By: MazdaMotorsports.com | 23 hours ago Tristan Nunez qualifies second, Bomarito seventh in Mazda RT24-PsIn the Friday morning qualifying session for the 12 Hours of Sebring, Tristan Nunez drove the No. 77 Mazda RT24-P to a front row starting position for the endurance racing classic.Recording a time of 1:46.011 around the 3.7-mile circuit made up of the runways of the former Hendricks Army Airfield, Nunez’s time put the Mazda RT24-P that he will share with Timo Bernhard and Oliver Jarvis second on the grid. Jonathan Bomarito, who shares the No. 55 Mazda RT24-P with Olivier Pla and Harry Tincknell, qualified in seventh position.The No. 55 Mazda RT24-P topped the second and third practice sessions of the weekend, with Pla setting the fastest lap in practice two and Tincknell setting the fastest lap of night practice.The 12 Hours of Sebring will be broadcast live on Saturday, March 16 starting at 10:30 AM ET on CNBC before continuing on NBC Sports at 3:00 PM ET with coverage concluding at 11:00 PM ET.

By: Stephen Kilbey 20 hours ago Sebastien Buemi, Fernando Alonso and Kazuki Nakajima, drivers of the No. 8 Toyota TS050 HYBRID, edged closer to claiming the 2018/19 FIA WEC Drivers’ World Championship tonight, with a comfortable win in the series’ return to Sebring.The trio were able to cruise to victory in the heavy rain that arrived during the final half hour, ahead of their title rivals in the sister Toyota, which lost valuable time in the pits to repair damage following an off for Jose Maria Lopez midway through the race.“It was interesting but tough for me in the end. We knew we had a gap so I didn’t take any risks,” said Nakajima. “The track was so slippy, like ice! On the start straight I couldn’t even go flat. I’m so happy to finish without damage on the car.”Unfortunately, the sixth round of the ‘Super Season’ was another race with very little competition in the LMP1 ranks, with fans forced to look elsewhere for excitement. Luckily, on a night where both prototype classes left a lot to be desired, the GTE categories delivered the goods, especially at the end when the conditions threw a spanner in the works.Behind the two Toyotas, was the No. 11 SMP Racing BR1, which crossed the line 10 laps back from the winning car after recovering from an early mechanical issue. The No. 3 Rebellion Racing crew looked set to finish third, but faded late in the race with its own mechanical issues.

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While there was a clear gap between the privateer and factory cars in LMP1 on pace, the nature of the grueling Sebring circuit played a huge part in making it a relatively forgettable race; it was a real war of attrition in the non-hybrid ranks.Only four cars finished in LMP1, and two of those were heavily delayed. The other four retired, the No. 17 SMP Racing BR1 crashed out at Turn 1 early in the race after a light shower caught out Igor Orudzhev, and the No. 1 Rebellion R-13 and DragonSpeed BR1’s days came to an end with mechanical issues.While it wasn’t an inspiring run for the non-hybrid runners, it was at the very least a valuable endurance test for the privateers ahead of the Le Mans 24 Hours.In LMP2, Jackie Chan DC Racing scored its fifth win of the season, and a crucial win for Dunlop over Michelin in the LMP2 tire war. However, the team will be slightly disappointed that the No. 38 crew of Stephane Richelmi, Gabriel Aubry and Ho-Pin Tung didn’t finish first here.It was a disastrous outing for the LMP2 points leaders, leaving the new-look crew of Jordan King, Will Stevens and David Heinemeier Hansson in the No. 37 sister car to fly the flag for the team up front and continue its near-perfect form.“I can retire now with a 100% record in sports car racing!” LMP2 newcomer King said. “Everyone did so well — it was stressful at the end, but we gave Will enough of a buffer.”The aforementioned No. 38 ORECA suffered a major title blow, after having to overcome electrical and transmission issues early in the race, and later a stop to have its driver door replaced. The car finished, but last in the class.While the No. 38’s title rivals in the Signatech Alpine A470 didn’t win, Nicolas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and Pierre Thiriet did collect a strong haul of points by finishing second, and are now leading the standings with two races to go.Completing the podium was the DragonSpeed ORECA, which recovered well after a tough outing. The crew was in the wars throughout, suffering tire issues and losing time due to offs into barriers, but still earned silverware thanks to other runners in the class falling even further back from the winning car.Racing Team Nederland’s Dallara looked likely to take a podium during the first half of the race, but it all unravelled for the Dutch squad after losing 12 minutes in the pits in the final third.GTE Pro on the other hand, provided plenty of action all the way to the end, especially when the rain came down hard…1 2

By: Stephen Kilbey 20 hours ago Cars from BMW, Ford, Ferrari and Porsche were all in the running for the GTE Pro win throughout the race, and after hours of clean, hard racing, the No. 91 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR of Gianmaria Bruni and Richard Lietz took the win ahead of the No. 81 MTEK BMW.The win was secured for Porsche by quick pit work when it mattered most, the No. 91 911 of Gianmaria Bruni leapfrogging the No. 82 BMW of Nicky Catsburg at the final set of stops to take the lead when much of the field came in to change from slicks to wets.Once Bruni and Catsburg rejoined, they were together on track, just a second apart, but there was no time for Catsburg to reclaim the lead. The TDS Racing ORECA of Loic Duval brought out a safety car with just over 10 minutes to go, after hitting the barriers at Turn 10 hard, which would last until the end of the race, making it a slightly anti-climactic finale.“It was a difficult decision for everyone to change tires because you didn’t want to lose time,” said Patrick Pilet. “But there was too much water so it was the correct choice — the boys changed the tires so quick and we were able to get past the BMW in the pits.”At the Rolex 24 back in January BMW took a dramatic and somewhat lucky win in GTLM when the rain came down at the end; this time the Bavarian brand was on the other end of late-race confusion and a drastic change of weather.The No. 67 Ganassi UK Ford, which led the class for two-thirds of the race, before being passed on track by the aforementioned BMW and Porsche finished third, ahead of the No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 which narrowly missed out on a podium.No. 67 drivers Andy Priaulx, Harry Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito will head home from Florida wanting more after looking so strong early, the trio despite their best efforts falling back as the temperature dropped and the night hours wore on.The two factories that faded into obscurity, interestingly, were the two that opted to sit out the pre-event test. Corvette Racing’s guest-entered C7.R finished eighth, and the pair of Aston Martin Vantage AMRs crossed the line a distant ninth and 10th. It was a deflating performance for the British team especially, after showing such promise with a breakthrough win last time out at Shanghai.GTE Am was won by the No. 77 Dempsey Proton Racing Porsche, Matt Campbell, Christian Reid and Julian Andlauer rising to the top after a race-long battle with the Spirit of Race Ferrari and Team Project 1 Porsche that finished second and third respectively.Spirit of Race’s Ferrari at times looked the class of the field, fighting for the lead early in the race. But it wouldn’t recover after a penalty was handed to the team for Giancarlo Fisichella punting Jorg Bergmeister’s Project 1 Porsche off at Turn 1 in a scrap for the top spot.Project 1, too, was unable to regain control of the class fully after Bergmeister’s off into the barriers. Third is nevertheless a well-deserved result for the crew, who had to overcome real adversity during race week when its original 911 burned to the ground in the pre-event test.The mechanics worked overtime throughout the opening days of the meeting prepping a brand-new 911 RSR that was shipped to the USA from Europe on short notice. A podium will, therefore, serve as a welcome reward for all the effort put in behind the scenes. Next up on the schedule is the second 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps of the 2018/19 ‘Super Season’ in May.

The clock is ticking for the 67th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The race was officially started at 10:42 a.m. — under the yellow flag. Light but steady rain continues to fall, but is forecast to let off early in the afternoon.Dane Cameron started on the pole in the No. 6 Penske Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi.Stay tuned to RACER.com for updates which will be posted shortly after the end of each racing hour, in addition to breaking news.

By: J.J. O'Malley 16 hours ago One hour into the 12 Hours of Sebring, Pipo Derani took the lead in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, passing Action Express Racing teammate Felipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R on Lap 19 at the end of the hour.After 19 minutes of green flag racing, Kyle Masson leads LMP2 in the No. 38 ORECA Gibson; Richard Westbrook leads GTLM in the No. 67 Ford GT; and Trent Hindman leads GTD in the No. 86 Acura NSX GT3.The green flag finally waved at 11:22 a.m., after 41 minutes — 12 laps — running behind the pace car under caution due to wet conditions and poor visibility. Dane Cameron took the lead from the pole, but was passed on the outside in Turn 1 by Tristan Nunez in the No. 77 DPi. Albuquerque took second in the No. 5 Cadillac a few turns later. On the next lap, Albuquerque passed Nunez for the lead in the Hairpin. Both GTLM Porsches fell back; the No. 912 of Laurens Vanthoor pitted on Lap 14 for new rain tires, with Pilet pitting the following lap, also for new tires.Also falling back were both Acura Team Penske entries, to seventh and ninth in class. Pole winner Dane Cameron pitted on lap 16 for new rain tires, with a change of tire pressures.The race officially got underway at 10:42 a.m. with the waving of the yellow flag. Light rain was falling, with plenty of standing water throughout the 3.74-mile circuit.Jordan Taylor pitted the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R, to top off the fuel while the team worked on changing tape and cooling the brake ducts. Taylor also returned to the pits at the end of the both sixth and 10 laps under caution — for fuel only.

By: J.J. O'Malley 15 hours ago Hour 2 at Sebring 12 ran under green, with conditions gradually improving near the end of the hour as the rain let up and portions of the track began to dry.The two Action Express Cadillacs led throughout the hour before leader Pipo Derani pitted from the lead at the two-hour mark. His No. 31 Whelen Engineering crew opted to be the first contender to change to slick tires.That gave the lead to teammate Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry, who had a 90-second advantage over the third-place Mazda of Jonathan Bomarito at the time.Richard Westbrook led GTLM in the No. 67 Ford GT; Kyle Masson had a one-lap advantage in LMP2; and Zach Robichon took the GTD lead in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.Trent Hindman pitted while leading in GTD at the 1h35m mark, with Justin Marks retaining the lead in the No. 86 Acura after the stop. Robichon passed him for the lead two laps later.“The track itself was OK; the biggest problem was the spray,” Hindman said. “I had to be really careful in the event something happened in front of me, but I knew my Meyer Shank Racing Acura would be hooked up in these conditions.”The Team Penske Acuras both struggled in the second hour, falling off the lead lap and all the way down to ninth and 11th in the DPi class. Ricky Taylor spun at the exit of Turn 17 on lap 36, stopping momentarily in mid-track before being able to continue, but losing two full laps.Earlier, both Action Express Racing cars had pitted on lap 27 while running 1-2, Derani’s No. 31 followed by Albuquerque’s No. 5. Derani maintained the lead despite the stop, still trailed by Albuquerque, but Jordan Taylor – who pitted for fuel several times in the early laps under caution – moved up to third in the No. 10 Cadillac. Taylor held the position through his subsequent stop, where he picked up a speeding penalty while exiting the pits.Tristan Nunez spun early in the hour after contact in the Hairpin; he was running third in the No. 77 Mazda.

By: J.J. O'Malley 14 hours ago Three hours into the 12 Hours of Sebring, the No. 31 continues to lead with Felipe Nasr now driving, followed by Tristan Vautier in the No. 85 and Brendan Hartley in the No. 5, as Cadillac DPi’s held the top five positions.Cameron Cassels enjoyed a 15-lap lead in LMP2; Fords were 1-2 in GTLM (Richard Westbrook in the No. 67 pacing Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 66); and Lars Kern led GTD in the No. 9 Porsche.However, contenders in three of the classes fell out of contention during the hour. The string of dramas began at 1 p.m. when Timo Bernhard pulled off course in the sixth-place No. 77 Mazda with an electrical fire traced to a battery issue.The race then went full-course caution (the first since the delayed start) and the leading Action Express pair took advantage to change drivers. Nasr took over for Pipo Derani in the lead No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, while Hartley jumped into the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry.The race went back to green on lap 62 after a seven-minute caution, even as the LMP2-class-leading No. 52 ORECA of Anders Fjorback began smoking due to a broken suspension part on lap 60. Fjorback lost the class lead to Cameron Cassels in the No. 38 ORECA on the following lap, and the No. 52 spent the remainder of the hour in the pits.The next contender to experience problems was Tommy Milner, who lost several laps in the pits while the team worked feverishly on the rear end of the No. 4 Corvette C7.R. At the three-hour mark, the car had yet to return to the fray.At the end of the second hour, Derani had been the first competitor to switch to slicks. Others quickly followed, but the No. 31 Whelan Engineering Cadillac had the advantage.“To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure [if I should go to slicks] then,” Derani said. “The track was still wet, but at the same time, I could feel the [wet] tires were starting to go away. It was a really great job by the team to put me on slicks. I couldn’t give them an answer, but they made the right call.”

