IMSA: #40 WTRAndretti Acura wins 12 Hours of Sebring crashfest
They couldn’t stop crashing for the full 12 Hours of Sebring, but in the end, the finish was exciting as Louis Deletraz’s #40 WTRAndretti Acura out dueled Sebastien Bourdais’ #01 Cadillac.
Bourdais had to survive a couple of late cautions that bunched the field, but the Frenchman used up his tires and was unable to keep the #40 WTRAndretti Acura of Louis Deletraz at bay and had to settle for second 0.891s behind.
The Swiss driver in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 got around the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R with an move on the inside of Bourdais in Turn 7 with six minutes to go in Saturday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round.
The two cars bumped several times negotiating through lapped traffic, with Deletraz finally edging ahead. He pulled away from there to win by 0.891 seconds.
Deletraz shared the winning #40 Acura with Colton Herta and Jordan Taylor.
Jordan Taylor, meanwhile, picked up his second overall Sebring win while it was both Deletraz and Herta’s first victories in the Florida endurance classic.
Felipe Nasr brought the #7 Penske Porsche home in third
Conor De Phillippi was 4th in the #25 RLL BMW
The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura rebounded 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 came back from one lap down to sort out the leak that was causing smoke to come out of the right bank of the exhaust.
“What a fantastic event today in Sebring,” said Wayne Taylor, Team Principal.
“The last time we won it was back in 2017 and for the last couple of years, we have always been in there in the hunt. We just somehow come up short. It has been frustrating, but thankfully, we were able to get a two-car program with Acura, Oreca, and HRC, the support from DEX Imaging, Konica Minolta, and Gainbridge, and having what I think is the best driver line up out there.
“But the most amazing part was that it was such a team effort. You could see it at the beginning of the race, the middle of the race and then, at the end of the race, especially, you saw the blue car, the red car and everyone hugging each other.
“It was really one unit. That is what we are really trying to build here and to try and do this as a family. To feel part of the winning and also the losing. I am just really proud of everyone.”
Louis Delétraz: “Really big thank you to the team, WTRAndretti, Acura and HRC, and the two guys right here. Because obviously without them it’s not possible. The car was really strong in the end, and I knew we were in a position to win, which to be fair was a lot of pressure. I’ve never really done that, Daytona was my first time, that’s my second time finishing a race. I just obviously wanted to win and also bring points for the championship, but I saw I had the opportunity. Sebastien was tough but fair, so thanks to him. And in the end, I saw the gap, and I went for it, and I had more pace and I won, and I think I’ll remember this one for a long time.”
Jordan Taylor: “Good win from the team. I think it’s their first win in the GTP class for Acura, so it’s a big win for the team. First time as a two-car team as well. Yeah, I think our car, we stayed out of trouble all day, didn’t have any big issues. The No. 10 car was extremely quick, drove in the lead at one point, but had their little issue that they recovered from, and recovered to a top 5. I think overall Louis’ closing stint was what made a difference today. The team did a good job to keep us in the fight, but he really fought for that win and got it for us.”
Colton Herta: “It’s awesome! I feel very fortunate to come to these races and do these endurance events that are obviously very different from what I’m normally used to and take a lot of different attributes that maybe I didn’t have when I first started. It feels incredible to finally win this one. I got close in 2020 with BMW and ended up getting taken out with about 5 minutes to go. So ever since then I really wanted to come back and try to win this. Luckily, we were able to do that, and I can’t state enough about what Louis did in that last stint to bring it home, what type of pressure he was under and able to perform through it and put on a pretty spicy move on Sebastien. I think everybody did an amazing job on the team, drivers, and every aspect of it was pretty perfect for us.”
Sebastien Bourdais: “I gave it all I had. The 40 car was out of sync and they put new tires on at the last stop and we didn’t because we didn’t have time for that, and they just came like a rocket at the end. I’m a little disappointed that it turned into a bumper car contest at the end. I’m glad we got out of it because we could have picked up four or five punctures along the way. Obviously disappointed for the whole group and Cadillac because we had a really strong day. It was not as straightforward as we wanted, but up front most of it. It always hurts to get done like this in the closing laps. But it’s racing.”
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.
An unfortunate end to the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R’s campaign at The 12 Hours of Sebring. Thankfully, Pipo Derani has been evaluated and released from the care center. https://t.co/QV0Rrvgedc
— IMSA (@IMSA) March 16, 2024
The #18 Oreca driven by 17-year old Connor Zilisch won in LMP2 to backup his team’s Rolex 24 at Daytona win
The #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus started from pole and won in GTD Pro. Hawksworth, driving the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3, completed a bold pass on Daniel Serra’s No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 at the race’s final restart to seal the win. Serra, James Calado and Davide Rigon finished second ahead of Iron Lynx’s No. 19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 after a late drive through penalty for AO Racing’s No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R.
In GTD, Philip Ellis withstood late pressure from Cetilar Racing’s Antonio Fuoco to take a second consecutive class victory for Winward Racing.
The next WeatherTech Championship race is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 20, where the GTP and GTD classes will compete in a 100-minute race that airs live at 4:30 p.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock.