Saturday’s IMSA’s Twelve Hours of Sebring came down to the wire, as after an hour long duel, the GTP No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura with Louis Deletraz at the wheel wrestled past the GTP No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of two-time Twelve Hours of Sebring winner Sebastien Bourdais with just six minutes of the race left to go and held him off to give Wayne Taylor Racing their second Twelve Hours of Sebring win and first for Acura.
- Wayne Taylor Racing win second Twelve Hours of Sebring
- Cadillac heartbreak
- GTP leader swaps
- GTD Pro battle
- Lamborghini SC63 test race successful
- LMP2 and GTD
- Class winners
8 min read
Wayne Taylor Racing win second Twelve Hours of Sebring
Acura clinched their first Sebring 12 Hour win on Saturday, Wayne Taylor Racing’s second Sebring 12 Hour win, last winning in 2017, and the first Sebring 12 Hour win since becoming Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti in 2023.
The final hour of the race saw several full course yellows that gave Sebastien Bourdais, who was desperately trying to keep ahead of Deletraz’s Acura ARX-06 after the team had worked their way back to the front after being off the pace for a couple of hours, a quick reset each time, just as Deletraz had been filling the Frenchman’s mirrors.
The final green flag run was just long enough for Deletraz to find a way past Bourdais’ Cadillac, who had been lacking tyre life compared to Deletraz, as he pinched Bourdais coming out of the turn seven hairpin after a side by side battle. Lap traffic nearly helped Bourdais make a final charge at Deletraz with two laps to go, but Deletraz was able to find enough clear track to stay out front and take the checkers.
Following the 333 lap race, with a race time of 12 hours and 54 seconds, Deletraz, speaking to IMSA Radio said: “It was clear I wanted to win. Really hard fight with Seb, but in the end was fair, we could have both ended up in the wall but it was respectful. I saw the gap, if I don’t try, I’m not a racing driver. I am super happy we won.”
The No. 40 team comprised of Louis Deletraz, 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar champion Jordan Taylor, and full-time IndyCar star Colton Herta, denied Cadillac from scoring their fifth Twelve Hours of Sebring in six years.
Team principal Wayne Taylor speaking to IMSA Radio said: “Balance of performance didn’t suit us at all in Daytona. Thanks to IMSA and all manufactures to getting this thing back on track to where everyone had a chance.”
Cadillac heartbreak
It was heartbreak for Cadillac, as both their cars collectively led the majority of the race, first with the pole-sitting GTP No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series. R car.
Disaster struck the race leading No. 31 Cadillac in the eighth hour when, after leading for several intervals for the first half of the race, Pipo Derani, who had set a blistering pace, gapping the second place 2024 Daytona 24 Hours winning No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport team driven by Felipe Nasr, had a huge crash when on the run to turn 10, Derani slightly moved across the GTD No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari of Miguel Molina, getting tagged and was sent sliding to the right, smacking into the tyre wall, sending several tyres flying into the air, with the impact flipping his GTP car and landing upside down.
Pipo Derani UPSIDE DOWN!
The race leader in the 12 Hours of Sebring got into the tire barrier and flipped. He walked away under his own power.
📺 : USA Network and Peacock pic.twitter.com/1y768uJvEr
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) March 16, 2024
This had come shortly after a nearly three hour interval where the No. 31 had worked it’s way up from seventh to first with drivers Tom Blomqvist and Jack Aitken after having to pit for emergency fuel after a full course yellow had come out.
The Chip Ganassi Racing No. 01 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande, six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon who was looking for his first Twelve Hours of Sebring win, and Bourdais, had spent the first few hours of the race in the tyre tracks of the sister Cadillac car, and also had to work their way back to the front after falling off the GTP Acura and GTP BMW’s leading pace in the eighth hour.
It was less than two hours to go when the 01 car led consecutive stints but just like the sister 31 car did in the first half of the race, the No. 40 Acura had the legs and the pace to just find a way past the No. 01 car in the dying embers of the race.
Van der Zande said speaking to IMSA radio said: “I’m very disappointed, hats off to Deletraz. Bourdais. It’s all Seb could have done. [The Acura] had more tyre and faster lap pace. Bourdais tried to hold off.”
GTP leader swaps
Following Derani’s race ending crash, nobody could keep the lead without issue.
As the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura car, nine and half hours into the race, found a way past the race leading No. 25 BMW M Team RLL car, the car was continually burning excessive amounts of oil, and several laps later was forced to pit to address it, puttiing them a lap down, and handing the lead to the No. 7 and No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport cars.
The next restart after a full course yellow, saw the new race leader Porsche No. 6 of Frederic Makowiecki spin in turn seven with a flat right rear tyre possibly as a result of contact with the GTD No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22 car.
