Bamber: Missed Sebring Podium “Bittersweet” for Action Express

Photo: Brandon Badraoui/IMSA

Earl Bamber was left with a “bittersweet” aftertaste after Action Express Racing dropped out of the podium positions despite a strong run in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti finished fourth with their No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Bamber crossing the line 12.661 seconds behind the race-winning No. 7 Porsche 963.

That came after a race in which the Cadillac formed a consistent threat at the front of the back before the pair of Porsche Penske Motorsport entries came on strong in the evening hours.

Eventual race winner Nick Tandy fought his way around the No. 31 Cadillac, then driven by Vesti, with two hours to go, after which the defending GTP champions consolidated their position out front.

As Bamber explained, AXR then attempted an alternate strategy by taking tires late on, but it proved insufficient to salvage a top-three finish.

“We had to come in for a splash with about 40 minutes left and we tried to take the alternate tire strategy,” Bamber said.

“We thought it might work but the dirty air was just too much. We just didn’t make our way forward. The car was good, so it is bittersweet that we didn’t get a podium. We’ll just have to roll into Long Beach.

“The guys did a great pit stop, beat the BMW, but we just couldn’t get through fast enough and the other guys just had way too much speed. That’s sort of what we had.

“It’s just a track position race, so we thought that it would be the right decision on tires. Sometimes it’s right, sometimes it’s wrong. It’s just the way it is.

“We were managing some things as well. We had to get to the end. It was either going to be third or fourth.”

IMSA Racing “Keeps Impressing” Vesti

Vesti, for his part, secured his best WeatherTech Championship finish to date in his third appearance, notably leading the race at both the three and nine-hour mark.

The Dane, who is only in his second season of endurance sports car racing, explained that he ‘really enjoyed his time’ in the car, but expressed a similar disappointment at finishing off the podium in the Florida endurance classic.

“IMSA just keeps impressing me with how chaotic and crazy it is to race this year,” said Vesti.

“I really enjoyed my time in the car today. I left everything out on the track and it’s painful not to get the podium. I really felt like we had the car to win or be on the podium today.

“Really proud of Cadillac Whelen.  Having the issue in quali starting out, I think Jack did a great job in stint one to get us in the lead.

“I enjoyed lots of laps in the lead today and I had a lot of restarts from the lead, which is fun and I learned a lot.

“We’ll be back. I’m already looking forward to Laguna.”