After 12 hours of flat-out racing in Florida, the #5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Sebastian Bourdais, Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi took the win in dominant fashion after taking the lead of the race shortly after the halfway mark.
Going into the second half of the race the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley Ford held the overall top spot, but was being reeled in by Barbosa. As hour seven approached the Portuguese native look the lead going into the final corner with a ballsy move, and from then on it was plain sailing for the #5 crew.
Sebastian Bourdais in particular, was incredibly rapid. The Frenchman showed impeccable pace throughout his remaining stints, to the point where he had over a lap on the entire prototype field by the end of the race.
Coming home second was the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette of Ricky and Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli, which completed an astonishing recovery drive after suffering brake issues in the early stages of the race. Finishing up third was the #90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette, which wasn’t consistent enough in the second half of the race to challenge for the win despite the best efforts of Richard Westbrook and Mike Rockenfeller.
The Ganassi Riley, which despite being more economical than the Vettes, just didn’t have the raw pace to hold onto a top three spot, especially in the hotter temperatures throughout the day. In the end Richard Westbrook stole third spot off Scott Dixon in the final half hour, which came as a disappointment to the team, who tried extremely hard to keep their chances of a win alive right until the flag fell.
Rounding out the top five was the second Action Express Chevrolet (#31), which was on a recovery drive after Eric Curran lost a wheel early in the race.
Both GT classes boiled down to major dramas in the last hour, which changed the landscape of the important results.
After 11 and a half hours of racing it looked as if Porsche were in full control of the GTLM category, with the #911 and #912 sitting in the top two spots with a comfortable gap between them and the third place #3 Corvette, but both hit trouble.
The #912 lost a ton of time in the pits during its final stop of race after the left-rear wheel nut jammed. And soon after, problem’s struck the leading sister Porsche too, as Nick Tandy began lapping slowly unable to change gears. This handed the lead to the boys in yellow as the race came to a close – meaning the early spin by Ryan Briscoe was not as costly as it was originally thought to be.
Making up the top three, was the Risi Ferrari, which was driven into contention in the final few hours by Giancarlo Fisichella who seemed to be clearly on a mission, and the Falken Porsche, which did struggle for pace as the temperature dropped. The Falken guys were there to pick up the pieces however, leaving Wolf Henzler, Pat Long and Bryan Sellers with a reward for their efforts.
GTD was just as frantic. Eventually won by the #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche of Ian James, Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas, it literally came down to the final few minutes. Throughout the second half, the #33 Riley Viper, Alex Job Porsche and #007 TRG Aston tussled for the lead, but when the chips were down at the end, it was a straight fight between Jeroen Bleekemolen’s Viper and Mario Farnbacher’s Porsche.
Both drivers had career-defining performances, with the Bleekemolen having to reel in the Porsche to snag the win in the 12th hour. Farnbacher had brake issues in the final stint, and went straight-on at the hairpin, handing the lead momentarily to the Viper. But engine temperature issues forced the Dutchman to bring the car in with under five minutes left to run to retire the car, giving the Alex Job Porsche the lead once more.
Second in class was the #007 TRG Aston, and third the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari, which used the age old method of going round and round without making errors to score a podium.
PC kept up the theme of close racing to the flag, after a duel between the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsport and #54 CORE Autosport Orecas which lasted for much of the final few hours. Tom Kimber-Smith drove the PR1 car to the flag, and managed to fend off a hard-charging Colin Braun to take the win.
Stephen Kilbey
