Sebring – Porsche Penske Domination
By Eddie LePine & Jack Webster. Photos by Jack Webster
Roger Penske was honored as the Grand Marshall of the 74th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, round two of the 2026 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Roger Penske has a storied history at the former World War II airfield, now known as Sebring International Raceway, having competed there as a driver from 1961 through 1964, with a class win his first time out in 1961 with Bob Holbert in a Porsche RS61 and a class victory again in 1963 with Augie Pabst. Once Roger retired from driving and Team Penske was formed, under the leadership of “The Captain” as he became known, Penske once again took a class win at Sebring in 1966, this time as a team owner.
From there, it was from one success to another at the Sebring airport circuit nestled among the orange groves of central Florida, culminating in the overall win for Team Penske and Porsche in 2008 with the Porsche RS Spyder (defeating the highly favored Audi Sport team).
Jump forward to the modern GTP era of IMSA racing, and Penske once again won Sebring overall in 2025 with the new Porsche 963.
Coming off a command performance in winning the 2026 edition of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Porsche Penske was considered the favorite going into Sebring. Not only did Porsche and Penske have the hottest car and team, but they also had the hottest driver as well – Felipe Nasr. Felipe Nasr was in the winning #7 Porsche 963 at Daytona and was coming to Sebring as the defending champion as well, having scored the overall win in 2025, once again in the #7 Porsche Penske machine. Sevens are proving lucky for Felipe.
“I’m here to win at the end of the day. I did it for the team. That’s what matters.”
- Felipe Nasr
So, it will come as no surprise that Porsche Penske Motorsport not only won the 2026 edition of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, they dominated it from start to finish. Porsche Penske cars finished first and second overall (only 1.515 seconds apart), and once again, Felipe Nasr was in the winning car. The other teams in GTP need to quickly get their acts together or it will be looking like a very long season for the likes of Cadillac, BMW, Acura and Aston Martin as they nip at the heels of the German juggernaut, with victory just out of reach.
Porsche Penske Motorsport became the only team to ever win the unofficial “36 Hours of Florida” back-to-back (in 2025 & 2026), consisting of the Rolex 24 and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Oh, and Felipe Nasr? He did it also. Back-to-back. The “36 Hours of Florida”. Two of the toughest endurance races in the world, won overall not once, but twice in a row.
Now, Felipe didn’t do it all by himself, he had strong help from his co-drivers Julien Andlauer and Laurin Heinrich. No one put a wheel wrong the entire race, so it was a true team victory. But the result may be remembered for how the #7 car, led by Nasr, pulled off the win.
Were there team orders that were ignored by Nasr when the #6 car had taken the lead on the track? Was Nasr in the #7 car supposed to fall in line and follow the #6? Was Nasr going against team orders when he passed Estre for the lead? There seemed to be a bit of confusion on the part of Kevin Estre, who finished second to the #7 car (along with co-drivers Matt Campbell and Laurens Vanthoor).
We don’t think that Kevin Estre was very pleased with the Nasr pass for the lead and the win. The tension in the press room was obvious, as Nasr listened to Kevin Estre’s comments while nervously fidgeting with a water bottle.
Estre: “No, we’re not redoing the race here. We had some calls from the pit stand. While driving you assume being 1-2 that both cars had the same call, which I got the confirmation we both had the same call. Felipe decided to do something else, which in the end brought him the race. That’s it really….We were fighting the whole race. We were ahead, you know? We were always knowing that this could happen. It’s always the case when teammates fight. We have the same car. We have the same weakness and the same strength. It’s always difficult to fight. We also have to think about Porsche, which is paying us, and Penske, and respect what they say. I will not say more.”
Felipe Nasr: “I don’t think I have much to say, honestly. I think I said it before. I’m here to win at the end of the day. I did it for the team. That’s what matters. It’s a 1-2 in the end. Big point today for the whole organization.”
Felipe was asked if there was a call to hold position after the final restart. There was obvious tension in the air as he answered. “I can’t go into details, guys, honestly. I’m here to race. That’s what I did today. What those guys did today, that’s why we should be celebrating here today. It’s a victory, right? Like I said, there’s always going to be two, three sides of the story. But what matters is today we come out winning, winning for the team, for the brand. That is what we’re here for. That’s what we do our jobs for.”
If only we could have been a flies on the wall at the post-race debrief!
Regardless of tensions between or among the Penske drivers (not only Nasr and Estre), Porsche and Penske sit atop the IMSA SportsCar Championship standings after the first two endurance races of the 2026 season and head next to Long Beach for the shortest race of the year.
Will the team tensions be resolved before the “argy-bargy” action on the streets of Long Beach? Will the Penske team turmoil open the door for the teams nipping at their heels?
Will “The Captain” take charge?
Only time will tell. Stay tuned. See you at the races.
