Motorsport Week explored what it was like for Era Motorsport when they were the only team who took on these key back-to-back endurance races.

Determination. Teamwork. Coordination. These fundamental traits run at the heart of every team competing in the illustrious yet gruelling discipline of endurance racing.

IMSA LMP2 and historic racing outfit Era Motorsport are no exception to this as the only team to run this year’s 24 Hours of Dubai, 6 Hours of Abu Dhabi and the 24 Hours of Daytona – all of which took place on consecutive weekends in January.

Take a deep dive into the stresses, heartbreaks and challenges endured during these major sportscar events by Era Motorsport.

Relive the insightful accounts from two of Era Motorsport’s most prominent racing drivers, team owner Kyle Tilley and team regular Ryan Dalziel.

Era Motorsport had three separate cars to race with two sets of crews, including two new engineers, for the Middle Eastern races and the United States-based affair.

They had two distinct racing entries for these events – the #81 Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #18 Oreca 07 LMP2 – with Kyle primarily managing the new Ferrari programme whilst his wife and team co-ordinator Sarah Tilley principally oversees their LMP2 programme.

The first two of seven 24H Series 2025 races run with the Creventic rules and regulations whilst Daytona is part of IMSA and their SportsCar Championship mixing prototype and Grand Touring machinery.

24H Dubai: A rough end to a smooth start for Era’s Ferrari programme

The 20th running of the Dubai 24 Hours was a major anniversary for the race and marked the beginning of Era Motorsport’s racing chapter with their Ferrari 296 GT3 programme, one of the newest GT3 cars customer teams can purchase.

Most notably, it marked the GT racing debut of reigning British Touring Car champion Jake Hill, whose partnership with Era Motorsport pre-existed in racing some of their historic cars in the past year as Tilley made his GT3 comeback.

Another team regular Dwight Merriman and Oliver Bryant joined and Tilley Dalziel as a five-driver line-up in the #81 Ferrari 296 Pro-Am GT3 class entrant for the race on 11-12 January.

“We were bringing in containers from different countries,” said Dalziel on the two separate Ferraris they had.

“We had the two cars were in different places for the Ferraris at one point, with [mechanical] parts in different parts of the world.

“It was definitely madness [in] the first couple of days.

“And you try your best to lend a hand but at the same time, [it’s] probably better the drivers don’t get involved in that stuff.

“At least my part of it, I try to make coffees for everybody and make sure everybody’s happy and I’m usually the class clown that motivates but from my side, it wasn’t overly difficult.

“I actually went to Dubai early, said the Scotsman who lives in Orlando, USA, “I wanted to make sure I got in the time zone.”

Dalziel on how he ‘led’ the drivers

Era Motorsport qualified 24th in a GT3 category mixed with Pro, Pro-Am, and Am entries, of which the #81 Ferrari belonged to the middle classification.

As with the majority of 24-hour races, qualifying played all but a small part in achieving a successful outcome for Era Motorsport.

“There’s a lot of new things, new elements to it, but not new to me.

“So I had done a season of the [Ferrari] 296, I’d also done a little bit of Creventic in the past and I’ve done a lot of GT3 racing.

“Nobody else in the car with me had done any of it.

“Dwight, it was new to him – he’d only done LMP2 racing.

“Jake Hill had never sat in a GT3 car, let alone do an endurance race, so on that programme I felt like I had to lead the drivers a little bit.”

Hill drew the eyes of many following the BTCC as Tilley gave praise to the 31-year-old.

“Jake’s massively talented. In my opinion, he’s slightly wasted just doing British Touring Cars.

“… So to be able to give him the step up into the GT3 car was something that’s been on my mind for a bit and he’s doing a great job.

“He had to learn his biggest hurdle that he’s never had to share a car before… that’s been a bit of a learning curve for him.”

An tough truth to process for Era Motorsport

At the Dubai 24 Hours, GT3 was the fastest class out of five for the ‘multi-class’ sportscar race.

Immediately after the race start, Era Motorsport suffered a leaky tyre which prompted an early pit stop.

Era Motorsport climbed back up and contended for a podium finish up until Merriman incurred a low speed impact with three-and-a-half hours remaining.

They were forced to retire despite the team’s best efforts and work to optimise strategy throughout the race.

No team out of the 65 entries which took on Dubai wants to be amongst the retirements and Era Motorsport unfortunately – though painfully close to the end.

“We like to say it’s the racing gods that decide the outcome of some of these things,” said Dalziel.

“And for me, I never bring my [emotional] baggage home.”

Tilley added his reflection: “The fact that we were there and in podium contention on the first time out shows what a good job both Ferrari and Oreca have done with the car, but also how well our engineering department got their heads around the car as soon as possible.”

The next stop for the Era Motorsport team was on the next weekend’s Abu Dhabi race on Sunday 19 January.

6H Abu Dhabi: Repeating GT3 podium contention

The second half of Creventic’s Middle East Trophy was at the Yas Marina Circuit, home to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Dalziel mentioned a late, preferential decision by the team to bring him back to the USA for the Roar Before the 24 pre-event test weekend rather than competing in the Abu Dhabi race on Sunday 19 January.

