Derani Crashes Out of 12H Sebring in Hour 7

Action Express Racing was eliminated from the lead of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac after a heavy crash for Pipo Derani in the seventh hour of the race.

Derani, driving the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R, made contact with the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Miguel Molina at Turn 10 and was sent off the track, making heavy contact with the tire barriers.

The car was launched in the air and came to a rest upside down on top of the barriers. Derani was able to climb out of the car after assistance from the safety team and walked away under his own power.

The Brazilian was evaluated and released from the trackside medical center.

At the time of the crash, Derani had opened up a gap of more than ten seconds to the No. 7 Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr after jumping ahead during the most recent round of stops.

Prior to that, the two former teammates had battled for the lead with Nasr slipping by Derani in the sixth hour at Turn 17 before a faster stop by AXR reversed the order.

Nasr now leads from the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz and the sister car in the hands of Jordan Taylor.

Connor De Phillippi held fourth for BMW M Team RLL ahead of the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais.

Proton Competition held sixth but were due to serve a drive through penalty for failure to adhere to powertrain parameters.

Felipe Fraga led LMP2 in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson from the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR entry of Toby Sowery.

Michael Christensen ran out front in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R after a strong stint from Laurin Heinrich.

The German opened up a gap of over twenty seconds prior to handing over to Christensen, who now sits ahead of the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth.

Alexander Sims held third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, just ahead of the GTD class leading No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.