Porsche clinched first and second place in the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 12 Hours of Sebring was won by Brazilian Felipe Nasr, Nick Tandy from Great Britain and Laurens Vanthoor from Belgium at the wheel of the No. 7 Porsche 963.

The trio had already won the 24 Hours of Daytona in January. Matt Campbell from Australia and the two Frenchmen Mathieu Jaminet and Kévin Estre rounded off the top result for the Porsche Penske Motorsport works team with second place. In the GTD-Pro class, the AO Racing customer squad celebrated its first victory in an endurance race of the North American IMSA series with the 911 GT3 R known as the "Rexy".

In summer temperatures of up to 31 degrees Celsius, intense competition developed in the top GTP class immediately after the start at 10:10 a.m. local time. After just 15 minutes, Felipe Nasr took the lead of the field for the first time at the wheel of the No. 7 Porsche 963. The Brazilian and his teammates Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor gave it up about an hour later, but fought their way back to the front in difficult conditions on the heavily heated track of Sebring International Raceway towards evening.

The decision for the overall victory was made after the ninth and final caution phase in a thrilling sprint that dominated the last 31 minutes of the race. Nasr fended off all attacks from his rivals and secured Porsche Penske Motorsport's second victory in the second race of the season. It was the 19th overall success for Sebring record winner Porsche at the endurance classic in Florida – the first since 2008. For Nick Tandy, who has crowned himself "Mister 24 Hours" with his victory at Daytona, the latest triumph fulfilled another dream: The Briton became only the tenth racing driver in the world to achieve the so-called Triple Crown of endurance racing with overall victories at Sebring as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona.

The No. 6 sister car was also in the leading group for long stretches of the twelve-hour race. In the end, Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Kévin Estre were only 2.239 seconds behind their victorious teammates. With the one-two result at Sebring, Porsche has extended its lead in the manufacturers' championship. The two driver crews occupy the first two positions in the overall standings.

"Congratulations to the entire team on a squeaky clean performance," commented Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. The 12 Hours of Sebring offered the expected intense competition. Drivers, mechanics and engineers – everyone did an absolutely flawless job today. It doesn't get much better than this. The Porsche 963 has once again underlined its position as the most successful LMDh car to date since the regulations were introduced. We can all be very proud of that. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to these successes. My congratulations also go to our customer team AO Racing, which clinched a well-deserved class victory with the Porsche 911 GT3 R."

"After Daytona, now the victory at Sebring: we won the 36 Hours of Florida," said Urs Kuratle, Vice President Factory Motorsport LMDh. "That was one of the very best races for us, absolutely flawless. I'm overjoyed. All the drivers and the whole team did an enormously strong job: pit stops, strategy, car – everything went perfectly."

"A perfect performance by all six drivers and the entire team," said Jonathan Diuguid, Executive Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. After twelve hours, our two cars were separated by just two seconds. This shows that everything went smoothly and optimally for us. Especially in the dark with cooler temperatures, we were able to set a strong pace. Together with a few other team members, I was part of Porsche's last overall victory at Sebring in 2008. To be at the front together again is simply fantastic."

The customer teams in the top-class GTP were also able to underline the strength of the Porsche 963 at times. The Proton Competition team finished the race in sixth place overall. The identical hybrid prototype from JDC-Miller MotorSports crossed the finish line in eighth place. At the wheel of the No. 85 car, Porsche works driver Nico Müller celebrated his debut in the Porsche 963. The Swiss, who competes in Formula E for the Andretti customer team, showed a strong performance in his stints.

GT classes: AO Racing's Porsche 911 GT3 R wins after a tough battle

In the GTD-Pro class, the AO Racing customer team celebrated its first success with the Porsche 911 GT3 R in one of the major endurance races of the IMSA series. At the wheel of the crowd favourite known as the "Rexy", the two former Porsche Juniors Laurin Heinrich from Germany and Klaus Bachler from Austria drove a flawless race together with the Belgian Alessio Picariello. After a tough duel for the lead, the trio won in the end with a lead of 4.371 seconds. The nine-eleven of Proton Competition finished eighth.

In der GTD-Klasse hatte das Kundenteam Wright Motorsports großes Pech: Die Mannschaft aus Ohio kämpfte mit ihrem 911 GT3 R phasenweise an der Spitze, verlor aber aufgrund zweier Strafen am Ende entscheidenden Boden. Die Startnummer 120 erreichte das Ziel auf Klassenrang fünf. Die Iron Dames kamen bei ihrem zweiten IMSA-Einsatz mit dem Neunelfer auf den elften Platz.

Der dritte Saisonlauf der IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship findet am 12. April in Long Beach statt. Das spektakuläre Stadtrennen vor den Toren der kalifornischen Metropole Los Angeles geht über eine Distanz von nur 100 Minuten.

Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #7): „Zwei Rennen in Folge zu gewinnen, ist schon großartig. Aber die ,36 Stunden von Florida‘ in Daytona und Sebring für sich zu entscheiden, ist nahezu unglaublich. In beiden Rennen standen wir sogar mit beiden Porsche 963 auf dem Podium. Angesichts des engen Wettbewerbs ist das unfassbar. Keine Fehler, keine Straen, keine Schäden – der heutige Tag war einfach ein Traum im Langstreckensport.‟

Matt Campbell (Porsche 963 #6): „Der Doppelsieg stellt natürlich ein traumhaftes Resultat für Porsche Penske Motorsport dar. Gratulation an unser siegreiches Schwesterauto. Es war für uns ein sehr harter und langer Tag, es ging im Verlauf des Rennens immer hin und her. Bei der großen Hitze am frühen Nachmittag hatten wir leichte Schwierigkeiten. Am Abend in der kühleren Dunkelheit war unser Porsche bärenstark. Großartig, dass wir zusammen die maximale Punktzahl mitgenommen haben.‟

Nico Müller (Porsche 963 #85): „Das war ein geniales Wochenende! Es hat mit dem Team, meinen Teamkollegen und im Fahrerlager sehr viel Spaß gemacht – und meine ersten Rennrunden im Porsche 963 erst recht. Der Prototyp und ich haben uns schnell gefunden, wir kamen gut miteinander zurecht. Die Performance war phasenweise wirklich stark. Insgesamt hätte das Rennen aber etwas besser für uns laufen können. Wir mussten eine Bremsscheibe wechseln, das hat uns eine Runde zurückgeworfen. Dass ich das Auto in der Nacht von Sebring ins Ziel fahren durfte, sehe ich als große Ehre an.‟

Tristan Vautier (Porsche 963 #5): „Wir sind etwas enttäuscht. Nach anfänglichen Rückschlägen konnten wir uns sehr gut nach vorn kämpfen, aber dann hat uns ein Reifenschaden aus dem Kampf um die Top 5 geworfen. Dennoch lagen wir am Ende wieder in aussichtsreicher Position, vor allem in der Dunkelheit waren wir stark unterwegs. Zwei Runden vor Schluss mussten wir aber noch einmal tanken – sehr schade, denn deswegen konnten wir nicht das entsprechende Ergebnis einfahren.‟

Klaus Bachler (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): „Ich bin dermaßen stolz auf das gesamte Team! Laurin hat in den letzten zwei Rennstunden einen unglaublich guten Job abgeliefert und auch Alessio war bärenstark unterwegs. Es ist einfach cool, sich das Auto mit zwei so großartigen Typen zu teilen. Endlich haben wir mit ,Rexy‘ eines der ganz großen Rennen gewonnen. Jetzt wird gefeiert. Ich freue mich schon auf alle weiteren Rennen in dieser Saison – so darf es gern weitergehen.‟

GTP-Klasse:
1. Nasr/Tandy/L. Vanthoor (BRA/GBR/BEL), Porsche 963 #7, 353 Runden
2. Jaminet/Campbell/Estre (FRA/AUS/FRA), Porsche 963 #6, + 2,239 Sekunden
3. Van der Zande/Yelloly/Palou (NLD/GBR/ESP), Acura #93, + 5,017 Sekunden
6. Jani/Pino/Vautier (SUI/CHL/FRA), Porsche 963 #5, + 1:02,670 Minuten
8. Van der Helm/Bruni/Müller (NLD/ITA/SUI), Porsche 963 #85, + 1 Runde

GTD-Pro class:
1. Heinrich/Bachler/Picariello (DEU/AUT/BEL), Porsche 911 GT3 R #77, 329 laps
2. Hesse/Harper/Krohn (DEU/GBR/FIN), BMW #48, + 4.371 seconds
3. Snow/Verhagen/De Phillippi (USA/USA/USA), BMW #1, + 5.027 seconds
8. Schiavoni/Cressoni/Lietz (ITA/ITA/AUT), Porsche 911 GT3 R #20, + 1 lap

GTD class:
1st Ward/Ellis/Dontje (USA/GBR/NLD), Mercedes-AMG #57, 327 laps
2nd Hawksworth/Thompson/Montecalvo (GBR/CAN/USA), Lexus #12, + 3.265 seconds
3rd Gamble/Stevenson/Robichon (GBR/GBR/CAN), Aston Martin #27, + 6.720 seconds
5th Adelson/Skeer/Sargent (USA/USA/AUS), Porsche 911 GT3 R #120, 1:43.593s
11th Bovy/Frey/Gatting (BEL/SUI/DNK), Porsche 911 GT3 R #83, + 1 lap

All results and championship standings at https://results.imsa.com.