Sebring 12 Hours: Prime title contenders lock out front row

Taylor’s #7 Acura ARX-05 lapped the iconic 3.74-mile course in 1min46.874sec to beat Renger van der Zande’s Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R by a quarter second, as the two enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finale just two points apart.

Dane Cameron missed out on making it an all-Acura front row by 0.015sec but claimed third ahead of Sebastien Bourdais in the JDC Miller Motorsports #5 entry.

A brave effort from Tincknell netted fifth spot for Mazda ahead of Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani, the second Mazda of Oliver Jarvis, and Matheus Leist in the second JDC Miller Cadillac.

In LMP2, Patrick Kelly put PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports on pole, 1.77sec faster than Naveen Rao in the Inter Europol Competition, with John Farano of Starworks and Don Yount of Performance Tech Motorsports in third and fourth respectively.

There was a surprise in GT Le Mans, as the Porsche 911 RSRs which had dominated practice were found down in fifth (Nick Tandy) and sixth (Neel Jani, 0.934sec slower ahead of his first GT race.)

Instead it was 2020 champion elect Antonio Garcia who delivered the top time – a 1min55.456sec – to deliver his second pole position of the season by a convincing 0.660sec ahead of Connor De Phillippi in the #25 BMW M8.

Jesse Krohn was a further 0.2sec down in the second BMW, but ahead of the second Corvette of Tommy Milner.

In GT Daytona, former Champ Car racer Jan Heylen got his tires up to temperature, delivered a stunning one-and-done flyer of 2min00.844 and then immediately pitted his Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R to leave his rivals to try and match it.

They didn’t come close, Andrew Davis finishing second but 0.7sec off in the Hardpoint Racing Audi R8, just enough to nip ahead of the fastest AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F, the #14 car of Aaron Telitz.

Richard Heistand was the fastest of the Lamborghini Huracan drivers, delivering P4 for Grasser Racing Team, while Cooper MacNeil did a fine recovery job after a spin to deliver fifth for Scuderia Corsa, ahead of the second Lexus of Frankie Montecalvo.

Robby Foley’s BMW M6 of Turner Motorsport will line up seventh ahead of Shinya Michimi who is hoping to help Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry earn GT Daytona championship honors this weekend in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX.

Cla	Num	Driver	Class	Chassis	Time	Gap
1	7	Helio Castroneves Ricky Taylor Alexander Rossi	DPi	Acura DPi	1'46.874
2	10	Renger van der Zande Ryan Briscoe Scott Dixon	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'47.125	0.251
3	6	Juan Pablo Montoya Dane Cameron Simon Pagenaud	DPi	Acura DPi	1'47.140	0.266
4	5	Sébastien Bourdais Tristan Vautier Loic Duval	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'47.209	0.335
5	55	Jonathan Bomarito Harry Tincknell Ryan Hunter-Reay	DPi	Mazda DPi	1'47.245	0.371
6	31	Felipe Nasr Pipo Derani Gabby Chaves	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'47.327	0.453
7	77	Oliver Jarvis Tristan Nunez Olivier Pla	DPi	Mazda DPi	1'47.474	0.600
8	85	Matheus Leist Stephen Simpson Scott Andrews	DPi	Cadillac DPi	1'47.696	0.822
9	52	Patrick Kelly Simon Trummer Scott Huffaker	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'51.373	4.499
10	51	Jakub Smiechowski Naveen Rao Matthew Bell	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'53.147	6.273
11	38	Don Yount Patrick Byrne Guy Cosmo	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'54.045	7.171
12	8	John Farano Mikkel Jensen David Heinemeier Hansson	LMP2	ORECA LMP2 07	1'54.194	7.320
13	3	Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg	GTLM	Corvette C8.R	1'55.456	8.582
14	25	Bruno Spengler Connor de Phillippi Colton Herta	GTLM	BMW M8 GTE	1'56.116	9.242
15	24	Jesse Krohn John Edwards Augusto Farfus	GTLM	BMW M8 GTE	1'56.316	9.442
16	4	Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Marcel Fassler	GTLM	Corvette C8.R	1'56.446	9.572
17	911	Nick Tandy Frédéric Makowiecki Earl Bamber	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	1'56.840	9.966
18	912	Earl Bamber Laurens Vanthoor Neel Jani	GTLM	Porsche 911 RSR - 19	1'57.774	10.900
19	16	Ryan Hardwick Patrick Long Jan Heylen	GTD	Porsche 911 GT3 R	2'00.844	13.970
20	30	Rob Ferriol Andrew Davis Pierre Kaffer	GTD	Audi R8 LMS GT3	2'01.546	14.672
21	14	Jack Hawksworth Aaron Telitz Kyle Kirkwood	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	2'01.605	14.731
22	11	Richard Heistand Steijn Schothorst Franck Perera	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	2'01.652	14.778
23	63	Cooper MacNeil Alessandro Balzan Jeff Westphal	GTD	Ferrari 488 GT3	2'01.802	14.928
24	12	Frankie Montecalvo Townsend Bell Michael de Quesada	GTD	Lexus RC F GT3	2'01.839	14.965
25	96	Nick Yelloly Robby Foley Dillon Machavern	GTD	BMW M6 GT3	2'02.210	15.336
26	86	Mario Farnbacher Matt McMurry Shinya Michimi	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	2'02.286	15.412
27	48	Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	2'02.435	15.561
28	74	Gar Robinson Lawson Aschenbach Marc Miller	GTD	Mercedes-AMG GT3	2'02.689	15.815
29	23	Ian James Roman De Angelis Darren Turner	GTD	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	2'02.705	15.831
30	57	Trent Hindman Mikhail Goikhberg Joey Hand	GTD	Acura NSX GT3	2'03.153	16.279
31	44	Andy Lally John Potter Spencer Pumpelly	GTD	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	2'04.363	17.489
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