Photo: MPS Agency
Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and Jose Maria Lopez won the Sebring 1000 as Toyota Gazoo Racing beat newcomers Hypercar to take a dominant one-two.
The Japanese manufacturer opened its defense of the FIA World Endurance Championship title by defeating pole-leader Ferrari AF Corse and the LMDh machinery of Porsche and Cadillac.
Conway finished 2.168 seconds ahead of Brendon Hartley, who shared the No. 8 Toyota with Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa.
AF Corse took a resounding podium on the debut of the Ferrari 499P, although the No. 50 car of the Italian factory team driven by Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina and Nicklas Nielsen finished two laps behind the winner.
Chip Ganassi Racing took fourth with the only Cadillac V-Series.R ahead of Penske’s two Porsche 963s.
Six of the 11 Hypercar entries finished ahead of the LMP2 class winner as the Peugeot 9X8, Glickenhaus 007 Pipo, Vanwall Vandervell 680 Gibson and Ferrari’s #51 machine all suffered notable setbacks at various points. of the day.
In LMP2, Hertz Team JOTA prevailed with their number 48 Oreca 07 Gibson driven by Will Stevens, Yifei Ye and David Beckmann.
The British outfit edged out the No. 63 Prema Racing crew in a battle for fuel mileage as Stevens benefited from a late fuel splash for Mirko Bortolotti with three minutes to go.
Corvette Racing took GTE-Am honors in the American team’s first appearance in the Pro-Am class with the lineup of Ben Keating, Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg.
More to come…
