Andretti Global’s Louis Deletraz raced and overtook Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais to take the lead with six minutes remaining on Saturday night (March 16). From there, Deletraz held on to win the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring for himself. Colton Herta and Jordan Taylor.
“I can’t,” Deletraz said after the race. I got stuck [Bourdais], but I know he’s a fast runner. I saw the hole [in the fork] and went for it. We had [a little bit of contact], but we won. That’s what matters. “
The margin of victory for Deletraz, Herta and Jordan Taylor was 0. 891 moments over Bourdais, Scott Dixon and Renger van der Zande. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Matt Campbell, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr were third, followed by Phillippi’s Connor, Maxime Martin and BMW M Team RLL’s Nick. Yelloly. The WTRA Acura moment of Filipe Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley and Ricky Taylor fifth.
Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani started from pole in the overall standings and led early. Bourdais gave chase, resulting in an initial training-like segment in which the two Cadillacs battled each other.
After a yellow flag for debris and the first series of stops, Bourdais was able to take the overall lead in the second hour. Pit methods replaced the running order as Cameron and Martin took the lead in the third and fourth hours.
As the race progressed, the Cadillacs were back in position to win, but by the eighth hour, Derani’s chances of victory came to an end. While in the lead, he collided with AF Corse’s Miguel Molina at turn nine and hit the tyres. Abreast. The Cadillac jumped the tire barrier and ended up on the roof.
It took a few minutes for AMR’s security team to partially straighten out the Cadillac when Derani got stuck in the car. Once lifted slightly, Derani was able to get out of the car and drive away. Molina’s Ferrari was also absent.
The lead ultimately went to Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Frederic Makowiecki in the No. He was at the front when he made contact with Gradient Racing’s Katherine Legge at Sunset Bend, which sent Legge violently into the wall and out of the race.
A few laps after the restart after this accident, Makowiecki punctured his left rear tyre and lost his head at the hairpin. He returned to the pits, but lost two laps to get there and make repairs. He would eventually finish ninth, two laps menos. la leaderboard.
The race boils down to a war between Bourdais and Deletraz. At the final restart, either driver pulled away from the rest of the GTP contenders. Deletraz remained in the position until the leaders faced the GT cars.
With six minutes remaining, Deletraz attacked Bourdais at the hairpin. Bourdais held on, but Deletraz received another point coming out of the hairpin. A few touches were made, but Deletraz controlled to keep the movement going. From there, he held on for the winner.
In LMP2, AO Racing’s PJ Hyett took pole and told NBC Sports it was the third most productive moment of his life. Saturday’s first round didn’t live up to the hype, as he temporarily dropped out of the top five.
United Autosports’ Dan Goldburg took the lead on the opening lap and managed to hold off experienced teammate Ben Keating early on. Keating eventually managed to take advantage of the traffic to take the lead thanks to a rare outdoor run at the hairpin. Farther afield, other groups struggled.
Richard Mille AF Corse’s Luis Perez Companc spun out of Turn 1 and hit the barriers at the start of the second hour. The incident resulted in a yellow card. The equipment would later be removed due to a fire.
Later, Tower Motorsports’ Michael Dinan went off the road through Triarsi Competizione’s Charlie Scardina just before the Turn 13 braking zone. This touch caused Dinan to veer off course and hit the tires to generate a warning.
Keating was strong, but he had some problems that caused him to fall. At the same time, the number 11 TDS Racing car with Mikkel Jensen at the wheel came out on top. Era Motorsport held back from the start as Dwight Merriman met his minimum driving time, but it came into play once Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch got into the car.
Zilisch ended up taking the lead in the final cautionary era when CrowdStrike Racing through APR’s Colin Braun made a pit stop. On the last restart, Zilisch controlled to open a decent hole in the peloton. From there, Zilisch was able to hold on for his second consecutive win in Era Motorsport.
In the closing laps, Braun returned to the lead, but made contact with Riley Motorsports’ Felipe Fraga at Sunset Bend as he battled for second place. Braun spun and dropped to ninth.
Era Motorsport’s margin of victory was 1. 127 seconds over Jensen, Hunter McAlrea and Steven Thomas. The No. 22 United Autosports Goldburg car, Paul di Resta and Bijoy Garg, came third, followed by the Ligier of Joao Barbosa, Jonny Edgar and Sean’s Dr. Lance Willsey. Creech Motorsports. Fraga, Josh Burdon and Gar Robinson faded away to finish fifth.
