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Wayne Taylor Racing wins 2017 Sebring 12 Hours

Wayne Taylor Racing added the Sebring 12 Hours to its Daytona 24 Hours success in 2017, leading a Cadillac 1-2-3 in the American sportscar classic

WTR's Alex Lynn, paired with team owner Wayne Taylor's sons Ricky and Jordan, scored a hard-fought victory over first of the Action Express Cadillacs.

Lynn took the lead after WTR opted to short-fuel the car in the eighth hour, leapfrogging ahead of the erstwhile leading #5 car of Filipe Albuquerque, Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, having run an extra lap in its previous stints.

Albuquerque jumped ahead again when Lynn tripped over a GTD Audi, but the shoe was on the other foot in the next stint, when Jordan Taylor dived past Albuquerque when he got baulked by the #33 GTD Mercedes.

Ricky Taylor was installed for the final stint, against Barbosa in the #5 machine. Taylor was in complete control, taking a second IMSA victory in a row.

The second Action Express-run Cadillac, the #31 car, suffered a setback when Eric Curran rammed the dawdling Nissan DPi of Johannes van Overbeek at Turn 17, and it took four laps to restart the car. It regained enough time to finish third, but was never a factor in the lead battle.

The #85 JDC-Miller-run Oreca was the best of the LMP2 cars, but finished a distant fourth overall.

The challenge of the pole-sitting Rebellion-run Oreca withered from the end of Neel Jani's first stint, when a sequence of airgun, starter motor and alternator problems blighted its challenge. Both ESM Nissan DPi machines also fell out with mechanical woes.

Corvette takes GTLM victory

The pole-sitting GTLM #67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe/Richard Westbrook/Scott Dixon did not take up its position on the grid due to an issue getting it started. But once going, the car tore through towards the front in just a couple of hours - albeit running off sequence to its rivals strategically.

In the latter stages, Ford stuck to its pit strategy plan, while Corvette, Ferrari and Porsche all pitted opportunistically under yellow in Hour 9.

It allowed the #3 Corvette to lead into the final hour, ahead of the #911 Porsche - with the trio of Fords giving chase.

A full-course yellow with just over an hour to go added intrigue to the equation. The final pistop was a disaster for Porsche, as Patrick Pilet was stranded with a right-rear wheelgun failure that dropped him from second in class to fifth.

That put Corvette's Antonio Garcia in pole position for GTLM victory, with two Fords restarting right behind him. But Pilet was flying as the green flag flew, and he made short work of both Fords and set off after Garcia's Corvette.

But with potential victory in his sights, Pilet had to pit again with a left-front puncture, handing the race to Corvette and slumping to seventh.

The #66 Ford of Joey Hand, Dirk Muller and Sebastien Bourdais finished second, ahead of the Risi Ferrari and #67 Ford.

The Riley Motorsports AMG Mercedes GT3 of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating and Mario Farnbacher won the GT Daytona class, overcoming a late-race pit gamble by the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 to skip taking fresh tyres but to no avail.

Performance Tech Motorsports led the PC category throughout, winning ahead of the Starworks #8 car.

