Race report
IMSA Sebring
Sebring 12H, Hour 1: WTR takes early lead, double whammy for Ganassi
Wayne Taylor Racing Acura driver Ricky Taylor led the Sebring 12 Hours after a frantic opening hour that saw both Chip Ganassi cars fall a lap behind the leading DPis.
Rachit Thukral
Edited: Mar 19, 2022, 3:35 PM
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Taylor brought the #10 Acura ARX-05 to the pits in anticipation of yellow flags when Orey Fidani crashed his #13 Duqueine LMP3 car just before the 30-minute mark.
While Fidani managed to return on track on his own power and the track remained green, the early stop still allowed Taylor to get the jump on Action Express Racing Cadillac driver Pipo Derani when he completed his own pitstop later in the hour.
Derani had inherited the lead on the opening lap of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classic when polesitter Sebastien Bourdais slowed down with gearbox problems on his #01 Cadillac DPi V.R problems before dropping to the back of the back with an unscheduled pitstop.
The CGR crew had to take the engine cover off as it diagnosed the issue, dropping Bourdais and teammates Renger van der Zande and Ryan Hunter-Reay to the rear of the seven-car DPi field just minutes into the round-the-clock enduro.
The #02 CGR Cadillac also endured a tough start to the race with Alex Lynn picking up a drive-through penalty for overtaking another car under yellows, dropping to fifth.
With both Ganassi cars in trouble, Taylor holds a slender lead over Derani in the #31 AXR Cadillac, with Mike Rockenfeller in the enduro-only #48 AXR Cadillac moving up to third after passing the Rolex 24 at Daytona-winning #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist.
JDC-Miller’s Tristan Vautier was the first DPi driver to make a pitstop and was running in sixth place between the two Ganassi Cadillacs.
In the LMP2 class, Ben Keating dominated proceedings from pole position, putting the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Oreca 07 well clear of second-placed Henrik Hedman (#81 DragonSpeed) and Dwight Merriman (#18 Era Motorsport).
LMP3 polesitter Gar Robinson (#74 Riley Motorsports) suffered an early spin and dropped to sixth in the class, but remained in class lead by virtue of not pitting in the first hour.
In GTD Pro, Mirko Bortolotti initially put the #63 TR3 Lamborghini at the front after passing the pole-sitting #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Daniel Serra 50 minutes into the race.
However, both Serra and Bortolotti pitted soon after, promoting Antonio Garcia in the factory #3 Corvette C8.R to first. By staying out on track for an extra lap, Garcia was able to jump both the Lamborghini and Ferrari.
BMW enjoyed a strong opening hour to the race, with both its Rahal Letterman Lannigan Racing-entered cars moving up the pack after a frustrating qualifying session. Augusto Farfus ran fourth in the #25 car after the opening round of stops ahead of Nick Yelloly in the sister #24 car.
BMW led the GTD division at the end of the first hour with Bryan Sellers putting new M4 entrant Paul Miller Racing ahead of Ian James in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.
There was drama for the pole-sitting #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with Zacharie Robichon having to bring the car behind the wall with differential issues.
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