“Honestly, had it been the European Le Mans Series, I wouldn’t have got back in the car because that’s far more intense than I really want to do right now,” Tilley quipped having driven with Merriman and Hill.

“But certainly with Creventic, it’s a lot of fun.

“It’s a chance to share a car with two good friends and the car’s a joy to drive.

“So it’s been really enjoyable getting back in a modern car again.

“I think the biggest thing I’ve had to, to readapt to is learning a modern tyre versus like an older cross-ply tyre, which a lot of the historic cars run.”

The GT3 field contained some of the most renowned teams in sportscar racing such as IMSA GTD champions Winward Racing, WRT and Garage 59 to name a few.

With Dalziel back on the US soil, Hill, Merriman and Tilley took on the race as a trio.

They repeated podium contention but were unable to translate their potential into a top result, having finished P25 in the GT3 field and P11 in the Pro-Am sub-category.

24H Daytona: A flawless run towards podium denial

The 63rd running of the Daytona 24 Hours marked Dalziel’s 20th consecutive start at the race hosted at the iconic Daytona International Speedway Road Course.

Era Motorsport were reigning LMP2 class winners having attained their second ‘Rolex 24’ victory in 2024.

A mostly different line-up for this year underlined many unknowns for their pursuit for victory again, but the team were as determined as ever to not go down without trying.

Alpine Hypercar driver Paul-Loup Chatin joined Dalziel and two prominent technology businessmen, David Heinemeier Hansson and Tobias Lutke.

Lutke is CEO of the Shopify e-commerce outlet which was incidentally built on Hansson’s Ruby on Rails platform.

Hansson has far more experience and success in sportscar racing as Bronze-graded driver Lutke faced the thrills of IMSA multi-class racing at Daytona.

A baptism of fire for Lutke

“I think that we threw him into shark-infested waters and then we dumped a bucket of blood on his head repeatedly,” Dalziel understated.

“He was unable to do the official test in November due to Shopify conflicts.

“So then we tried to get him in some other stuff. We got him in the Historic Sportscar Racing [series].

“It’s just not the same, you don’t have the same pressure, but the first time that he was around 60 other IMSA cars, different speeds, faster [or] slower, was the Roar.

“Up until the Roar, he had actually never done any kind of simulated pit stops or driver changes in anger.

“He had a little bit of LMP3 experience, but in VP Challenge where the rules are not the same as WeatherTech.

“So he had never really understood how to enter and exit a pit box.

“It’s not until you realise how inexperienced he is that you’d appreciate how good of a job he did.

“… I’ve worked with a lot of the tech guys and the tech guys are very data-driven, analytic.

“So he’s one of those guys and he’s constantly looking for more information.

“… he never put a foot wrong and I said to him at the start of the race, we’re going to be just fine if we don’t make mistakes,” which Era Motorsport followed through with their lack of penalties incurred at Daytona.

A different approach between the two 24-hour races

At the 24 Hours of Daytona, hosted by IMSA, a primary focus for all LMP2 teams is to ensure they meet the minimum driver time for their Bronze-graded drivers, which was 4-hours and 30-minutes.

IMSA’s caution periods enabled the top LMP2 runners – including Era Motorsport – to stay on their class-lead lap, as Dalziel described.

“The strategy in Dubai is not driver rotation or drive-time.

“It’s purely the strategic way you can use the fuel pumps… you have to use regular petrol pumps.

“The top teams have people stationed there the whole time and you have a fairly large window of how long you’re allowed to go per the rules and how short you can go without hurting yourself strategically.

“So we were pretty different in how we approached Dubai because in Dubai, there was no benefit to running the bronze heavy in the first half of the race.

“You didn’t gain anything by [that], there’s no way to catch up.

“Whereas in IMSA, you see that everybody tries to go heavy on their bronze drivers and their silver drivers, and then they try and keep their professionals for the end.”

Fighting for the win to the end

Chatin spent the most amount time on the track in comparison to his co-drivers.

During a triple stint to the end, Chatin kept on the lead lap as AO Racing by TF Sport’s #14 Oreca encountered issues at the front.

In the final hour, where the fatigue and tension infused the atmosphere of all the teams, Chatin was hit by Mathias Beche’s #52 PR1 Mathiasen Oreca at Turn 1.

Chatin continued albeit without the victory contention, let alone podium contention, Era Motorsport earned over the 764 laps they completed at the checkered flag.

“From a team stand point, Daytona was a faultless race for us – no penalties, no issues in the pit stops… And, you know, we were there for the win at the end until we got taken off which was hugely disappointing, hugely frustrating.

“But it happens. That would have been a fairy tale debut for Tobi, obviously.

“… We’ve been very fortunate now that we’ve won Daytona twice, but an opportunity to win Daytona doesn’t come up every year.

“So to be in the position to have done an absolutely faultless race from everybody – and then have it taken away with 20 minutes to go – was a very bitter pill to swallow.”

After Tower Motorsports’ post-race penalty, Era Motorsport ended fourth after a tough race concluding the team’s back-to-back triple of endurance racing weekends.

