Dalziel Leads Under Yellow After First Hour at Sebring

Ryan Dalziel leads overall at the end of the first hour of the 63rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, following the first round of pit stops as the second TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race season is under its first yellow flag of the day.

The caution flew just past the 50-minute mark when Paul Dalla Lana lost the right rear wheel and tire on his No. 98 Aston Martin Vantage GTE, and he was stopped on track just past Turn 3. The car was put onto a flatbed.

Dalziel and polesitter Olivier Pla each pitted at the 40-minute mark, with Dalziel staying in for a double stint in the No. 1 Tequila Patron ESM HPD ARX-03b while Pla handed over the No. 57 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2 Judd to Tracy Krohn.

Despite Dalziel’s advances on the start, Pla held him off at the end of the first lap and through the entirety of his stint. Pla maintained a five to eight second gap on Dalziel, with the rest of the field more than 15 or 20 seconds in arrears.

Dalziel’s lead of more than 15 seconds was wiped out following the yellow flag.

The pair of Action Express Racing Corvette DPs, driven by Joao Barbosa and Dane Cameron, ran second and third with Ozz Negri and Richard Westbrook fourth and fifth.

Colin Braun moved into the lead of Prototype Challenge ahead of polesitter Martin Plowman, though Conor Daly emerged in the lead by the end of the hour following the first round of pit stops.

GT Le Mans polesitter Fred Makowiecki led most of the opening hour in his No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR from Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R. The No. 912 maintained the lead after the first pit stop sequence, with Makowiecki handing over to Joerg Bergmeister.

Mario Farnbacher paced GT Daytona for the opening hour in the No. 23 Team Seattle-AJR Porsche 911 GT America, following an opening lap pass of polesitter Jeroen Bleekemolen in the No. 33 TI Automotive/Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R.

James Davison took his No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 into the fray with Spencer Pumpelly and Andy Lally also giving chase.

While there were no major incidents of note, IMSA noted teams reported a raccoon running down pit road in the opening hour.