today is Jun 08, 2023
With the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring two-thirds done, Acura has moved to the front with the Wayne Taylor Racing No. 10 currently in the hands of Will Stevens. Ollie Jarvis chased him for a while in the No. 60 MSR Acura to make it an Acura 1-2, but Jarvis lost ground and slid back to fourth.
That left Tristan Nunez in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac pursuing Stevens, followed by Richard Westbrook in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac until Westbrook pushed ahead just prior to the eight-hour mark. Nunez locked up in Turn 14 shortly thereafter, sliding off track. Those two cars have looked strongest for most of the race, except for the last two hours. Every DPi entrant, save the No. 01 Cadillac, is still in contention.
Corvette has led much of the race in GTD Pro; its strongest competitor appearing to be the No. 24 BMW Team RLL M4. While the No. 14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F, the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R and the No. 97 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG have challenged over the last few hours, the No. 3 Corvette has consistently pushed to the front and led at the eight-hour mark as Nicky Catsburg was heading to the end of a long stint, although the No. 24 was usually right behind. Eight cars remain on the lead lap.
“So far so good,” said Jordan Taylor, who had handed over to Catsburg. “When we’re out front and in clean air, the car is quick and competitive. I was having to hold cars behind me off and hold on for dear life on my first stint but the second stints went really well. We were able to save some fuel and push the stints a little bit longer.
“As long as as we can keep the car up front and keep track position, I think we’ll be in a good spot.”
GTD has been quite fluid with eight cars on the lead lap and most of them taking their turn at the front. With four hours left, Jordan Pepper leads in the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S, pursued by Toni Vilander in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 and Michael de Quesada in the No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG.
Four cars are on the lead lap in LMP2 which is led by the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA (Scott Huffaker); the No. 11 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports car (Jonathan Bomarito); the No. 18 Era Motorsport (Kyle Tilley) and the No. 29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA (Giedo van der Garde).
The top three in LMP3 are fighting hard and are separated by five laps from fourth place. Malthe Jakobsen leading in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier, with Kay van Berlo in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier and Garett Grist in the No. 30 JrIII Racing Ligier pursuing.
There are only three official retirements: The No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier LMP3 car; the No. 81 DragonSpeed LMP2; and the No. 42 NTE/SSR Lamborghini Huracan.
