Aitken, Cadillac rule opening hour at Sebring

The 74th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring has commenced on a beautiful, sunny March morning at Sebring International Raceway and the red No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R has led from the drop of the green flag to the end of the first hour of the race.

Polesitter Jack Aitken holds the top spot in the leading Cadillac, keeping the GTP field at bay until a full course yellow at the 38-minute mark for debris brought on a round of routine pit stops. A good energy stop from the Action Express Racing crew kept Aitken in the lead as the race just recently went back to green.

Renger van der Zande’s charge from ninth on the grid included some close calls with the BMW of Sheldon van der Linde and a clash with Porsche’s Felipe Nasr, but he’s now moved up from ninth to second in the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06.

Kévin Estre is now third in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, followed by Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 MSR Acura, and van der Linde in the No. 24 Team WRT BMW M Hybrid V8.

It didn’t take long for PJ Hyett to drive to the lead in LMP2 from fourth on the grid; he drove his way up to second place behind the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen ORECA of Misha Goikhberg.

Hyett and the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson took the lead from Goikhberg after pit stops; Jeremy Clarke in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition car is now third, and after recovering from a spin at Le Mans Corner (Turn 16), Daniel Goldburg is back up to fourth in the No. 22 United Autosports USA car.

Early LMP2 action also included an incident between Era Motorsport’s Naveen Rao and Intersport Racing’s Jon Field that handed Rao a drive-through penalty, and a recent spin for Tower Motorsports’ John Farano.

The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3 led from the green flag until the full course yellow. After pit stops, it’s now the No. 911 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R that leads with Ricardo Feller at the wheel.

Kyle Kirkwood relieved starting driver Jack Hawksworth in the No. 14 Lexus, which now runs second, followed by the No. 59 RLL Team McLaren (720S) GT3 EVO of Dean McDonald in third, and the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche, which started eighth in Harry King’s hands, but is now fourth with Nick Tandy behind the wheel for his first stint.

Antonio Fuoco drove to the lead in GTD, but the full course yellow erased a sizeable lead that the Italian had built in the No. 21 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.

Simon Mann is now behind the wheel of the leading Ferrari in GTD, ahead of polesitter Eduardo Barrichello in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in second, the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus in third, and the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche in fourth.

Meanwhile, only 54 cars started the race: The No. 79 JDC-Miller MotorSports ORECA LMP2 withdrew before the start due to what was described as personal reasons.