Sebring 12 Hours: Deletraz edges Bourdais to claim victory for Acura

Deletraz, driving the #40 Acura ARX-06 alongside Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta, applied the pressure with less than six minutes to go on Cadillac Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais, who had a firm hold of the lead for much of the final hour.

The two tangled with on-track shoves, but it was Deletraz that prevailed with a Turn 10 move around the 17-turn, 3.74-mile circuit to win the 72^nd edition of IMSA’s endurance classic.

Bourdais settled for second driving the #1 Cadillac, he shared with Renger van de Zande and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. The final spot on the podium was claimed by the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 piloted by Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron.

ERA Motorsport’s Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch claimed the LMP2 honours. The #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, driven by Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood won GTD Pro, while Winward Racing’s Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje took victory in GTD.

The Cadillacs spent the early stages of the race battling, and even came to blows in the second hour.

The polesitting #31 Cadillac machine of Pipo Derani maintained the lead early on, before the #1 of Bourdais grabbed the advantage with just over an hour completed.

The two cars emerged line astern after the first driver changes and, initially, Jack Aitken in the #31 kept Dixon at bay, but it was only temporarily as they speared side-by-side through Turns 5-11 before making slight contact as Dixon managed to put the Chip Ganassi Racing-prepared Cadillac back to the lead.

But the races for the two V-Series.Rs began to unravel around mid-distance.

#31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken, Tom Blomqvist (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

First, van der Zande struck the class-leading GTD Lexus of Aaron Telitz in the pitlane.

However, a far more dramatic clash was to come for the #31 in the eighth hour, when Derani collided with Miguel Molina in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. 

The contact sent Derani off at Turn 10 and full speed into the tyre barriers, which then led to momentum carrying him up and into a single flip before coming to a stop upside down on the barriers. He, fortunately, emerged uninjured.

The big beneficiary from the resulting caution period was the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Maxime Martin, which vaulted into the lead from the #6 Porsche 963. 

Martin led the field to the restart, which commenced just five minutes at the conclusion of the eighth hour. Despite the tight push into Turn 1, he was able to hold off Matheiu Jaminet (Porsche Penske Motorsports) and Ricky Taylor (Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti).

It didn’t take long – 20 minutes, to be exact – for Taylor’s #10 Acura ARX-06 to work around the #6 Porsche 963 of Jaminet.

Taylor then began to close on the lead and got within 0.4s of Martin, who began cutting through traffic and ended up making contact with Matteo Cressoni in Iron Lynx’s No. 60 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 in Turn 15. Cressoni was able to continue on, while Martin saw his lead shrink even more.

As Taylor continued to gain ground, traces of smoke could be seen occasionally trailing his Acura. Regardless of that, though, Taylor’s pace continued, and he caught Martin out in traffic and put on a move to take the lead with 23 minutes remaining in the ninth hour.

#6 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Nick Tandy, Mathieu Jaminet, Fred Makowiecki (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

The action was halted for a ninth time after the #6 Penske Porsche 963 of Fred Makowiecki, running fourth in GTP and overall, dove under Katherine Legge’s #66 Acura NSX GT3 entering Turn 17. The two made contact, which sent Legge into a wild spin briefly before making hard contact into the tyre barrier. Makowiecki was able to continue on, while Legge climbed out under her own power.

The caution happened right at the conclusion of the ninth hour. By opting not to pit, Makowiecki inherited the lead, with Gianmaria Bruni running second in the #5 Porsche 963 for Proton Competition. Campbell, piloting the Porsche Penske Motorsport #7 GTP machine, rose to third.

Van der Zande sat fourth, ahead of Yelloly. Hartley ended up falling to ninth, behind Romain Grosjean, who was listed a lap down in Iron Lynx’s Lamborghini SC63.

The race resumed 13 minutes after the conclusion of the ninth hour, with Makowiecki getting a clean start and accelerating away from Campbell, who managed to climb to second.

Moments later, Makowiecki lost the lead after his right rear tyre exploded which forced him to nurse the car back to the pits. This propelled his team-mate, Campbell, to the lead and the Cadillac of van der Zande to third.

With 20 minutes left in Hour 10, Campbell continued to hold a lead of four tenths of a second over van der Zande. Yelloly held third at 1s back, while Herta, driving the #40 Acura ARX-06 for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, in fourth 2.5s behind.

Only five minutes later Herta managed to close on the back of Yelloly to challenge for third, which he cycled up to second after Campbell elected to dive to the pits. Although van der Zande was handed the lead with Campbell pitting, it would only be momentarily as he pitted the next lap and gave the lead to Yelloly. The stop for van der Zande saw him hand off to Sebastien Bourdais.

#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta (Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images)

During this stretch, Herta was able to manage the traffic and push to the lead by Yelloly and pull a two second gap with only eight minutes remaining in the hour.

