Sebring 12 Hours: hours 5 - 8
Hour 5
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #31 Cadillac V-Series.R
Cadillac V-Series.R #31 entered the fifth hour in the lead just for 2 laps as it made a series of four trips through the pit lane:
the first in an aborted pit stop as the pit lane had been closed,
then an emergency fuel service followed by
a full pit stop and nose change;
a fourth under the yellow early in the fifth hour when the Cadillac topped up energy.
Yelloly with #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 took the lead for 3 laps passed by Ricky Taylor in the #10 WTRAndretti Acura who kept the lead for 26 laps entering the sixth hour.
Hour 6
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #10 WTRAndretti Acura
#10 WTRAndretti Acura lost briefly the lead (3 laps) due to pit stop but kept the lead again for 17 laps until #85 JDC Miller Motorsports Porsche 85 took the lead for 2 laps but not able to resist to #31 Cadillac come back who took the lead 2 laps before entering the seventh hour.
Hour 7
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #7 Porsche 963
#31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac kept the lead for an additional 12 laps in the beginning of the 7th hour. Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 #7 took then the lead almost until the end of hour 7 during 15 laps with #31 Cadillac and #10 Acura taking the lead respectively during 1 and 2 laps ending seventh hour.
Dramatic hour 8 for leading #31 Cadillac
Pipo Derani was leading the pac for the 12th lap in a row until he made contact with the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Miguel Molina in Turn 10. The #31 Cadillac was sent straight into the tire barriers before coming to rest upside down. Luckily, the tire barrier got the most of the impact and the solidity of the chassis protected Derani from a fatal end. Big disappointment for Derani who was 12 seconds ahead of Porsche #7, seeking his fifth Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring overall victory.
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #31 Cadillac V-Series.R
“One of those days when things go upside down literally,” Derani said. “Fortunately, everything was all right, the safety crew was there quite quickly. … In general, I didn’t feel any pain, nothing. I think the tire barriers reduced the impact by quite a lot. Thanks for the safety crew as well, for the car and everyone who showed up here to see if I was OK.”
Derani wasn’t sure what happened in the incident with the Ferrari.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” he said. “I was 12 seconds ahead and everything was running smooth. We overtake thousands of thousands of cars through a race like this. It’s one of those moments. Maybe he didn’t see, let go a little bit and there I was. Maybe I was expecting him to just hold his line to the right, knowing that I was going to go on the left. It’s just one of those situations where it happens without you having any chance of thinking whether you should have done something different or not.” Source: IMSA
#25 BMW clinch 8 hours mark maximum endurance points
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #25 BMW M Hybrid V8
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2024. #6 Porsche 963
The #7 Penske Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr took then the lead for 3 laps ahead of nine GTP cars and all five manufacturers on the lead lap. Maxime Martin in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 then kept the lead for 27 laps, 8 laps until the end of hour 8 and 19 laps in hour 9 clinching the maximum endurance points awarded at the eight-hour mark. Mathieu Jaminet in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, Ricky Taylor in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, Louis Deletraz in the sister #40 WTRAndretti Acura, Jesse Krohn in the #24 BMW M Team RLL BMW, Scott Dixon in the #01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac, Dane Cameron in the #7 Penske Porsche, Romain Grosjean in the #63 Lamborghini Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 and Gianmaria Bruni in the #5 Proton Competition Porsche were following all in the same lap within 8.761 seconds.
Related Info
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Sebring 12 Hours: hours 1 - 4
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Cadillac, Lexus, Ferrari top qualifying.
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Phil Hanson tops Thursday combined practices
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Cadillac Racing tops Practice 1 at Sebring
