Jakobsen: LMP2 Win Was “In Our Hands” Before Late Contact

CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Malthe Jakobsen said he felt the LMP2 class win at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring was ‘in their hands’ prior to contact with Matt Bell’s AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R which took them out of contention in the final minutes.

Jakobsen looked set to take the LMP2 class win before losing ground as a result of contact with the rear of the Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD class-winning Corvette and served a subsequent drive-through penalty for incident responsibility.

Tom Dillmann capitalized on a temporarily slowing Jakobsen to inherit the class lead and take the eventual win for Inter Europol Competition alongside Bijoy Garg and Jeremy Clarke with with just over ten minutes remaining in the 12-hour contest.

“I managed to take the lead and was leading for ten laps and it felt like we had it all in our hands,” Jakobsen told Sportscar365 post-race.

“I just tapped [Bell], he lost control and [I] dropped down to third.

“The car didn’t have any major damage, so I still felt like the car was in great contention, but obviously I got a drive-through for what I did, and that cost the race.

“I feel sorry about it because [the team] did the job and everything we needed.”

Jakobsen said confusion with the Corvette’s movements as he closed in on GTD traffic on the restart contributed to the eventual collision at Turn 17.

“You have that first little kink going into the last corner,” he explained. “I made sure I stayed behind for that so he could do his normal line and expected him to go straight and make some room for me on the inside.

“Obviously, he didn’t, and I just arrived with a bit too much speed, tapped him as he was fully on his brakes, loading his front axle, and then his rear was obviously loose in the air.”

Prior to the contact, Jakobsen successfully defended from two-time Sebring winner Bourdais and eventual winner Dillmann at the head of the field after taking the lead over the Frenchman by staying out a lap longer with Dillmann behind as the final caution fell.

“There was a local yellow flag and some debris when I came down in the back straight, and Sebastien boxed, but we decided to stay out,” Jakobsen explained.

“I think we were still ahead of them on fuel, so we had the advantage. We were the virtual leaders at that moment. It was not really the right decision to take a gamble at that point.

“We just had to stick to the race and do our own thing and make sure we covered off the others and it worked out. We were still leading.

“We had less fuel to put that the others so that’s why we could keep ourselves ahead.

“I was in a comfortable position, had a small gap back to Dillmann behind, and just had to find my way through the traffic like I normally do, and then I just misjudged the distance to the Corvette.

The 21-year-old CrowdStrike by APR driver expressed remorse for the incident with Bell, saying the collision with the AWA driver was “just unacceptable.”

“I don’t really know what to say. It’s just unacceptable what I did,” said Jakobsen.

“I would much rather have been in second going for the lead move and then like, ‘Okay, whatever I tried.’ All it takes is one tiny mistake, and then it loses everything.”