📷 © Luc Warnotte. start of **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

BoP changes made in successive iterations since Rolex 24 have paid off for the show during 12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class. Porsche and Ferrari were not struggling anymore with a 2” slower lap time than the fastest Mercedes-AMG with Porsche winning the GTD PRO class.

The race in the GTD-PRO class was no less exciting than the battle for overall victory at Sebring. Right up until the last safety car phase, the lead changed every half hour.

#9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R emerged in the lead around mid-race for 3 laps leaving the lead back to #3 Corvette until the last lost a lap to the leaders to replace the C8.R’s left-rear damper. From the 206th lap (on a total of 303 covered by GTD PROs) #9 Porsche took the lead for 92 laps out of the remaining 97.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R at **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

With a flawless team effort, a perfect strategy and strong performances by Klaus Bachler, Patrick Pilet and Laurens Vanthoor, Pfaff Motorsports achieved their first victory with the new Porsche 911 GT3 R with a 2.7-second lead.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R leading Lexus #14 at **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R #9): “I’m truly at a loss for words. Yesterday I lost control of the car due to a small mistake and slid into the track barrier. That was tough for the team and also for me because that’s the worst thing that can happen in qualifying. But the team did an incredible job and fixed the car. I was thrilled that we were able to race again today. We went for a strategy that worked out perfectly. The team is really good at such things. We allowed ourselves no margin for error and we won the 12 Hours of Sebring. It’s quite the roller coaster of emotions…”

Source: Porsche Newsroom

📷 © Luc Warnotte. J. Hawksworth, B. Barnicoat and K. Kirkwood with #14 Lexus RC F GT3 in **12 Hours of Sebring qualifying GTD PRO class.**

J. Hawksworth with #14 Lexus RC F GT3 finished second marking the first time the team opened a season with back-to-back podium finishes.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella with Mercedes-AMG GT3 in **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

Following grid drop penalties after the qualifying, the three Mercedes-AMG GT3s had to start the 12 Hours of Sebring from the back of the grid. Unfazed by this handicap, Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella with #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 used the numerous full-course yellows to make up multiple positions in the early stages already. The Rolex 24 GTD-Pro class winners scored an excellent third place with #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. With their repeated class podium result, the team defended the overall lead in this class.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Franck Perera, Romain Grosjean and Jordan Pepper with Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

During qualifying on Friday, #63 Iron Lynx car, driven by Franck Perera, qualified 5th in the GTDPRO category. Franck Perera was joined for the race in the #63 Iron Lynx car by teammates Romain Grosjean and Jordan Pepper, all Lamborghini Factory Drivers. The team crossed the line at the end of the 12h of Sebring P4 in class, gaining one position despite the challenging conditions and a somewhat restrictive BoP for the Lamborghini cars.

Source: Iron Lynx

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Garcia, Taylor and Milner sharing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD in **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

After fighting back first from an untimely full-course yellow early in the race, and then from a mechanical problem with four hours remaining, Corvette Racing appeared to be in a great spot for a second straight Sebring class victory until late-race chaos started with the GTP-class fight with 20 minutes to go and undid all the team’s good work at the end.

The Corvette had the race going its way in the opening eight hours with 142 laps in the lead out of the 205 covered so far. With about four hours left, the crew replaced the C8.R’s left-rear damper which cost Corvette Racing a lap.

Nearly 2.5 hours later, the yellow flags flew again to solidify the Corvette getting back on the lead lap. Taylor stayed in until the 10-hour mark when Garcia re-entered the race for the final stints. A series of additional full-course yellows and some sharp strategy calls moved the Corvette as high as third and first among the GTD PRO cars, which made their final scheduled stops under yellow with about 50 minutes to go.

On the subsequent restart, however, Garcia was hit from behind and knocked off track. The contact sent the C8.R down to the sixth place. The final blow came with 17 minutes to go when Garcia and the #62 Ferrari were involved in a crash instigated by the overall leaders. Despite the second spin, the Corvette did succeed to gain a spot in its final fifth-place finishing position.

ANTONIO GARCIA, #3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: “I’m really disappointed with the finish, but it has nothing to do with the team. They did a great job all weekend, with the car, our strategy and helping to keep us in the race when things weren’t looking so good. We kept waiting for a long time for a yellow to get back with the main GTD PRO group, and it finally came our way not long after I got in. I felt like we were in the best shape of all with about an hour to go before all the chaos broke out. I really don’t know what to say. All I know is that I was spun twice and it ruined our race and our car. I understand that this is an important race but there is no call for what happened late. It was careless and reckless driving by a lot of guys who should know better. I don’t know if we would have won, but I do know that we had that chance taken from us. I’m not happy.”

JORDAN TAYLOR, # 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "A disappointing finish. The guys did an amazing job. We were upfront and in control for the majority of the day before our mechanical issue. I'd say driving standards for today were pretty sub-par from the whole field. There were so many yellows early on and the end of the race was embarrassing to be part of, to be honest. It's disappointing to finish fifth given how strong we were, but we'll move on to Long Beach."

TOMMY MILNER, # 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R: "The start was great from Antonio. The first stint from Jordan was awesome. The car was very, very good. At some point in my stint, we had our issue and it looked a little grim for a while. Then it looked like we would have an opportunity and a chance to race for a podium, which I think we certainly deserved as we had the car to beat. In the end, you had a lot of guys who were driving over their heads and there was a lot of that today. Unfortunately, we got the worst of it. I feel for the rest of the guys in GTD PRO to have to deal with Antonio for the rest of the year. He's going to be fired up."

Source: Corvette Racing

📷 © Luc Warnotte. Rigon, Serra and Molina with #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 in **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

Rigon, Serra and Molina with #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 led 27 laps at various stages of the race always being at the forefront. The #62 Ferrari was involved in the leaders' crash at T3 finishing 6th of class.

Davide Rigon, Risi Competizione: “Actually through the race, we were pretty fast, good pace, good strategy, nothing to say. The team did an amazing job preparing the car, and Ferrari did a big improvement from Daytona, so we are just very happy about our car. The balance [of the car] was very nice and it was a pleasure to drive this car during the race. [In the] last stint you win or you lose, and we were unlucky at the end. We got hit by a prototype and that’s it. We could have arrived at the podium this time but we will continue to push with Risi and Ferrari to improve our car. Let’s see if we can win at least one race this year”.

Daniel Serra, Risi Competizione: “Unfortunately not the end we were expecting. We were there, fighting for the podium but unfortunately, a prototype put me out on corner 3. I don’t know what happened. I saw the images, I know it is a prototype, he bumped me in the back and then I spun and that’s it. Anyway now we have to think about Watkins Glen, and see what can we do better. I hope to have a better BoP as well, it’s still a little bit far from the others in terms of weight and power so, I don’t know… let’s see what they do for the next races. For sure we are closer, but not close enough. If you compare with Corvette or Mercedes they’re flying compared to us, they’re on a different level. I was able to fight with them and see what is the difference, anyway... IMSA usually do a good job, so let’s see what they do for the next race”.

Miguel Molina, AF Corse: “It has been [a] difficult race for us, we had a couple of issues that compromised our result but then we need to finish the race and take the maximum experience possible, and that’s what we did. In the end, we still need to work but for sure we will take positive things and we will see in the next race”.

Source: Ferrari Competizione GT

📷 © Luc Warnotte. #95 Turner Motorsport at **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

The #95 Turner Motorsport driven by Chandler Hull, Bill Auberlen and John Edwards, finished seventh in the GTD PRO class, ahead of all GTD cars.

📷 © Luc Warnotte. #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage at **12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO class.**

The #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage manned by AMR factory drivers Ross Gunn, Alex Riberas and David Pittard ended last of class 6 laps behind the class winners.

12 Hours of Sebring GTD PRO race

12 Hours of Sebring GTD race

12 Hours of Sebring GTP race