READ MORE: ‘Kaku’ Ohta joins Era Motorsport at 12H Sebring and Road America

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Motorsport Week picked out five key storylines from a thrilling 73rd edition of the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 12 Hours of Sebring.

The second round of the 2025 IMSA schedule delivered with action, drama and heartbreak across the 12 hours.

As one of motorsport’s most gruelling endurance races, the 12 Hours of Sebring delivered once again for a great racing spectacle.

Out of the 56 entries which started the race at 09:00 local time, just 10 retired throughout with half of the DNFs attributed to the GTD category.

From the hectic opening phase of the race, to the brilliant racing offered in the middle of four hours of green flag running, finalised by an intense sprint to the finish – there were numerous winning and losing names from the 12 Hours of Sebring.

This piece selected and explored some of the key storylines from the race held on 15 March in hot and humid ambient conditions.

Read our end-of-race reports:

• Porsche claim 1-2 as #7 car takes victory at Sebring
• ‘Rexy’ charges to GTD Pro 12H Sebring victory after closing sprint

One penalty is all it takes in LMP2

It was no surprise to see the LMP2 win decided within the final hour, yet it was not entirely due to the sprint to the end.

At the beginning of the race, there was early contact between the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 and the #88 AF Corse Oreca 07 marking an otherwise untidy start in the LMP2 category.

TDS Racing’s #11 Oreca were a clear benchmark throughout the race as Steven Thomas, Hunter McElrea and Mikkel Jensen unlocked stronger pace than any of the other Oreca 07s.

The Peugeot Hypercar driver set the #11’s fastest lap time, a 1:50.860, whereas the other LMP2s could manage the 1:51 bracket at best.

Crowdstrike Racing and their #04 Oreca, along with the #43 Inter Europol Competition team, were TDS Racing’s key rivals in the pursuit of victory.

In the final hour, Malthe Jakobsen – also a WEC Peugeot Hypercar driver – led the final sprint to the end. The #04 Oreca team had undeniably strong, consistent form against TDS Racing’s pace thus allowing them to lead the category for the majority of the race.

Margins are fine in motorsport and IMSA’s LMP2 category was no exception. Jakobsen retained the lead during the final caution period, an exceptional circumstance along with the pit entry being closed to Jakobsen but not to his rivals directly behind him.

The #43 driver Tom Dillmann hung on his tail during the final sprint and the pair minded their way through GT traffic with great difficulty.

Unfortunately, Jakobsen lightly rear-ended Matt Bell’s #13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R thus earning the team’s only penalty – a drive-through – with 10 minutes remaining.

Reigning GTD Pro and GTD champions reaffirm status

Both the GTD Pro and GTD categories saw the series’ outgoing champions take victory having reaffirmed their undeniable form and reigning status.

In GTD Pro, the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R have their full-season duo of Laurin Heinrich (2024 GTD Pro drivers’ champion) and Klaus Bachler with Alessio Picariello assisting in the Endurance Cup races.

AO Racing were unable to take pole position for Sebring, but were only 0.172 seconds away thanks to Heinrich’s 1:59.397 taken on his penultimate flying lap.

More significantly, AO Racing reminded others that they are the benchmark in the category with an iron fist.

Mistake-free driving in the early phases of the Sebring 12 Hours rewards the teams by keeping them on the lead lap for the night-time later on.

Initially, the GTD Pro lead fights were between the #65 Ford Multimatic Mustang GT3 and the #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

AO Racing silently but surely kept themselves in the background of the fight before turning up the heat in the final hours, setting class-leading pace towards a well-earned maiden Endurance Cup race victory.

GTD’s Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 showcased similar form. Russell Ward and Indy Dontje carried consistent race pace during the majority of the race.

Dontje acclimatised the most driving time out of the trio at over 4 hours in total, but Philip Ellis also delivered during the most crucial half of the Sebring 12 Hours.

It came down to Ellis wrestling his way past Jack Hawksworth’s #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 after trying twice without success.

The pair made nose-to-tail contact just after they overtook the lapped #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alexander Sims.

Porsche Penske perfection, WTR not quite so

Porsche now have as many wins at the 12 Hours of Sebring as they do at the 24 Hours of Le Mans – 19.

The Weissach manufacturer had both cars together on strong long-run pace from free practice and so their #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP led for 166 laps, almost half of the 353 total lap count at the checkered flag.

Nick Tandy showed his eager racing enthusiasm when he notably fought back and forth with Frederick Vesti’s #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.

The British driver set fast pace but it was the GTD traffic management which enabled him to secure the place without Vesti returning the favour.

Wayne Taylor Racing encountered one of their most difficult races as the #31 Whelen Cadillac rose as the sole Cadillac which best contended for the 12 Hours of Sebring win.

The first controversial incident seemingly had #40 Cadillac driver Ricky Taylor ‘instigate’ contact with Charles Scardina’s #021 Ferrari 296 GT3 – ‘sending’ him head-on into the barrier at T13.

