French drivers triumph at 2021 12 Hours of Sebring
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French drivers triumph at 2021 12 Hours of Sebring

The #5 Cadillac DPi of French drivers Tristan Vautier, Loïc Duval and Sébastien Bourdais won the 69th 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida this weekend. In GTLM, Mathieu Jaminet reached the top step on the class podium at the wheel of a Porsche 911 RSR-19 shared with Cooper MacNeil and Matt Campbell.

2021 12 Hours of Sebring winner JDC-Miller Motorsports had a rough go of it initially. The team's #5 Cadillac DPi lagged during the free practice and qualifying sessions, and a few minutes after the start of the race, as Loïc Duval was driving, the car was even hit by Jimmie Johnson in Ally Cadillac Racing's #48 Cadillac DPi. But the French driver line-up's determination paid dividends by the checkered flag. Having made it to the lead lap near the end of the 10th hour, Sébastien Bourdais snatched the top position after contact between Scott Dixon in Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing's #1 Cadillac DPi and one of BMW Team RLL's BMW M8 GTEs. The driver native of Le Mans crossed the finish line with a 1.4 second lead on Mazda Motorsports' #55 Mazda DPi.

This was a historic win for Tristan Vautier, Loïc Duval and Sébastien Bourdais, now the second French driver line-up in history to win the 12 Hours of Sebring. In 2011, Olivier Panis, Nicolas Lapierre and Loïc Duval won with a Peugeot 908 HDi FAP fielded by ORECA. It is also the second win at the race for Bourdais after 2015 with Action Express Racing.

A French driver also triumphed in the GTLM class. Mathieu Jaminet won at the wheel of WeatherTech Racing's #79 Porsche 911 RSR-19 along with teammates Cooper MacNeil and Matt Campbell. The #25 and #24 BMW M8 GTEs rounded out the podium.

The LMP2 and LMP3 classes saw victories for the PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports team's #52 ORECA 07 and CORE autosport's #54 Ligier JS P320, respectively.

In GTD, Plaff Motorsports' #9 Porsche 911 GT3 R claimed the top step on the class podium.

The 69th 12 Hours of Sebring served as the second round of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The next race is set for 16 May at the Mid-Ohio circuit.

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