After a lengthier break than planned endurance racing is back for the 12 Hours of Sebring, America’s original endurance race! It’s the same deal as with the Rolex 24, but can Porsche do the double once again? And how will Lamborghini’s new Temerario GT3 fare in the hands of Pfaff among others? It’s sure to be a thriller in Florida.

GTP

With the hour continuing what was one of the longest green flag periods of the race so far, it meant Porsche could extend their advantage. They still ran 1-2, with the #7 of Felipe Nasr still ahead of the #6 of Kevin Estre, while BMW’s strongest GTP contender, the #24 currently piloted by Sheldon Van Der Linde was third. Meanwhile Jack Aitken spun his #31 Whelen Cadillac out of fourth place, dropping behind the #93, #60 and the #10 in what proved a lucky escape. Aston Martin’s #23 was struggling meanwhile in what had been a competitive run, eventually going behind the wall with hybrid issues, as Porsche’s metronimic lead extended past the 90 second mark. That lead was evaoporated thanks to the FCY, which saw Heinrich installed in the #7 and Laurens Vanthoor in the #6, as Earl Bamber climbed into the #31 as tit jumped to third after a quicker pit stop. After a lengthy stay behind the wall, the #23 Aston Martin returned from behind the wall. With the field back under green Porsche consolidated their lead once again.

LMP2

The #99 of Johnny Edgar continued its dominant performance thus far, remaining in the lead of the race ahead of Rasmus Lindh’s #22 United Autosports machine, with David Heinemier Hansson’s #11 TDS Racing car. The Pratt Miller #73 received a drive through penalty for breaching powertrain parameters, dropping it to 7th in class. The #22 of United Autosports ran wide and collected an advertising hoarding, forcing the car to pit to remove it. With the FCY, Alex Quinn moved up into 2nd in the #04 Crowdstrike ahead of Paul Di Resta’s #22.

GTD PRO

Porsche held a 1-2 lead still, with the #77 of Nick Tandy remaining in front of the #911 Manthey entry of Ricardo Feller, with Kyle Kirkwood’s #14 Lexus still third. The #48 Winward Mercedes had been struggling for a while with power issues, and eventually went behind the wall. With 4 and a quarter hours remaining the front left wheel of the #14 inexplicably detached itself and rolled loose onto the runoff, ending what had been an incredibly lengthy green flag period as the FCY came out.

GTD

Charlie Eastwood’s #36 Corvette of DXDT remained in the lead of the class as the hour began, with Ricardo Pera now aboard the #912 Manthey machine, and Scott Andrews’ #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes.

Rick Flores, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons