team here last year at Sebring. WRT has two of the BMW M Hybrid V8's in the FIA World Endurance Championship as well.
We saw those cars race if you remember the coverage from a couple of weeks back with the Qatar 1,812 Kilometers. The temperature is as cool as it will be until the night falls. It is going to get much hotter throughout the day and will get very greasy with grip loss imminent when the heat goes up. Phil Hanson is complaining about the Penske Porsche holding him up. Felipe Nasr is the cork in the bottle and Hanson wants by. The privateer Porsche 963's are getting all the same updates to be totally on par with the factory cars. Hanson sharing with fellow Englishman Richard Westbrook and with Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm.
In a way, sometimes the privateers can upgrade things on the cars themselves, but maybe it is better since they will get the factory updates at the same time. It used to be that customer cars had to wait for updates. That is not the case anymore I don't believe. That being said, too, Porsche is the only company out there who are willing to supply cars to privateers. Cadillac have made it clear that they will not put the V Series.R into privateer hands and the same I believe is true with Acura and with BMW even though BMW has the two teams. Rahal Letterman Lanigan here stateside and WRT in the FIA WEC in Europe and globally.
Pipo Derani leading the motor race and he has four wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring. He also has a win here in the summer race that ran in 2020 during the pandemic era. Last year, Action Express won this race. He led a lot during the daytime last year but they were not fast at night. Remember, they won after the top three crashed. Action Express believes they are going to be fast when the nighttime approaches. Sebastien Bourdais in the meantime wants by Pipo Derani in the battle of the two Cadillac's. The red Whelen #31 Cadillac for Action Express and the gold Chip Ganassi Racing #01 Cadillac in the hands of Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais.
Hanson and Nasr in the Porsche's are scrapping, too! Now, Louis Deletraz moves to the outside in the #40 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06. Deletraz absolutely tucked Hanson up like a kipper and now he is dropping like a stone. Connor De Philippi too has leapfrogged and Matthieu Jaminet is making up time in the #6 Penske Porsche 963. Debris on the road and we have a Full Course Yellow. Debris all over the road. Julien Andlauer too in the #5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 is really turning it on as well.
He has just uncorked a lap at 1:49.7 compared to the best lap time by our leader, Pipo Derani in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac at 1:51.1. So, Andlauer might be showing an extra turn of speed. That is surprising because usually Pipo Derani is cutting fast lap after fast lap after fast lap. Maybe he is content to stay in the lead and save his pace for later on in the race. We'll just have to wait and find out. Trouble for the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GT Daytona, Mikael Grenier, the Canadian, at the controls. The car is being pushed back to the garage.
The Mercedes is compliant over the bumps and great under braking. Mercedes thought their Balance of Performance might put them in the pound seats for victory. This is a tough break if indeed the Korthoff Preston team cannot come back into the race. Grenier sharing with Mike Skeen and Kenton Koch of course. 40 minutes into the race and we have our first Full Course Yellow after an intense opening stanza. You can have all the preparation right but if you make the wrong decision at the wrong time, you are in big trouble. It is physically so hard with the bumps, speed, braking zones, and unforgiving runoff areas, as well as mentally.
You are negotiating traffic all the time and when it gets dark it gets even more difficult. Pipo Derani is going for his fifth victory in this great race. Tom Kristensen has the record at six victories in the 12 Hours of Sebring. We are going to hear from Tom Kristensen later on in the race today. But his six triumphs at Sebring came in 2000, 2005, 2006, 2009, and 2012. So, here is the honor roll of Sebring champions. Tom Kristensen has six victories, the most all-time. Rinaldo "Dindo" Capello, his longtime Audi teammate and co-driver has five victories.
Three drivers are tied at four wins apiece, Audi legends Allan McNish from Scotland and Germany's Frank Biela, along with Pipo Derani for Action Express and Cadillac. Five drivers won this race three times. These include Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, Mario Andretti, Hans Stuck, and Marco Werner. Marco Werner was also on the Audi team for many years. Stuck drove for BMW and for Porsche and I think his wins here came with Porsche. Phil Hill, Olivier Gendebien, and Mario Andretti, I believe all of them drove to victory here at Sebring, at various times, with Ferrari. Hill and Andretti are of course Formula 1 World Champions as well. Hill in 1961 and Andretti in 1978 with Ferrari and with Lotus respectively.
Tom Kristensen loves Sebring. He won here six times and won nine times at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He never had a chance before retiring from driving, to race at the Rolex 24. No opportunities came up for TK to race at Daytona. In qualifying, Tom Kristensen crashed in turn three burying the car up to the bulkhead, and former Audi boss Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich was standing right there. Pipo Derani is very close on the wins list to the Audi legends. He knows where he sits in the history of this sport. Sebring is enormous and jam packed for the race today.
