Manthey and AO Racing give Porsche a second 1-2 finish at Sebring in GTD Pro

Porsche’s brilliant 1-2 overall finish was mirrored by a 1-2 finish in GTD Pro, led by the first-ever IMSA victory for world-class, world-travelled, world champion team Manthey and the famous “Grello” 911 GT3 R.

Thomas Preining, Ricardo Feller and Klaus Bachler grabbed the GTD Pro win in the No. 911 Manthey Porsche in only the team’s second IMSA enduro effort. “Grello” was strong throughout the day, taking the lead for the first time before the end of the first hour, and leading at the end thanks to a blistering final stint behind the wheel from the past DTM champion Preining.

A string of fastest race laps for Preining helped him break clear of the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche; ironically, a late retirement for Manthey’s GTD No. 912 car erased the margin that was building, but on the ensuing restart, the Austrian kept the gap stable.

AO Racing’s Nick Tandy, Harry King, and Alessio Picariello finished a close second in the “Roxy” colors. It makes up for a disappointing Daytona debut for the new 992.2-spec 911 GT3 R, where neither team had strong pace. At Sebring, the two teams combined to lead 257 laps – 130 for “Roxy”, 127 for “Grello”.

Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, carrying special liveries to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary, finished third and fourth – with the No. 4 Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg and Nico Varrone ahead of the No. 3. That’s not a bad return in Milner’s 20th Twelve Hours of Sebring start.

The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO followed up its Rolex 24 win with a fifth place for Connor De Phillippi, Neil Verhagen, and Max Hesse. That top-five was enough for the No. 1 BMW to retain its championship lead.

De Phillippi and Verhagen will be back in action at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, defending what will be a 30-point lead over Corvette’s Milner and Catsburg. Manthey’s crew has the same number of points as Paul Miller, but they won’t be back until Watkins Glen.

Sebring promised much for the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3, but a puncture and a loose left-front wheel took the pole-winning Lexus out of contention.

And after taking on three drive-through penalties, including one with 40 minutes to go, the will of Antonio Fuoco would not be denied as he took a thrilling GTD victory, alongside Simon Mann and Lilou Wadoux, with a last-lap pass for the win.

The No. 21 Ferrari delivered a second GTD victory in three races for AF Corse. Jake Galstad/IMSA

Fuoco, Wadoux, and Mann had the pace to dominate the race, and their path to victory was cleared but with three and a half hours to go, Fuoco collided with Ben Barker’s No. 64 Ford Racing Mustang GT3, not in its class, and actually received stacking drive-throughs with the second coming for having too many crew members over the wall.

The No. 21 Ferrari fought its way back to the lead, but another cross-class collision between Fuoco and his WEC Hypercar co-driver Miguel Molina gave Fuoco another penalty which surely seemed like a death blow to his hopes of victory.

Instead, the final full course yellow handed Fuoco a lifeline. He went from sixth to second and closed right on Tom Gamble’s No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, keeping the pressure on until Gamble lost control for just a moment in turns 11 and 12, enough to open the door for Fuoco to drive through on the final lap.

It’s the second IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup win for AF Corse’s trio in three races. Gamble, Eduardo Barrichello, and Zacharie Robichon finished second in their Aston Martin, salvaging a good result for Heart of Racing after the No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie in GTP had its race compromised by mechanical trouble.

In the last two laps, the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche went from fifth to third to take a podium finish, a good way for Adam Adelson, Callum Ilott, and Tom Sargeant to bounce back after Adelson’s violent crash at Daytona. The No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO finished fourth, while the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari fell from third to seventh on the last lap.

Because AF Corse and Lone Star Racing have committed only to the Michelin Endurance Cup, Heart of Racing and Barrichello’s leads in the GTD standings are effectively 131 points over the next-highest full-time car, the 13 Autosport Corvette, which finished sixth in class.

Behind them, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG was taken out in a three-car accident in the first quarter of the race, which also took out the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari. Russell Ward and Philip Ellis fell to sixth in the standings, but will have time to regain ground starting with the next GTD round at Long Beach.