Porsche Penske Motorsport once again dominated the proceedings in Sebring Saturday (March 21). The two Porsche 963s controlled the final three-quarters of the race.
Felipe Nasr made the pass on Kevin Estre with 67 minutes to go. From there, he held on to win the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring with teammates Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich. It is their second straight win to start the 2026 season.
“[Me and my] teammates did everything perfectly today,” Nasr said during the post-race press conference. “We built the [lead]. We did everything we needed to do to be in front at all times.
“These guys deserve all the credit from the whole race that they’ve done. To me, I can only say it’s another dream start, honestly. Last year we had the chance to do it. Now again winning here at Sebring, it’s fantastic.”
The margin of victory was 1.515 seconds over Estre, Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor, giving Porsche Penske Motorsport their second straight one-two finish. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor and Will Stevens finished third on the road. However, the No. 10 Cadillac failed post-race technical inspection and has been moved to the back of the GTP class.
As a result, Action Express Racing’s Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti were elevated to third. Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Scott Dixon were fourth in their Acura, while BMW M Team WRT’s Robin Frijns, Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor were fifth.
Aitken started from the pole and led early in his Cadillac. His early challengers were the two Penske Porsches of Estre and Nasr, neither of whom qualified all that well.
The first yellow flew 40 minutes into the race due to debris on the track. That closed up the pack and brought everyone in for the first round of pit stops.
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Renger van der Zande used a quick pit stop to get himself up to second overall. However, he went a little too aggressive on the curbs and spun off the course.
The second caution came out late in the second hour when DragonSpeed’s Henrik Hedman was forced off the track and into the barriers by Bryan Herta Autosport by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Parker Thompson. Hedman walked away from the crash.
Thompson was judged responsible for the crash and was given a stop-and-five-minute hold penalty that put him three laps down. The DragonSpeed Corvette spent three hours in the paddock getting repaired before returning to the race.
The caution came at a pretty bad time as everyone was just about to pit. While no one had to take emergency service (which is a penalty in and of itself), Louis Deletraz did manage to get in for service before the yellow, which gave him the lead.
Under yellow, Bamber was trying to warm up his brakes and ended up getting hit from behind by Vanthoor. That forced Bamber to stop for new rear bodywork.
Once the race got back underway, Heinrich drove the No. 7 Porsche to the overall lead. Vanthoor was able to follow him to the front. The run to the lead was a recovery drive for Heinrich after Nasr was penalized for spinning out JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Kaylen Frederick earlier in the race.
Beyond the third hour, the race started looking a lot like Daytona did. The two Penske Porsches were able to run away from the rest of the GTP class.
Further back, Inception Racing’s Brenden Iribe spun his Ferrari and came to rest in the middle of the track. Nearly everyone was able to avoid the Ferrari, but Iribe crept forward just when BMW M Team WRT’s Marco Wittmann was passing by. Contact was made, damaging the suspension on the BMW M Hybrid V8.
Wittmann was able to drive the car back to the paddock, where the BMW team began repairs. The No. 25 was able to continue, but lost 15 laps.
That pace allowed the teammates to pit together for the entire event and maintain their advantage. However, that resulted in some controversy. Estre indicated that team orders may have been indicated at some point in the race and that Nasr violated them.
“Definitely at some point, there was a call from the pit stand which was not respected,” Estre said during the press conference. “There’s nothing more for me to say. I just respect what the team told me. It was not to play or anything.”
In LMP2, Bryan Herta Autosport by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Misha Goikhberg started from pole in the No. 52, but his time at the front was short-lived. AO Racing’s PJ Hyett, who proved that he was the fastest bronze-rated driver at Sebring in qualifying Friday, quickly moved up to the lead from fourth on the grid.
Jack Aitken Wins Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Pole
A number of the other bronze-rated drivers had issues early on. Intersport’s Jon Field spun after contact from Naveen Rao, triggering a penalty for Rao. Rao spun out later on. United Autosports’ Dan Goldburg also had a spin.
Pit strategy allowed United Autosports’ Rasmus Lindh to get into the lead in the second hour as penalties began to rack up. In addition to Thompson’s major penalty, three more teams were penalized for infractions. Inter Europol Competition’s Jeremy Clarke was spun out by Ford Racing’s Ben Barker while trying to pit.
