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Edition

Australia
Race report

Sebring 12 Hours: ESM Nissan, Porsche, PMR Lamborghini win

ESM Nissan’s Pipo Derani, Nicolas Lapierre and Johannes van Overbeek conquered the 66th running of the Sebring 12 Hours to defeat last year’s winning car, the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R by 12.427sec.

Podium: winners Pipo Derani, Johannes van Overbeek, Nicolas Lapierre, Tequila Patron ESM Nissan

Podium: winners Pipo Derani, Johannes van Overbeek, Nicolas Lapierre, Tequila Patron ESM Nissan

Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images

#10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi, P: Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor, Ryan Hunter-Reay
#22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan DPi, P: Pipo Derani, Johannes van Overbeek, Nicolas Lapierre
#911 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy, Frédéric Makowiecki
#32 United Autosports Ligier LMP2, P: Phil Hanson, Alex Brundle, Paul di Resta  Pit Stop
#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi, P: Eric Curran, Mike Conway, Felipe Nasr
#15 3GT Racing Lexus RCF GT3, GTD: Jack Hawksworth, David Heinemeier Hansson, Sean Rayhall
#25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8, GTLM: Bill Auberlen, Alexander Sims, Connor de Phillippi
#55 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi, P: Jonathan Bomarito, Spencer Pigot, Harry Tincknell
#911 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy, Frédéric Makowiecki, #912 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Gianmaria Bruni, Laurens Vanthoor, Earl Bamber pit stops
#48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3, GTD: Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, Andrea Caldarelli, Bryce Miller
#63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, GTD: Cooper MacNeil, Alessandro Balzan, Gunnar Jeannette, #911 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Patrick Pilet, Nick Tandy, Frédéric Makowiecki, #912 Porsche Team North America Porsche 911 RSR, GTLM: Gianmaria Bruni, Laurens Vanthoor, Earl Bamber
#33 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3, GTD: Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating, Luca Stolz

 

Despite a final stop that saw Derani stop a few inches short of the reach of ESM’s fuel hose, the squad triumphed convincingly, the Brazilian able to rocket away on cold tires on every restart.

The one possible threat might have come from Mazda Team Joest, who instead suffered a heartbreaking setback. Spencer Pigot had squeezed the #55 car between the heavily shunted Spirit of Daytona Cadillac of Tristan Vautier and the wall, and then survived a hit with the resultant debris.

However, the continuing need to push start the Mazda after pitstops in order to engage gear eventually caught up with the team. Pigot’s and Jonathan Bomarito’s co-driver Harry Tincknell had climbed to second place and was just six seconds behind Derani when all the leading Prototypes stopped 44 minutes from the end.

But on this occasion, the Mazda just wouldn’t engage its clutch for two minutes and by the time it got going, Tincknell was a lap down and in sixth place. The one satisfaction was that this was by far the most competitive showing for the RT24-P since its debut in Daytona over a year ago.

That allowed the Renger van der Zande/Jordan Taylor/Ryan Hunter-Reay-piloted WTR Cadillac to move up to second, while the similar #31 Action Express Caddy of Felipe Nasr/Mike Conway/Eric Curran and the Paul Di Resta/Phil Hanson/Alex Brundle-driven United Autosports Ligier squabbled for the final podium position.

However, a late splash-n-dash for Di Resta left AXR clear to run to third, and also handed fourth place to the CORE autosport Oreca driven by Romain Dumas, Colin Braun and Jon Bennett. The United Autosports machine resumed in fifth as the final entry on the lead lap.

Behind Tincknell, the #99 JDC Miller ‘Red Dragon’ Oreca clocked seventh, albeit six laps off the lead.

GTLM: Porsche triumphs

Over the final couple hours, GT Le Mans became a shootout between the #911 Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy/Patrick Pilet/Frederick Makowiecki and the BMW M8 of Alexander Sims/Connor De Phillippi/Bill Auberlen, eventually being resolved in Tandy’s favor by 6.2sec over Sims.

Laurens Vanthoor/Earl Bamber/Gianmaria Bruni completed a fine day for Porsche by taking third, while the #67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe/Scott Dixon/Richard Westbrook was fourth, after Briscoe passed Alessandro Pier Guidi’s Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 with only 15 minutes left to run.

Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Marcel Fassler were sixth in the #4 Corvette C7.R.

Bryan Sellers pulled off a strong move around the outside of the recently pitted Jeroen Bleekemolen to hit the front of the GT Daytona class with less than hour to go.

His Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan, which he shares with Madison Snow and Corey Lewis, then pulled away to clinch victory by 8.169sec.

The Bleekemolen/Ben Keating/Luca Stolz Riley Mercedes AMG GT then spent the final stages trying to hold off Alessandro Balzan in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari, which had survived a last-hour assault by JDC Miller’s wayward #85 Oreca Prototype in the hands of Robert Alon.

Bleekemolen blinked five minutes from the end, however, surrendering second to Balzan and falling two seconds back.

Christopher Mies, Sheldon van der Linde and Alessio Clemente Picariello were fourth in class in the Land Motorsport Audi R8, ahead of the Jack Hawksworth/David Heinemeier Hansson/Sean Rayhall 3GT Lexus RC F and Mathieu Jaminet/Pat Long/Christina Nielsen/Robert Renauer in the Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.

Race results:

Pos.ClassNumDriverChassisTime
1 P 22 brazil  Pipo Derani 
united_states  Johannes van Overbeek 
france  Nicolas Lapierre 
Nissan DPi 344 laps
2 P 10 united_states  Jordan Taylor 
united_states  Ryan Hunter-Reay 
netherlands  Renger van der Zande 
Cadillac DPi 12.427
3 P 31 united_kingdom  Mike Conway 
united_states  Eric Curran 
brazil  Felipe Nasr 
Cadillac DPi 53.075
4 P 54 france  Romain Dumas 
united_states  Jon Bennett 
united_states  Colin Braun 
ORECA LMP2 1'16.328
5 P 32 united_kingdom  Paul di Resta 
united_kingdom  Alex Brundle 
united_kingdom  Phil Hanson 
Ligier LMP2 1'30.732
6 P 55 united_kingdom  Harry Tincknell 
united_states  Spencer Pigot 
united_states  Jonathan Bomarito 
Mazda DPi 1 lap
7 P 99 canada  Mikhail Goikhberg 
united_states  Chris Miller 
south_africa  Stephen Simpson 
ORECA LMP2 6 laps
8 P 77 united_kingdom  Oliver Jarvis 
germany  René Rast 
united_states  Tristan Nunez 
Mazda DPi 10 laps
9 P 85 switzerland  Simon Trummer 
france  Nelson Panciatici 
united_states  Robert Alon 
ORECA LMP2 13 laps
10 GTLM 911 united_kingdom  Nick Tandy 
france  Patrick Pilet 
france  Frédéric Makowiecki 
Porsche 911 RSR 16 laps
11 GTLM 25 united_states  Bill Auberlen 
united_states  Connor de Phillippi 
united_kingdom  Alexander Sims 
BMW M8 GTLM 16 laps
12 GTLM 912 italy  Gianmaria Bruni 
new_zealand  Earl Bamber 
belgium  Laurens Vanthoor 
Porsche 911 RSR 16 laps
13 GTLM 67 australia  Ryan Briscoe 
new_zealand  Scott Dixon 
united_kingdom  Richard Westbrook 
Ford GT 16 laps
14 GTLM 62 united_kingdom  James Calado 
finland  Toni Vilander 
italy  Alessandro Pier Guidi 
Ferrari 488 GTE 16 laps
15 GTLM 4 switzerland  Marcel Fassler 
united_kingdom  Oliver Gavin 
united_states  Tommy Milner 
Corvette C7.R 17 laps
16 P 5 brazil  Christian Fittipaldi 
portugal  Filipe Albuquerque 
portugal  Joao Barbosa 
Cadillac DPi 20 laps
17 GTD 48 united_states  Corey Lewis 
united_states  Bryan Sellers 
united_states  Madison Snow 
