The 72nd annual Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring was a battle down to the end. Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 and Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R battle it out in the closing minutes. Deletraz put on a display of perfect race craft after faking a move and subsequently setting himself up for a pass which Bourdais wasn’t able to recover. The closing exchange of the race happened without incident which was in contrast the the multiple car incident that overshadowed 2023’s result.
Deletraz was ecstatic after the race. “Really big thank you to the team, WTRAndretti, Acura and HRC, and the two guys right here,” he said. “Because obviously without them it’s not possible. The car was really strong in the end, and I knew we were in a position to win, which to be fair was a lot of pressure. I’ve never really done that, Daytona was my first time, that’s my second time finishing a race. I just obviously wanted to win and also bring points for the championship, but I saw I had the opportunity. Sebastien was tough but fair, so thanks to him. And in the end, I saw the gap, and I went for it, and I had more pace and I won, and I think I’ll remember this one for a long time.”
Pipo Derani Emerged Unscathed in Crash
Last years winner the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac suffered a devastating off earlier in the race after making contact with the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Miguel Molina. Pipo Derani was driving the No. 31 car and as a result of the contact the No. 31 car flipped over the tire barrier resulted in a full course safety car. Derani appeared to leave the wrecked unharmed despite the car being mangled. “One of those days when things go upside down literally,” Derani said. “Fortunately, everything was all right, the safety crew was there quite quickly. … In general, I didn’t feel any pain, nothing. I think the tire barriers reduced the impact by quite a lot. Thanks for the safety crew as well, for the car and everyone who showed up here to see if I was Ok.”
RLL Racing Misses Out on Podium
The No. 25 RLL BMW M didn’t bring the team the same level of success as last year however the team had some positive takeaways from this years race. Early last season the RLL Racing side struggled with reliability issues with their hybrid batteries. It seems the team has figured those issues out in 2024. Andreas Roos head of BMW M Motorsport said, “The 12 Hours of Sebring were exciting until the end. The places were only decided in the last hour. Our BMW M Hybrid V8 showed during the race that its pace is good. In the end, we were a bit unlucky with the timing of one of the last yellow phases, as it allowed some competitors to come back into the fight for the lead.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for a podium in the end, but it’s good to see that our hard work since Daytona has paid off and we were able to significantly improve both the performance and the reliability of the cars. For that, I thank everyone at BMW M Motorsport and the BMW M Team RLL. In the GTD categories, the BMW M4 GT3 has shown that it can compete for the win here. Overall, we have proven in all classes that the performance is fundamentally right. With a bit more racing luck, we hope to convert that into podium places.”
The Unofficial 12 Hours of Sebring Results are Below