In the second quarter of the race, AO Racing re-assumed control with Jonny Edgar and Dane Cameron leading the charge. With a long green-flag run, the advantage extended out to nearly a minute.
Unfortunately, the race’s seventh full course yellow in the 11th hour undid their race. Edgar was leading when Bryan Herta Autosport by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports’ Harry Tincknell lost a wheel.
Edgar was very low on fuel and could not make it to when IMSA opened the pits. As a result, he had to stop for emergency service. The extra stop dropped “Spike” down to sixth.
Once the pit sequence ended, Tower Motorsports’ Tristan Vautier had the lead. Following another caution for a crash involving the GTD Mustang of Jenson Altzman, United Autosports’ Mikkel Jensen was able to take the lead away.
From there, Jensen was able to hold on to take the class victory with Hunter McAlrea and Phil Fayer. Their margin of victory was .510 seconds over teammates Goldburg, Lindh and Paul di Resta. Vautier, John Farano and Sebastian Alvarez were third, then Rao, Jacob Abel and Ferdinand Habsburg. CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s George Kurtz, Alex Quinn and Toby Sowery were fifth.
In GTD Pro, Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth started from pole in his Lexus and was quite comfortable early on. However, a slower pit stop during the first caution allowed Manthey Racing’s Ricardo Feller to take over the point in “Grello.”
Further back, Risi Competizione’s Alessandro Pier Guidi and Ford Racing’s Sebastian Priaulx collided exiting Sunset Bend and spun. While Priaulx made slight contact with the tire barrier, Pier Guidi’s Ferrari came to rest in the middle of the track. It was then hit hard by Winward Racing’s GTD Mercedes driven by Russell Ward. Both Pier Guidi and Ward were out on the spot, while Priaulx was able to continue.
As the race continued on, the Porsches continued to assert themselves at the front. Feller and teammate Klaus Bachler were able to maintain the advantage with “Roxy” giving chase.
Later on, the two leaders were joined by Paul Miller Racing’s Max Hesse and Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Nico Varrone. Alessio Picariello was able to get the lead in Roxy and pull away. Meanwhile, Hesse was spun out by Varrone while racing for position, resulting in a penalty for Varrone.
Ultimately, pit strategy put Thomas Preining in the lead late when Ford Racing’s Dennis Olsen was forced to pit. From there, Preining was able to hold on to claim the class victory with Bachler and Feller.
The margin of victory was 1.430 seconds over AO Racing’s Picariello, Harry King and Nick Tandy. Varrone, Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner were third, while teammates Antonio Garcia, Marvin Kirchhoefer and Alexander Sims were fourth. Hesse, Connor de Phillippi and Neil Verhagen were fifth.
In GTD, The Heart of Racing’s Eduardo Barrichello started from pole in his Aston Martin and led early. However, AF Corse’s Antonio Fuoco was able to move up from fifth on the grid to take the lead prior to the first pit stop.
Philip Ellis was strong early in the Winward Mercedes, but lost time on the first pit stop when he stopped too far away from the fuel rig. Teammate Ward tried to get back into contention, but crashed out in the process.
As the race continued, The Heart of Racing and AF Corse fought at the front of the pack for the entire first quarter of the event. While others eventually got to the front, it was these two teams that fought for the win.
The Heart of Racing’s Tom Gamble had the lead entering the final lap. It appeared like Gamble would hold on, but he slipped in turn 10 on the final lap. That was all Fuoco needed to slip past to take the class win with Simon Mann and Lilou Wadoux.
AF Corse’s margin of victory was .746 seconds over Gamble, Barrichello and Zacharie Robichon. Wright Motorsports’ Adam Adelson, Callum Ilott and Tom Sargent were third, followed by Lone Star Racing’s Scott Andrews, Lin Hodenius and James Roe. Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Francis Selldorff finished fifth.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring Unofficial Results
The schedule splits off from here. Next up is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach for the GTP and GTD classes. That race will air live April 16 at 4 p.m. ET on NBC.
