There was chaos, cautions, workforce radio drama and late restarts, however held agency and guided Porsche Penske Motorsport to victory within the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
A restart with lower than 18 minutes to go noticed the Brazilian fend off teammate to take a 1.515s margin of victory on the three.74-mile, 17-turn airfield circuit.
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completed third to place Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing on the ultimate step of the general podium. Pole-sitter took fourth behind the wheel of his #31 Whelen Cadillac, forward of the #60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing machine of in fifth.
The largest drama late was in GTD, with overcoming a number of penalties to drag off a last-lap move on and giving AF Corse USA the victory.
After Hour 8…
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Laurin Heinrich held agency on the restart over Porsche teammate Laurens Vanthoor, however it was Whelen Cadillac’s in third attempting to use the strain.
An incident in GTD noticed chief Antonio Fuoco (AF Corse USA) penalized with a drive-thru for an incident with the GTD Professional competitor Ben Barker (Ford Racing) with roughly 3h30m left, handing the GTD result in Riccardo Pera within the #912 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) for Manthey 1st Phorm. Fuoco dropped to tenth at school, however was hit quarter-hour later with one other drive-thru penalty for having too many crew members over the wall throughout his cease.
The Porsche Penske Motorsport duo have been the final in a pit cycle to move to pit lane, doing so with 3h02m left, with Heinrich leaping out of the #7 Porsche 963 and Julien Andlauer sliding in; changed Vanthoor within the #6 sister automobile.
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, within the #60 Acura ARX-06 for Acura Meyer Shank Racing, vaulted to 3rd as a byproduct of a short-fill of power, with the #10 Whelen Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque in fourth on an analogous technique. The 2 pitted with 2h33m remaining, which elevated Dries Vanthoor’s #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 (BMW M Group WRT) to 3rd briefly earlier than pitting two minutes later.
The run of off-strategy stops by the three GTP entries allowed four-time IndyCar champion to rise to 3rd within the #93 Acura ARX-06 for Acura Meyer Shank Racing, on the identical technique – however 18s behind – the 2 Penske Porsches.
The battle for third in GTD Professional took one other flip as Nico Varrone (Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports) hit the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Max Hesse in Flip 16 with 2h6m left. The contact drew a drive-thru penalty for Varrone.
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With two hours to go, GTD Professional had a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) entries working 1-2, led by AO Racing’s Alessio Picariello adopted by Klaus Bachler for Manthey. Hesse was third.
The Penske pair pitted moments later, with Nasr taking on the #7 and Estre within the #6. The race off pit street noticed Estre get the sting and take the general race lead. The 2 have been thrust right into a tense second as Estre went off attempting to keep up the lead, with Nasr urgent behind. It solely took a minute later for Estre to construct a niche of 1.5s over Nasr as the 2 went right into a conservative technique in hopes of constructing only one extra cease.
Jonny Edgar (AO Racing) led LMP2 with slightly below two hours to play, with Hunter McElrea (United Autosports USA) in second at 3.4s again. (Conquest Racing) held a 13s lead in GTD over Lone Star Racing’s Lin Hodenius.
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(Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiesen) simply got here out of the pits when the right-rear wheel of his LMP2 machine got here off and introduced out a full course warning with 1h49m left. The warning negated the huge lead Penske Porsche Motorsport held over the competitors, with the #24 BMW of in third.
Pit stops noticed a cut up technique between the Penske Porsches, with Nasr solely replenishing and taking the lead, whereas Estre took on a contemporary set of tires.
The working order for GTP after the pit stops have been Nasr in first, adopted by Estre, Jack Aitken (Whelen Cadillac), Nick Yelloly (Acura Meyer Shank Racing), Sheldon van der Linde (BMW M Group WRT) rounding out the remainder of the highest 5.
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#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, Alex Palou
#93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, Alex Palou
The restart with 1h31m to go noticed Jack Aitken strain Estre for second as Nasr made a clear getaway. Moments later, Yelloly ended up getting penalized for working over pit tools throughout his pit cease, whereas Tom Blomqvist within the sister #60 Acura ARX-06 additionally hit for not being centered throughout his pit cease. Each have been handed drive-thru penalties.
