Action Express Out Front in Hour 3 at Sebring

Photo: John Dagys

Action Express Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais continues to lead with three hours now in the books at the 63rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, following the resumption of racing again.

Bourdais extended his lead in the No. 5 Corvette DP following the second full-course caution, although anther yellow, for the DeltaWing which stopped on track with suspension damage, eliminated the Frenchman’s advantage.

All of the leaders pitted under yellow, with both the No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP of Michael Valiante and the David Heinemeier Hansson-driven No. 1 Tequila Patron ESM HPD ARX-03b maintaining second and third, respectively.

The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca FLM09 of Mike Guasch leads Prototype Challenge, running an impressive fourth overall following the latest round of pit stops.

GT Le Mans continues to be controlled by the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR of Nick Tandy, who runs ahead of Ryan Briscoe’s No. 3 Corvette C7.R and the John Edwards-driven No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE.

Riley Motorsports/TI Automotive Racing took over the lead in GT Daytona, following Ben Keating’s pass on the Magnus Racing Porsche 911 GT America of John Potter midway through the hour.

Keating extended his lead in the No. 33 Dodge Viper GT3-R, with the No. 58 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Emilio Valverde now running second in class.

After contact in the pit lane last hour, the pole-sitting Krohn Racing entry has continued losing ground, this time with exhaust issues for the Ligier JS P2 Judd, which has seen Nic Jonsson plummet down the running order.

Michael Shank Racing’s Honda-powered Ligier, meanwhile, hasn’t been officially retired and could rejoin later in the race once repairs are made following Ozz Negri’s heavy crash in the second hour.

“I was just pushing very hard trying to stay on the lead lap,” Negri said. “I got behind a GTLM car and I thought he let off and gave me the way but then he started to turn into the corner and I thought I was going to hit him.

“So I tried to avoid it and went over the curb and when I hit the curb, that’s when the car took off and spun the other way. It’s one of those things.

“Maybe I should have been a little more patient and passed him elsewhere but in the heat of the moment, you have to push, push, push.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John