Everyone will be pulling the pin here. This is sketchy. Get your favorite beverage, check out this race on the big screen TV or on your mobile device, and enjoy this. The #10 WTR Andretti Acura and the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini in GTP are both back on the lead lap. Sebastien Bourdais, four-time IndyCar champion. Felipe Nasr, a former Formula 1 driver and IMSA champion, Louis Deletraz, Connor De Philippi, Philipp Eng, Julien Andlauer. What a lineup. This is it. We have the green flag! Let's go! Into turn one it will be Bourdais leading. A clean restart it is. Nasr in second, Bourdais is motoring away again. He has more tire temperature. Julien Andlauer pushing hard and someone has dropped wheels or gone off the road!
Julien Andlauer is now slicing and dicing his way past both BMW's! The #5 Proton Competition, Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 has found a burst of speed! De Philippi has sharpened his elbows and is now making his bid for position! Into the Collier Curves at turn ten, into the braking zone, he goes too far and winds up in the grass, off in no man's land! He avoids the signage. But, blimey! That was a lucky, lucky escape for the BMW man. He must regroup, and now, the bright green Lamborghini SC63 is also in the fight. They have had patience and are now in the fight. They don't have a scratch on the race car even though they dealt with door troubles in the hours of daylight.
De Philippi will regroup and begin pushing again. In GTD Pro, Jack Hawksworth wrestles the lead from Daniel Juncadella as Daniel Serra is now third. Pit callers in the production car classes it appears. I don't believe the GTP leaders will be able to make it the whole way on fuel in this last stint without a splash and a dash. You just never know what is going to happen. The GTP cars will soon catch the tail enders in GT Daytona. Poor old Jack Hawksworth is in a hornet's nest right now.
In GT Daytona, it is also a major fight as Loris Spinelli passes Robby Foley. Someone had a cut down tire and someone peeling off into the lane stopped, the #45 WTR Andretti Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. That is the car of Kyle Marcelli, Danny Formal, and Graham Doyle, the Canadian racer, the American driver, and the Costa Rican driver. Double concern for the #14 Lexus. Voltage troubles at Lexus. Turn off as many systems as possible. Do some math on what to shut down. Turn off the helmet blower and cool suit. You must sacrifice your body and your own comfort before giving up anything with the race car. You will be a roasting chicken, but it is worth it to go for victory.
But it will add to anxiety for the reigning champions. Now, the GTP battle is extremely close! Bourdais, Deletraz, Nasr, Andlauer, Eng, the top five. Cadillac, Acura, Porsche, Porsche, BMW. Bourdais leads Deletraz by four and a half seconds who made a move on Nasr. Deletraz over the bumps in Sunset Bend! Not only that, but watch out for the wall! Job done. Bravery and confidence showing through. Poor old Parker Thompson got an assist and spun the Lexus #12 in GT Daytona. Argy bargy in turn five with one of the Corvette's but I don't know which. I think it was Earl Bamber in the #4 Pratt & Miller car.
Antonio Fuoco in Ferrari #47 passes Elliott Skeer in Porsche #120 for second in GTD. Fuoco has the place. Can they follow up on a victory they had two years ago. Fuoco has amazing speed. He is a factory Ferrari 499P Hypercar driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship and he of course was on the overall pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans centenary edition last summer, a race the sister Ferrari 499P went on to win. Trouble in paradise as the #55 Ford Mustang GT3 in GT Daytona is slow. This is Corey Lewis driving the Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 sharing with fellow American racer Ryan Hardwick and Italian Giammarco Levorato.
The engine is surging and struggling. There is no drive in that car. The 5.4-liter V8 is shutting down not necessarily because it is busted. But the driveline or the transmission, is. Maybe the clutch is busted, or the gearbox has gone kerplooey. We saw the #81 DragonSpeed LMP2 car leading the class earlier, but now they are down the order at the back of the pack. Improper wave by before the yellow. A three minute and 40 second penalty. The LMP2 cars all must stop for one final time and if they do it now under Full Course Yellow, they can get home.
Corey Lewis in the Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 is rescued. That is a relief. It was not in a safe haven. This could be enough for the GTP leaders to make it home. Just over 45 minutes of racing to go before we determine the winners. #55 did slow down, definitely. So, we have, too, a very early release of the 2025 IMSA schedule. I believe I have discussed it in detail on the blog already. To save time, and typing space, I am going to generously link the schedule for 2025 right here, for you.