Speculation raised whether there was actual contact between Taylor and Scardina’s Triarsi Competitzione Ferrari after Wayne Taylor himself on the broadcast claimed race control admitted an error of judgement for penalising the #10 for incident responsibility.

Meanwhile Brendon Hartley found himself in the wall at T17, the final corner, though not causing fatal damage to his #40 Cadillac.

From poor clarification over the Taylor-Scardina scenario, to mistiming the pit entry closed lights to the Porsche Penskes and Meyer Shank Acuras during a caution period and not to those behind them – and allowing Romain Grosjean’s #63 Lamborghini SC63 GTP to be an active hazard on a restart – race control were under pressure for these avoidable errors.

AF Corse suffers double trouble

AF Corse were the one team which arguably suffered the most after having to retire their #88 Oreca 07 LMP2 and the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 (GTD).

The LMP2 car was involved in the first race incident with the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca but it was a later moment which ended the run for the #88 Oreca.

Matias Perez Companc seemingly ran out of room as he went through Sunset Bend, the circuit’s bumpiest corner.

He crashed into a tyre wall on the exit of T17 with under three hours remaining thus marked a difficult end for the #88 AF Corse team – yet the GTD car endured a more heartbreaking retirement.

The #21 Ferrari started on pole position by Alessandrio Pier Guidi and quickly built up a lead from lights out.

Pier Guidi extended his lead to nine seconds before a brake failure caused the Italian to massively overshoot and spin on the grass at Turn 10, crucially avoiding external bodywork damage to his Ferrari.

The team changed the front-left brake unit and through good pace, no mistakes and utilising the total four caution periods by that point, they not only returned to the GTD class lead lap but to the GTD lead.

A miraculous redemption drive by AF Corse kept them in the fight as their lead reached as high as 16 seconds over second-placed Seth Lucas’ #32 Korthoff Mercedes-AMG GT3 before they undramatically yet abruptly stopped at Turn 5 – whilst leading at the time – after the engine cut out indefinitely.

Four hours later in the #21 Ferrari, Lilou Wadoux had an issue on her out-lap having just taken over from Pier Guidi, sadly resulting in smoke pouring from the rear.

Top-10 finish for the Valkyrie’s IMSA debut

Alex Riberas, Ross Gunn and Romain de Angelis co-drove the #23 Aston Martin Valkyrie during its IMSA debut at Sebring.

The smooth and flat Lusail International Circuit in Qatar could not have been a greater contrast to demanding bumps and the decades-old concrete of the Sebring International Raceway.

Despite this difference, they were both lengthy endurance races at 10 and 12 hours in duration.

With such a new car, the focus was on learning more about the Valkyrie and gaining further data in what was its second race outing.

Despite the fact the Valkyrie is not competitive (yet), the #23 Aston Martin gained 1,312.128 miles of race running towards a highly impressive ninth place in the GTP category.

The FIA World Endurance Championship’s Hypercar category is more competitive with two more manufacturers in their top category compared to IMSA’s six in GTP, who opt for more frequent ‘caution’ periods in comparison.

We must not, however, shed doubt on the Valkryie’s progression after just two weeks from its WEC debut albeit with a different set of staff – mechanics, engineers etc. – running the US-based operation.

Many of their most representative lap-times resided in the 1:52-1:53 bracket whereas the more competitive GTP cars were in the 1:51-1:52 range.

Heart of Racing outperformed Lamborghini who retired again albeit lasted longer than their 90-minutes at Daytona.

Step-by-step, the progression in the Valkyrie is positive and their hopes to fight in the field will become more apparent as we work towards the Valkyrie’s important Le Mans debut on 14-15 June.

READ MORE: Nick Tandy on securing ‘Endurance Triple Crown’ after ‘Grand Slam’

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Laurin Heinrich recalled the purpose of fuel-saving with BMW’s Max Hesse in their fight for the GTD Pro class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The reigning GTD Pro drivers’ champion recounted his battle with Paul Miller Racing’s #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO driver Max Hesse in the final stages of the second 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship round.

Both of the 23-year-old German drivers utilised a fuel-saving driving approach in order to reach the checkered flag amidst their lead fight.

“Yeah, to be honest I had a bit of a different approach,” he said in the post-race press conference.

“… Both of us knew it would be a fuel race. Both of us were fuel-saving.

“I like fuel saving. I think it suits my driving style.

“… My approach was to not wait too long, maybe already take the first opportunity I get.

“Maybe catch him a bit off-guard or by surprise.

“Also, I mean, I made the experience last year in the last hour of the race, many things can go wrong by taking too much risk or others just defending or taking too hard.

“I didn’t want to spend too much time fighting because in the end it’s also a high risk.

“Yeah, I think it worked quite well to just take the first opportunity I got [to overtake]. I have to give it to him. I mean, he played safe.

“We are both young Germans.

“We are actually both part of the motorsports in Germany, so we are both supported by the ADAC in Germany.

“It was cool to actually fight with him for the first time on the track between each other.

“I hope we going to have some more fights in our career against each other.

Paul Miller Racing’s gamble falls short

Paul Miller Racing gambled with underfueling and running a lesser stint count when the 12 Hours of Sebring entered the final racing hour, with Heinrich having made his key move for the lead on Hesse 10 minutes prior.

This was in anticipation of a caution period where they could pit under such circumstances in addition to the fact they would retain track position.

With a lack of time to count on a definite caution, they pitted the #48 BMW for splash-and-dash with 50-minutes remaining – just five minutes before the race’s eighth and final caution deployed.

It was for Scott Andrews’ #80 Lone Star Mercedes-AMG GT3 who suffered a left-rear puncture, thus part of his tyre’s debris displaced on the back-straight.

Heinrich had both the #48 and #1 BMWs behind him in the final sprint to the finish.

With 23-minutes remaining, he set the fastest lap of the race in the GTD Pro category before Hesse, setting near-identical lap times, did the same.

Heinrich returned the favour with the Sebring GTD Pro lap record, 2:00.451, and increased the gap to 4.371 seconds at the finishing line.

READ MORE: ‘Rexy’ charges to GTD Pro 12H Sebring victory after closing sprint

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Nick Tandy became the 10th driver to have won the ‘Triple Crown of Endurance’ at the 12 Hours of Sebring following his historic ‘Grand Slam’.

“It’s incredible because I never realised how big a thing it would be winning all the four 24 Hours,” he said in the post-race press conference.

“It went global. People talking about it globally. 

The Triple Crown is probably one of the more historic kind of – what do we call them – accomplishments, groups. 

“… You look at the names that you’re linked with. That is just an unbelievable thing.

“Again, on top of the unbelievable stuff that happens when you win a single race like Daytona, let alone the other bits and pieces. 

“I remember when I won Sebring in 2018 the first time, I said, ‘This completed my set.’

“I was racing Le Mans-spec cars. There were four major races.

“There were four that raced Le Mans spec cars, the three IMSA endurances and Le Mans. 

“I think somebody said it’s the sixth Tuplet, which is again something that nobody’s ever done.

“Hopefully it’s even harder for somebody to match that rather than just the four 24 Hours.”

The triple crown of endurance racing concerns three of the most prestigious races: The 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

At the IMSA season-opener on 25-26 January, Tandy became the first driver to win the world’s four major 24-hour races.

Tandy recently finalised the other two elements of the endurance triple crown, almost 10 years after winning Le Mans for Porsche.

He previously won Sebring thrice in the GTLM category until taking his overall win with #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP team-mates Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor.

READ MORE: Road America switches to Endurance Cup on 2026 IMSA calendar

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Inter Europol Competition driver Tom Dillmann recalled his team’s inconceivable LMP2 victory at the end of the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring.

Dillmann took on the final 31-minute sprint to the finish at the wheel of the team’s #43 Oreca 07 LMP2.

The Frenchman held second place behind young star and Peugeot Hypercar driver Malthe Jakobsen and his #04 Crowdstrike Racing Oreca.

Dillmann said in the post-race press conference: “The team prior to the yellow was catching very quickly the cross strikes, so I knew we had good pace.

“But to be fast enough to overtake is another story with this kind of high downforce car. 

“I knew we had a shot, but in IMSA you can really go from hero-to-zero in an instant in those last few minutes.

“I kept pressuring him because I know that if you have the pressure behind, you have to risk a lot in traffic.”

The LMP2 lead fight intensified as the checkered flag grew nearer and nearer with the pair making their way through GT traffic.

Jakobsen mistakenly tapped the rear of Matt Bell’s #13 AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.R into Sunset Bend, thus earning the race leader a drive-through penalty.

This critical error by the #04 Oreca driver allowed Dillmann to take up victory in the final 10 minutes whilst Jakobsen fell down to sixth after serving his penalty.

Dillmann relates to Jakobsen’s error

“[It] happened to me a month ago,” he added.

“I was on the other side; I was leading in Asian Le Mans, and I had a mistake in traffic. I know what can happen.

“It happened and I could take the lead, and from then on I think I had enough pace to control the race. 

“You still need to go through GT traffic, which is not easy.

“They are all packed, they are all racing for position.

“They are not letting you by easy.

“Once I was through the GT traffic, I knew it was under control and brought it home.”

READ MORE: Porsche claim 1-2 as #7 car takes victory at Sebring

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Laurin Heinrich and AO Racing’s ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R charged to GTD Pro class victory at the 73rd running of the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring.

‘Rexy’ the fan-favourite T-Rex and the #77 Porsche driver crew conquered the GTD Pro category at a hot and humid Sebring International Raceway in a spectacle.

Heinrich earned their way to victory following an intense sprint at the end, much assisted by the work of his co-drivers Klaus Bachler and Alessio Picariello.

The race start was hectic and gripping in both GTD Pro and GTD but one which began without much drama across the two fields.

Pole-sitter Albert Costa in the #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3 retained his lead on Heinrich in the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R who swerved slightly to defend his second position.

The primary change was Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO who fell from P2 to P6 on the race start.

GTD pole-sitter and Ferrari works driver Alessandrio Pier Guidi established an early lead, unsurprisingly, in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 before suffering a brake failure into Turn 10.

He escaped further damage apart from the front-left brake unit which was replaced following an imminent pit stop.

A short yellow caution period for contact between Tobias Lutke (#18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 LMP2) and Luis Perez Companc (#88 AF Corse Oreca 07 LMP2) passed and the lead battle resumed, although Verhagen climbed back into the fight.

The second caution period came from controversial circumstances after Ricky Taylor (#40 WTR Cadillac V-Series.R) seemingly tapped Charles Scardina’s #023 Triarsi Competizione into the wall at Turn 13.

Proceedings continued with 10-hours and 45-minutes remaining and it was the #77 Porsche of Picariello in the lead on Verhagen’s #1 BMW.

Verhagen takes GTD Pro lead from ‘Rexy’

Verhagen demonstrated eager spirit to take the lead as the pair went door-to-door in their gripping fight as ‘Rexy’ kept the top spot.

It was until the next restart, after the third caution, when Verhagen made a reactive move to the lead on the restart.

As the race entered its third racing hour, Alexander Sims had to pit his #3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R for an unscheduled pit stop to change failing Tyre Pressure Management System sensors.

The #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jose Maria Lopez endured contact with Jesse Krohn’s #48 Paul Miller BMW which led to an extensive front-right suspension repair job for the Lexus, even if the contact was brief.

Miraculously, or rather through the lack of further dramas and utilising cautions, the #21 Ferrari climbed its way back into the GTD class lead with Pier Guidi turning swift pace at the wheel.

After four hours of running, the top-runners in the GTD Pro class consisted of Corvette, Paul Miller Racing and Ford Multimatic.

After a fifth caution, Daytona pole-sitter Mike Rockenfeller led a thrilling charge in his #64 Ford Mustang GT3 on the #1 BMW being driven by Connor De Philippi, followed by Max Hesse’s #48 BMW, the #4 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg and Heinrich.

Over the following hour, the lead battle evolved slightly so that Verhagen had 1.4 seconds on Picariello’s #77 Porsche which was marginally ahead ahead of Krohn’s #48 BMW.

Then, in the eighth racing hour, Christopher Mies headed a fight for P3 against Verhagen and Picariello.

Lilou Wadoux led heartbreak for the #21 Ferrari team when a mechanical issue halted their comeback effort.

BMW vs Porsche heading into Hour 10

The 12 Hours of Sebring entered the 10th hour with less fortunate news for Corvette, who were out of the running with issues on their #3 machine as Nico Varrone’s #4 fell out of lead contention due to a non-functioning scrutineering logger.

Last year’s British GT champion Dan Harper steadily turned on the pace so that he eventually fought past Dennis Olsen’s #65 Ford for the GTD Pro lead.

Since Harper took the lead, he quickly established a gap to three seconds on Olsen as #1 Snow kept him company in third place.

WIth 1-hour and 10-minutes remaining, Heinrich made his key move for the lead on Hesse as their fight intensified in the final hour.

Paul Miller Racing initially gambled with the prospect of another eighth imminent caution period by underfueling and running a slightly lesser stint-lap count in order to foresee the gamble.

Unfortunately, it never came around though they kept at the sharp end of the GTD Pro battle. The eighth caution did come as a result of Scott Andrew’s #80 Lone Star Mercedes-AMG and its puncture debris on the back-straight.

It came down to a 31-minute sprint to the finish with Heinrich ahead of Hesse, De Philippi, Costa, and Sebastien Priaulx’s #64 Ford.

With 23-minutes remaining, the tension was hot as Heinrich set a GTD Pro lap record, a 2:00.500.

In fact, Heinrich and Hesse were setting near identical lap times as just 1.2s separated them, before Hesse then set the fastest race lap of his #48 BMW.

Heinrich indirectly responded with his own lap record again, a 2:00.451 as ‘Rexy’ ran decently ahead of Hesse at a 1.3s margin.

Reigning champions win in GTD Pro and GTD

After 329 laps, the #77 Porsche crew sought victory and reaffirmed their mark as reigning GTD Pro champions.

At 4.371 seconds behind, the #48 BMW of Max Hesse and co-drivers Dan Harper and Jesse Krohn took second ahead of the other #1 BMW of Connor de Philippi – and his co-drivers Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen.

Alberto Costa took fourth for Dragonspeed’s #81 Ferrari crew and his teammates Giacomo Altoe and Davide Rigon.

Sebastien Priaulx rounded out the top-five in the #64 Ford with the help of co-drivers Mike Rockenfeller and Ben Barker.

Simultaneously into the final 31 minutes – in GTD – six different manufacturers held the top-six positions.

It became a task for Philip Ellis and the reigning GTD champions Winward Racing (#57 Mercedes-AMG) on whether they would be able take the lead from Jack Hawksworth’s #12 Lexus.

Hawksworth led the final restart ahead of Ellis, Daniel Serra’s #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, Charlie Eastwood’s #36 DXDT Corvette, Tom Gamble’s #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 and Frederick Schandorff’s #70 Inception Racing Ferrari.

