With an hour remaining in the 73rd Twelve Hours of Sebring, Porsche Penske Motorsport was running 1-2 and in strong position for its second consecutive victory to open the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.
The No. 7 963, coming off its second consecutive Rolex 24 at Daytona victory, had a healthy lead of more than 7 seconds with ace Felipe Nasr behind the wheel.
The Brazilian has become the closer for team owner Roger Penske’s sports car team. After ending a 55-year Rolex 24 drought for “The Captain,” Nasr now is poised to deliver the second Sebring overall victory for Penske and his first since 2008.
Teammate Mathieu Jaminet was running second in the Porsche No. 6 963 and was under pressure from the No. 31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R with Earl Bamber until just over an hour ago. Running low on energy, Bamber was forced to the pits for a long stop.
The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 and the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 rounded out the top five as the four full-time manufacturers in IMSA’s Grand Touring Prototype category took turns in the lead during the first 11 hours on the 17-turn, 3.74-mile road course.
The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 took the lead from the No. 31 Cadillac with just over two hours remaining on Lap 289. Nick Tandy made a bold pass on Frederik Vesti on the back straightaway.
Tandy handed the car over to Nasr for the closing stint about 20 minutes later.
With his win in this year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, Tandy became the first driver in history with overall wins in the four major 24-hour sports cars races (Daytona, Le Mans, Spa, Nurburgring). But the Brit, who also has won the Petit Le Mans overall, still is seeking his first overall victory at Sebring.
“It’s time to race,” Tandy told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee about the pass on Vesti. “The 31 was driving well. Had a couple of runs at him. You have to look after it, but it’s time to race. He was driving well. That time, I got a run, made the move, and he left me just enough space. Hopefully we stay there.”
After 11 of 12 hours, the class leaders were:
GTP: No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport
LMP2: No. 8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 ORECA 07
GTD Pro: No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)
GTD: No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3
IN-RACE STATS
HOUR 1: Click here for overall results l By category
HOUR 2: Overall results l By category l Weather report
HOUR 3: Overall results l By category l Weather report
HOUR 4: Overall results l By category l Time cards l Weather report
HOUR 5: Overall results l By category l Weather report
HOUR 6: Overall results l By category
HOUR 7: Overall results l By category l Weather report
HOUR 8: Overall results l By category l Stint analysis l Time cards l Weather report
HOUR 9: Overall results l By category l Weather report
HOUR 10: Overall results l By category l Weather report
HOUR 11: Overall results l By category l Weather report
Hour 9: Acura and BMW suffer heavy pit collision
A collision in the pits has eliminated the top two Grand Touring Prototype qualifiers from contention at the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
With pit stops occurring for the GTP cars under a full course yellow with just over three hours remaining, the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 rammed the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 while exiting its stall.
The contact significantly damaged the left-front suspension on the Acura, which came to a stop at the end of the pit lane with Tom Blomqvist unable to steer. After the No. 60 was rolled back by Meyer Shank Racing team members, its front wing was removed to begin repairs that likely would take several laps.
The No. 24 BMW, which had started on the pole position, made a lap on track before returning to the pits with heavy right rear damage. Kevin Magnussen pulled the car behind the wall for further repairs.
The No. 31 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, currently driven by Frederik Vesti, was in the lead over the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 being driven by Nick Tandy.
After nine of 12 hours, the class leaders were:
GTP: No. 31 Whelen Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R
LMP2: No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2 ORECA 07
GTD Pro: No. 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3
GTD: No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3
Hour 8: Porsche vs. Cadillac for the lead
The Twelve Hours of Sebring seems to be shaping up as a battle of Porsche vs. Cadillac as the sun begins to set.
With four hours remaining in the endurance classic at Sebring International Raceway, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 963 was in first with Laurens Vanthoor behind the wheel and in front of the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac currently driven by Frederik Vesti by 7.465 seconds.
The No. 60 Acura ARX-06 of Meyer Shank Racing was in third.
The No. 7 Porsche and No. 31 Cadillac had been trading the lead throughout the first eight hours of a race run in brutally hot temperatures that reached the upper 80s.
But the complexion of the event is known for changing when the bumpy surface of the 17-turn, 3.74-mile road course cools off in the final few hours at night. And recent finishes often have featured a late restart.
Per the Peacock broadcast, here was the time remaining at the final restart of the Twelve Hours of Sebring in the past five years:
2024 — 23 minutes, 25 seconds
2023 — 4 minutes 45 seconds
2022 — 4 hours, 34 minutes, 36 seconds
2021 — 19 minutes, 4 seconds
2020 — 17 minutes, 41 seconds
After eight of 12 hours, the class leaders were:
GTP: No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963
LMP2: No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2 ORECA 07
GTD Pro: No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO
GTD: No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
Hour 6: Porsche Penske at front again
Two-time defending Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Felipe Nasr took the overall lead of the Twelve Hours of Sebring just before the halfway mark.
Nasr sliced through Turn 2 traffic with his No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 to slide past Earl Bamber in the No. 31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R, which had settled into the lead after starting last in the Grand Touring Prototype category.
After giving Roger Penske back-to-back victories in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, Nasr and No. 7 co-drivers Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor were trying to deliver “The Captain” his second overall victory at Sebring and first since 2008.
Software problems prevented the No. 31 from making a lap in qualifying, but the car rebounded well in the race as Jack Atiken seized command after the first stint. Bamber took over driving after a couple of hours and built a comfortable margin over the No. 7 until Nasr began cutting into the lead.
The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 was in third place through six of 12 hours.
The 73rd running of the endurance classic at Sebring International Raceway had a choppy start as pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor was penalized for an illegal lane change while coming to the initial green flag.
