Race marred by a frightening crash by one of the all-powerful Toyota Gazoo GR010 Hybrids.
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The first World Endurance Championship race on U.S. soil in two years—a COVID-related absence—was a compelling event on Friday, punctuated by a frightening crash by one of the all-powerful Toyota Gazoo GR010 Hybrids, and was eventually washed out 25 minutes from the end by a rainstorm.
Otherwise, the WEC 1,000 Miles of Sebring—which actually went 725.56 miles thanks to caution flags, and a red flag for Jose Maria Lopez’s crash in the Toyota, which occurred when he tried to limp his damaged car back to the pits, lost his steering, missed a turn and hit the tire wall and flipped—was reasonably uneventful.
The No. 36 Alpine (pronounced Al-peen) Hypercar took the overall win, its first in the car for drivers Nico Lapierre, Mattheiu Vaxiviere and Andre Negrao. Second was the team Toyota, and a solid third was the Gickenhaus 007 Hypercar.
The LMP2 winner was the United Autosport Oreca Gibson of drivers Paul di Resta, Oliver Jarvis and Josh Pierson.
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In LMP2, it was the United Autosport Oreca Gibson of Paul di Resta, Oliver Jarvis and Josh Pierson who, at 16 years of age became the youngest winner ever in WEC competition.
The winning Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre
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In GTE Pro, the lone Chevrolet Corvette of Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner had to settle for second, as it was beaten by the Porsche 911 RSR of Michael Christensen and Kevin Estre.
In GT AM it was Paul Dalla Lana, David Pittard and Nicki Thiim, in the Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage GMR taking top honors.
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In GTE Am, Paul Dalla Lana, David Pittard and Nicki Thiim, in the Northwest AMR Aston Martin Vantage GMR defeated the TF Sport Aston Martin of Texan Ben Keating, Marco Sorensen and Florian Latorre.
Thirty-six cars started the WEC season opener, and 33 finished the scheduled eight-hour race.
Keating and Pierson are competing in Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, along with several other drivers who ran in the WEC event. It hasn’t been formally announced, but expect the two-race “Super Sebring” format to continue in 2023.
Keyword: Alpine Is Too Much for Toyota at WEC 1000 Miles of Sebring