Derani Leads Opening Hour at Sebring

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Pipo Derani led the opening hour of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, in what turned into a Cadillac 1-2 with a move by Sebastien Bourdais on Ricky Taylor for second.

The pole-sitting No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R held a slight advantage over Bourdais’ No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing entry after the Frenchman passed the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor on Lap 23.

Taylor initially put pressure on Derani for the lead but faded towards the end of the stint, having come under attack from the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Tom Blomqvist, who moved into fourth.

Derani pitted just prior to the end of the opening hour, taking fuel-only in his Whelen Engineering-sponsored car, with the majority of the GTP class rivals electing to take on fresh Michelins.

The pair of Penske-run Porsche 963s ran fifth and sixth in the hands of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell respectively, with the Australian having passed both Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8s during his opening stint after starting last in class due to an accident in qualifying.

GTD Pro class pole-sitter Antonio Garcia held command of the production-based ranks in the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD, ahead of the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth in second.

Kyle Marcelli paced GTD in the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR Andretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22, meanwhile.

LMP2 was led by the No. 35 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson of Francois Heriau, who passed class pole-sitter Ben Keating for the lead following their first round of pit stops.

The Frenchman, however, was later handed a drive-through penalty for a pit speed violation.

Glenn van Berlo was out front in LMP3 in the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 Nissan after an early battle with the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Duqueine D08 of Dan Goldburg.

The race started in dramatic fashion for Lance Willsey, who spun and crashed his No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier in Turn 1, with the entire GT field narrowly missing the stricken LMP3 car.

Willsey limped back to a closed pit to later receive a penalty for the pit infraction, while the race’s first full course caution was deployed for debris from the Bronze-rated driver’s car.

Other cars to spin, although not bringing out yellows, in the opening hour included Brendan Iribe, Dwight Merriman and Dennis Anderson.

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