Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA
Louis Deletraz made a late-race pass on Sebastien Bourdais to claim victory in the 72nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti and Acura.
The Swiss driver in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 got around the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with a bold move on the inside of Bourdais in Turn 7 with six minutes to go in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round.
Deletraz crossed the line 0.891 seconds ahead of Bourdais following a thrilling 23-minute sprint to the checkered flag after a series of late-race full course cautions.
It marked the team’s first Sebring win since 2017, in a car that Deletraz shared with Jordan Taylor and NTT IndyCar Series star Colton Herta.
Jordan Taylor picked up his second overall Sebring win, his first also coming in 2017, while it was both Deletraz and Herta’s maiden victories in the Florida endurance classic.
Acura, meanwhile, won the race for the first time although it marked the second Sebring win for Honda Racing Corporation U.S., when Tequila Patron ESM claimed top honors in a Ligier JS P2 Honda in 2016.
Felipe Nasr brought the No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 home in third after a battle with fellow Porsche factory driver Julien Andlauer on the final restart that saw the Frenchman have an off-course excursion.
Nasr and co-drivers Dane Cameron and Matt Campbell, who were looking to double up following their Rolex 24 at Daytona win, had several early race delays including having to perform a full power cycle under the first yellow due to an issue with its data logger.
Andlauer, meanwhile, appeared set to take the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche home in fourth but had another off-course moment, handing the position to the No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi.
De Phillippi made a late charge on the final restart to get around two GTP cars, including the sister No. 24 BMW of Philipp Eng, who finished sixth after rebounding from a puncture in the opening hour.
The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura came back from a fluid leak to complete the top-five, with Filipe Albuquerque having been the only GTP car to pit under the final yellow for fresh Michelin tires.
The car rebounded from one lap down to sort out the leak that was causing smoke to come out of the right bank of the exhaust. Ricky Taylor had been leading at the time prior to the stop.
Iron Lynx claimed an impressive seventh place result with its WeatherTech Championship-debuting Lamborghini SC63, which stayed on the lead lap after a largely trouble-free run for Romain Grosjean, Matteo Cairoli and Andrea Caldarelli.
The No. 6 Penske Porsche, meanwhile, soldiered home to finish ninth after multiple incidents, including a clash with a GT car in the sixth hour with Nick Tandy at the wheel, prior to Fred Makowiecki spinning out from the lead with a left-rear puncture, which led to bodywork damage.
It came after the Frenchman made contact with the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Katherine Legge to bring out a yellow for the stricken GTD car, although no further action was made by race control.
The pole-sitting No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac of Pipo Derani crashed out in dramatic fashion in the seventh hour, after the Brazilian and the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Miguel Molina made contact in Turn 10, sending the then race-leading Cadillac hard into the barriers before coming to rest upside down.
Derani escaped injury in the high-speed accident.
The No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche, which had left-side driveshaft failure, was the only other GTP retirement in the race.
RESULTS: Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
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