#31: Whelen Cadillac Racing, Cadillac V-Series.R, GTP: Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken, Tom Blomqvist takes the lead at the beginning
Sebastien Bourdais of Cadillac leads the 12 Hours of Sebring after one hour of racing. The experienced French driver overtook Pipo Derani, who started in pole position for the #31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R, just over an hour into the race.
Derani, driving the #31 Action Express Cadillac V-Series.R, started in pole position with Bourdais behind him in the #01 Cadillac V-Series.R. Felipe Nasr was in third place driving the #7 Porsche 963. However, a full course yellow and subsequent safety car period caused a change in the order as the GTP field pitted.
As a result of the pit stops, Louis Deletraz, in the #40 WTR Andretti Acura ARX-06, moved up to second place behind Derani. Deletraz initially started in third position but lost a place to Nasr on the opening lap. He then fell further back due to a less than impressive stint. The WTR Andretti team quickly made up for it and promoted Deletraz to second place, with Bourdais in third.
Once the race resumed, Bourdais swiftly overtook Deletraz and Derani to claim the lead.
In the LMP2 category, Ben Keating was leading in the #2 United Autosports Oreca 07-Gibson before the pit stops during the yellow flag period. He took the lead from his teammate Dan Goldburg, who had led the race from the start in the sister #22 United Autosports car. The #99 AO Racing Oreca 07-Gibson, driven by polesitter PJ Hyett, encountered an issue on the formation lap.
After the pit stops, Nick Boulle, who was in third place before Goldburg, took the lead in the #52 Inter Europol Oreca 07-Gibson. Keating is currently in second place in the class, with Goldburg in third.
Jack Hawksworth is leading in the GTD Pro category, maintaining his position from pole in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. He held onto the lead during the pit stop cycle while the safety car was out. Mario Farnbacher, driving the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, is in second place, followed by Madison Snow in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3.
At the start, there was an incident involving the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 in the GTD field. The car spun across the track after turn 1 due to contact with other cars. This forced the two McLarens from Pfaff in GTD Pro and Inception in GTD to take evasive action, resulting in contact between the two McLarens. The Pfaff car suffered a puncture and had to be repaired, causing it to fall 13 laps behind. Fortunately, the Risi Ferrari managed to avoid any damage.
Lastly, in the GTD category, Frankie Montecalvo is leading in the sister #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus, followed by Misha Goikhberg in the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. John Potter is currently in third place driving the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.