The No. 66 car was one of two all-female lineups in the race, and was running fifth in their GTD class at the time, when the No. 7 Porsche came charging round the inside of Sunset Bend, getting onto the grass before tank slapping into the No. 66 of four-time IMSA GTD winner Katherine Legge, sending her barrelling into the turn 17 tyre wall on the opposite side and taking the team out of the race. No action was taken, a common theme in the race by race control.
GTD Pro battle
The GTD Pro class saw a fierce battle between Lexus, BMW, Porsche, Corvette, and Ferrari for the top five spots all race long, but after an overall dominant display from the GTD Pro No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 team of 2020 Twelve Hours of Sebring GTD winner Jack Hawksworth, Lexus USA factory driver Ben Barnicoat, and full-time IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood, and an impassioned comeback from Hawksworth, saw the team jump from third to back to the top spot in the final laps to win the GTD Pro class.
Hawksworth made an ambitious dive down the inside of the Daniel Juncadella driven No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R car into the turn seven hairpin with Juncadella colliding heavily with the rear of Hawksworth’s Lexus as he turned in, with Hawksworth coming out with second.
Hawksworth then stormed past the leading GTD Pro No. 62 Ferrari of Daniel Serra down the inside of turn one the following lap with 23 minutes to go, to take GTD Pro victory.
Hawksworth said speaking to the IMSA Radio: “With 30 minutes to go, I didn’t want to settle for bottom step of the podium.”
Hawksworth’s No. 14 teammate Ben Barnicoat said speaking to IMSA Radio: “Hawksworth, what a badass, he knows when to make big moves.”
Hawksworth other No. 14 teammate and full-time IndyCar driver Kyle Kirkwood said speaking to IMSA Radio: “They executed at exactly the right time. The car was flawless, pit stops were flawless. His pass was absolutely insane.”
Lamborghini SC63 test race successful
While not having the pace of the other GTP teams, in their first IMSA GTP class race, the GTP Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 team of Lamborghini factory drivers Matteo Cairoli and Andrea Caldarelli, as well as full-time IndyCar and ex-Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, completed all 333 laps finishing in seventh place with little issues when it came to reliability.
The fight for most of the race was keeping the SC63 out of trouble and on the lead lap, which Romain Grosjean nearly jeopardised four hours into the race when he spun the SC63 and had to visit the pits to check the car was ok.
Grosjean also was driving when with less than four hours to go, the only notable fault occured on the SC63 when the driver side door was slightly ajar but fixed in place as he raced around the 17-turn 3.74 mile circuit.
After going a lap down ten hours into the race, the seas parted just in front of Grosjean as the SC63 was directly behind the No. 6 Penske Porsche Motorsport car of Makowiecki as he spun in turn seven, allowing Grosjean to slip past to go back on the lead lap.
Grosjean worked frantically for twenty minutes to keep the now race leading No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport car of Matt Campbell behind as he was being pressured by the No. 01 Cadillac of van der Zande for the race lead.
The SC63 team briefly went a lap down during the next green flag pit cycle but through the many full course yellows in the final hour of the race, was able to get back on the lead lap.
Grosjean said: “I am super happy with the result, we know that the Sebring 12 Hours is one of the toughest races out there, due to the track nature. It is a really positive step therefore, that we managed to finish the race and on the lead lap in P7. There is still a lot that we need to work on, and I am excited for the future.”
LMP2 and GTD
In the LMP2, after a fierce battle back and forth all race long back for the LMP2 lead between the No. 99, No. 52, No. 2, and No.11 machines, it was instead the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 Gibson team of Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, and Connor Zilisch, who with half an hour ago took the lead through the pit strategy cycle with Zilisch driving, to win the LMP2 Twelve Hours of Sebring class, going back to back in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech Championship season after winning the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona in January.
Zilisch said speaking to IMSA Radio: “That was the longest 24 minutes of my life.”
The GTD class saw a dominant display by the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, and Indy Dontje, leading 164 of the 314 laps that the GTD class completed, also going back to back after winning the GTD class in the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona.
This came after their pole position was rescinded after running unapproved sensors during Friday’s qualifying, but after just 55 laps had passed all 21 GTD cars to take the lead of the race.
Ward said: “We’re used to it, ‘cause the last three years we’ve had to start from last at some point. We knew we had the car for it, and our goal was just to get the maximum amount of points out of this race. The crew performed flawlessly, the drivers made a few mistakes, and we came out on top.”
The next IMSA WeatherTech SportCar Championship race is the 100-minute Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 20th.
Class winners
GTP – No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, and Colton Herta
LMP2 – No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 Gibson of Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, and Connor Zilisch
GTD Pro – No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F of Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, and Kyle Kirkwood
GTD – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG Evo of Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, and Indy Dontje
Featured Image: #40: Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta, Confetti, Orange Juice (Photo courtesy of Acura Newsroom)