IMSA News: Penske Porsches continue to ride roughshod over IMSA Series
Laurens Vanthoor topped the timesheets in the opening practice session for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway, securing a commanding 1-2 finish for Porsche Penske Motorsport.
Driving the eye-catching Mobil 1-liveried No. 6 Porsche 963, Vanthoor (pictured) posted a blistering 1:47.985 lap during the 90-minute session—edging out teammate Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 entry by a razor-thin 0.026 seconds.
Jack Aitken placed third in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R, while Louis Deletraz was fourth in the No. 33 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, just ahead of teammate Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 29 Cadillac, rounding out the top five.
Tom Blomqvist took sixth in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06.
In LMP2, Paul di Resta led the way for United Autosports in the No. 22 Oreca 07 Gibson with a 1:50.700 lap, beating Ferdinand Habsburg in the No. 18 Era Motorsport entry by 0.048 seconds. The No. 99 AO Racing Oreca finished third in class.
However, the session ended under a red flag with 38 minutes remaining after AO Racing team owner/driver PJ Hyett spun the No. 99 car—”Spike” the dragon—into the Turn 17 wall, resulting in significant right-rear damage.
In the GT classes, Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evos dominated the production-based ranks, led by three GTD entries. Philip Ellis set the pace in the Rolex 24-winning No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG, ahead of Scott Andrews in the Lone Star Racing example. Lorenzo Patrese placed third in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
The fastest GTD Pro car was Alessio Picariello in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche.
Beyond Hyett’s incident, several other off-track moments occurred without red flags: contact between Sheldon van der Linde’s No. 25 WRT BMW M Hybrid V8 and Chris Cumming’s No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports entry in Turn 14 caused a spin for the LMP2 car and a drive-through penalty for the BMW driver. Adam Adelson had an excursion in Turn 5 with the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche but continued, as did the No. 2 United Autosports Oreca early in the session in Turn 15.
Late in the session, multiple drivers—including Phil Fayer, Riccardo Agostini, Jon Field, and Sheena Monk—experienced spins or off-course excursions exiting Turn 16.
Additionally, the No. 24 WRT BMW and No. 912 Manthey Porsche each served a five-minute hold at the session start for failing to comply with the torque sensor offset test.
Practice 2 is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. EST.