So, have a Captain Cook at it, at your leisure.
https://www.imsa.com/weathertech/weathertech-2025-schedule/
This is the earliest IMSA has come out with a new season schedule and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Same events. Book your hotels and get your flights if you want to attend in person. I know I sure do. Green flag! 39-40 minutes to go! This will be tighter than a Swiss watch! Green flag! Louis Deletraz, Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer making his move! All behind Bourdais! Did De Philippi justr run to the outside? Yes. Andlauer and Nasr going for it! Proton Porsche vs. factory Penske Porsche! Hard on the brakes to the hairpin, De Philippi has a shot at Andlauer again.
De Philippi is a bona fide star at BMW. De Philippi fires it! What courage! #11, Mikkel Jensen in LMP2 is now in the pit lane from second and so is Ben Hanley from third in the #2 car in LMP2. Sebastien Bourdais leading. It will be very close to make it to the end of the race at Ganassi Racing, according to team manager Mike O'Gara. When will the white flag be displayed? That is going to be the big question on this fuel situation. Deletraz is only half a second behind Bourdais. Burn the clock to get one lap you need if you are tight on fuel.
Do you give up lap time? Do you go on full attack mode? Deletraz is lifting and coasting to save gas. Bourdais too, will be driving slower to save fuel. Michael Andretti says everyone is driving to a number. The trouble is what might happen with the yellows. The #40 team believes they have the pace and can stay in front. Bourdais is doing what we talked about, driving defensively and efficiently, pressing the Eco Mode switch. He is stymying Deletraz, but there's another Full Course Yellow on the speedway! Oh my! This changes everything! Bourdais might have just been gifted a mulligan here. There is debris everywhere! Back-to-back yellows.
Make that, three yellows in a recent span of time. Under the cover of darkness, just half an hour to go as we work through the 12th Full Course Yellow of the race. So, at this rate, if my math is correct, we have seen a Full Course Yellow in every hour here at Sebring. Now, I might just be exaggerating, but it sure feels that way. We were just watching Hunter McElrea's big move in replay in LMP2. McElrea is new to sports car racing but he can drive for sure. It is new to him, his first time doing an endurance race.
He is having a lot of fun. Hunter McElrea was born in America, has a New Zealand passport, and grew up in Australia. Wow. World traveler! He races and is licensed under the New Zealand flag. The team is not sure where they will be, but they are confident in Mikkel Jensen to get it home. Fingers crossed. Pit stop time now for the #10 Acura, a strategy call at WTR Andretti. Filipe Albuquerque will be fighting to the bitter end. I think we have seen this movie before. He will need to stop at pit out. This is the prototype wave by and he'll be at the tail end of the GTP cars. In this replay, a bumper goes fluing off one of the GT3 cars and it is the GTD Pro Ford Mustang factory car, the #64 with Harry Tincknell at the controls.
Well, well. The emperor has no clothes, I guess. Oh my! I'm naked! That bumper came off like papier mâché! Here are your biggest movers in the LMP2 division. Connor Zilisch has moved up nine spots. Jonny Edgar in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier up half a dozen places. Felipe Fraga, Colin Braun, and Mikkel Jensen have each moved up three spots. Connor Zilisch spun earlier in the day and didn't hit anything. So, we'll see what is about to happen. A lot of great drivers in LMP2. GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, all of them will be a barnburner.
Risi Competizione and Winward Racing in GTD Pro and GTD could be in for a sweep of the unofficial trophy of the "36 Hours of Florida" between Daytona and the Rolex 24 and here at Sebring in the 12 Hours. Three of the four class leaders were winners at the Rolex 24 in their respective divisions and we have the third place #7 Porsche 963 for Porsche Penske Motorsports of Felipe Nasr, who won the Rolex 24 outright. They are third. Jack Hawksworth is trying to get inside Daniel Serra's mind. OK. Take a deep breath, check yourself, and get ready for a fight to finish in these last 23 minutes.
Who is the bravest? Who will make the right decision? Who will throw caution to the wind? Sebastien Bourdais in the #01 Cadillac Racing Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V Series.R leads them to the green flag! Bourdais launched from a cannon! Julien Andlauer on the outside, side by side with Felipe Nasr and keeps it on the road going to third. Andlauer wants more and Louis Deletraz nudges him off the road in the #40 WTR Andretti Acura, the Dex Imaging car! The #7 Porsche goes by. That was too big of a bite of the pie from Andlauer and now he is paying the price for it. Hello, heartburn.
