First the first time the coming of daylight greeted an international race at Sebring. The keyword here is “daylight” not “sunlight”. More anon.
The dawn hours were not kind to many teams. The exceptions are the two overall leaders with the #91 Herberth Porsche edging the better part of a lap ahead of the Rutronik Audi. Perhaps it is like it has been all season. No matter how you throw the dice it comes up Herberth Porsche.
Another winner of the morning was the Willi, Ebimotors 991 class Porsche which rose to a spectacular third overall. At their expense, we lost the CP Mercedes. After Charles Espenlaub went off at the hairpin it was determined that the gearbox was too badly damaged to continue. The #10 Leipert Lamborghini has also been withdrawn after a number of hits with other cars, the problem traced to a brake issue. The other Herberth Porsche (#92) is still running but has been in and out of the paddock with gearbox problems. It is a similar story with the long-delayed BMW M4 GT3.
Patric Niederhauser went off at Turn 1 with the #499 Car Collection Audi requiring a long intervention. The #421 ACP BMW M4 had a similar off and both cars are retired (but see below). Another retirement has been the RENNtech Mercedes, a duff engine the culprit.
At the rear, the barely recognizable Ginetta is once again undergoing repairs. Their goal is to make 60% of the distance of the TCE category. That is a very tall order mathematically, but give them a gold star for pluck. Their task was made a bit easier when the Ligier backed into the wall off of Turn 16, which may not be too badly damaged. The Heart of Racing Aston Martin has been plagued with a chronic fuel system issue leading to extra stops. The duct tape bodied Vortex has never climbed above the bottom of the order.
From the original starting field of 23, there are 5 definite retirements. There are two-three walking wounded plus two-three delayed cars, leaving perhaps a dozen still competitive teams. Then there is the weather.
Instead of sunrise, it was full overcast, followed by a fine drizzle, then a short steady rain and finally some clearing. However, radar indicates two significant cells heading this was before the 5 pm finish. Drama.
Updates from the paddock: The #421 BMW has been repaired but conversely, the #989 MRS GT Porsche has been retired.
