#40 Acura ARX-06 driver Colton Herta holds top spot and is leading the way with two hours to go in the 12 Hours of Sebring as the IMSA GTP top dogs split into alternate pit strategies.
An eighth full course yellow kicked off the final four hours of this year’s Sebring Enduro, as the #55 Proton Ford Mustang GT3 lost a portion of its undertray on the exit of Turn 1.
The leader of the chasing pack behind Martin changed hands with approximately three and a half hours of running remaining as Ricky Taylor in the #10 Acura ARX-06 passed the #6 Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet.
Taylor immediately set about challenging Martin and was on the tale of the #25 car in moments, but smoke from the rear corner of the #10 Acura was cause for concern, although the car continued to run with aplomb.
Meanwhile, Colin Braun had stretched out a handy advantage of nearly 40 seconds in LMP2 and the battle for first and second in GTD roared on between Madison Snow in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 and Alexander Sims in the #3 Corvette C8.R.
As the ninth hour continued and with smoke still pouring out the back of his car, Taylor pounced on Martin to take the lead into Turn 10 amongst a gaggle of traffic.
The smoke was still bellowing from the car when Taylor pitted to hand over driving duties of the #10 to Brendon Hartley, but there was no issue as it pulled away and retained the lead after the pit stop cycle had been completed amongst its competitors.
With almost nine hours gone, another full course yellow was triggered with Katherine Legge in the GTD #66 Acura NSX GT3 pushed side-on into the final corner outside wall by Fred Makowiecki in the #6 Porsche 963 GTP machine.
Legge got out of the Acura GT3 machine under her own power, but the #66’s race was done.
The caution carried the field into the start of the 10th hour with Harltey leading GTP and overall, Connor Zilisch leading LMP2 in the #18 Era Motorsport Oreca, Sims leading GTD Pro in the #3 Corvette and Anders Fjordbach leading GTD in the #86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R.
Shortly thereafter the pit road opened for the prototype entries and save for the #6 and #5 Porsches, plus the #63 Lamborghini, the entire GTP contingent elected to pit, with the rear deck and engine cover coming off of the #10 Acura to investigate the source of its smoking issue, namely using too much oil too quickly.
The Acura lost a lap whilst the mechanics did their work in pit-road, leaving the #10 car in eighth.
The entire LMP2 contingent elected to pit at the same time and Zilisch handed over the driving duties of the class-leading #18 car to Ryan Dalziel.
With the sun starting to set, the prototypes clear of pit road and caution ongoing, the bulk of the GTD Pro/GTD competitors took their turn to pit.
Makowiecki led the field back to green with two hours and 45 minutes remaining having avoided punishment for his part in Legge’s retirement.
But then fate played its hand on Makowiecki and the #6 span off at Turn 7 with bodywork damage and a punctured rear left tyre compounding his issues with speculation hinting the car was plagued by problems following its earlier contact with the #66 car.
As the #6 slowly trundled back to the pits, Matt Campbell in the #7 Porsche inherited the lead.
Campbell had to fend off Van der Zande in the #01 Cadillac, plus Nick Yelloly and Augusto Farfus in the two BMWs as the top four went nose to tail through a sea of traffic.
Campbell and Van der Zande elected to take early stops shortly before the 10-hour mark, with the latter swapping driving duties with Sebastien Bourdais, making way for Colton Herta in the #40 Acura to take the lead after passing Yelloly in the #25 BMW.
Herta’s lead of Yelloly sits at approximately six and a half seconds with just two hours left to run, with the second BMW of Farfus completing the overall top three so far.
In LMP2, Nico Pino leads the way in the #2 United Autosports Oreca, ahead of Hunter McElrea in the #11 TDS Racing entry and Toby Sowery in the #04 Crowdstrike car.
Ben Barnicoat leads GTD Pro in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, ahead of Franck Perera in the #19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 and Davide Rigon in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3.
In GTD, Indy Dontje leads the way in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG-GT3, ahead of Antonio Fuoco in the Cetilar Racing #47 Ferrari 296 GT3 and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli in the Conquest Racing #34 Ferrari.