Vanthoor was forced to yield the lead for a pass-through penalty under green. That came after the first yellow flag occurred just six minutes into the event.
After six of 12 hours, the class leaders were:
GTP: No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963
LMP2: No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR LMP2 ORECA 07
GTD Pro: No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO
GTD: No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG GT3
Hour 2: Penalties and pit woes
The first 90 minutes of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring were typically eventful after penalties and pit miscues affected Porsche Penske Motorsport and Team RLL BMW.
That benefited Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R, took the lead near the end of the second hour after starting last Saturday because of a software problem in qualifying Friday.
Earl Bamber held the lead in the No. 31 through the fourth hour after a driver change.
After a penalty to pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor for changing lanes in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 before the start, Felipe Nasr led in Porsche Penske’s No. 7 963 through most of the first hour until the first pit stop sequence under caution.
Despite being low on energy, the top six cars in the Grand Touring Prototype category stayed on track when the pits opened under yellow. According to NBC Sports pit reporter Kevin Lee, the call to pit came too late for Nasr to avoid a commitment line violation for the car with consecutive victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Teammate Mathieu Jaminet followed suit in staying on track with the No. 6 963, as did the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 and the BMWs as the top six missed the pits on the first attempt.
Nasr later told Lee about the pit call that, “I was a little confused because I feel we got the message (the pits were open) from race control very late. I was already pointing to the start-finish. I would have just dived in the pits without the call from the team.
“Anyway it happened now. The car is driving well. We were able to survive the chaos. The track is getting a little greasy, so far so good. Plenty of hours to go ahead.”
Romain Grosjean inherited the lead for the restart, but his No. 63 Lamborghini SC63 failed to get up to speed and fell from first to 12th at the green flag as Aitken moved to the front. NBC Sports pit reporter Matt Yocum said the team apologized to Grosjean on the radio for being caught off guard by the restart.
The race was under yellow for the second time after the No. 023 Ferarri suffered a heavy front-end crash in Turn 13 after being bumped off course by the No. 10 Cadillac being driven by Ricky Taylor.
Taylor was given a stop-and-go penalty plus 60 seconds for the contact, which team owner Wayne Taylor said was the result of a throttle problem on the No. 10. The car lost two laps in the pits under yellow while trying to fix the accelerator and then lost another lap serving the penalty.
“The fact that they would see us losing two laps and bring us in for stop and go and 60 seconds is absolutely ridiculous,” Wayne Taylor told Yocum during the Peacock broadcast, apparently expressing frustration at IMSA chief steward and race director Beaux Barfield. “He’s done this before in races, and I don’t see how he can justify any of this. It’s really pissed me off. Does he not understand anything?”
Though the No. 10 made up a lap, the news got worse for Taylor when his No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R crashed in Turn 17 just past the 8-hour mark when Brendon Hartley appeared to have a rear-wheel lockup to bring out the fifth yellow flag.
A third yellow flag flew at the 1-hour, 25-minute mark after the No. 18 LMP2 ORECA smashed into a tire barrier in a heavy impact that destroyed its left front.
The fourth caution flew with 12 minutes left in the second hour for contact between two LMP2 prototypes, the No. 52 and No. 99.
After four of 12 hours, the class leaders were:
GTP: No. 31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R
LMP2: No. 11 TDS Racing LMP2 ORECA 07
GTD Pro: No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO
GTD: No. 21 Af Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
Start: Vanthoor penalized on pole
Pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor was penalized for an illegal lane change before the start of the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Vanthoor, who had qualified first for the second consecutive race to start the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, moved to his right and across the middle of the track just before the green flag.
The penalty was called during the race’s first caution flag, and Vanthoor had to wait until the Lap 6 restart to serve his drive-through penalty in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 for Team RLL BMW.
Felipe Nasr inherited the lead in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 that has consecutive victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Mathieu Jaminet was third in Porsche Penske’s No. 6 963. Team owner Roger Penske is seeking his second overall victory at Sebring International Raceway and first since 2008.
After the penalty, Vanthoor fell to 23d in the standings behind all the Grand Touring Prototype and LMP2 cars.
In his first full-time season in IMSA, Vanthoor has made mistakes in the first stint of consecutive races. In the Rolex 24 at Daytona, he brushed the wall and parked at an awkward angle on the No. 24 team’s first pit stop (which subsequently was slowed by 30 seconds).
The first full-course yellow flag flew six minutes into the race after a crash involving two LMP2 cars (the No. 18 and No. 88) that left a fender on the track.
Other category leaders after the first 30 minutes at Sebring:
LMP2: No. 18 ORECA LMP2 07, TDS Racing
GTD Pro: No. 81 Ferrari 296 GT3, DragonSpeed
GTD: No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Winward Racing
Click here for the starting lineup in the 73rd Twelve Hours of Sebring.
#24: BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP: Philipp Eng, Dries Vanthoor, Kevin Magnussen leads at the start
The No. 24 BMW driven by Dries Vanthoor leads at the start of the Twelve Hours of Sebring. The BMV M Hybrid V8 led the first five laps before serving a penalty (IMSA/Michael L. Levitt/LAT Images).
How to watch the Twelve Hours of Sebring
TV/streaming: The Twelve Hours of Sebring will be streamed on Peacock from flag to flag beginning at 10 a.m. on March 15.
NBC Sports’ booth coverage will include announcers Leigh Diffey, Brian Till, Dave Burns, Calvin Fish and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee, Chris Wilner and Matt Yocum will serve as pit reporters.
Peacock also will carry streaming of the Ford Mustang Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup and Michelin Pilot Challenge races.
RADIO: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins March 15 at 9:45 a.m. (Sirius channel 216, XM 207, Web/App 992)