In GTD Pro, VasserSullivan’s Jack Hawksworth led smoothly early in the race. The first lap was a scary moment as Risi Competizione’s Davide Rigon recovered and spun ahead of most of the GT cars coming out of Turn 1. In the end, Rigon didn’t. I hit anything and kept going.
While trying to avoid Ripassn on a lap, Pfaff Motorsports’ Oliver Jarvis and Inception Racing’s Brendan Iribe collided, resulting in a puncture for both drivers. While Iribe was able to get a new right rear tyre and keep overtaking, Jarvis’ McLaren had bent the suspension. lots and had to go through the wall for repairs.
Jarvis would return to the race, 11 laps. Later, James Hinchcliffe collided with MDK Motorsports’ Klaus Bachler coming out of Turn 16 and had to make a second stop at the wall.
Much of the race saw the No. 14 team of Vasser Sullivan battle it out for elegance honors with the No. Sullivan car. 77 AO Racing, also known as “Rexy”. However, Risi Competizione came out on the hunt at the end of the race.
Daniel Serra controlled to take the lead. A yellow flag for debris regrouped the peloton during the final 25 minutes of the race until the end.
With 20 minutes remaining, Hawksworth made a big leap towards Serra to take the lead. The two raced side-by-side into the bumpy corner, but Serra went off the start, allowing Hawksworth to take the lead. Serra crashed following his off-track excursion, allowing Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Daniel Juncadella and AO Racing’s Laurin Heinrich to pass.
From there, Hawksworth took a slight lead over the group while Serra regrouped. In the closing laps, Serra pulled Hawksworth back and nearly hit him, but Hawksworth held on and took the elegant win for himself, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood.
VasserSullivan’s margin of victory was 0. 121 seconds over Serra, Rigon and James Calado. Iron Lynx’s Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera finished third in their Lamborghini, followed by Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen. Heart of Racing’s Mario Farnbacher. Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas were fifth.
As for Juncadella, he spun at Turn 3 with 3 minutes left in Turn 2, likely due to a contact with Heinrich. He checked to safety, but couldn’t continue. The No. 3 took tenth place in GTD Pro. Heinrich finished ninth.
In GTD, Team Korthoff Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier controlled to take the lead over Antonio Fuoco, who took pole, on the first lap and led easily. However, an obvious overheating issue after 35 minutes of racing put Grenier up against the wall. The team would be absent for El Dia.
Grenier’s upsets put Frankie Montecalvo in 12th position behind Vasser Sullivan at the height of elegance. Later on, the man on the move was Philip Ellis at Mercedes Winward Racing. In fact, Ellis had won the pole of elegance on Friday, but lost it after unapproved sensors were found out at the car’s post-qualifying inspection.
Losing his times meant Ellis had to start at the back of the pack. In the first hour, Ellis went through the box of 22 GTD cars to position the Daytona-winning Mercedes. Russell Ward was able to take the lead for the first time at the start of the third hour.
For much of the race, Winward Racing controlled the action from the front, especially after the No. 12 were involved in an incident. While they were at risk in the second part of the race, no one can save Ellis from taking a moment wins directly for him, Ward and Indy Dontje.
Winward Racing’s margin of victory was 0. 646 seconds over Cetilar Racing’s Antonio Fuoco, Roberto Lacorte and Giorgio Sernagiotto in their most productive result in IMSA. Wright Motorsports’ Adam Adelson, Jan Heylen and Elliott Skeer were third in their Porsche, followed by Roman DeAngelis, Ian James and The Heart of Racing’s Zacharie Robichon. Forte Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco, Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli were fifth.
The next event for WeatherTech is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach for the GTP and GTD classes. The race will air April 20 on USA Network at 4:30 p. m. The GTD Pro groups will compete at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 12, while the LMP2 groups will compete at Watkins Glen on June 30.
Phil Allaway serves 3 main roles in Frontstretch. Es the administrator of the site’s FREE email newsletter, which runs Monday through Friday and on weekends. He ensures the honesty of TV stations with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and is the site’s sports car racing host. editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press secretary for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, New York. It covers all the on-track action, from regular DIRTcar Modified races to occasional visits from roving series, such as the Super DIRTcar Series.