Acura beats Cadillac in the final minutes

Show IMSA

IMSA is currently the complete opposite of Formula 1: the fight for victory is intense, doubts and upheavals are constant, and uncertainty reigns until the end. It should also be said that the Americans know how to maintain this doubt, which we can judge as artificial and this cult of indifference that clearly redistributes the cards and never allows the competitor to calmly manage the river of seconds earlier, which may go up in smoke at the first instance.

Sebring, it’s not just a matter of speed!

Especially since on Sebring’s bumpy, old-fashioned, narrow, boring circuit and there is always a lot of traffic, it is almost impossible to have a calm race. The 2024 12 Hours of Sebring was not successful in this respect, with the GTP peloton holding off by less than fifteen seconds after 9 hours of racing, with Acura, Cadillac, BMW and Porsche battling it out with Lamborghini as well.

Cadillac failed, Acura breaks the Indian symbol

However Cadillac had the upper hand with the V-Series.R n°31 of Pipo Derani, the event’s top racer, who had a lead of more than 10 seconds over the competition as eight hours of the race approached. Traffic management is always weak and dangerous at Sebring, and the four-time winner of the event paid the price when he beat the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 – Miguel Molina’s AF Corse.

The latter may have deviated slightly from his line, but the fact remains that Derani’s Cadillac GTP, a bit like Allan McNish’s accident at Le Mans in an Audi R18 in 2011, was hit on its right rear by a Ferrari. The punishment was instant, the model leaving the road and hitting the tire wall hard. The Cadillac ended up upside down, resting on a tire wall, part of which was broken off and pushed away.

It is very interesting to see these accidents happening on the “old” circuits, without fences, with very little clearance, car parks and public parking very close to the accident site! Yes, we are far from Abu Dhabi. Molina’s Ferrari also had to retire, but more importantly Pipo Derani emerged victorious from his overturn.

The ultimate wheel to wheel fight

The final also provided a good dose of suspense, with victory decided in the final minutes. A change of 1h20′ of the scoreboard due to dirt allowed No. 01 Cadillac and No. 40 Acura ARX-06 – Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti, changed in strategy, back to the line of Penske Porsche 963s and BMW. M Hybrid V8 from the RLL Team.

The battle for victory pitted Sébastien Bourdais in a Cadillac against Swiss Louis Delétraz in an Acura. Ten minutes before the end of time, the two leading couples met the GTs, and produced an interesting battle. The two prototypes fought like lions, Deletraz coming close to the Cadillac several times. Two GTPs meet several times, passing through GT traffic, in the middle of the night. Amazing show!

After getting around Bourdais who defended himself tooth and nail, Deletraz, wearing new tires of course, finally got the opening just a few laps from the end by surprising his rival under the brakes and gave Acura the first victory at Sebring with the # 40 ARX-06 – Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti.

STEPS TO WIN THE RACE!

Louis Delétraz passed Bourdais with less than six minutes to go to take the win at the 12 Hours of Sebring!@IMSA | @WTRandretti pic.twitter.com/vTwNq6P0T5

— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) March 17, 2024

Bourdais, joined by Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon, finished 2nd by less than a second, undeterred by a battle that resembled “Car racing”, ahead of the Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 of Felipe Nasr – Dane Cameron – Matt Campbell. Note 7th place for Lamborghini SC63 n° 63 – Lamborghini Iron Lynx of Romain Grosjean – Andrea Caldarelli – Matteo Cairoli, while the Taurus prototype makes its American debut.

In LMP2, Era Motorsport has a double lead after Daytona, with second place for the No. 18 Oreca 07 of Connor Zilisch, Dwight Merriman and Ryan Dalziel.

In GTD PRO, Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat and Kyle Kirkwood brought the reigning champion Lexus RC F GT3 of Vasser Sullivan to victory, having taken the lead on the last restart over Daniel Serra (Ferrari 296 GT3 n°62 – Risi Competizione ) who was supported by experienced Ferrari drivers Davide Rigon and James Calado.

It was also close in GTD for the final battle between the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari driven by Antonio Fuoco and No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes driven by Philip Ellis. He eventually took the checkered flag first, although this car had lost the benefit of its pole position due to the presence of prohibited sensors on the car during qualifying.