Sebring 12h: Halfway wrap – Cadillac 1-2, Ford dominates GTLM
The #5 Action Express-run Cadillac leads the 65th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring at the halfway point, just 2s clear of the Daytona 24 Hours-winning Caddy of Wayne Taylor Racing.
#5 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi: Joao Barbosa, Christian Fittipaldi, Filipe Albuquerque
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Neel Jani led from pole in his Rebellion-run Oreca, but was forced to relinquish top spot after the first pitstop when a rear airgun failed. His woe was compounded by a drive-through penalty for a crew member being improperly attired while on fuel extinguisher duty, and a starter motor issue at the second stop meant teammate Sebastien Buemi lost two laps.
Eric Curran inherited the lead in the #31 Action Express Cadillac, but Filipe Albuquerque in the #5 AXR Caddy overtook the sister car at the start of the third hour.
Disaster then struck Curran when he drove into the back of the dawdling Nissan DPi of Johannes van Overbeek at Turn 17. He spun and couldn’t restart the engine, causing the race’s second full-course caution, and lost four laps in the process.
That promoted the WTR Cadillac of Alex Lynn and the Taylor brothers (Jordan and Ricky) into second, with the Oreca of JDC-Miller Motorsports in third. The fourth-placed ESM Nissan DPi suffered a fire in the engine bay just before halfway, ruining the team’s outside chances of a repeat victory from 2016.
The Rebellion Oreca – which got back to within a lap of the leaders with Nick Heidfeld at the wheel – then suffered an alternator failure, taking it totally out of the equation.
Ford in control of GTLM
The pole-sitting GTLM #67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe/Richard Westbrook/Scott Dixon did not take up its position on the grid due to an issue getting it started. But once it had served its drive-through penalty, the car tore through to the front in just a couple of hours – albeit running off sequence to rivals, which complicated matters.
Sebastien Bourdais grabbed third in class in the #66 Ford from James Calado’s Risi Ferrari in Hour 4, and then got ahead of Jan Magnussen’s #3 Corvette in the following pitstop cycle.
The #68 Ford GT, which regularly runs in the WEC, was also well in the mix, along with the Risi Ferrari that features Giancarlo Fisichella, James Calado and Toni Vilander.
An extra pitstop just before half distance dropped the #66 back to sixth, while the sister cars ran 1-2, ahead of the Risi Ferrari.
Lamborghini leads GTD
In GT Daytona, the pole car also suffered a drama as Tristan Vautier was forced to start his Mercedes from the back of the field following a fuel cell violation.
The class lead was fought out between the leading #11 Lamborghini of Richard Antinucci, along with the #29 Land Motorsport Audi, #33 Riley-run Mercedes and #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari.
Performance Tech Motorsports led the PC category, from the Starworks #8 car.
Only three caution periods
The first full-course yellow was for Joel Miller’s Mazda LMP2 losing its rear brakes at Turn 17, and pounding the tirewall. He was unhurt.
After Curran’s spin caused the second yellow, the third caution was for the troubled #24 BMW, which plunged into the tirewall at Turn 1 just before the six-hour mark with Nicky Catsburg at the wheel.
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