Pole-sitter Dries Vanthoor was penalized for an illegal lane change before the start of the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Vanthoor, who had qualified first for the second consecutive race to start the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, moved from the inside to the outside lane just before the green flag.
The penalty was called during the race’s first caution flag, and Vanthoor had to wait until the Lap 6 restart to serve his drive-through penalty in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 for Team RLL BMW.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to legendary Sebring International Raceway for the 73rd running of the famed event.
Felipe Nasr inherited the lead in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 that has consecutive victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Mathieu Jaminet was third in Porsche Penske’s No. 6 963.
Team owner Roger Penske is seeking his second overall victory at Sebring International Raceway and first since 2008.
After the penalty, Vanthoor fell to 23d in the standings behind all the Grand Touring Prototype and LMP2 cars.
The first full-course yellow flag flew six minutes into the race after a crash involving two LMP2 cars (the No. 18 and No. 88) that left a fender on the track.
How to watch the Twelve Hours of Sebring
TV/streaming: The Twelve Hours of Sebring will be streamed on Peacock from flag to flag beginning at 10 a.m. on March 15.
NBC Sports’ booth coverage will include announcers Leigh Diffey, Brian Till, Dave Burns, Calvin Fish and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee, Chris Wilner and Matt Yocum will serve as pit reporters.
Peacock also will carry streaming of the Ford Mustang Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup and Michelin Pilot Challenge races.
RADIO: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins March 15 at 9:45 a.m. (Sirius channel 216, XM 207, Web/App 992)
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