Porsche's great start to 2024 continues with Sebring podium

A total of 58 cars started the 72nd 12 Hours of Sebring in front of a record crowd, and all four of the GTP class Porsche 963s led the race at various points, initially under the baking Florida sun then into the night.

The #7 car - driven by Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr - won the season-opening Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January, and ended up as Porsche’s highest-finishing entry at Sebring in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's second race of the year.

It had to overcome a long first pitstop for a malfunctioning data-logger and being on various different strategies relative to the other contenders as 13 cautions repeatedly mixed up the order and favoured varying tactics with fuel and tyre usage.

After contact with a GT car demanded replacement rear bodywork - which had already been replaced for another similar incident earlier! - the #6 car went three laps down having been in the lead of the race for a brief period. Fred Makowiecki, Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy took the car to ninth at the finish.

"We’ve got a lot to be proud of, as a team, bringing home a third place there is always something to be proud about," said Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid.

"I think in general the cars lacked a little bit of pace today which is something we got to work on, and the #6 car had a tyre issue there while leading the race. Sometimes that happens."

"The #7 car is tied for the lead in the points standings, so that’s always a good day."

In the customer team ranks, Julian Andlauer spearheaded the #5 entry’s attack on the win which came up short but was still an admirable fourth until a late spin relegated it to eighth, with team-mates Gianmaria Bruni and Alessio Picariello. The JDC Miller Motorsports #85 car was forced to retire.

In the GTD Pro class, the #77 dinosaur-liveried 911 GT3 R (992) of AO Racing was on an alternate strategy for almost the whole race, rebounding from outside of the class top 15 to lead by over 10 seconds at one stage, well driven by Michael Christensen, Laurin Heinrich and Seb Priaulx.

It had been set for an incredible podium in class, but a last lap drive-through penalty meant 35 seconds was added to its finish time, dropping it to ninth in GTD Pro overall.

Even though Porsche is the most successful manufacturer in the history of the 12 Hours of Sebring - taking 18 wins - there was no underestimating the level of the task at hand in a race filled with attrition, tough stints on the bumpy, abrasive asphalt with overtaking proving very difficult.

The Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winning #7 car in the hands of Nasr was the top Porsche in qualifying and started fifth, with the #6 car driven by Jaminet suffering a crash at the exit of Turn 1 in qualifying, meaning it started to the back of the class for the race.

Nasr shot from fifth to third at the start, but at the first caution which came out after just 20 laps, the Porsche crew had to do a full reset because of a malfunctioning data-logger, which sent him to the back of the GTP class field.

He’d quickly worked back up to seventh before a small error at Turn 7 set him back, and it took until a caution on lap 54 to cycle to the lead with Cameron taking over the car. He’d pitted just before the caution which meant he could take a shorter stop when everyone came in while the race was neutralised, enabling him to jump to the front.

An undercut from rivals on the next stop shuffled the car back, but with just over five hours gone, Nasr was putting pressure on the #31 car and took the lead again.

A slightly longer stop with just over three hours to go set the car - with Nasr behind the wheel again - back into the pack, but a quick stop and clever strategy helped Campbell to hit the front before handing to Nasr at a pitstop which came before a number of the team’s closest rivals.

A caution with just over an hour to go allowed Nasr to move up to second on the restart heading into the final hour, and he dropped back as far as fourth before fighting back to take the podium in the closing stages.

"A hard day, hot conditions are always difficult in the middle part of the day there, we were hoping to be a little bit better at night, it didn’t come back in our direction as much as we had hoped or banked on maybe," said American driver Cameron. 

"But at the end of the day, to take third place is good for the championship at the end of the year."

"To have back-to-back podiums is a great start to the year. The years that I won the championship, being on the podium and being consistent on a day that’s really not so good for you is what makes the difference at the end of the season."

The #6 car had an extremely complicated race and had to overcome adversity just like the #7.

While Jaminet had made up for his mistake in qualifying early on, contact with a GT car brought Tandy to the pits during his stint because the rear bodywork needed replacing.

The #6 often found it tougher to work its way up the order than the #7, but with just over three hours to go, Jaminet put the car in the top three before handing to Makowiecki, who was involved in a crash at the last corner with a GT car, avoiding serious damage for the Porsche.

Makowiecki took the lead ahead of Campbell in the #7 following that caution on lap 248, but had to stop for rear-end damage caused by the previous incident and it cost the car three laps and meant it finished in ninth position.

Julian Andlauer qualified the Proton Competition Mustang Sampling #5 in seventh.

Andlauer set a searing lap time that was good enough to be the race’s best for a long period - a 1m49.799 - and ran as the top Porsche before Andlauer made a small error that dropped him back one position to eighth at Turn 7.

Bruni took over the car and was nearly taken out of the race by a spinning car in front, and he had to pit for new bodywork and repairs. The car was also penalised for excessive energy usage and had to serve a drive-through penalty with just under five hours to go.

Given that, it was a great performance by Andlauer, Bruni and Picariello to be fighting in the top six with an hour to go, and Andlauer briefly took third from Nasr with just over 20 minutes remaining before he was bumped off track by the defensive #10 Acura. That set him back to eighth at the end.

The bright yellow JDC Miller Motorsports #85 car started the race in sixth with Phil Hanson and showed flashes of pace throughout, but it was forced to retire after 178 laps with a front-left driveshaft issue.

Tijmen van der Helm and Richard Westbrook had been impressive in that entry, with Westbrook taking the car into the top three after passing the #7 of Cameron as the top 963 early on.

Priaulx, driving the #77 AO Racing Porsche - affectionately known as Rexy because of its green dinosaur livery - was the top starting GT3-spec Porsche but a slow puncture early on meant he had to come back to the pits immediately after a previous stop.

With Priaulx and then Christensen driving, the car cycled back to being the top Porsche with an aggressive undercut strategy that meant it was either in the lead or quite far down the order as it remained off-sync until past the halfway point.

Heinrich was particularly impressive in his stint in the car in the second quarter of the race.

Priaulx took over the car just before the final three hours and immediately set its best lap of the race so far, but the following caution came at the worst possible time for the team’s strategy.

Heinrich jumped back into contention heading towards the last hour and had been set for a podium after a long battle with the #62 Ferrari, but a drive-through penalty on the last lap of the race for contact with the #3 Chevrolet led to the crew having 35 seconds added to their finish time.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will return to action in April at the prestigious Long Beach Grand Prix, on April 20. 

Porsche Penske Motorsport is aiming to maintain its 100% podium record in the championship in California, while also looking to build on its win in Qatar at the next round of the World Endurance Championship at Imola on April 21.