Porsche Penske builds "catch me if you can" lead at Sebring: 8-hour report

Eight hours into this eventful 12h race, the sun is already tucking into Sebring's horizon — which means photographers are eagerly preparing to shoot cars lit in that supreme Golden hour lighting. At the front of the field is another Vanthoor in the GTP category — Laurens Vanthoor in the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche, with a full minute lead over the field. Though the BMWs are still making record lap times to try and catch up to earn a historical win. In LMP2, it's the eye-catching pink-to-purple liveried #04 Crowdstrike Racing piloted by Malthe Jakobsen.

Teams involved in early incidents are starting to claw back. BMW has another possible path to putting a bookend to its first victory a half-century later, as Jesse Krohn in the #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW leads the GTD Pro class. And despite earlier setbacks, The #21 AF Corse Ferrari remains strong, with Alessandro Pier Guidi leading the GTD category.

As we race into the last third of the 12 Hours of Sebring, soon to feature some after-hour laps, here's what you need to know about the last four hours:

Hour 5: We start the next third of the race with an incident involving another Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. The #40, driven by Brendon Hartley, is sent into the wall of Turn 17. Full-course yellow issued. The #40 enters a closed pit for emergency service, but exceeded the parameters of what consitutes "emergency service." Race control issues a stop and hold penalty before the close of the hour.

Damage of #40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V- Series.R: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Alex Lynn

Photo by: Andreas Beil

James Hinchcliffe also suffers an injury after the crew of the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini accidentally lowers the car onto his foot.

Hour 6: Note that at the mid-way point of the 6th hour, both the #10 and #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs are down from the lead lap (1 and 3 laps, respectively). Continuing the addition of insult to injury, yet another setback for a WTR car, but this time the #45 Lamborghini as it struggles to return to the pits.

Within another 10 minutes, another slow Lamborghini on track. Parker Kligerman is found limping Forte Racing's #78 car along the longest journey to the pits from Turn 10 to repair a very flat, left-front tire.

#60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06: Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Scott Dixon

Photo by: IMSA

Hour 7: We've cracked into the second half of the race. Track temp is up to 82 degrees Fahrenheit (was at 77 at the start of the race). Possibly the most interesting thing out of first half of the hour is a new fastest lap time of the race of 1:49.790, set by Sheldon Van Der Linde in the #25 for BMW M Team RLL as it continues its hunt to the front.

A busy final 15 minutes of the hour as a huge stop-hold penalty is issued to the #66 Gradient Racing Ford Mustang for a "Violation of GTD Stint Energy Requirements." The car will have to hold for 100 seconds -- one of the longest holds issued for the race. Race Control was not specific on what that violation was, but according to the 2025 technical regulations, there is a "Virtual Tank which contains the available permitted energy... which is not permitted to drop below 0%." If the car does not replenish that extra energy used, they are issued a penalty per SSR Article 22.3.14, that says for the first violation is a stop and hold penalty, the hold at 100 seconds. A second violation ups the hold to 200 seconds, and third at 300 seconds.

Meanwhile, the running leader of the GTD class, the #32 Korthoff Competition Motors Mercedes-AMG, is found stopped on the side of the track. The team is unsure of what's behind the issue, possibly the loss of the engine. But Kenton Koch remains in the car as it's towed back to the paddock in hopes there may be any chance to return to racing.

Hour 8: In the GTP class, the #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW is on a mission, with Robin Frijns setting another fastest lap at 1:49.298 — shaving off four tenths of a second from his teammate's prior fastest lap time in the previous hour — while currently sitting 8th overall.

#9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2: Andrea Caldarelli, Marco Mapelli, James Hinchcliffe

Photo by: IMSA

By this hour, there have been two actual penalties issued for "failure to adhere to the Controlled Powertrain Parameters" which concerns the torque sensors (new to the GTD classes). The torque sensors are incredibly sensitive, and during testing teams did find out that hitting a curb or bump the right way can cause a spike in the data, meaning they need to tune/adjust their cars to try and avoid spikes, along with trying to avoid problematic areas. Being this is a track where you are expected to "respect the bumps" — the bumps are proving difficult as there have been several of these failures issued, but a first time is a warning, while a second results in a penalty.