DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — OK, so the outcomes in all 4 lessons of competitors weren’t severely unsure within the ultimate moments of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. That stated, lower than 11 seconds (formally a mixed 10.992, however who’s counting?) lined the entire margins of victory in Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Grand Touring Daytona Professional (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). What’s extra, these margins got here on the finish of a dozen hours of fierce racing and shifting fortunes typical of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship which noticed six opponents apiece end on the lead lap in GTP, LMP2 and GTD PRO, with 4 GTD entries going the gap.
What to make of all of it?
The Cream Additionally Rises
Though they compete with completely different automobiles in several classes, one frequent attribute shared throughout all 4 class winners is a championship pedigree. Not way more want be stated about general winners Porsche Penske Motorsport, apart from that marque, staff and the No. 7 Porsche 963 will not be solely the defending GTP champions but in addition the latest winners to kick off 2025.
They arrived at Sebring following a convincing Rolex 24 At Daytona victory. And Nick Tandy, who co-drove the successful Porsche with Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor on Saturday, added his Sebring win to a powerful assortment of general endurance race wins at IMSA’s marquee endurance rounds at Daytona and Motul Petit Le Mans, and three different world 24-hour wins at Le Mans, Spa and the Nürburgring.
“You not often see a sports activities staff or operation that does a single occasion with none faults or errors, and we’ve simply celebrated with 40 individuals who have flawlessly run a automobile for 36 hours at Daytona and Sebring mixed,” stated Tandy, who might have added the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 that completed second at Sebring solely simply resulted in third at Daytona. “Only a testomony to what Porsche and Penske have put collectively to permit us to go racing. It’s simply unimaginable that we’ve had this run the final two occasions.”
LMP2 noticed defending WeatherTech Championship class champion Tom Dillmann team-up with staff newcomers Bijoy Garg and Jeremy Clarke to emerge victorious within the No. 43 Inter Europol Competitors ORECA LMP2 07, the identical Inter Europol squad that partnered with PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports to seize final yr’s LMP2 staff championship.
In GTD PRO, Laurin Heinrich joined Klaus Bachler and Alessio Picariello in taking the win in AO Racing’s No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992). Higher referred to as “Rexy,” it’s the identical automobile which carried Heinrich, AO Racing and Porsche to the 2024 WeatherTech GTD PRO titles. And in GTD, defending WeatherTech Championship champions Philip Ellis, Russell Ward and Winward Racing scored their second straight Mobil 1 Twelve Hour-victory within the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 (as soon as once more with co-driver Indy Dontje).
Ward might have spoken for all 4 successful squads when he noticed, “I believe I converse for the entire crew after I say we anticipate nothing much less. I actually wish to give a shout out to all the staff and significantly the full-time folks again on the store. Everybody works so exhausting to get this carried out. There’s no break, that is simply what we like to do.”
Unperturbable
The Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring featured a number of spectacular “rebound” performances, as groups shook off setbacks to guide the race and – in some instances – end on the rostrum. Living proof, the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Collection R.
The 2023 race-winning staff began from the rear of the GTP area after software program points prevented the automobile from taking part in Friday’s qualifying session. Unperturbed, Jack Aitken well marched to the category and general lead earlier than the two-hour mark and – along with co-drivers Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti – led 155 of 353 laps earlier than slipping to fourth place as soon as evening fell and climate circumstances cooled.
“The race began rather well for us at the moment and we managed to remain in these prime positions for almost all of the race,” stated Aitken. “I believe when the evening got here round, we didn’t have that further gear that the others did. We missed out on the rostrum; it’s robust to take . . . However there are positives from this – coming from the again of the sphere remains to be not a foul consequence.”
The No. 57 Winward Mercedes-AMG did the Whelen staff one (or extra) higher as they stormed into the GTD class lead from fourth on the grid within the opening quarter hour and stayed at or close to the entrance for the stability of the afternoon.
That’s till they have been assessed a drive-through penalty for a pit lane violation after the halfway level within the race. Unperturbed, Ellis, Ward, Dontje & co. clawed their means again into rivalry earlier than Ellis shouldered apart the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 of 2024 GTD PRO race winner Jack Hawksworth to seize the lead with 12 minutes remaining within the race, a lead he prolonged to three.265 seconds on the checkered flag.
“We needed to come again from a penalty early on, shook it off and saved going,” stated Ellis. “There was a automobile on the finish. We knew we have been faster, however we needed to be cautious getting by. That’s the extent of operation for this staff, and we don’t take an pointless danger. If they provide you a gap, you’re taking it, and we did.”
Tantalizing Glimpses
The outcomes might not present it, however the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring additionally provided tantalizing glimpses that good issues could also be in retailer for a number of producers and groups who didn’t determine among the many podium finishers.
Having notched the GTD PRO win within the Rolex 24, each the No. 64 and No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3s put in sturdy performances at Sebring. They completed fifth and sixth, respectively, in a race the place each the staff’s drivers and pundits shared pre-race skepticism in regards to the automobile’s potential efficiency at this circuit.
In the meantime, on what proved to be a disappointing weekend for the Ferrari Method 1 staff, a bevy of Ferraris 296 GT3s did Maranello proud at Sebring in each the GTD PRO and GTD classes. The GTD PRO-polesitting No. 81 DragonSpeed Ferrari completed simply off the GTD PRO podium in fourth, a strong run for the staff that includes the DragonSpeed and Risi Competizione technical alliance in simply its second race collectively.
In GTD, Inception Racing’s No. 70 Ferrari got here residence fourth, and Conquest Racing’s No. 34 Ferrari led 20 laps earlier than ending seventh. The GTD-polesitting No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari appeared like a possible winner at school, main a class-high 77 laps, earlier than a spectacular excessive velocity “off” in Flip 1 negated their momentum. Lilou Wadoux – who spent a goodly period of time on the head of the GTD area herself earlier within the race – stopped on target shortly after taking up from polesitter Alessandro Pier Guidi, who was virtually definitely worth the worth of admission on his personal to observe.
Then there was the scintillating No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Staff Valkyrie, which made a powerful WeatherTech Championship debut, operating to a largely trouble-free ninth place end in GTP and lapped inside a half second of the category leaders for a lot of the occasion. The “different” Coronary heart of Racing Staff entry – its No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 – quietly banked a second consecutive GTD podium in third place to start out the yr, positioning itself nicely in that class championship.
Final, however on no account least, Vasser Sullivan Racing confirmed there’s life within the oldest platform in GTD PRO and GTD because the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 was very a lot within the hunt for prime GTD honors earlier than being, er “compelled” to accept second spot with only a dozen minutes remaining within the 12-hour contest. As Lexus seems able to debut a brand new automobile for 2026, don’t be shocked if the present Lexus springs a win or two this season.
