Sebring: At five-hour mark, points pendulum swings toward Derani
Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
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J.J. O'Malley | November 14, 2020 12:39 PM
Another incident with major championship implications occurred as the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring approached the five-hour mark.
Second-placed Scott Dixon, in position to claim the title for No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac teammates Renger van der Zande and Ryan Briscoe, was clipped in the right-rear by Mazda DPi driver Oliver Jarvis, who was attempting an optimistic pass in the Turn 7 hairpin.
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The contact, ruled a racing incident, resulted in Dixon limping to the pits, then to the paddock for major repairs to the right-rear suspension while replacing the radiator.
The team lost at least three laps for repairs, helped somewhat by a yellow flag brought out by an incident, but losing the lead in the points race to Pipo Derani in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.
With the Team Penske No. 7 Acura running 10 laps down, Derani is in position to claim the championship, though his road ahead is long: He will need to win with both the No. 7 and No. 10 finishing out of the top four.
LMP2 also saw a major turn of events at the 3h46m mark when class leader Jakub Smiechowski spun in Turn 17 and backed into the tire barrier, badly damaging the No. 51 Interpol Europol Competition ORECA with a heavy impact. That gave the class lead to Scott Huffaker in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA, now leading by one lap.
Pipo Derani,
Sebring 12 Hours,
IMSA,
WeatherTech Sportscar Championship