With two hours to go, Herta stretched his lead to over six seconds on Yelloly, who was only three seconds ahead of BMW team-mate Augusto Farfus in third.

Herta gave up his stranglehold on the lead dove to the pits just five minutes into Hour 11, swapping places with co-driver Jordan Taylor. With Yelloly pitting two laps prior – and making way for Connor De Phillippi to take over, Bruni took the lead briefly before eventually giving way to Bourdais.

Bourdais pitted from the lead moments before the caution, which elevated Jordan Taylor up the leaderboard. A cycle of pit stops meant Deletraz swapped with Jordan Taylor for the final run to the finish. De Phillippi and Philipp Eng, in the #24 BMW, followed Deletraz off pit lane.

This exchange allowed Bourdais to claim the lead, with Felipe Nasr behind in the #7 Penske Porsche 963, followed by Deletraz, De Phillippi and Eng.

The green flag returned with 58 minutes left in the running as Bourdais led the field into Turn 1. The 45-year-old Frenchman got a strong launch, pulling three seconds on Nasr and 3.5s on Deletraz over the following two laps.

#01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon (Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images)

After two caution periods, the race restarted with 23 minutes to go as Bourdais took the green, but it was Deletraz under attack by Nasr. Despite the effort, Nasr failed to pass and the fight allowed a chance to Bourdais to stretch a lead of nearly two seconds.

Bourdais soon came under heavy attack approaching traffic from Deletraz as they went side-by-side through traffic and into Turn 10 with eight minutes to go. Deletraz and Bourdais came together and continued to make contact over the next several turns, before Deletraz pulled off a double move and completed the pass in Turn 10 with less than five minutes to go.

Bourdais attempted to fight back but the chance was stalled as he came up on traffic in the form of Hawkworth, which allowed Deletraz to pull a gap of 0.7s.  As Deletraz continued to push through traffic, it was now Bourdais clawing back in the fight to pull within 0.5s on the penultimate lap.

Deletraz held his nerve to take the chequered flag from Bourdais as Nasr took the final step on the podium, ahead of De Phillippi in fourth.

