MARCH 25, 2026
Sunday, March 22, 2026 at 07:31AM 
For Porsche Penske Motorsport, the unofficial “36 Hours of Florida” now has been made the “72 Hours of Florida” covering two different IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship seasons. In the 74th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, with Roger Penske giving the command to start engines, the pair of Porsche 963 cars captured their second straight race to start the IMSA season for a second year in a row. The only difference today was which Porsche 963 finished up front in both Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) and overall, and that came down to the wire in the final hour. The No. 7 Porsche 963 has captured all four of those wins over two years, with the trio of Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich following up their 64th Rolex 24 At Daytona triumph with the win in Saturday’s 74th running of the second Florida endurance classic. They led a Porsche 1-2 ahead of the team's No. 6 car shared by Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell. Nasr has secured his third Sebring win – all overall (2019, 2025) – with Heinrich adding an overall win to his 2025 Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) win with AO Racing and Andlauer capturing his first Sebring triumph. Nasr is also the first driver to win the the “36 Hours of Florida” overall back-to-back.
The two Penske Porsches led 273 of 343 around Sebring’s challenging yet iconic 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit. Combined with the two Penske Porsches leading 521 of 705 laps at Daytona – these two Porsches have led 794 of 1,048 in these two races to start the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) season. With JDC-Miller MotorSports also leading 46 laps in Daytona, all Porsche 963 cars have led 840 of 1,048 laps this season.
This win came after a roller coaster ride of lead changes between the No. 7 Porsche 963 and sister No. 6 Porsche 963 of Estre. While Estre had the lead on the pit sequence, then Nasr regained it on another one, two more on-track lead changes on-track culminated with Nasr’s bold inside pass of Estre going into Turn 17 with 64 minutes remaining.
Estre then needed to defend from Jack Aitken’s No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R and Sheldon van der Linde’s No. 24 BMW M Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 to keep second, while Nasr was able to build a lead north of five seconds prior to the final pit stops inside the final 50 minutes. Watch the Extended Race Highlights from NBC here.
Wayne Taylor Racing, under pressure this year after a lackluster 2025 campaign, claimed a hard-earned podium with the No. 10 car. UPDATE: The No. 10 Cadillac was disqualified after the race, replaced by the Action Express Cadillac on the podium. (Thank you to Tony DiZinno IMSA Wire Service)
It was a similar one-two team sweep in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class with United Autosports USA claiming the top positions. The No. 2 ORECA LMP2 07 finished first in class as Mikkel Jensen won by 0.510 of a second over the team’s No. 22 ORECA LMP2 07, whose last stint was handled by driver Paul Di Resta. It marked the first Sebring victory for the team’s No. 2 car, which also included Phil Fayer and Hunter McElrea on its driver lineup. It was the first time the United Autosports team earned a one-two finish in IMSA, and it marked the first Sebring victory for both the New Zealander McElrea and the Canadian Fayer. McElrea and Jensen have now won three of the class’ last four races, dating back to the 2025 season when they raced for TDS Racing. Both switched to United in 2026 through separate opportunities. The Tower Motorsports No. 8 ORECA LMP2 07 of Tristan Vautier, John Farano and Sebastian Alvarez rounded out the class podium after running top-five for most of the event. IMSA GTP competitors head west for Round 3 of the season on the streets of Long Beach, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 17-18. The next LMP2 race comes at Watkins Glen International, June 25-27. (Thank you to Holly Cain/IMSA Wire Service)
Nicknamed for its distinctive bright green and yellow livery, Manthey Racing’s ‘Grello’ Porsche 911 has become legendary in European GT racing circles through its winning performances in the Nurburgring 24 Hours and the DTM championship. Now, Manthey has teamed up with Porsche to tackle all five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the first time this year – fielding cars in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) and GTD PRO classes - and the new venture is off to a successful start. Thomas Preining, Klaus Bachler, and Ricardo Feller drove Manthey’s No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) to its first American victory, claiming GTD PRO honors in the 74th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway. Preining, the 2023 DTM champion who is also embarking with Manthey on its first IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup campaign, drove the anchor stint to best Harry King, Nick Tandy, and Alessio Picariello in another famous Porsche – AO Racing’s No. 77 911 GT3 R (992) known this race as ‘Roxy.’ The margin of victory was 1.43 seconds following an impressive pass with under 90 minutes to go. Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, and Nico Varrone trailing home third in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/IMSA Wire Service)
The No. 21 Af Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO overcame three drive-through penalties to steal a thrilling last-lap Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class victory in the 2026 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. Antonio Fuoco took advantage of a slight error by Tom Gamble in the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo roughly a mile from the finish line to complete the No. 21 car’s rally from its misfortunes. When Gamble bobbled in the 10th of Sebring’s 17 corners, Fuoco nipped by in a flash and maintained a 0.746-second advantage at the checkered flag over the Motul Pole Award winning Aston that Gamble co-drove with Dudu Barrichello and Zacharie Robichon. Fuoco shared the winning Ferrari with Lilou Wadoux and Simon Mann. “It was a really chaotic race with some small mistakes, but at the end, we managed to put everything together,” said Fuoco, who was twice penalized for incident responsibility. “On the last lap, the Aston made a small mistake in Turn 10. I saw the opportunity and tried to go on the outside around Turns 11 and 12, and it worked out. “I think Lilou, Simon and the team did an awesome job to never give up. After the last Safety Car, we were seventh with 26 minutes to go, and we won.” The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the first sprint race of the season – the 51st Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, April 17-18 on the famous Long Beach street course, for GTP and GTD competitors. (Thank you to John Oreovicz/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