By: J.J. O'Malley 13 hours ago Felipe Nasr continues to lead the 12 Hours of Sebring in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, but Olivier Pla has worked his way up to second in the No. 55 Team Joest Mazda. Cadillacs hold the next four positions, with Brendon Hartley in the No. 5 Mustang Sampling entry heading the pack.Fords are still 1-2 in GTLM, with Ryan Briscoe (No. 67) leading Sebastien Bourdais (No. 66).Six different marques hold the top six slots in GTD, paced by the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG of Jeroen Bleekemolen, followed by Rik Breukers in the No. 11 Lamborghini; Toni Vilander in the No. 63 Ferrari; Ana Beatriz in the No. 57 Acura; Lars Kern in the No. 9 Porsche; and Dillon Machavern in the No. 96 BMW.Andrew Evans leads LMP2 by 23 laps in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA Gibson, although Anders Fjorback has returned to the race in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA.Racing was clean and green throughout the hour, reaching the one-third mark in dry conditions, although the sky is darkening and additional rain is expected.

By: J.J. O'Malley 12 hours ago Joao Barbosa put the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R into the lead at the five-hour mark following a pit stop by Action Express Racing teammate Eric Curran at 4h47m in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering entry.Jonathon Bomarito is now at the wheel of the third-place No. 55 Team Joest Mazda, followed by the lapped No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac of Renger van der Zande.Teammates also continued to dominate in GT Le Mans, with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing’s Ryan Briscoe (No. 67) leading Joey Hand (No. 66) in a pair of Ford GTs. John Edwards is third in the No. 24 Team RLL BMW M8 GTLM.However, not all teamwork was positive during the hour. The two AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3s made contact while battling for 10th in GTD. Frankie Montecalvo had rear-end damage in the No. 12 after contact with the No. 14 of Philipp Frommenwiler, who spun and hit a barrier, sustaining left-front damage.The Swiss driver made two laps after a brief stop, before going to the paddock for repairs.

The No. 33 Wynn’s Mercedes-AMG continued to lead GTD, Ben Keating at the wheel, with nine cars on the lead lap.Four hours marked the end of the first Michelin Endurance Cup segment. The No. 33 Wynn’s Mercedes-AMG entered holding the GTD class lead with 14 points, which they padded with five bonus points. In DPi, the class-leading No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac scored two points for a total of 20, while the second-place No. 31 Whelen’s Engineering Cadillac scored five bonus points for leading the race, and now have 18 points. Action Express Racing has won the four-race competition for five consecutive years.

By: J.J. O'Malley | 11 hours ago
Jonathan Bomarito slid off course at the 5h50m mark in Turn 13 to bring the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring under the caution for the third time.Bomarito, driving the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P, was battling Pipo Derani’s No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R for the lead. Bomarito led a lap and was running second at the time under yellow. Once pushed out of the tires, the Mazda went back underway with and was serviced in the pits, losing two laps before Harry Tincknell returned the car to the race.Light rain had just begun to fall prior to the incident.At the halfway point under caution, Derani leads No. 10 Renger van der Zande, No. 5 Joao Barbosa and No. 84 Stephen Simpson as Cadillacs hold the top four positions.Chip Ganassi Ford GTs run 1-2 in GTLM, with Scott Dixon (No. 67) leading Joey Hand (No. 66). Scott Hargrove in the No. 9 Pfaff Porsche led GTD when the caution waved, followed by the No. 33 Mercedes-AMG of Felipe Fraga and the No. 11 Lamborghini of Rik Breukers.More IMSA!

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Starting under yellow due to rain and standing water, the race was been relatively incident free since the green flag waved at the 21-minute mark. Prior to Bomarito’s incident, there was only one additional full-course caution, at the 2h19m mark when Timo Bernhard pulled to the side of the back straight with an electrical fire that eliminated the No. 77 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P.That Mazda led the first full lap under green with Tristan Nunez. The two Action Express Racing Cadillacs have led every lap since then, with the exception of Lap 95 at the 3h40m mark when Misha Goikhberg put the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac out front for a lap before pitting, and Bomarito leading Lap 158.Two major contending teams fell back during the rainy opening two hours and have not been a factor: Both the Acura Team Penske and Porsche GT Team — pole winners of the respective DPi and GTLM classes — had both of their cars fall off the lead lap and have yet to get back into contention. However, the ongoing caution for the Bomarito incident and resulting wave-by may work in their favor, with the No. 911 Porsche regaining the lead lap.Only one contender in each class is out of the race or has spent time behind the wall. In addition to the No. 77 Mazda, the No. 4 Corvette lost 11 laps in GTLM; the No. 14 Lexus lost 30 laps in GTD after contact with the team car; and the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA is 20 laps back in LMP2. Additionally, the No. 50 Juncos Racing Cadillac spent time in the paddock and is 21 laps back. The No. 77 Mazda is ready to return to the race after spending four hours in the paddock for repairs.