Lamborghini Huracan GT3 23 laps
18 GTD 63 united_states  Cooper MacNeil 
united_states  Gunnar Jeannette 
italy  Alessandro Balzan 
Ferrari 488 GT3 23 laps
19 GTD 33 netherlands  Jeroen Bleekemolen 
united_states  Ben Keating 
germany  Luca Stolz 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 23 laps
20 GTD 29 belgium  Alessio Picariello 
germany  Christopher Mies 
south_africa  Sheldon Van Der Linde 
Audi R8 LMS GT3 23 laps
21 GTD 15 denmark  David Heinemeier Hansson
united_kingdom  Jack Hawksworth 
united_states  Sean Rayhall 
Lexus RC F GT3 23 laps
22 GTD 58 united_states  Patrick Long 
denmark  Christina Nielsen 
germany  Robert Renauer 
france  Mathieu Jaminet 
Porsche 911 GT3 R 23 laps
23 GTD 93 united_states  Justin Marks 
united_states  Lawson Aschenbach 
germany  Mario Farnbacher 
Acura NSX GT3 23 laps
24 GTD 86 portugal  Alvaro Parente 
united_kingdom  Katherine Legge 
united_states  Trent Hindman 
Acura NSX GT3 23 laps
25 GTD 73 germany  Jörg Bergmeister 
united_states  Tim Pappas 
united_states  Patrick Lindsey 
Porsche 911 GT3 R 23 laps
26 GTD 75 australia  Kenny Habul 
germany  Thomas Jäger 
canada  Mikael Grenier 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 23 laps
27 GTD 96 united_states  Don Yount 
finland  Markus Palttala 
united_states  Dillon Machavern 
BMW M6 GT3 24 laps
28 GTD 51 portugal  Pedro Lamy 
canada  Paul Dalla Lana 
austria  Mathias Lauda 
brazil  Daniel Serra 
Ferrari 488 GT3 24 laps
29 GTD 44 united_states  Andy Lally 
united_states  Andrew Davis 
united_states  John Potter 
Audi R8 LMS GT3 25 laps
30 GTD 71 united_states  Kenton Koch 
italy   Loris Spinelli 
colombia  JC Perez 
Mercedes-AMG GT3 25 laps
31 GTD 14 canada  Kyle Marcelli 
austria  Dominik Baumann 
switzerland  Philipp Frommenwiler 
Lexus RC F GT3 28 laps
32 P 52 colombia  Gustavo Yacaman 
mexico  Roberto Gonzalez 
colombia  Sebastian Saavedra 
Ligier LMP2 29 laps
33 GTD 69 united_states  Ryan Eversley 
united_states  Tom Dyer 
united_states  Chad Gilsinger 
Acura NSX GT3 32 laps
34 GTD 36 united_states  Marc Miller 
canada  Kuno Wittmer 
united_states  Till Bechtolsheimer 
Acura NSX GT3 35 laps
35 GTLM 24 united_states  John Edwards 
finland  Jesse Krohn 
netherlands  Nick Catsburg 
BMW M8 GTLM  
36 P 90 united_states  Matt McMurry 
france  Tristan Vautier 
italy   Eddie Cheever III 
Cadillac DPi  
37 GTLM 3 denmark  Jan Magnussen 
spain  Antonio Garcia 
germany  Mike Rockenfeller 
Corvette C7.R 61 laps
38 GTLM 66 france  Sébastien Bourdais 
united_states  Joey Hand 
germany  Dirk Müller 
Ford GT  
39 P 38 united_states  James French 
united_states   Kyle Masson 
mexico  Patricio O'Ward 
ORECA LMP2  
40 P 6 colombia  Juan Pablo Montoya 
france  Simon Pagenaud 
united_states  Dane Cameron 
Acura DPi  
41 P 7 brazil  Helio Castroneves 
united_states  Graham Rahal 
united_states  Ricky Taylor 
Acura DPi  
42 GTD 64 united_states  Townsend Bell 
united_states  Frankie Montecalvo 
united_states  Bill Sweedler 
Ferrari 488 GT3  
43 P 2 united_states  Scott Sharp 
united_kingdom  Ryan Dalziel 
france  Olivier Pla 
Nissan DPi  

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