Once again, the 12 Hours of Sebring did not disappoint! What amounts to 12 hours at Sebring is akin to 24 hours elsewhere. Between constant changes from asphalt to concrete, bumps that caused extreme vibrations and the Floridian heat (the circuit temperature rose to 47 degrees), mechanics were put to the test.

Only one car in the head Prototype class was spared troubles: the #22 Nissan DPi of Extreme Speed Motorsports entrusted to the expert hands of Nicolas Lapierre, Johannes van Overbeek and Luis Felipe "Pipo" Derani, all three celebrating their third victory at Sebring. Lapierre won with a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP fielded by ORECA in 2011 back when the American Le Mans Series had yet to merge with GrandAm to become the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Their teammates reached the top step on the podium in 2016, also with Extreme Speed Motorsports, but at the wheel of a Ligier JS P2.

The three men had a relatively uneventful race and it was thanks to 11 safety car interventions that the top five finished within the same lap, whereas at the Rolex 24 at Daytona at the end of January the safety car was rarely called out. As at the opening round of the American season, Mike Conway (#31 Cadillac DPi), a regular driver with Toyota, claimed a podium finish, despite falling from the second to the third step, whereas two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans  winner Romain Dumas (#54 ORECA LMP2), finished fourth.

Also in fourth place in the GTLM class (GT Le Mans) Ford crossed the finish line with the top representative in GT, leaving the victory spoils to Porsche placing its two cars in first and third place, scoring its first victory since 2014. Only the #25 BMW M8 of Connor de Phillippi, Alexander Sims and Bill Auberlen, pole sitter, was able to slip between the #911 911 RSR driven by Nick Tandy, overall winner at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, Patrick Pilet and Frédéric Makowiecki, and the #912 sister car driven by Gianmaria Bruni, despite losing a body piece on the track, Laurens Vanthoor and Earl Bamber.

The performance bodes well for the Bavarian marque, slated to make its big return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans this year with the M8 that made its debut at Daytona, despite the fact the second car encountered some technical problems, as did one of the two Ford GTs and one of the two Corvettes. The 66th edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring brought to an end the series of three consecutive wins for the American manufacturer who finished sixth in the class, behind the only Ferrari representative, the 488 GTE fielded by Risi Competizione.

Ferrari made its mark in the GTD class with a second place finish for Scuderia Corsa's #63 Ferrari 488 GT3, winner at Le Mans in 2016 in LMGTE Am, just behind the #48 Lamborghini Huracán of Paul Miller Racing and ahead of the #33 Mercedes driven by Jeroen Bleekemolen, Ben Keating and Luca Stolz, who will participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with a Ferrari 488 GTE in LMGTE Am.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors will cross the U.S. for the next round at Long Beach in California on April 14th

Results

PHOTO (Copyright - David Bristol): Nicolas Lapierre, Johannes van Overbeek and "Pipo" Derani celebrate their victory at the 2018 12 Hours of Sebring.