How Tandy’s latest record win was a very different victory for Porsche

Nick Tandy, Felipe Nasr and Laurens Vanthoor made it two from two within the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship final weekend. The Porsche Penske Motorsport trio accomplished the ‘Florida 36 Hours’ after they added victory at Sebring over 12 hours to their 24-hour triumph at Daytona in January. And with it got here one other document for Tandy: he joined the choose group of drivers to have claimed the unofficial triple crown of endurance racing by including an total Sebring crown to his Le Mans and Daytona successes.

On the face of it, Sebring seemed like a repeat of Daytona: the identical PPM Porsche 963 LMDh took the victory, the sister automobile was within the prime three (second, not third this time) and an Acura claimed the opposite podium spot. That’s to not overlook one other elegant efficiency from the manufacturing facility Penske squad. “Similar to Daytona we didn’t get any penalties, have any contacts or any technical issues,” stated Tandy. “It was one other flawless race.”

But this was in truth a really completely different race. The Porsche was the quickest automobile across the 3.74-mile Sebring Worldwide Raceway, nip and tuck with the perfect of the entries from Cadillac for a lot of the best way however then with a transparent benefit when it mattered within the cooler temperatures after darkness had fallen. That wasn’t the case at Daytona: BMW, keep in mind, might and arguably ought to have received the IMSA season-opener.

PLUS: How BMW’s Daytona disappointment created a lopsided Porsche win battle

And this time, the successful #7 manufacturing facility Porsche had a major edge over the sister automobile shared by Matt Campbell, Mathieu Jaminet and Kevin Estre, a automobile that didn’t lead a lap at Sebring. Seven weeks beforehand on the excessive banks of Daytona, #6 was at the least its match, the prospect of victory successfully disappearing when PPM opted for a method break up on the final pitstop.

It might be churlish to say it was straightforward for Tandy, Nasr and Vanthoor, not when the hole between the 2 Porsches on the chequered flag was simply 2.2 seconds. However there was not one of the jeopardy of Daytona, no actual risk from the sister automobile or one other producer within the last sprint to the road.

When the race went inexperienced after the seventh and last security automobile – which in contrast with final 12 months’s 12 – Nasr was capable of edge away from Jaminet, who in flip had the measure of Nick Yelloly aboard the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 LMDh. Porsche’s massive challenger for a lot of the race wasn’t within the combine.

That automobile was the Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Collection.R LMDh shared by Earl Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti. It led virtually as most of the 353 laps on Saturday because the successful Porsche — 155 versus 166 – however a divergent technique over the ultimate hours left it fifth within the queue in Bamber’s palms on the last restart after which fourth on the flag.

Vesti had led out of the pits in the course of the penultimate pitstop with three hours to go, however stopped eight minutes earlier than Tandy. The automobile’s subsequent cease was 9 minutes earlier after Bamber had taken over. That left it fourth behind the 2 Porsches and the #25 Rahal BMW M Hybrid V8 LMDh with Marco Wittmann on the wheel previous to the ultimate set of yellows.

That was a web third, provided that the BMW wanted to splash for gas. Motion Specific opted to usher in Bamber, too, within the hope that with recent Michelin rubber beneath him he may be capable to do one thing towards the Porsche.

“We’d checked out final 12 months’s race and boxed considering that new tyres was the fitting choice and would give us sufficient of a bonus to return again on the Porsches,” defined Bamber. “However we simply couldn’t make our means via.” His drawback was that he took 9 laps to get previous Neel Jani within the privateer Proton Competition Porsche.

What wasn’t clear is whether or not the Motion automobile wanted to cease for gas on the last yellow. Its earlier pitcall had include an hour and three minutes left on the clock, which might have meant a splash had the race run inexperienced via the final hour. It does seem that there was some type of gas system concern, one but to be clarified by the group or Cadillac, that resulted in shorter stints than earlier within the race when it had loved a transparent gas benefit.

But Bamber wasn’t satisfied that he might have crushed the Porsches in a straight battle. He reckoned any benefit the Caddy loved in the course of the daytime disappeared beneath the quilt of darkness.

“At evening they got here alive and definitely seemed to be the strongest of the producers,” Bamber stated of Porsche. “The very best we might have finished on sheer tempo was third, or perhaps second if the whole lot had gone completely completely. Full credit score to them: they had been actually robust and ran an excellent race.”

The successful Porsche’s dominance was such that it wasn’t headed for the ultimate two hours of the race. After Vesti had bought forward of #7 within the pits courtesy of its gas benefit, the Porsche, now with Tandy on the wheel, got here again at him. It was briefly scored forward after 10 laps, however Tandy couldn’t make the transfer stick. 9 laps later, he threw it down the within into Flip 17 within the final move for the lead of the race.

The #7 Porsche now has two wins beneath its belt however Tandy has ambitions of a 3rd at Lengthy Seaside

Photograph by: Courtesy of IMSA

“I had a couple of goes at him and was forward throughout the road on the skin one time,” defined Tandy. “Then I bought a run in visitors down the again straight. That point, I assumed, ‘To hell with it, it’s time to go!’”

It was becoming that Tandy ought to make the transfer that bought #7 into the lead for the ultimate time, however Nasr’s job in bringing the automobile residence within the high-pressure last knockings. At Daytona, Tandy grew to become the primary driver to win all 4 of the world’s massive 24-hour races outright when he added to his respective 2015, 2018 and 2020 triumphs at Le Mans, the Nurburgring and Spa. This time he joined an illustrious listing of names — and a choose one – of drivers to have received outright at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring. He grew to become the tenth alongside greats together with Dan Gurney, Hurley Haywood, Al Holbert Jr and Timo Bernhard.

Tandy was satisfied to bits to win at Sebring: he had been speaking about what it could imply within the aftermath of Daytona, saying how he needed to proper the wrongs of previous years when he may need claimed the opposite half – or ought to that be third – of the Florida 36 Hours. That made it troublesome for him to decide on between his achievements of historic significance in lower than two months.

“To be a part of a choose group who’ve received the triple crown makes me proud – simply have a look at the names who’ve finished it,” he stated. “It holds extra historical past than successful the 4 24-hour races, however to be the primary particular person to do one thing in all probability offers it one thing over and above the triple crown.

“It’s all occurred in just some weeks, so perhaps persons are losing interest speaking about these data. All I do know is it’s good for me and good for Britain.”

PLUS: Why Tandy’s enduro record should be celebrated after his Daytona triumph

Till final weekend, Jackie Oliver and Andy Wallace had been the one different British drivers to do the triple – and Wallace the one one to do the quadruple by including in a win on the Petit Le Mans enduro at Street Atlanta. Tandy has emulated his achievement – he triumphed total forward of the prototypes on the wheel of a GT Le Mans class Porsche within the rain in 2015.

So Tandy has victories in all six of what today might be known as the large six sportscar enduros. That begged a query: what subsequent? The reply was matter of truth within the excessive.

“Lengthy Seaside is subsequent,” he stated pointing to the upcoming third spherical of the IMSA sequence. “Data are nice for the historical past books and to look again on, however there’s a championship to win. There will likely be as a lot effort to attempt to win there as at another race. The motivation and pleasure comes with the problem of going on the market and making an attempt to beat everybody whether or not it’s a 12-hour race, a 24-hour race or a 100-minute race.”