Ellis eventually tried a move outside of Hawsworth for the lead, before again outside at T10 but Hawksworth held his ground before the pair touched nose-to-tail and shortly after overtaking the lapped #3 Corvette of Sims.

Winward Racing’s #57 Mercedes-AMG crew took victory with Ellis and his co-drivers Russell Ward and Indy Dontje after 327 laps.

At 3.265 seconds behind in P2 was Hawksworth and his #12 Lexus co-drivers Franke Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, followed by Gamble’s #27 Aston Martin and co-drivers Casper Stevenson and Zach Robichon.

See here for the unofficial race results and here for the unofficial race results ordered by class.

The post ‘Rexy’ charges to GTD Pro 12H Sebring victory after closing sprint appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Felipe Nasr of the #7 Porsche Penske 963 narrowly led the 73rd running of the IMSA 12 Hours of Sebring with six hours done and six remaining.

As the race entered the fifth racing hour, Brendon Hartley of the #40 Wayne Taylor Cadillac V-Series.R locked up and hit the wall at Sunset Bend, the final corner.

He soon got moving again as race control declared the fifth full-course-caution period and Hartley pitted for a front assembly change and new front tyres. The #40 Cadillac incurred a stop and 60-second penalty for the mechanics conducting more than an emergency pit stop service.

Green flag running resumed with seven-hours and 27-minutes remaining and race leader Colin Braun (#60 Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06) retained his lead.

Braun and #7 Porsche Penske 963 GTP driver Nick Tandy, running just two places behind, have three class wins to their name yet none overall as of yet.

Earl Bamber of the #31 Whelen Cadillac wrestled his way into the lead past Braun, before Tandy and #6 Porsche Penske driver Kevin Estre followed suit.

Braun and Marco Wittmann (#25 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP) had a slight moment of door-to-door contact that was deemed a racing incident.

At the front, the fight for the lead continued as just five seconds covered the top-five: Nick Yelloly (#93 Meyer Shank Acura), Tandy, Braun and Estre.

Eventually, the top-three of Bamber, Yelloly and Tandy pulled away with GT traffic playing its part in bringing a 16-second gap to fourth-placed Estre.

Porsche Penske fight with Whelen Cadillac

At the halfway mark, Felipe Nasr – having taken over the #7 Porsche – earned his way past Bamber into the lead on the #31 Whelen Cadillac.

Mathieu Jaminet held third place in the #6 Porsche Penske as Kevin Magnussen sat in fourth behind the wheel of the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 with Renger van der Zande rounding out the top-five for the #93 Meyer Shank Acura.

In LMP2, United Autosports kept their cars running clean without incurring penalties like some of their rivals during a messy opening two hours in the all-Oreca 07 category.

Toby Sowery ran at the front of the category for the #04 Crowdstrike Racing outfit, followed 40 seconds behind with Rasmus Lindh’s #22 United Autosports USA Oreca as Tom Dillmann was third for the #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca team.

Juan Manuel Correa was fourth in the #2 United Autosports USA Oreca as Hunter McElrea rounded out the top-five in the #11 TDS Racing Oreca.

Paul Miller Racing lead on Corvette in GTD Pro

In the GTD Pro category, Connor de Philippi led the charge in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO two seconds ahead of the #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg.

Reigning champions Laurin Heinrich and his #77 AO Racing’ Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3.R were third in front of the other BMW, the #48, of Max Hesse.

Albert Costa rounded the top-five for the #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3.

Kenton Koch was at the front of GTD in the #32 Korthoff Competition Mercedes-AMG GT3 and the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward.

Third place went to Simon Mann in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari which suffered a brake failure, therefore necessitating a change for the left front brake unit.

Franke Montecalvo was fourth for Vasser Sullivan’s #14 Lexus RC F GT3 ahead of Tom Sargent’s #120 Wright Motorsports’ Porsche.

The post Porsche’s Felipe Nasr leads at halfway point in IMSA 12H Sebring appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Porsche Penske led the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s 12 Hours of Sebring after one hour when Dries Vanthoor lost his lead to a penalty.

The second round of the 2025 IMSA schedule got underway at 09.10 local time at the Sebring International Raceway.

Dramatically, pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor incurred a drive-through penalty shortly after the start after moving lanes before the start-finish line for the 73rd edition of the historic race.

It was a less-than-ideal start for the #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP team as Porsche Penske inherited the lead after Vanthoor’s drive-through penalty was served, Felipe Nasr (#7 Porsche 963) ahead of Mathieu Jaminet (#6 Porsche).

Race control called a short yellow caution period after Era Motorsport’s Tobias Lutke and AF Corse’s Luis Perez Companc came together.

The #18 and #88 Oreca 07s both continued with the former requiring assistance in doing so. Both seemingly incurred only front-end bodywork damage during their incident.

As the race resumed with 11-hours and 46-minutes remaining, the Porsche Penskes began to establish their lead with Nasr setting strong lap times early on.

D. Vanthoor dropped behind the entire GTP field – and some LMP2 – after serving his drive-through after the green flag, thus under circumstances when the pit lane was open.

