The two Toyota GR010 Hybrids are split by just half a second at the front a quarter of the way into the Sebring 1000 Miles.
The number 50 Ferrari 499P started the race on pole, and the car’s first ever lap of racing was completed behind the Safety Car before the field was released. During that time there was already drama, as the number 94 Peugeot had to head to the pit lane due to being stuck in first gear.
Antonio Fuoco kept the Ferrari in the lead once racing properly got underway, but he was sat behind the Safety Car again by lap five following a huge crash for the number 83 AF Corse Ferrari in the GTE Am class.
Luis Perez Companc was uninjured in the crash, but the damage to the tyre barriers meant racing did not resume until lap 13. By that point Fuoco had already given up his lead, as Ferrari opted to pit both their hypercars to top them up with fuel.
That promoted the number eight Toyota into the lead ahead of sister car, with the Team Penske-run number six Porsche in third and number two Cadillac in fourth. It took three laps for Fuoco to reach the back of the Hypercar pack, which did not include the Peugeot that hit early troubles or the sole Glickenhaus which suffered an engine cut-out at the restart, and he moved further up the order while the Toyotas pulled away.
Fuoco fell back down the order though by lap 28, as he was handed a drive-through penalty for overtaking behind the Safety Car, and he then had to repeat his earlier charge.
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Mike Conway pitted the number eight Toyota from first place at the end of lap 33, promoting team mate Sebastien Buemi into a big lead over Laurens Vanthoor in the Penske Porsche. Several of the other Hypercar entries pitted on the same lap, and once Buemi pitted too it left the Ferraris running at the front of the field.
Buemi returned to track ahead of Conway in third place, and he moved into the lead when the Ferraris made their second proper pit stops.
Conway ate into Buemi’s five-second gap to him over the second stint, getting it down to a second before he pitted on lap 63 to undercut his team mate. Buemi came in two laps later to hand over to Kamui Kobayashi, with Conway being replaced by Brendon Hartley.
The undercut worked and Hartley assumed the lead, but quickly came under pressure from Kobayashi who filled his mirrors. However a Full Course Yellow period began as the race reached…
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