By John Oreovicz
SEBRING, Fla. – The 72nd running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Cadillac was decided by an intense battle for the lead with less than five minutes remaining in the classic endurance racing contest.
Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 stalked Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R throughout the last of 12 hours of hard-fought racing before finally forcing his way past to claim the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class victory in Round 2 of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
The 26-year-old Swiss driver faked a pass to the outside of Sebring International Raceway’s hairpin corner before making a late dive to the inside. Bourdais attempted a crossover move exiting up the next straight, but Deletraz was able to edge ahead through the next sequence of corners, with the Acura and Cadillac making light contact. He held the lead in the car he shared with Jordan Taylor and Colton Herta over the final four laps of the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit to prevail by 0.891 seconds over Bourdais, Renger van der Zande and Scott Dixon.
Rolex 24 At Daytona winners Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron and Matt Campbell rounded out the podium after finishing 8.898 seconds back in third place in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. The No. 7 and No. 40 teams left Sebring tied for the lead of the GTP standings with 706 points each.
While Taylor is a multiple IMSA champion with 34 career victories (including three at Sebring), Saturday’s triumph was just the second for Deletraz, who is considered a rising star in the sports car world. It was also the third IMSA win for the No. 40 team’s endurance driver, IndyCar standout Herta.
Herta and Taylor were both swift to heap praise upon Deletraz, who put intense pressure on Bourdais and the Cadillac while never putting a wheel wrong.
“Incredible – that was all Louis there in the end,” said Herta.
“Louis won for us,” added Taylor. “I think we were third on the last restart and he drove the wheels off that Acura. Fantastic win, and it was clean.”
A crestfallen Bourdais thought it could have been cleaner. “They just came out like a rocket with new tires at the end,” he said. “I’m a little disappointed that it turned into a bumper car contest. I didn’t try to make any contact, but he sure banged us left, right and center.”
Deletraz is in his first full season in the WeatherTech Championship after making a strong impression in the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC). WTRAndretti team principal Wayne Taylor gave Deletraz his initial chance in IMSA as the team’s endurance driver in 2023.
“The car was really strong in the end, and I knew we were in a position to win,” said Deletraz. “I felt a lot of pressure being in the car to finish the race. I didn’t want to take risks initially, but in the end, I had to send it. Seb was tough but fair, so thanks to him. If he didn’t respect me, we would have both ended up in the wall.
“In the end I saw the gap and just went for it, and I think I’ll remember this one for a long, long time.”
The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, where the GTP and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) classes will be in action April 19-20.
John Oreovicz | IMSA | Photo: IMSA