It is good to be in a rhythm when racing and so yellow flags can break things up. It is like dancing in a night club at 2:00 A.M. and the lights come on. Sebring is spring break for adults. It is a party, and a motor race breaks out. Pit stop time now for the prototypes, for GTP and LMP2. Yikes! One of the Penske Porsche's almost brushes the pit wall! Sebastien Bourdais in the lane with cleaning for the windscreen and fuel. No tires. Popo Derani at Action Express, in the lane too. We have seen some contact recently between the Penske Porsche 963's. Fuel only and no tires in the Porsche camp.
Pipo Derani wins the race out of the pit lane. It was hard to tell what AXR were doing for service. Fuel is obvious but it was hard to tell if they took tires or not. Louis Deletraz also will do a double stint at the wheel of the #40 Acura for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, the Dex Imaging sponsored Acura. Pipo Derani said yesterday after qualifying on pole, they got behind last year after double stinting tires. There are only 11 sets of tires for the GTP cars. Most of the leaders are double stinting tires. In the Porsche Penske pits, the cars had to be repositioned and that is a clever idea with the team cars.
Drag the car around with the fuel probe plugged in and make sure it is in place. But the #7 car was stuck. The IMSA data logger did not connect to the car in conversation on the radio between Felipe Nasr and team manager Tim Cindric. There is a data logger supplied by IMSA that was not attached to the car and if that is not attached to the car, the series will know about it. So, it had to be reconnected before they could continue in the race, before leaving the lane. The GTP cars have electronics everywhere. There is freedom for the length of the hose, the fueling hose on the rig. In the old days you wanted a hose that would go straight down to give you a quicker fill on these gravity fed fueling rigs.
Now, that is still true, but you want maneuverability as well. Pit stop time now for the GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona cars including the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 for Vasser Sullivan being shared by Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, and Kyle Kirkwood. Frankie Monrecalvo replaces Parker Thompson in the sister #12 Lexus RC F GT3. Hawksworth tagged one of the pit crew members. It looked worse than what it was. Trouble in the lane as the #45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 is stalled in pit lane checking up the rest of the pack.
This is the car being shared by Canadian Kyle Marcelli, Danny Formal from Costa Rica, and American Lamborghini Super Trofeo driver, Graham Doyle. Some of the cars are attempting to go around in the gridlock at the end of the lane. Finally, the Lambo is underway. The #14 Lexus and the sister #12 were both fast at Daytona and both got hammered. Mike Conway had no place to go crashing into an LMP2 car and then the #12 car, in the final hour of the race, had a pit stop and then caught fire and had to retire. What a nightmare scenario. Vasser Sullivan said "our success is never final and our failure is never fatal. We are champions. Don't react. Respond."
The trouble for the #45 Lamborghini, Graham Doyle hit the ignition switch instead of the fuel reset button. Three 17-year-old drivers in this field, a dynamic mix between professional and gentlemen or Am drivers like Ben Keating or P.J. Hyett for instance who are racers but also, businesspeople. Green flag. We are nearly done with the opening hour. Louis Deletraz has second place behind Pipo Derani, but not for long! Sebastien Bourdais has absolutely monstered his way past the Acura driver to return Cadillac to a 1-2! Action Express followed by Chip Ganassi Racing! Holy smokes! The Cadillac's are coming alive!
Ricky Taylor has his hands ful making a move on Matthieu Jaminet. Side by side stuff now between Julien Andlauer and one of the BMW's. Philipp Eng in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 is right behind Julien Andlauer's #5 Porsche. After Sebring we will get into the sprint races. Further back, an LMP2 car goes way off in the dirt into turn 16 onto the Ulmann straightaway. That is Gar Robinson in the #74 Riley Motorsports Oreca 07 he shares with Brazilian driver Felipe Fraga and Australian racer Josh Burdon. Robinson has had success here at Sebring in endurance sports car and Trans Am racing, making the leap up from LMP3 to LMP2.
Porsche, Porsche, BMW in a major battle although Eng is the meat in the sandwich right now between the two WTR with Andretti Global Acura's. Connor De Philippi in the sister #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 has a head of steam on Julien Andlauer in the #5 Porsche, the Proton Competition 963 with the black and gold Mustang Sampling livery. Again, their sponsor is an oil and gas testing company. This is very defensive driving. Andlauer makes his intentions known. De Philippi says, "no you don't, mate" and tries going back after him into the esses on the back of the course, the Sam Collier esses.
I think De Philippi made a reactive move on the Porsche's so the stewards may very well have a Captain Cook at that one on the replay videotape before too long. Troubles for the #52 and #11 LMP2 cars with a refueling violation. Nick Boulle in the #52 Inter Europol/PR1 Mathiasen entry and the #11 TDS Racing car of Steven Thomas. Boulle is the current leader in the LMP2 class, 1.3 seconds to the good over Ben Keating running second. All classes in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship must adhere to a minimum 40 second refueling time. The hybrid powered GTP cars, even, have that time mandated. It is the flow rate that must be linear.
If they are shy of the flow number with the sensors, a penalty must be served.
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