Toyota Leads After An Hour At Sebring

The new era for the World Endurance Championship is underway, and it’s Toyota which leads after an hour of racing in this 268-lap (or eight hours) encounter at Sebring.

The #8 GR010 HYBRID currently leads at the hands of Sebastien Buemi, just over a second ahead of Mike Conway in the sister #7.

Where are the Ferraris? Down in sixth and ninth after both 499Ps pitted under a lengthy safety car period a few laps into the race.

The hour was heavily interrupted by the aforementioned safety car period, which was brought out after a big off for Luis Perez Companc in the #83 Richard Mille AF Corse Ferrari.

Only a few laps into the race, pushing hard to take a top three spot in Am, he lost the rear after going off-line at Turn 1. The Argentinian went wide and backwards at high speed into the tyres, sending him into a roll. Thankfully he was ok and walked away, but the car was heavily damaged from the impact.

There was early drama at Peugeot too. The #94 9X8 didn’t take the start, Loic Duval diving into the pits on the second formation lap with a gearbox issue. The car was found to be stuck in first gear.

He did get sent out shortly after the pack began racing, but was unable to get up to speed when he did, forcing him straight back into the pits and behind the wall for lengthy repairs. To put it mildly, this was not the start to the season Peugeot or the #94 crew wanted.

The #93 has had a trouble-free first hour, but the pace isn’t there. Paul Di Resta took the start and is seventh overall, 30 seconds off the lead.

Behind the two Toyotas is the #6 Penske Porsche, Laurens Vanthoor 13 seconds off the lead but very much in the mix at this early stage. Cadillac’s V-Series.R is too, in fourth with Alex Lynn at the wheel.

The #5 Porsche 963 is fifth, Michael Christensen ahead of the #50 AF Corse 499P of pole-sitter Antonio Fuoco, who led the opening laps from the start before Companc’s off. Both Ferraris are playing catch-up. The decision to pit for fuel under the safety car and give up track position was bold. Both cars lost time in the pits are got held up. This has forced their drivers to push hard to climb the order.

Further back Glickenhaus, like Peugeot, suffered mechanical dramas in the opening hour. Ryan Briscoe slowed to a crawl briefly after at the restart, the radio message revealing that the engine cut off. He did get going again but is 14th and behind the top four in LMP2.

Up front in LMP2, the #23 United Autosports ORECA leads, having cycled back to the front after starting the race from Pole. Oliver Jarvis didn’t lead the whole hour, as the team, and most of the LMP2 field, pitted under the safety car. He now leads the #63 Prema ORECA, now driven by Daniil Kvyat. The #36 Alpine is up to third.

In GTE Am, the battle between Sarah Bovy and Ben Keating from Qualifying continued in the opening laps, the pair trading places. But it wasn’t a Porsche or Corvette that led the class after an hour.

D’station instead now leads the way, Tomonobu Fujii aboard the#777 Vantage and eight seconds ahead of the #33 Corvette of Keating that’s second. Almost the entire Am field pitted under Safety Car but D’station stayed out. Will the gamble pay off?

Behind Keating, Bovy in the Iron Dames Porsche is third, the #25 ORT By TF Aston is fourth after a strong first stint from Michael Dinan. Paul Dalla Lana completes the top five in the #98 Northwest AMR Aston.