Cadillacs Out Front After Four Hours in Sebring

Chip Ganassi Racing led as the first Michelin Endurance Cup points of the race were awarded with the field under caution after four hours elapsed in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac.

Sebastien Bourdais returned the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R to the head of the field after the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac took multiple trips down pit lane.

Both Cadillacs got past the short-field No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport machine of Dane Cameron, with the No. 31 of Jack Aitken leading the pack.

However, the Aitken entered a closed pit lane as the field fell under caution for a pair of stricken cars, handing the overall lead to Bourdais, who stayed out.

Aitken would have to return to pit lane for emergency service one lap later and rejoined the field in fourth.

JDC-Miller Motorsports’ Richard Westbrook ran second in the No. 85 Porsche 963 with the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz in third.

The No. 31 Action Express machine and Dane Cameron’s No. 7 Porsche Penske entry rounded out the top-five with four hours gone by.

On-track action halted as the field sat behind the safety car at the four-hour mark after the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Salih Yoluc spun at Turn 13 and the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JSp217 stopped on track.

TDS Racing’s Mikkel Jensen led in LMP2 after multiple class lead changes from both on-track passes and order shuffling in pit lane.

Jensen’s advantage emerged from a quick stop from his TDS crew, jumping then-leader Nico Pino in the No. 2 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson.

In GTD Pro, Neil Verhagen led in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, after the American driver inherited the class lead when the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R came into the pits just before the four-hour mark.

GTD saw the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG continue to lead after at the end of the second hour.

After a first-hour yellow, the race’s second caution fell when Michael Dinan’s No. 8 Tower Motorsports Oreca LMP2 car spun into the Turn 13 tire barriers.

The field fell under caution again shortly after the three-hour mark when Lilou Wadoux’s No. 88 AF Corse-run LMP2 entry suffered a mechanical issue and stopped on track.

Jesse Krohn’s No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 also lost ground attempting to avoid spinning GT cars ahead of him and sustained bodywork damage that put the car a lap down after its pitstop for repairs and a driver change.

The No. 99 AO Racing LMP2 entry of Matt Brabham had charged to the head of the LMP2 field, but a slow pitstop and a fourth-hour penalty for an improperly manned fire extinguisher on pitlane cycled the fan-favorite “Spike the Dragon”-liveried machine down the order.