Porsche paces the Sebring field at halfway

Are we witnessing another ‘Penske Perfect’ day at Sebring? We’ve reached the halfway mark of the 2026 Mobil 1 12 Hours, and it’s a 1-2 for Roger Penske’s Porsche factory team, with the No. 7 963 leading the sister No. 6.

The gap between the two is under two seconds, and the margin to third is a reasonably comfortable seven seconds.

The big question, as we move towards sunset, is whether the other GTP manufacturers can find speed at the end of the race and take the fight to the throwback-liveried machines from Weissach. Renger van der Zande, driver of the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06, which sits third, is skeptical at this stage.

“I think they have a lot of speed in the pocket,” he told the broadcast. “It’s a tough one to understand, but at the same time, we’ll give it everything we have. If at the end of the race everyone starts to go really fast, then I don’t think we’re in it for the win.”

Nevertheless, Nick Yelloly, currently installed in the No. 93 pushes on, charged up after a bold move up the inside of the Action Express Cadillac of Fred Vesti for third at the Hairpin halfway through the sixth hour.

It’s been a topsy-turvy race for the No. 31 crew, but they’re also battling on and have done well to recover from their early setback caused by contact with the No. 6 Porsche under safety car.

“It was clearly not international, but it took a little while to recover from that,” Chris Mitchum, director of race team operations for Action Express Racing, says. “We replaced the engine cover and tail and that is just bodywork, but the bigger issue is just making sure the car mechanically is still solid.

“I don’t know if that knife blade is as sharp as it was in the beginning but that is the beauty of GTP, there are adjustments and things you can do. We’re working on getting it back there and we have three Cadillacs against two Porsches and we’ll see what we can do at the end of this race.”

As we head into the seventh hour, Fred Vesti has his mirrors full of the sister MSR Acura, the No. 60, driven by Tom Blomqvist.

Elsewhere in GTP, it has been a tough day so far for BMW Team WRT. Its M Hybrid V8S have lacked speed in the opening hours, and the team is now down to one contending car after disaster struck the No. 25 crew with just under eight hours left on the clock.

Marco Wittmann was in the car when it hit trouble; the German was an innocent bystander at Tower Turn when Brendan Iribe, in the GTD class Inception Ferrari, pulled forward suddenly at the apex after a half-spin. Iribe’s lurch forward resulted in front-to-side contact with the BMW, damaging the rear-left corner of the LMDh and causing it to crab.

Unfortunately for BMW, it’s not an easy fix, as Wittmann took the car straight to the paddock for extensive work. Its chances of victory are over, but it remains to be seen if the Belgian team can get it back on track. The Ferrari ended up behind the wall, too, for work on its front end. The team’s hope of a result now rests on the No. 24 trio, who are running seventh behind the best placed (No. 10) Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac.

In LMP2, with Bronze-rated PJ Hyett’s drive time completed, it’s down to Jonny Edgar and Dane Cameron to double-team the remainder of the race at AO Racing. It’s been a strong run to this point for its No. 99 ORECA, which leads the way over the No. 22 07 Gibson from United Autosports. The No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing car is third, and lucky to be in the race after Toby Sowery suffered a scary moment at the exit of Turn 1 at the end of the fourth hour, losing the rear at high speed before narrowly missing the inside wall.

It's a 1-2 for Porsche in GTD Pro as well, with the No. 77 out front and the 'Grello' Manthey 911 second. Photo credit: Jake Galstad/IMSA

AO also leads in GTD Pro. The No. 77 'Roxy' Porsche is out front, with Nick Tandy leading the train of rapid GT3s. Like GTP, it’s a 1-2 for Porsche too, with the 'Grello' Manthey 911 second, 15 seconds back. The No. 14 Lexus remains in the hunt, though, with Jack Hawksworth - currently enjoying his 100th race start with the brand - just 20 seconds off the lead, and 12 seconds clear of the Rolex 24 winning Paul Miller BMW in fourth.

GTD sees DXDT's Corvette out front, with factory driver Charlie Eastwood pushing hard to pull a gap on the No. 912 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche. The No. 80 Lone Star Mercedes-AMG, a surprise package all week, rounds out the top three.

There was additional good news from the Corvette camp before the halfway point. DragonSpeed’s Z06 GT3. R, which was run off track and into the barriers early in the race, is back out after almost three hours of repair work behind the wall. According to the team, “main repairs were bodywork, driveshaft and a handful of other parts.” A job well done by Elton Julian’s dedicated mechanics!