Porsche Penske and Felipe Nasr Capture The 12 Hours Of Sebring

Sebring, Florida ( March 21. 2026)

Sebring does not ease you into anything. It throws heat, bumps, traffic, and chaos at you from the opening lap and keeps piling it on until the final minutes. The 2026 running of the 12 Hours of Sebring followed that script, then turned it up even further.

Cautions stacked up. Strategies split. Tempers crackled over the radio. And in the middle of it all, Felipe Nasr delivered one of the most controlled drives of the season to put Porsche Penske Motorsport back on top at Sebring International Raceway.

By the time the final restart came with less than 20 minutes to go, the race had boiled down to a familiar scenario. Two Porsche 963s. One piece of track. No margin for error.

Nasr led. Kevin Estre was right behind him.

The restart was clean, but the pressure never let up. Estre stayed close through traffic, searching for any opening, while Nasr hit his marks with precision. When the checkered flag finally waved, the gap was just 1.5 seconds, a slim margin after twelve relentless hours.

It was Porsche’s 20th overall win at Sebring and a second straight victory in the race for Penske. More importantly, it completed another sweep of the early endurance season after the win at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The so called 36 Hours of Florida once again belonged to Porsche.

The dominance was real, but it was not simple.

The two factory cars controlled nearly the entire race, leading all but a fraction of the 343 laps, yet the final hours were anything but comfortable. Strategy differences split the pair late. Nasr often ran a cleaner, fuel focused approach, while Estre leaned on fresh tires and outright pace. The two traded the lead more than once as the race tightened.

At one point, team orders briefly shuffled the running order. Minutes later, traffic and timing flipped it back. Then came the decisive moment. Nasr dove inside at Turn 17 in the closing stages, taking the lead for good just as the race entered its final hour.

Even then, nothing was settled.

A late caution erased the gap Porsche had built, bunching the field for one last sprint. Behind them, Cadillac, BMW, and Acura entries fought for position, at times running nearly three wide through traffic as the final podium spot hung in the balance.

On track, Ricky Taylor appeared to secure third for Wayne Taylor Racing in the No. 10 Cadillac V-Series.R. But Sebring had one last twist waiting. Post race inspection found a rules violation, stripping the result and promoting Jack Aitken, alongside Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti, to the final step of the podium in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac.

The race behind the leaders never settled, and neither did the fight in the other classes.

LMP2 turned into a showcase for United Autosports. The team executed cleanly through the chaos to lock out the top two spots, with Mikkel Jensen holding off Paul di Resta in a tight finish. Hunter McElrea and Phil Fayer played a key role in the win, while Tristan Vautier completed the podium for Tower Motorsports.

The class was shaped as much by survival as speed. A loose wheel from another entry triggered a late caution that reset the field, while constant traffic forced drivers to improvise lap after lap on Sebring’s unforgiving surface.

In GTD Pro, Manthey Racing brought its iconic “Grello” Porsche to IMSA competition and wasted little time making an impact. The No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992), driven by Thomas Preining, Klaus Bachler, and Ricardo Feller, controlled the closing stages after a decisive late pass.

AO Racing’s Porsche kept the pressure on, but Manthey never gave the position back. The win marked the car’s first major success in the United States, adding another chapter to its already storied history.

The most dramatic finish of the race came in GTD.

Antonio Fuoco and AF Corse looked out of contention more than once. Multiple drive through penalties dropped the No. 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 deep into the field, and at one stage they were fighting just to recover ground.

Then the cautions came at the right time.

A late restart brought Fuoco back into the fight, chasing Tom Gamble in the leading Aston Martin. Lap after lap, the gap shrank. Traffic got in the way. Time ran out.

On the final lap, it all came down to one moment. Gamble made a slight mistake. Fuoco did not hesitate. He slipped through and completed a comeback that felt improbable even minutes earlier, winning by less than a second.

It was classic Sebring. Twelve hours of attrition distilled into a single opportunity.

As the sun set and the dust settled, the broader picture came into focus. Porsche Penske Motorsport has established itself as the team to beat in the GTP era. Two endurance races, two wins, both at the most demanding venues on the calendar.

But Sebring also made something else clear.

Nothing here comes easy. Not even for the dominant team. Every lap demands something. Every restart carries risk. Every class has its own fight playing out at the same time.

And in the end, the drivers who win are the ones who can absorb all of it without losing control.

Nasr did exactly that.