Meyer Shank Racing celebrates first podium finish with Acura ARX-05 at Sebring 12 Hours

Ten years after one of Team ORECA’s most exciting victories at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the Peugeot 908 HDi FAP, two DPi Acura ARX-05s and five ORECA 07s were on hand at Sebring International Raceway for the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.

After 12 hours of intense racing and a long run at the front, the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 celebrated its first podium finish of the season. The crew of Olivier Pla, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron took advantage of a penalty on the #48 Cadillac for driving time overrun to finish third at 2.6 seconds.

The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05, which won the first race at Daytona and has also been a consistent leader, finished fourth at 5.3 seconds.

In LMP2, the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA 07 driven by Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen and Scott Huffaker took a stunning victory, edging out the 07 Era Motorsport car by just 2.5 seconds. The final battle was also sumptuous. The #8 Tower Motorsport ORECA 07 was in the lead for most of the race, but was forced to retire with two hours to go after a big crash. Fortunately, Thimoté Buret, who was at the wheel at the time, escaped unscathed.  For its first laps in IMSA with its ORECA 07, United Autosports snagged a third place final. WIN Autosport, which took the pole, had to give up the race due to an electronic problem.

The next race will take place on May 16 at Mid-Ohio, where only the DPi, GTLM and GTD cars will be competing. The LMP2s will have to wait until June for their third round.