GT Drama with Three Hours Complete

Photo: John Dagys

Trouble has struck a number of GTLM contenders in the third hour of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Risi Competizione appears to be out of the race following a heavy accident by Matteo Malucelli, who backed his No. 62 Ferrari F458 Italia into the Turn 1 barriers.

The Italian driver rejoined but was then hit from behind by the No. 30 MOMO NGT Motorsport Porsche 911 GT America of Christina Nielsen, as well as collecting Dirk Werner’s No. 56 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE.

The multi-car accident brought out the fourth full-course caution of the race and put a dramatic twist on the GTLM battle.

There were issues also for the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR of Patrick Pilet, who lost five laps for repairs to the car’s nose after making contact with a spinning PC car prior to Malucelli’s incident.

As a result, it’s currently a SRT Viper 1-2 in GTLM, with the No. 4 Corvette C7.R running third in class while still under the safety car.

Up front, the No. 02 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford of Scott Dixon leads the way overall, ahead of Sebastien Bourdais’ No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP of Max Angelelli in third.

The No. 09 RSR Racing Oreca FLM09 of Duncan Ende continues to pace PC, while Mario Farnbacher leads the way in GTD aboard the No. 23 Team Seattle/AJR Porsche.

Prior to the Ferrari’s accident, there were two other cautions for PC cars stranded on circuit.

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