CLA	DRIVERS	#		CHASSIS	LAPS	TIME	INTERVAL	PITS	POINTS
1	J. TaylorL. DeletrazC. HertaWAYNE TAYLOR RACING WITH ANDRETTI	40		Acura ARX-06	333	-		13
2	R. van der ZandeS. BourdaisS. DixonCADILLAC RACING	01		Cadillac V-Series.R	333	+0.891 0.891	0.891	14
3	D. CameronF. NasrM. CampbellPORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT	7		Porsche 963	333	+8.898 8.898	8.007	15
4	C. de PhillippiN. YellolyM. MartinBMW M TEAM RLL	25		BMW M Hybrid V8	333	+12.056 12.056	3.158	13
5	R. TaylorJ. BarbosaB. HartleyWAYNE TAYLOR RACING WITH ANDRETTI	10		Acura ARX-06	333	+13.398 13.398	1.342	14
6	J. KrohnP. EngA. FarfusBMW M TEAM RLL	24		BMW M Hybrid V8	333	+28.438 28.438	15.040	16
7	M. CairoliA. CaldarelliR. GrosjeanLAMBORGHINI IRON LYNX	63		Lamborghini SC63	333	+28.501 28.501	0.063	14
8	G. BruniA. PicarielloJ. AndlauerPROTON COMPETITION	5		Porsche 963	333	+44.807 44.807	16.306	15
9	N. TandyM. JaminetF. MakowieckiPORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT	6		Porsche 963	331	2 laps		17
10	D. MerrimanR. Dalziel C. ZilischERA MOTORSPORT	18		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		21
11	S. ThomasM. Jensen H. McElreaTDS RACING	11		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		18
12	D. GoldburgP. di Resta B. GargUNITED AUTOSPORTS USA	22		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		16
13	L. WillseyJ. BarbosaJ. EdgarSEAN CREECH MOTORSPORT	33		Ligier JS P217	330	3 laps		18
14	G. RobinsonF. FragaJ. BurdonRILEY	74		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		20
15	J. SmiechowskiN. BoulleT. DillmannINTER EUROPOL BY PR1 MATHIASEN MOTORSPORTS	52		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		19
16	M. JakobsenH. HedmanR. LindhDRAGONSPEED	81		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		17
17	D. Andersen S. Lucas L. HörrMDK BY HIGH CLASS RACING	20		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		24
18	G. KurtzC. BraunT. SoweryCROWDSTRIKE RACING BY APR	04		ORECA 07	330	3 laps		17
19	B. KeatingN. PinoB. HanleyUNITED AUTOSPORTS USA	2		ORECA 07	329	4 laps		20
20	J. HawksworthB. BarnicoatK. KirkwoodVASSER SULLIVAN	14		Lexus RC F GT3	316	17 laps		12
21	D. SerraD. RigonJ. CaladoRISI COMPETIZIONE	62		Ferrari 296 GT3	316	17 laps		12
22	F. Perera J. PepperM. BortolottiIRON LYNX	19		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	316	17 laps		11
23	B. SellersM. SnowN. VerhagenPAUL MILLER RACING	1		BMW M4 GT3	316	17 laps		11
24	R. GunnA. RiberasM. FarnbacherHEART OF RACING TEAM	23		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	316	17 laps		14
25	C. SchiavoniM. CressoniL. PulciniIRON LYNX	60		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	316	17 laps		15
26	H. TincknellM. RockenfellerC. MiesFORD MULTIMATIC MOTORSPORTS	64		Ford Mustang GT3	316	17 laps		12
27	J. HandD. MullerF. VervischFORD MULTIMATIC MOTORSPORTS	65		Ford Mustang GT3	316	17 laps		16
28	L. Heinrich S. Priaulx M. ChristensenAO RACING	77		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	316	17 laps		12
29	R. WardP. EllisI. DontjeWINWARD RACING	57		Mercedes AMG GT3	314	19 laps		12
30	R. LacorteG. SernagiottoA. FuocoCETILAR RACING	47		Ferrari 296 GT3	314	19 laps		15
31	A. Adelson E. SkeerJ. HeylenWRIGHT MOTORSPORTS	120		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	314	19 laps		18
32	R. De AngelisZ. RobichonI. JamesHEART OF RACING TEAM	27		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	314	19 laps		15
33	M. GoikhbergL. SpinelliD. DeFrancescoFORTE RACING	78		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	314	19 laps		11
34	R. FoleyP. Gallagher J. WalkerTURNER MOTORSPORT	96		BMW M4 GT3	314	19 laps		12
35	B. IribeF. SchandorffO. MillroyINCEPTION RACING	70		McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	314	19 laps		14
36	J. AndrettiG. ChavesS. HargroveANDRETTI MOTORSPORTS	43		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	314	19 laps		16
37	O. FidaniM. BellL. KernAWA	13		Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	314	19 laps		15
38	J. PotterA. LallyS. PumpellyMAGNUS RACING	44		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	314	19 laps		12
39	M. Franco A. CostaC. SbirrazzuoliCONQUEST RACING	34		Ferrari 296 GT3	314	19 laps		15
40	K. Li A. FjordbachK. BachlerMDK MOTORSPORTS	86		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	314	19 laps		16
41	F. MontecalvoP. ThompsonA. TelitzVASSER SULLIVAN	12		Lexus RC F GT3	314	19 laps		13
42	A. GarciaA. SimsD. JuncadellaCORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS	3		Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	313	20 laps		14
43	O. Triarsi C. Scardina A. RoveraTRIARSI COMPETIZIONE	023		Ferrari 296 GT3	313	20 laps		15
44	P. HyettP. ChatinM. BrabhamAO RACING	99		ORECA 07	313	20 laps		19
45	T. MilnerN. CatsburgE. BamberCORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS	4		Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	307	26 laps		15
46	M. KirchhoferO. JarvisJ. HinchcliffePFAFF MOTORSPORTS	9		McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	293	40 laps		21
47	K. MarcelliD. Formal G. DoyleWAYNE TAYLOR RACING WITH ANDRETTI	45		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	292	41 laps		14
48	R. Hardwick G. Levorato C. LewisPROTON COMPETITION	55		Ford Mustang GT3	291	42 laps		18
49	J. FaranoM. DinanC. EastwoodTOWER MOTORSPORTS	8		ORECA 07	247	86 laps		15
50	S. Monk K. LeggeT. CalderonGRADIENT RACING	66		Acura NSX GT3	233	100 laps		11
51	S. YolucR. AndradeS. AndrewsLONE STAR RACING	80		Mercedes AMG GT3	218	115 laps		14
52	P. DeraniJ. AitkenT. BlomqvistWHELEN CADILLAC RACING	31		Cadillac V-Series.R	210	123 laps		10
53	S. MannF. HeriauM. MolinaAF CORSE	21		Ferrari 296 GT3	197	136 laps		10
54	T. van der HelmR. WestbrookP. HansonJDC/MILLER MOTORSPORTS	85		Porsche 963	178	155 laps		7
55	R. FreyM. GattingS. BovyIRON DAMES	83		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	128	205 laps		11
56	L. Perez CompancN. NielsenL. WadouxRICHARD MILLE AF CORSE	88		ORECA 07	65	268 laps		6
57	M. SkeenM. GrenierK. KochKORTHOFF/PRESTON MOTORSPORTS	32		Mercedes AMG GT3	16	317 laps
58	A. Mantella N. Varrone T. MerrillAWA	17		Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	2	331 laps		3

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