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A colossal wreck occurred with 1h29s left as Jenson Altzman (Myers Riley Motorsports) appeared to hit a bump improper, which despatched his #16 Ford Mustang GT3 throughout the observe and onerous into the Flip 1 tire barrier, bringing out one other full course warning.
The fast cleanup allowed for a restart with 1h19m to go as Estre turned up the warmth on Nasr however didn’t get by. Shortly after, Race Management gave Estre a warning for blocking Aitken on the earlier restart.
A 0.6s hole developed between Nasr and Estre, with Aitken fading to 3s again with 1h15m later. In the meantime, the 2 Acuras served their respective drive-thru penalties.
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And workforce orders noticed Estre go by Nasr simply three minutes later. Nevertheless, the 2 began to navigate site visitors, which allowed Nasr respiration down the neck of Estre for the lead. The battle allowed Aitken to shut, however not earlier than Nasr made a late diving transfer into Flip 17 to make an inside move on his teammate with 1h04m to go.
Estre tried to get round site visitors however then went off beam briefly earlier than gathering it again up and holding second, however 0.7s behind Nasr. Aitken began to use the strain on Estre as they inched nearer to the ultimate hour. Nevertheless, the off-course incident by Estre drew the ire of Race Management, who deemed it a bonus and penalized him by dropping behind Aitken.
Aitken acquired round AO Racing’s Harry King (GTD Professional), however it introduced Estre again to him as the 2 battled as soon as extra, with BMW’s van der Linde becoming a member of the fray and practically taking it three-wide. Estre was in a position to safe the spot forward of Aitken, although, however they misplaced vital floor to Nasr, who constructed a 4.9s lead.
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Aitken made his remaining pit cease with 52m left, which included contemporary tires and power replenishment. Estre was introduced within the following lap, choosing contemporary tires and power replenishment. Nasr dove to pit lane with 49m left, additionally taking contemporary tires and full power.
Via the cycle, Nasr maintained his benefit over Estre and Aitken. The hole between Nasr and Estre was 1.2s with 44m left, with Aitken 4.4s again.
In LMP2, Edgar pitted his #99 AO Racing ORECA machine, which featured a fast entrance clip change whereas taking gasoline and a driver change with Mikkel Jensen taking on. Moments later the #21 of Fuoco, working second in GTD, obtained a drive-thru penalty after colliding with the #033 Ferrari of Miguel Molina from the GTD Professional class.
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A warning waved with 33m remaining after the #912 Manthey 1st Phorm of Riccardo Pera was briefly stopped simply off observe in Flip 8. He acquired it going once more with out help.
The warning helped Gradient Racing’s Joey Hand, who led GTD however attempting to increase his gasoline run to the end.
Ultimate sprint to the end#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, Laurin Heinrich
#7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, Laurin Heinrich
With 20m left, the highest 5 for GTD was Nasr, Estre, Aitken, and the Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing duo of Ricky Taylor and Louis Deletraz.
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After an prolonged warning for particles, the race restarted with 16m left and noticed Nasr and Estre pull a niche on Aitken.
Hand’s hope for a GTD win pale as Tom Gamble (Coronary heart of Racing Group) took the lead after the restart. Regardless of the run of penalties, Fuoco as soon as once more rose to second and 2s behind Gamble.
Nasr prolonged the hole to three.2s over Estre. The battle for the ultimate step on the rostrum was on as Ricky Taylor acquired by Aitken, with each over 5s again of Nasr with 10m left.
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The closest battle with lower than eight minutes to go was between Gamble and Fuoco, with simply 1.1s separating the 2. Fuoco closed with lower than two minutes to go, however was unable to drag off a transfer because the GTP leaders sliced by and disrupted the battle. On the ultimate lap, although, a bobble by Gamble was all that Fuoco wanted to tear by and take the lead en path to victory by 0.824s. Costa took third.
(Manthey) delivered a snug drive to the end in his #911 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), capturing the GTD Professional win over AO Racing’s Harry King. (Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports) took third.
The battle for LMP2 was shut as Mikkel Jensen held off United Autosport USA teammate Paul Di Resta, whereas Tristian Vautier placing Tower on the ultimate spot on the rostrum.
Nasr skated away for a snug total victory, his third within the 12-hour occasion (2019, 2025).
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