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Stevens Out Front for WTR With Four Hours to Go

Will Stevens collects maximum Endurance Cup points on eight hours for Wayne Taylor…

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Will Stevens led for Wayne Taylor Racing to pick up maximum points at the second IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup points stage with four hours to go in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Stevens did well to simultaneously maintain the lead and manage his Acura ARX-05’s fuel load after pitting during a caution period early in the eighth hour.

The British driver remained out front for his full stint to pick up five Endurance Cup points for WTR at the eight-hour mark, with Richard Westbrook taking four points for JDC-Miller Motorsports and Tristan Nunez banking three for Action Express Racing.

Westbrook moved up to second by overtaking Tristan Nunez’s No. 31 Cadillac shortly before the eight-hour mark.

Nunez collected three points for being in third place at the eight-hour checkpoint, ahead of Oliver Jarvis driving for Meyer Shank Racing.

Nunez’s co-driver Pipo Derani led the 12 Hours of Sebring at halfway but Wayne Taylor Racing jumped to the head of the DPi field a few minutes later in a caution-induced pit cycle.

The fifth Full Course Yellow of the race was caused by car debris on the Ullman Straight.

After only one lap of green flag running, the yellows returned when Harry Gottsacker went off at Turn 17 in the Muelhner Motorsports Duqueine D08 Nissan.

WTR remained at the head of the field when racing resumed midway through the seventh hour, with Ricky Taylor holding off Tom Blomqvist in the Meyer Shank Acura.

In the green flag run after the seventh and most recent caution for the CORE autosport LMP3 Ligier stopping at pit exit, Stevens maintained WTR’s edge while the MSR Acura with Jarvis at the wheel shuffled behind the No. 31 Action Express and JDC-Miller Cadillacs.

In the Endurance Cup standings, drivers from Wayne Taylor Racing and JDC-Miller Motorsports are level at the top of the table on 20 points.

Nicky Catsburg led a close-fought GTD Pro battle with four hours to go, the Dutchman moving the sole Chevrolet Corvette C8.R to the head of the field with a daring multi-corner pass on Pfaff Motorsports Porsche driver Matt Campbell that started at Turn 1.

Pfaff gained track position due to the timing of the seventh caution while TR3 Racing, BMW Team RLL and Vasser Sullivan are also gearing up to challenge for the class win.

Inception Racing picked up the maximum Endurance Cup points in GTD courtesy of Jordan Pepper behind the wheel of the No. 70 McLaren 720S GT3.

Several cars are in the mix, including the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 Ev0 2022 and the Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo which ranked second and third respectively a two-thirds distance.

Winward Racing’s Mercedes-AMG was a notable front-runner to fall by the wayside not long after halfway due to an electrical issue.

The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson took maximum Endurance Cup points in LMP2, moments before Scott Huffaker brought the car in for a stop.

LMP3 was led by Malthe Jakobsen after the Sean Creech Motorsport driver made a well-timed move on Kay van Berlo in Turn 3 with four hours and 15 minutes remaining.

Daniel Lloyd is a UK-based reporter for Sportscar365, covering the FIA World Endurance Championship, Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, among other series.

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