Conoor De Philippi in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 sees an opening. We have seen next level racing in GTP and now De Philippi goes off the road, again. This whole pack of GTP cars have been chasing each other. Sebastien Bourdais is now grinning like a stuck possum, whistling off into the distance over everyone else. Deletraz must have bogged down on the restart and Bourdais was shot out of a cannon with the brute V8 horsepower from the Cadillac.
We are hearing about some coming to blows in GTD Pro between the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Jack Hawksworth and the #3 Pratt & Miller Motorsports Corvette of Daniel Juncadella. Oh yes. Some argy bargy between these two blokes. Hawksworth slides deep inside and clonks into Juncadella. "The Hawk" asks, "how do you like me, now?" Turn in, find clean air, and punch it. Now, Hawksworth isn't done with the job! He is going to divebomb past Daniel Serra! Serra is off the road! Serra is off the road! Holy moly!
Now, "Rexy" like the dinosaur he is, is stomping, roaring, and thrashing and Laurin Heinrich is giving Daniel Serra what for! The Triarsi Competizione Ferrari in GTD is also in this fight. The GTD class Ferrari, a padiddle, with one working headlight, is making big moves as well. look. To quote the song by The Wallflowers, "we can drive it home, with one headlight." Final 20 minutes of the 12 Hours of Sebring and moves are being made everywhere. Serra is not taking his earlier thrashing sitting down. He is giving it back to Laurin Heinrich, now stepping on Rexy's tail. Well, this might make that dinosaur even angrier.
If this stays green for 20 more minutes, we could have a full-blown wrestling match in the production car classes! Sebastien Bourdais leads the motor race, 2.2 seconds to the good over the rest of the GTP field. I don't think Serra touched Hawksworth but ran out of room himself and Daniel Juncadella dives to the inside in avoidance. The Corvette is glued to the Lexus. The GTD category has amber headlight gels while everyone else is using the white headlights. Colin Braun has spun and flown Plumet Airways back to tenth in LMP2. Not good. Braun tries making a move on Felipe Fraga into turn 17 under the bridge and Sunset Bend and spins off the road.
He was jolly lucky to not get clobbered by someone else! Braun spun in traffic in Thursday night, night practice. Tim Keane is now the strategist for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti and is telling Louis Deletraz to be patient. Keane has worked with both Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing in the past and made the move over to the WTR Acura team in the off season to work on their second car. We are into the final 16 minutes. Can Louis Deletraz catch Sebastien Bourdais for the overall victory? What a thrilling end to this race! Bourdais and Deletraz are now half a second apart!
GM power vs. Acura power. Cadillac are going for four consecutive wins in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Louis Deletraz wants to turn the tables and put Acura in victory lane. Deletraz is trying to get inside Bourdais' head, hitting the high beam flashers. That can be very obnoxious, and some people believe it ought to be against the rules, in all sports car racing, prototypes, GT cars, whatever. If Deletraz passes, Bourdais will retur the favor. Deletraz is faster than Bourdais on the back part of the course.
There is a huge wad of GTD cars as well. In LMP2 it is also hot and heavy. Connor Zilisch is fending off everything being thrown at him by the rapid Brazilian, Felipe Fraga. There's also less than a second in it in GTD Pro between Jack Hawksworth and Daniel Juncadella, and less than a second in it, in GTD, between Philip Ellis and Antonio Fuoco as well. 12 and a half minutes of racing to go. Again, Colin Braun, after his turn 17 spin has plummeted. Can Connor Zilisch win both Daytona and Sebring in one year? He is racing in the NASCAR truck series and he and Jack Hawksworth ran a NASCAR truck race a weekend later at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Two corners ahead of the leaders is the much-beleaguered Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3, the #9 car that has had a fraught race today. Marvin Kirchhofer is finishing the race in the McLaren. The leaders have to go through the entire GT field off the exit of Sunset Bend. These two have left everyone else behind. Felipe Nasr is six seconds out of range of Louis Deletraz. Michael Andretti said they have the speed and need the track position. They have it. The leaders have full fuel and don't have any coast phase. There is less than a second in GT Daytona between Philip Ellis and Antonio Fuoco.
