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With one hour remaining in the Sebring 2023 race

Published

1 week ago

18/03/2023

With two hours remaining in the Sebring race

The 1000 Miles of Sebring has been an intense race so far, with Toyota dominating at the front but facing stiff competition from Ferrari and Porsche. Despite the Toyota’s advantage, an incident involving Alessandro Pier Guidi has shaken up the GTE class, while Glickenhaus is out of the race and Peugeot struggles to keep up.

The #7 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, driven by Jose Maria Lopez, is currently in the lead of the 1000 Miles of Sebring, with a three-second advantage over his teammate Ryo Hirakawa in the #8 Toyota. Trailing the Toyota duo by approximately one and a half minutes, a heated competition ensues among the Ferraris, Porsches, and single Cadillac, as all three manufacturers are closely matched in terms of pace.

Compared to the newer models from Ferrari, Porsche, and Cadillac, Toyota is able to run significantly longer stints thanks to the GR010’s lower fuel consumption and lighter tire usage.

Currently in third place is Richard Westbrook driving the #2 Cadillac V.Series-R, followed by Antonio Fuoco who is driving the #50 Ferrari 499P and is 30 seconds behind the British driver. Laurens Vanthoor from Porsche is in fifth place, trailing Fuoco by another 30 seconds. The #51 Ferrari, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi, is currently in seventh place.

However, an incident occurred while this was being written. Alessandro Pier Guidi made contact with the #56 Project 1 AO Porsche 911 RSR-19 and the #54 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE Evo of Francesco Castellaci, resulting in the Ferrari spinning off at the end of the lap and puncturing its left rear tire. The other two GTE cars involved in the incident appeared undamaged. The Ferrari’s shredded tire needed replacement, causing Pier Guidi to slowly drive back to the pits to avoid further damage to the bodywork. The incident triggered a Full Course Yellow (FCY) and the car is still in seventh place, although this could change.

Although Toyota appears to have an edge in terms of race pace, the difference between the Japanese-German team and the Ferraris, including the #50 499P that claimed pole position yesterday, is not substantial. Ferrari tried to take an alternative strategy with both cars by pitting early during a safety car period, but this did not prove to be advantageous for the Italian team as the Toyotas can run longer stints and therefore require fewer pit stops.

Jacques Villeneuve, driving the #4 Vanwall Vandervell 680, currently holds the eighth position in class and 15th overall due to spending time in the garage for repairs earlier in the race. The repairs were necessary after a collision with Mikkel Jensen’s Peugeot.

Regarding Peugeot, both 9X8s are still participating in the race but have spent considerable time in the pits and are positioned towards the back of the field. The #93 Peugeot of Paul di Resta is currently positioned ahead of the #94 Peugeot, which is dead last with Gustavo Menezes driving.

Unfortunately, the #708 Glickenhaus has stopped on the track and is out of the race.

In the LMP2 class, Will Stevens is currently leading in the #48 JOTA Oreca 07-Gibson, with a gap of approximately 22 seconds over Daniil Kvyat’s #63 Prema Oreca 07-Gibson. Third place in the class is held by the #31 WRT Oreca 07-Gibson driven by Robert Kubica, who is 15 seconds behind Kvyat.

Nicky Catsburg is leading the #33 Corvette C8.R in the GTE-Pro class, with a comfortable 40-second lead over Julien Andlauer in the #77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche 911 RSR-19. Scott Huffaker in the #57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo holds the third position in the class, 18 seconds behind Andlauer.

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