Sebring 12H: Derani continues AXR domination in night practice
Pipo Derani’s Action Express Racing Cadillac turned the fastest lap of the 90min dusk-to-night practice for the 69th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
As the track cooled in the final half hour, several drivers turned their fastest lap of the session and three-time Sebring 12H winner Derani’s 1min46.898sec ensured AXR’s Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R was 0.454sec clear of the similar Chip Ganassi Racing machine driven by Renger van der Zande.
Filipe Albuquerque turned the fastest turbocharged lap, slotting the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 into third, a further 0.1sec in arrears, but three tenths clear of Kamui Kobayashi in the second AXR Cadillac, and Sebastien Bourdais in the JDC Miller Motorsports Cadillac.
Olivier Pla claimed Meyer Shank Racing’s best time in the #60 Acura but a second adrift of top spot, while defending Sebring winner Jonathan Bomarito was 1.3sec off in the sole Mazda.
Mikkel Jensen again claimed top spot in LMP2 for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports while Wayne Boyd slotted United Autosports’ entry into second place, half a second from top spot, and just a tenth clear of Gabriel Aubry in the Tower Motorsports by Starworks car.
Mathieu Jaminet was half a second clear of his nearest GTLM opposition, driving the WeatherTech Racing Proton Porsche 911 RSR, with the Rolex 24-winning #3 Corvette C8.R second in the hands of Antonio Garcia, a couple of tenths ahead of its sister car piloted by the impressive endurance extra Alexander Sims.
Connor De Phillippi’s best effort in the #25 BMW M8 ensured there were four GT cars ahead of the fastest LMP3 car, the #91 Riley Motorsports Ligier steered by Jeroen Bleekemolen.
The versatile Dutch driver was half a second clear of teammate Spencer Pigot, while Oliver Askew was third in the #7 Duqueine of Forty7 Motorsports.
Factory Porsche driver Laurens Vanthoor continues to show his class in a 911 GT3 R, clocking a lap in the Pfaff Motorsport entry that was 0.35sec clear of Aaron Telitz’s best effort in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F. Its sister car, the #12, hit early trouble when it shed a wheel on an out lap for Frankie Montecalvo, bringing out a red flag. However, he returned to the track to set 11th fastest time.
Franck Perera was third fastest in the Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan, just ahead of Trent Hindman who is clearly adapting well to the Wright Motorsports Porsche, as he again subs for Ryan Hardwick.
Maro Engel was fifth in the Sun Energy1 Mercedes AMG GT, while Earl Bamber was sixth in the faster of the two Hardpoint Racing EBM Porsches.
Qualifying for Saturday’s Sebring 12 Hours begins at 11.15am local (Eastern) time tomorrow.
| Cla | Num | Driver | Class | Chassis | Laps | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 31 |  Felipe Nasr  Mike Conway Pipo Derani | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 32 | 1'46.898 | |
| 2 | 01 |  Renger van der Zande  Kevin Magnussen  Scott Dixon | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 27 | 1'47.352 | 0.454 |
| 3 | 10 |  Ricky Taylor  Filipe Albuquerque Alexander Rossi | DPi | Acura DPi | 30 | 1'47.442 | 0.544 |
| 4 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson  Kamui Kobayashi  Simon Pagenaud | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 39 | 1'47.739 | 0.841 |
| 5 | 5 | Tristan Vautier Loic Duval Sébastien Bourdais | DPi | Cadillac DPi | 36 | 1'47.855 | 0.957 |
| 6 | 60 | Dane Cameron Olivier Pla  Juan Pablo Montoya | DPi | Acura DPi | 28 | 1'47.945 | 1.047 |
| 7 | 55 | Oliver Jarvis Harry Tincknell Jonathan Bomarito | DPi | Mazda DPi | 34 | 1'48.211 | 1.313 |
