Cadillac controls Sebring 12 Hour pace at one-quarter distance

After three hours of the 2025 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, it’s Cadillac leading with the No. 31 Whelen V-Series.R out front. The Action Express team has enjoyed an impressive run through the opening third of the race, rising from last on the grid to first after just over an hour of racing.

Fred Vesti is currently aboard, having taken over from Jack Aitken who took the start and holds a slim but relatively comfortable 11s advantage over the No. 93 Acura MSR ARX-06 of Alex Palou.

What happened to Porsche’s early 1-2? It evaporated at the start of the second hour, as both 963s were unable to pit immediately under the first safety car due to the pit lane entry light showing red when they attempted to come in. The rest of the field was not impeded, they dived in as it switched over to green, leaving the 963s stranded.

It cost both cars track position when they eventually took to pit road, though they have since recovered. The No. 7 is back up to third from ninth with Laurens Vanthoor strapped in. The No. 6 has risen to fourth and is currently just ahead of the No. 25 BMW after jumping it during the third round of pit stops.

Elsewhere in the premier class, the Lamborghini SC63 is 12th, but it did spend time at the front. It led the field at the restart following the first stops, though Romain Grosjean dropped to the very back immediately as the track went green, allowing the AXR to power past and snatch P1.

The team didn’t give him the jump orders on the radio and the entire chasing pack swallowed him up. It later emerged, too, that its unlikely move to the front came via an improper wave-by during the class split.

Last in the class is the No. 10 Wayne Talor Racing Cadillac, now two laps down. The car endured a miserable start to the race. Contact with the No. 023 Ferrari in the opening hour saw the team dealt a stop-and-60s penalty. It also needed an adjustment to the throttle linkage at a stop.

LMP2 was action-packed in hours two and three. The No. 11 TDS ORECA now leads the way after Hunter McElrea, aboard the car against Bronze-ranked drivers around him, steered the car past the United cars of Nick Boulle and Daniel Goldburg to climb from third to first. The No. 2 still sits second, with the No. 22 third.

GTD Pro is now led by the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Alex Sims, though the car is out of sequence after a TPMS sensor failure forced the car in for an unscheduled stop. When it pits early in hour four, the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche will take over the lead.

Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO is third but will rise to second shortly. Madison Snow is installed and took over from Niel Verhagen who spent much of his stint fighting tooth and nail with Alessio Picariello in the No. 77. The No. 65 Ford Mustang and No. 4 Corvette are close behind and chasing.

There was trouble in this portion of the race for Vasser Sullivan’s No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3. Jose Maria Lopez tagged the rear of the No. 48 Paul Miller BMW at the hairpin and damaged the front end of the car. The pace was fine for a few laps, but the Argentinian was forced in for repair work to its front-left suspension. Following a stint behind the wall the car is back out and 24 laps down.

In GTD, the pole-sitting No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari has fought back nicely from Alessandro Pier Guidi’s off in the opening laps. Lilou Wadoux leads the No. 32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG and the No. 57 AMG from 2024 winner Winward Racing.

A second big incident came with just over 10.5h to go when Tobi Lutke ran wide at Sunset Bend and went hard into the tire barriers.

The damage to the front end of the car was heavy. Lutke was able to limp back into the pit lane, though the car was retired shortly after. It eventually became the second retirement of the race after the No. 023 Triarsi Ferrari was withdrawn after being shoved off track and into a concrete barrier at the end of the first hour.

Later in the second hour, there was further drama in the LMP2 class. Nick Boulle in the No. 52 PR1 ORECA made a bold dive up of AO Racing’s PJ Hyett the inside at T1, tapping the “Spike” ORECA into a spin that sent it backwards into the barriers at speed.

Thankfully, the No. 99’s damage wasn’t terminal and the car rejoined after bodywork replacements, albeit three laps down.

Seconds after the impact there was more contact, when Luis Perez Companc in the No. 88 AF Corse car side-swiped the Riley example of Gar Robinson, sending him off track at Turn 4. All this melee brought out another safety car and both the No. 88 and No. 52 received drive-throughs for their roles in the incidents.

The only other major drama concerned the Celitar Ferrari in GTD, Giorgio Sernagiotto pulling off on the back straight after 52 laps. Thankfully he was able to stop in a safe position, ensuring the race stayed green.