12 Hours of Sebring GTP race
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Pipo Derani with #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-LMDh started from pole the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
Cadillac's third consecutive win in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring is the longest manufacturer streak since Audi's 2000-07 run, and the luxury brand has won five of the past seven on the 3.741-mile, 17-turn racetrack starting in the IMSA DPi era, including the past three from the pole.
But starting from the Motul Pole Award didn’t come into play in the final 15 minutes of the grueling race of attrition. Jack Aitken inherited the three GTP competitors ahead of him tangled, causing a full-course yellow. The first-year prototype driver took the green flag with 4 minutes, 37 seconds left and held off the charges of the second-place BMW to take the checkered flag by 2.940 seconds.
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken with #31 Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac V-LMDh win the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
The Action Express Racing team overcame contact with an LMP3 car that spun directly in front of Derani, who did not have time to take evasive action, at the two-hour mark. Replacement of a damaged nose assembly was performed quickly and Derani and co-drivers Alexander Sims and Aitken made up the lost time throughout the remainder of the first quarter of the race.
Pipo Derani, who drove to Cadillac’s third consecutive pole start in a row in the event, earned his fourth victory (2023, 2019, 2018, 2016) in the Twelve Hours of Sebring – joining four others on the all-time list. Tom Kristensen is the leader with six overall wins.
“I’ve had so many unlucky races since the last win here so I’ll take a little bit of luck,” he said. “I feel bad for the guys who crashed. But you have to be lucky a little bit in motorsports. We had a fantastic race. We started on pole, had a flawless race after the incident in the beginning, so we recovered well and just fantastic to get number four. This is for my little girl one at home.”
Source: Cadillac Racing
📷 © Luc Warnotte. De Phillippi, Yelloly and van der Linde with #25 BMWM Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 second of the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
The #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 consistently worked its way up after starting from eighth on the grid. In the second half of the race, De Phillippi, Yelloly and van der Linde established themselves at the front end of the field. With one and a half hours to go, an unscheduled brake change dropped the car out of the lead lap. Yelloly successfully fought his way back up afterwards, taking the chequered flag in second following a chaotic final minutes of the race.
Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd place GTP class): “I am so happy about our first podium with this programme. The guys and girls have worked so hard for this. We deserve it. We were there at the end, just as we said. That’s what this race is all about. In the past, we lost this race from the lead from a crash – this time luck was on our side. I am just super happy for everyone. P2 is something we can build on and start fighting forward for the rest of the season.”
Nick Yelloly (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd place GTP class): “It’s a really nice feeling. For BMW M Team RLL and BMW M Motorsport to take this step is huge, i am obviously just very, very happy for everyone here and back in Munich. It has been many hard months of work and to reward them with some silverware is very nice. We’ve made a good step forward as well. With the general performance we are not quite there yet, but we have shown that we can make a good step. For Long Beach we will hopefully make another one.”
Sheldon van der Linde (#25 BMW M Hybrid V8, 2nd place GTP class): “This podium was very unexpected. We were disappointed when the brake issue occurred with one and a half hours to go but then everything turned around. I am super excited to be on the podium. The guys really deserved it after so much work during the off-season to make this programme a success. I can’t thank everyone enough. The car has made some really good steps forward.”
Source: BMW Group PressClub Global
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Nick Tandy Mathieu Jaminet and Dane Cameron with #6 Porsche 963 are classified third of the GTP class of 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
Despite numerous setbacks due to collisions, penalties and minor technical woes, the two Porsche 963 fielded by Porsche Penske Motorsport were running with the frontrunners in the decisive phase. After the twelfth and final full course yellow, the race was given the green light for the final 30-minute sprint to the flag. The two new hybrid prototypes from Weissach were locked in battle with the No. 10 Acura when Jaminet and his rival Filipe Albuquerque (Portugal) collided. Both cars slid out of control onto the grass area. Felipe Nasr was unable to avoid the resulting chaos and, through no fault of his own, hit his brand colleague’s Porsche 963.
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “I would like to apologise to the entire Porsche motorsport family and the Porsche Penske Motorsport team for the accident. In the close finale on the pitch-black Sebring track, sadly such incidents can happen sometimes. I wanted to go all-out and take advantage of a small gap – unfortunately, that resulted in a big accident. My teammate Felipe had nothing to do with it but he was thrown out of the race, too. It was just a huge stroke of bad luck. And so, a great race had a terrible end. Still, I’d like to focus on the positives: The team did a fantastic job, the car was very strong in the race.”
Source: Porsche Newsroom
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Ricky Taylor, Felipe Albuquerque and Louis Deletraz with #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 are classified fourth of the GTP class of the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 remained in the thick of the multi-car battle for the victory until just 20 minutes remained in the 12-hour race. While working their way through GT-class traffic, the #7 of Mathieu Jaminet made contact with Filipe Albuquerque in the WRT/Andretti Acura, sending Albuquerque off onto the grass and then back on track where the two cars collided again, with several other cars involved in the resulting chain reaction crash.
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06) 4th in GTP: "What a sad ending. I think we had a little bit of an edge on [the competition], but staying behind it was super hard to follow, so [a pass] needed to be done in traffic. The traffic came and I saw a hole, tight, but I saw it. I think I was there and then there was contact with the two of us, and the second touch threw me completely in the grass and I couldn't stop the car then I was a bowling ball, just knocking cars down. It was pretty brutal where I got hit once and then somebody hit me. I just felt like I was getting thrown from one side to another, but these cars are safe and I'm good, that's what's most important. It's sad to not get the win when we had such a strong car. The WTRAndretti team, they put a lot of energy into this. I'm not a guy to finish P2, I give it my all and I would do the same again."
Source: Acura News
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr and Michael Christensen with #7 Porsche 963 are classified fifth of the GTP class of the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #7): “It’s such a shame that this race came to such an end. Both our Porsche 963s could have finished on the podium, but then came this accident. It was a very unfortunate chain of events. Nevertheless, we must say that our team did a great job. We clearly underlined our potential and will try to turn this into our first win at Long beach.”
Source: Porsche Newsroom
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Blomqvist, Braun and Castroneves with #60 Acura ARX-06 are classified sixth of the GTP class of the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
with less than two hours remaining, a suspension failure resulted in the left-rear wheel coming off the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Quick work by the MSR crew saw the #60 return for the final 20 minutes and be credited with a sixth-place result.
Tom Blomqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06): 6th in GTP: "We were looking pretty good for at least a podium [top-three] finish, I think, until the wheel came off. Unfortunately, that impacted our race massively, which is a huge shame. These things happen. We just need to learn from it and mitigate the issue so that it doesn't happen again."
Source: Acura News
📷 © Luc Warnotte. Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon with #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-LMDh are classified seventh of the GTP class of the 12 Hours of Sebring 2023.
After several SFC, Bourdais was leading the 12 Hours of Sebring until, with three hours to go, smoke began to emerge from the No. 01 as it entered pit lane. The team brought the car back to the garage and ultimately decided to retire from the race due to a fuel distribution system issue.
Sebastien Bourdais: “It’s obviously pretty disappointing for everybody. The car was quick. Cadillac seems to have something that works pretty well at Sebring, so that’s really encouraging. I think we made some great progress from Daytona in performance, so that’s also encouraging for the rest of the season after finishing on the podium. It’s great to see the program heading in the right direction and everyone at Chip Ganassi Racing and Cadillac are working very hard to make progress.”
Source: Chip Ganassi Racing
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