Cameron Leads Opening Hour as Taylor Hits Trouble

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Dane Cameron has assumed the early lead of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after mechanical issues have struck the championship-leading No. 7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 of Ricky Taylor.

Taylor, who had led the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title-decider from pole, pitted on Lap 22 with an initially reported boost-related issue.

It was then determined to take the car to the garage, in what has likely thrown their championship hopes out of the window.

The left-side intercooler was replaced on the car. 

Taylor and co-driver Helio Castroneves headed into the race with only a two-point lead over Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ryan Briscoe and Renger van der Zande, who was assessed a drive-through penalty for an improper start procedure.

The Dutchman lost around 30 seconds and currently runs seventh, with Pipo Derani third in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, which has suddenly found itself back in title contention.

Connor De Phillippi leads GT Le Mans in the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M8 GTE following a pass on Antonio Garcia at the start of the race.

The No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen, meanwhile, paces GT Daytona from class pole.

LMP2 has seen Patrick Kelly hold an early edge in his No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson.

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