SEBRING 12 HOURS RESULT

Pos Class Driver Team Car Gap
1 P R.Taylor, J.Taylor, A.Lynn Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Cadillac 12h01m09.681s
2 P J.Barbosa, C.Fittipaldi, F.Albuquerque Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac 13.614s
3 P D.Cameron, E.Curran, M.Conway Whelen Engineering Racing Cadillac 2 Laps
4 P C.Miller, S.Simpson, M.Goikhberg JDC-Miller Motorsports ORECA/Gibson 4 Laps
5 PC J.French, P.O'Ward, K.Masson Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 10 Laps
6 PC G.Grist, M.Hanratty, S.Rayhall Starworks Motorsport ORECA/Chevrolet 12 Laps
7 GTLM A.Garcia, J.Magnussen, M.Rockenfeller Corvette Racing Chevrolet 14 Laps
8 GTLM D.Muller, J.Hand, S.Bourdais Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford 14 Laps
9 GTLM T.Vilander, J.Calado, G.Fisichella Risi Competizione Ferrari 14 Laps
10 GTLM R.Briscoe, R.Westbrook, S.Dixon Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford 14 Laps
11 GTLM S.Mucke, O.Pla, B.Johnson Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK Ford 14 Laps
12 GTLM B.Auberlen, A.Sims, K.Wittmer BMW Team RLL BMW 14 Laps
13 GTLM P.Pilet, D.Werner, F.Makowiecki Porsche GT Team Porsche 14 Laps
14 GTLM K.Estre, L.Vanthoor, R.Lietz Porsche GT Team Porsche 16 Laps
15 PC M.Drumwright, C.Ducote, G.Yacaman, C.Thompson BAR1 Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 20 Laps
16 GTD B.Keating, J.Bleekemolen, M.Farnbacher Riley Motorsports - Team AMG Mercedes 23 Laps
17 GTD C.Nielsen, A.Balzan, M.Cressoni Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 24 Laps
18 GTD T.Vautier, K.Habul, B.Said SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes 24 Laps
19 GTD C.De Phillippi, C.Mies, J.Gounon Montaplast by Land-Motorsport Audi 24 Laps
20 GTD B.Sellers, M.Snow, D.von Moltke Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini 24 Laps
21 GTD P.Lindsey, J.Bergmeister, M.McMurry, J.Heylen Park Place Motorsports Porsche 24 Laps
22 GTD L.Aschenbach, M.Bell, A.Davis Stevenson Motorsports Audi 24 Laps
23 GTD J.Segal, O.Negri, T.Dyer Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura 24 Laps
24 GTD C.Engelhart, R.Ineichen, R.Antinucci, M.Bortolotti GRT Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini 25 Laps
25 GTD M.De Quesada, D.Morad, S.Pumpelly, M.Christensen Alegra Motorsports Porsche 25 Laps
26 GTD C.Lewis, J.Mul, B.Sandberg Change Racing Lamborghini 26 Laps
27 GTD E.Busnelli, F.Babini, M.Beretta, E.Collard Ebimotors Lamborghini 26 Laps
28 GTD R.Alon, J.Hawksworth, A.Cindric 3GT Racing Lexus 28 Laps
29 P T.Nunez, J.Bomarito, S.Pigot Mazda Motorsports Mazda 29 Laps
30 GTD A.Lally, K.Legge, M.Wilkins Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura 30 Laps
31 GTD B.Sweedler, T.Bell, F.Montecalvo Alex Job Racing Audi 39 Laps
32 PC D.Yount, B.Rice, D.Burkett, M.Kvamme BAR1 Motorsports ORECA/Chevrolet 46 Laps
33 GTD J.Bennett, C.Braun, N.Jonsson CORE Autosport Porsche Not running
34 GTD E.Anassis, B.Gdovic, A.Massari DAC Motorsports Lamborghini 66 Laps
35 GTD S.Pruett, S.Karam, I.James 3GT Racing Lexus 79 Laps
36 GTD L.DeGeorge, C.Sbirrazzuoli, P.Ruberti, L.Persiani Dream Racing Motorsport Lamborghini Not running
37 P M.Goossens, R.van der Zande, R.Rast Visit Florida Racing Riley/Gibson 107 Laps
38 GTD J.Marks, J.Klingmann, J.Krohn Turner Motorsport BMW Not running
39 P M.Guasch, J.Gutierrez, T.K.-Smith PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Ligier/Gibson Not running
40 P T.Long, J.Miller, M.Franchitti Mazda Motorsports Mazda Not running
41 P S.Buemi, N.Heidfeld, N.Jani Rebellion Racing ORECA/Gibson Not running
42 P E.Brown, J.van Overbeek, B.Senna, B.Hartley Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Not running
43 GTLM J.M.Edwards, M.Tomczyk, N.Catsburg BMW Team RLL BMW Not running
44 GTD C.MacNeil, G.Jeannette, S.Gisbergen Riley Motorsports - WeatherTech Racing Mercedes Not running
45 P S.Sharp, R.Dalziel, P.Derani Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Not running
46 GTLM O.Gavin, T.Milner, M.Fassler Corvette Racing Chevrolet Not running


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