Elliott Skeer is also hanging tough in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, only a handful of car lengths behind the Ferrari. Time is of the essence. Bourdais finds a gap and Louis Deletraz is a demon on the brakes, closing the gap. Tge #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren moves out of the way. #01 has a half second cushion, but here comes the traffic. Who gets the lucky break in traffic? If he sees the gap he has to go for it. Bodywork flying, and someone is off the road. Deletraz going to the outside! No dice but he switches sides and is half in the greass, right to the wall vs. Bourdais! He backs off. W
Bourdais is stymied. Deletraz tries making the move again. Almost a cut and paste from last year between Acura and Porsche before the big accident we saw. Bourdais covers, Deletraz switches back, with a clump of GT traffic ahead. Bourdais hanging tough. Watch the crossover going back to power. This is what it is like, slamming Bourdais with the high beams. If you go wheel to wheel with Sebastien Bourdais, the odds are he will slam you right into the fence and race control wouldn't give a flip.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti went winless last year. The last time they won was in the middle of 2022 at Road America. They want this, bad. Acura have not won the 12 Hours of Sebring. Many moons ago, Wayne Taylor Racing ran with Cadillac and with General Motors for several years. They want this win in the worst possible way coming to the end of 12 grueling hours. Bourdais runs wide through Sunset Bend with a dozen GTD cars coming up. Six and a half minutes to go. Bourdais has not put a wheel wrong.
But he will be under pressure with about four laps left to run before the clock goes to zero. Deletraz crosses over, pulling the slingshot! Deletraz to driver's right! Bourdais defends. Deletraz tries throwing the block. No dice. Bourdais tags Deletraz and they both squirm under power! Bourdais, on the wrong side of the road. Bourdais nearly spins Deletraz out! Deletraz is inching away through the traffic.
Deletraz has stirred up the hornet's nest and is scampering to get away from Bourdais. But, believe me, Deletraz is the minnow, and Bourdais is the shark here. Jack Hawksworth uses himself as a pick to split Deletraz and Bourdais! There are seven more GT cars to move past. Bourdais wide through the turn one apex. Bourdais knows his tires are busted. The Michelin's are dead, used up. Bourdais is told to keep digging. Oh my! Corvette #3 is in the fence at Kristensen Corner! The 32 year old driver from Barcelona, Dani Juncadella is in trouble.
Deletraz scything through GT Daytona traffic. Bourdais is still fighting, tires or no tires. Bourdais repays the favor flashing the headlights at Deletraz! Now he is pouring on the steam! Local yellow for the stranded Corvette. White flag next time by. Wayne Taylor, as a driver, was a race winner and a champion in his own right. Can Colton Herta, Jordan Taylor, and Louis Deletraz pull it off? Filipe Albuquerque has recovered. The front Michelin's on Bourdais' Cadillac are used up. Julien Andlauer off the road at turn 17 in the #5 Mustang Sampling Proton Competition Porsche 963.
WTR Andretti expanding to two cars. #40 was on the podium at Daytona with Formula 1 champion Jenson Button part of the drivers' strength. WTR Andretti are showing the fight they've had in the past and the drought for them is about to end. The anguish is gone. The team expansion will show it is bearing fruit. The 2024 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring is won by the #40 Dex Imaging Acura ARX 06 of Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, and Colton Herta!
Winward Racing sweeps the 36 Hours of Florida! Phillip Ellis, Indy Dontje, and Rusell Ward take the honors in GT Daytona! The margin of victory is a tenth of a second in GTD Pro! All the heartbreak of the Rolex 24 is over and forgotten for Vasser Sullivan Lexus! GTD Pro goes to the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, and Kyle Kirkwood! In the LMP2 class, it is Era Motorsport victorious with Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, and Connor Zilisch, the winners!
Overall/GTP: #40 Taylor/Deletraz/Herta Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
LMP2: #18 Merriman/Dalziel/Zilisch Era Motorsport Oreca 07
GT Daytona Pro: #14 Hawksworth/Barnicoat/Kirkwood VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3
GT Daytona: #57 Ward/Ellis/Dontje Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG
GT3 Evo
Everyone take a breath! That was wild! A come from behind victory for the #40 Acura who break the stranglehold General Motors and Cadillac have had on this race for some years now between the two major teams at Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express. Acura score their first victory in the modern era at the 12 Hours of Sebring. So, the 12-hour classic is over for another year. Next up, we break into the meat and potatoes of the season with the sprint races, beginning in a shade over two weeks on the streets of Long Beach, California, and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Join us there. For now, good night from the concrete runways of the former Hendricks Field WW. II. training base, which is now Sebring Inernational Raceway. So long, everybody. Take care.
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