Matthieu Vaxiviere leads the 1000 Miles of Sebring after a quiet start, with Glickenhaus and Toyota following.
Alpine driver Vaxiviere started the race from pole in the #36 A480-Gibson and holds a lead of some 15 seconds over the second-placed #708 Glickenhaus 007 LMH of Olivier Pla.
Pla started in second place but was briefly passed by the #22 United Autosports ORECA 07-Gibson of Filipe Albuquerque at the start when the Portuguese ace vaulted to the front.
The Frenchman took the position back before the end of the opening lap, before the LMP2 leader was also passed by the two Toyotas of Sebastien Buemi and Kamui Kobayashi in third and fourth respectively.
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-120x86.webp)
Albuquerque still leads LMP2, followed by the polesitting #83 AF Corse ORECA of Nicklas Nielsen, the second United car of Paul di Resta and Prema’s Robert Kubica.
Team Penske rounds out the top five in their first WEC outing, with Felipe Nasr currently behind the wheel of the #5 ORECA.
Porsche leads GTE Pro from the start, with Kevin Estre out front in the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
The German manufacturer’s one-two formation, however, has been disrupted by Nick Tandy moving the #64 Corvette C8.R ahead of the #91 Porsche of Gianmaria Bruni.
GTE Am is currently an all-Aston Martin affair. The British manufacturer occupies the top three positions.
Paul Dalla Lana leads in the #98 NorthWest AMR Vantage AMR. The Canadian passed polesitter Ben Keating for the lead into turn one.
Keating’s #33 TF Sport Aston Martin is still second, followed by D’Station Racing’s Tomonobu Fujii.
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