| 8 | 52 | Ben Keating Mikkel Jensen Scott Huffaker | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 35 | 1'50.270 | 3.372 |
| 9 | 22 | James McGuire Wayne Boyd Guy Smith | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 36 | 1'50.762 | 3.864 |
| 10 | 8 |  John Farano Gabriel Aubry Timothé Buret | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 32 | 1'50.875 | 3.977 |
| 11 | 11 | Thomas Steven Tristan Nunez Thomas Merrill | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 29 | 1'51.749 | 4.851 |
| 12 | 18 | Dwight Merriman Kyle Tilley Ryan Dalziel | LMP2 | ORECA LMP2 07 | 34 | 1'52.086 | 5.188 |
| 13 | 79 | Cooper MacNeil Mathieu Jaminet  Matt Campbell | GTLM | Porsche 911 RSR - 19 | 33 | 1'56.563 | 9.665 |
| 14 | 3 |  Antonio Garcia Jordan Taylor Nick Catsburg | GTLM | Corvette C8.R | 28 | 1'57.019 | 10.121 |
| 15 | 4 | Tommy Milner Nick Tandy Alexander Sims | GTLM | Corvette C8.R | 30 | 1'57.205 | 10.307 |
| 16 | 25 | Connor de Phillippi  Philipp Eng Bruno Spengler | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | 33 | 1'57.223 | 10.325 |
| 17 | 91 | Jim Cox Dylan Murry Jeroen Bleekemolen | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 31 | 1'57.269 | 10.371 |
| 18 | 24 | John Edwards  Jesse Krohn Augusto Farfus | GTLM | BMW M8 GTE | 24 | 1'57.558 | 10.660 |
| 19 | 74 | Gar Robinson Scott Andrews Spencer Pigot | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 28 | 1'57.794 | 10.896 |
| 20 | 7 | Jim Norman Oliver Askew Austin McCusker | LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 29 | 1'57.984 | 11.086 |
| 21 | 54 | Jon Bennett George Kurtz Colin Braun | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 32 | 1'58.116 | 11.218 |
| 22 | 38 |  Rasmus Lindh  Mateo Llarena Dan Goldburg | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 31 | 1'58.210 | 11.312 |
| 23 | 33 | Joao Barbosa Yann Clairay Lance Willsey | LMP3 | Ligier JS P320 | 35 | 1'58.740 | 11.842 |
| 24 | 83 | Matthew Bell Rodrigo Sales Niklas Kruetten | LMP3 | Duqueine D08 | 27 | 1'59.689 | 12.791 |
| 25 | 9 | Zacharie Robichon  Laurens Vanthoor  Lars Kern | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 29 | 2'01.241 | 14.343 |
| 26 | 14 | Aaron Telitz Jack Hawksworth Kyle Kirkwood | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 36 | 2'01.601 | 14.703 |
| 27 | 19 |  Stephen Simpson Franck Perera Tim Zimmermann | GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 28 | 2'01.755 | 14.857 |
| 28 | 16 | Patrick Long Jan Heylen Trent Hindman | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 33 | 2'01.882 | 14.984 |
| 29 | 75 | Kenny Habul Maro Engel Mikael Grenier | GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 31 | 2'02.003 | 15.105 |
| 30 | 99 | Rob Ferriol Earl Bamber Trenton Estep | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 30 | 2'02.026 | 15.128 |
| 31 | 1 | Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Corey Lewis | GTD | Lamborghini Huracan GT3 | 26 | 2'02.132 | 15.234 |
| 32 | 23 | Ian James Roman De Angelis Ross Gunn | GTD | Aston Martin Vantage GT3 | 30 | 2'02.180 | 15.282 |
| 33 | 96 | Bill Auberlen Robby Foley Aidan Read | GTD | BMW M6 GT3 | 26 | 2'02.404 | 15.506 |
| 34 | 44 | John Potter Andy Lally Spencer Pumpelly | GTD | Acura NSX GT3 | 31 | 2'02.762 | 15.864 |
| 35 | 12 | Frankie Montecalvo Zach Veach Robert Megennis | GTD | Lexus RC F GT3 | 24 | 2'02.773 | 15.875 |
| 36 | 28 | Daniel Morad Michael de Quesada Billy Johnson | GTD | Mercedes-AMG GT3 | 36 | 2'02.833 | 15.935 |
| 37 | 88 | Christina Nielsen Katherine Legge | GTD | Porsche 911 GT3 R | 33 | 2'03.230 | 16.332 |
| View full results | |||||||
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