Behind the two Porsche Penskes were the two Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06s. Tom Blomqvist (#60 Acura) was ahead of the #93 Acura of Renger van der Zande.

Louis Deletraz of the #40 Cadillac V-Series.R completed the top-five in GTP although his #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac team-mate fell to the back of the field after suffering a brief throttle issue.

TDS leads LMP2, Triarsi Competizione fronts GT field

Meanwhile in LMP2, after the initial incident between Lutke and Perez Companc, Steven Thomas led in his #11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 from United Autosports USA’s #22 of Daniel Goldburg.

Behind him was the AO Racing #99 Oreca of PJ Hyett followed by the other #2 United Oreca of Nick Boulle.

In the GTD Pro category, Albert Costa controlled the start in his #81 Dragonspeed Ferrari 296 GT3 ahead of reigning champions Laurin Heinrich and the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3.R.

Neil Verhagen in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 fell at the start from second down to P6, although his #48 BMW team-mate and reigning British GT champion Dan Harper kept the momentum going for the team.

After the opening hour, Costa led ahead of the #77 of Heinrich, followed by Tommy Milner’s #4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Verhagen who climbed into P4 after his team-mate was the first car of the category to perform a scheduled pit stop.

In GTD, it was seemingly smooth for pole-sitter Alessandrio Pier Guidi in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 until he suffered a brake failure into one of the corners.

Contact between Ricky Taylor’s #10 Cadillac on Charles Scardina’s #023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari triggered a second caution, as the Cadillac tapped the Ferrari off at Turn 13 and into the wall.

After suffering a throttle issue early on, the #10 Cadillac set in for a stop-and-60 second penalty for causing the incident.

Sheena Monk led the class in the #021 Ferrari, followed by Russell Ward’s #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 and Zacharie Robichon’s #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3.

Misha Goikhberg held fourth for Forte Racing (#78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2) as Lorenzo Patrese rounded out the top-five in the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari.

The post Dries Vanthoor incurs penalty, Porsche Penskes lead after Hour 1 at Sebring appeared first on Motorsport Week.

Pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor explained how the red flag added pressure in his pursuit of the top spot for the 12 Hours of Sebring race start.

Vanthoor claimed a back-to-back pole position after the 24 Hours of Daytona season-opener, having taken the top spot for the second round on the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship schedule.

Jack Aitken’s #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R was the cause of an early red flag during the session after the GTP entrant broke down.

“Yeah, a bit because it’s the only shot,” replied Vanthoor in the post-qualifying press conference when asked about the impact of the red flag.

“Normally on a normal qualifying session you maybe get two chances.

“Now you only had one. It makes a bit more pressure to get that lap together. It makes it a bit more difficult.

“But yeah, it makes me a bit, how I would say, fired up or nervous, fired up at the same time.

“Sebring is the first time for me here, so I’m really enjoying the track.

“It’s something different to what I’ve been used to, especially with all the bumps.”

Vanthoor set a fastest lap time of 1:47.091 in his #24 RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 and only Tom Blomqvist was closest to his benchmark albeit just 0.025 seconds off.

He claimed pole position having undertaken only two representative fast laps as opposed to the planned three or four without the red flag.

Another opportunity has opened for a BMW’s second IMSA GTP victory after the Belgian took his maiden pole at Daytona.

For the 73rd 12 Hours of Sebring, Blomqvist’s #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 will join Vanthoor on the front row as both Porsche Penske 963s start on the second row.

READ MORE: BMW’s Dries Vanthoor on pole for 12 Hours of Sebring

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GTD pole-sitter and Ferrari factory driver Alessandrio Pier Guidi spoke about Maralleno’s ‘great’ qualifying for the 12 Hours of Sebring.

The Centenary Le Mans 24 Hours winner and familiar Ferrari works driver took pole position in IMSA SportsCar Championship’s GTD category for AF Corse’s #21 Ferrari 296 GT3.

Meanwhile Albert Costa claimed GTD Pro pole position at the wheel of the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, thus marking a double Ferrari pole position in the two GTD classes.

“I think was a great session for Ferrari actually,” said Pier Guidi in the post-qualifying press conference.

“We score the pole. It’s [a] good comeback after Daytona, that was quite tough.

“… I went for prep lap to put the tyre in. I think that was the key to have the perfect lap.

“We worked well with Ferrari since yesterday morning where the car was looking strong since FP1.

“We just did a few changes on the setup to adjust everything.

“… for Ferrari, it is a great day… Last year we were really strong.

“This year we struggled a bit. We work hard to come back. We prepare in the weekend as best as we could.

“In the end I think the work paid off.

“Of course, it’s just a pole position of a 12-hour [race]. Still a long way to go.

“I always prefer to start in the front, though… in Sebring is not easy to overtake.

“Good to start without the traffic in the front row,” he reflected as one of a handful of professional drivers undertaking qualifying duties in GTD.

Both of the GTD categories will start separately with the GTD Pro field in front of the GTD class as Pier Guidi will lead the latter at lights out.

READ MORE: Ferrari on pole in GTD Pro and GTD at Sebring

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