MARCH 20, 2024
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 08:14AM 
The 72nd running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac was decided by an intense battle for the lead with less than five minutes remaining in the classic endurance racing contest. Louis Deletraz (No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) stalked Sebastien Bourdais (No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R) throughout the last of 12 hours of hard-fought racing before finally forcing his way past to claim the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class victory in Round 2 of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The 26-year-old Swiss driver faked a pass to the outside of Sebring International Raceway’s hairpin corner before making a late dive to the inside. Bourdais attempted a crossover move exiting up the next straight, but Deletraz was able to edge ahead through the next sequence of corners, with the Acura and Cadillac making light contact. He held the lead in the car he shared with Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta over the final four laps of the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit to prevail by 0.891 seconds over Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon. Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron and Matt Campbell rounded out the podium after finishing 8.898 seconds back in third place in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. The No. 7 and No. 40 teams left Sebring tied for the lead of the GTP standings with 706 points each. The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where the GTP and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes will be in action April 19-20. Watch the Extended Highlights from Motorspoorts on NBC here. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
Connor Zilisch hopped into the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 with 90 minutes remaining Saturday night and drove to the front of the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class for a celebrated victory. The 17-year-old teamed with Era’s full-season drivers, Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel, to win by 1.127 seconds over the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA shared by Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea. The win is the second straight in 2024 for Era Motorsport on the heels of a season-opening triumph at the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Zilisch, signed earlier this year as a NASCAR development driver for Trackhouse Racing, was running in fourth place Saturday when the race restarted from a full-course caution with 40 minutes to go. But the three cars ahead of him all made splash-and-go pit stops in the next two laps, pushing Zilisch into the lead when the final caution of the race waved with 35 minutes remaining. That caution assured that the No. 18 had enough fuel to make it to the finish. Pushed first by Felipe Fraga in the No. 74 Riley ORECA and then Jensen in the No. 11, Zilisch never faltered to keep his WeatherTech Championship record perfect with two wins in just two starts. It was Zilisch and 23-year-old Christian Rasmussen that Era turned to in January to close out the Daytona win. On Saturday, it rested solely on Zilisch’s shoulders. “It’s an honor for the team to trust me and give me the chance to show them what I have at the end,” Zilisch said. “It was really tough to pass out there and it was kind of whoever could get track position, get to the lead, was going to end up winning. ...Pretty unreal to get two wins in my first two WeatherTech starts.” Merriman, Dalziel, Zilisch and the No. 18 ORECA also moved into a tie for the lead in IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup LMP2 points. The class doesn’t race again until the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Wakins Glen International on June 23. (Thank you to Mark Robinson/IMSA Wire Service)
Early in the race, shortly after he was sent to the back of the field for inadvertently striking a crew member during a pit stop, Jack Hawksworth made a prediction: “We’ll get back into it and see if we can’t keep the car clean for another seven or eight hours and then have a go at it at the end,” he said. What a prediction, what a night. Hawksworth (No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3) passed Daniel Serra (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3) with 20 minutes remaining with a bold move to the inside heading into Turn 1, then held the lead to the end to win the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class Saturday at the 72nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac. The win with co-drivers Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood provided redemption for Vasser Sullivan, the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD PRO champions, after a poor start to the season at the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January. “It’s just amazing,” Hawksworth said. “To win this race – such a special race – it’s so hard on the cars and so hard on the drivers. This team is so amazing. We had some issues at Daytona – wrong place, wrong time – but today, boy did we bounce back.” With 20 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the iconic endurance race, Hawksworth moved past Serra with a daring move into Turn 1. The pass worked, and Hawksworth held Serra at bay – barely – the rest of the way. “That was a real champion’s effort,” Barnicoat said. “Everyone at Vasser Sullivan gave us everything we needed. I had some really fun, amazing, super-hard stints, but then at the end there when it started to get dicey, there’s no one else you want next to you but Jack Hawksworth.” Serra and co-drivers Davide Rigon and James Calado finished 0.121 seconds behind in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari, with Mirko Bortolotti coming home third in class in the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 he co-drove with Jordan Pepper and Franck Perera, 2.983 seconds behind Hawksworth’s winning pace. (Thank you to Jeff Olson/IMSA Wire Service)
(IMSA)
Little more than 24 hours after forfeiting the pole position owing to a technical infraction, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 came from nearly last on the grid to take its second class win in as many outings this season, having also copped GTD honors in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Coming home less than a second behind the winner was none other than the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 that started on pole after Philip Ellis’ quick qualifying lap in the Winward entry was disallowed. Unfazed by the penalty, co-drivers Ellis, Russell Ward and Indy Dontje steadily advanced through the field, moving into 10th spot in the opening laps and then to fourth place before the two-hour mark. A fortuitous pit stop just before a full-course yellow enabled the Winward Mercedes to leapfrog the cars ahead and take the lead after a little more than two hours of racing. It’s not as if their competitors gave the Winward team a free pass to the Victory Lane. A virtual who’s who of GTD led the race at one time or another, including the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 and the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the Cetilar Ferrari came alive, steadily advancing up to and through the top 10. As the final hour loomed, Ellis emerged with the lead in the Winward Mercedes over the Elliott Skeer’s No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R and Antonio Fuoco in the Cetilar Ferrari, only to have to deal with a series of full-course cautions and subsequent restarts. With 40 minutes remaining, Fuoco demoted Skeer to third and moved within striking distance of the lead. While Fuoco never gave Ellis a moment’s rest, the Mercedes had the legs on the Ferrari, spurting to slim but relatively secure leads to take the win by 0.646 seconds with Skeer and the No. 120 Porsche a further two seconds behind in third. The GTD class returns to action April 19-20 in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The GTD PRO class races next at the Motul Course de Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna from May 10-12. (Thank you to David Phillips/IMSA Wire Service)
Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG
Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG