Breaking It Down: Wayne Taylor Racing Returns To The Top of the Podium at Sebring

WTR gets first win in top class in nearly 19 months

The 2024 Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring delivered in its usual late race chaos featuring a hard-fought pass by the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura to give the team its first victory in the top class since August of 2022.

Ironically the win comes from their newest addition to the family with their second Acura entry that was added this season, but, familiar faces such as Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta and Louis Deletraz help lead the team to victory.

This win ends a bit of a streak for Cadillac, winning five of the last seven races at this illustrious circuit and gives WTR their first victory at Sebring in seven years.

Outside of the GTP winners, LMP2 & GTD saw repeats from Daytona for ERA Motorsports and Winward Racing, while Jack Hawksworth gave the defending champion Vasser Sullivan GTD Pro team its first victory this season, fitting hence they were running of the few Mobil 1 50th Anniversary Gold Cars in the field.

History Making Win

There are so many things that can sum up this evening’s 12 Hour of Sebring but history-making is a perfect way to present the win for Wayne Taylor w/Andretti.

The win for starters was not an easy one.

Some of the opportunity that came for WTR to win this weekend was the incidents.

A midway technical issue caused the #85 JDC-Miller Porsche 963 to retire early but it is more about what happened following the incident.

The under five hour mark in the race proved to be a chaotic one.

The #31 Whelen Cadillac of Pipo Derani got involved in a vicious accident while leading the overall/class race, flipping on its roof on top of a tire barrier which resulted in the team retiring from the race.

This would be the falling of dominoes in place for a winner to emerge like WTR, who hadn’t been overly strong leading into the weekend.

The #6 Porsche Penske 963 cutting a tire and causing somewhat self-inflicted damage with the #66 Gradient Racing Acura of Katherine Legge allowed for another strong contender to fall down the grid.

Even WTR wasn’t safe from Sebring, with oil leakage causing setbacks for the blue #10 Konica Minolta entry for Wayne Taylor.

Outside of the incidents that open the door for manufacturers and teams, the battle to take over the lead from a dominating #01 Cadillac of Sebastien Bourdais in what may be the team’s final run with the car at this track was stellar.

The final few minutes saw a load of traffic (15 cars according to the broadcast) that allowed for Deletraz to creep up on Bourdais, giving him enough of a gap to make a move.

Both drivers would bump and scratch in the battle for the lead but that same traffic derailed Bourdais’s chances towards regain the top spot with an awkward block from GTD Pro winner Jack Hawksworth.

The win for WTR and HRD though is a massive one.

As mentioned, this is WTR first win at the circuit in seven years and their first IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship win in the top class since 2022.

For Acura, they have now etched their name in the side of history, giving the brand its first ever win at the circuit while HRD wins it second win, first since 2016.

WTR checked off a lot of boxes and for an Acura entry from the team that is only in its second race to win at one of the most difficult tracks is astonishing.

Coming off a 2023 season that came close to the team winning a title, even without a win, maybe this could be the momentum WTR needed to kickstart a campaign back to the top of the sport for 2024.

Sebring Standouts

Sebring is the first true test for the season for IMSA.

While Daytona is the kickstart of the campaign, Sebring brings the sport back to its roots and kicks off the road course/street course slate of the schedule.

Obviously, not to discount Daytona or even Indy now in that matter, but, those two circuits are unique due them being hybrid-type courses.

Sebring gets the calendar started and it is the most challenging of the bunch.

From the rough terrain surface of the track to the challenging space for traffic, Sebring provides a unique challenge for drivers on the circuit.

Some teams really stood out this weekend on the circuit.

For starters, for the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG to go from 34th to 1st on the grid is impressive after a technical violation that snatched their GTD pole for the weekend.

The Winward machine looked as stout as they did at Daytona and did not miss a beat. Winward Racing plowed there way through the grid rather quickly and made quick of there minor inconvenience.

The #5 Proton Competition Porsche 963 also ran a solid performance this weekend, battling against its mother team in Porsche Penske for a podium spot late while also poking their head towards the top of the boards.

We also must mention the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini.

In the team’s first US race with IMSA, the team did have their fair share of troubles but stayed relatively clean and was able to get back on the lead lap to finish the race.

Final Thoughts

This was definitely one of the races that will be put into the history books following a drama-filled finish and day in general for the 72nd Sebring 12 Hours.

From WTR grabbing the overall top spot to the massive incident involving the #31 Whelen Cadillac Racing, this race provide a pot roast of racing.

What was incredible is the storylines of the weekend.

There were so many incredible storylines coming from each of the winning class teams that it added to this evening’s race and allowed for an exciting charge from beginning to end.

Things got pretty physical throughout the weekend and full course yellows filled the race, with twelve total yellows during the race but fortunately the final minutes were yellow free and allowed for the great conclusion.