A heated run to the finish saw the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsports trio of Felipe Nasr, Julien Andlauer, and Laurin Heinrich take overall and GTP class honors, capping off an impeccable Sebring for Porsche with five of the brand’s cars finishing on the podium.

The intensity began to build with 90 minutes remaining. Nico Varrone sparked the late-race action in the #4 Pratt-Miller Corvette after making contact with Max Hesse in the #1 Paul Miller BMW. The move ultimately resulted in a drive-through penalty for Varrone, dropping him to the back of the GTD Pro field.

Up front, tensions rose between the #6 and #7 Porsche Penske 963s as Kevin Estre overtook Felipe Nasr pit road to move the #6 into the lead ahead of its sister car.

The sixth full-course yellow soon reset the field and shifted the race’s momentum. Harry Tincknell’s right-rear tire came completely unhinged, triggering the caution. Johnny Edgar was forced to bring the #99 AO Racing entry to pit lane for an emergency stop, putting “Spike” out of contention. Meyer Shank Racing also faced setbacks, as both the #93 of Nick Yelloly and the #60 of Tom Blomqvist were handed drive-through penalties.

On the restart, the fight between Estre and Nasr reignited. That battle was briefly interrupted when Jenson Altzman’s incident in the #16 Riley Ford Mustang brought out the seventh caution of the race. Once back under green, the two Porsche drivers continued to swap positions until Estre was penalized for blocking, dropping him behind Jack Aitken in the #31 Cadillac.

Estre, however, used traffic to his advantage and quickly worked his way back through, reestablishing a 1–2 running order for Penske. A tense charge into Turn 17 followed, with Aitken and Sheldon van der Linde applying pressure, but Estre held firm to maintain second place.

With 50 minutes to go, the final round of pit stops cycled through, once again bunching up the field. Aitken was unable to mount a serious challenge on the restart, as the fight at the front remained firmly between the Porsches.

Further back, Antonio Fuoco was issued a drive-through penalty for contact involving his #21 AF Corse Ferrari and Miguel Molina in the #033 Triarsi Ferrari. Despite the setback, the penalty would not derail his race in the long run.

The race’s eighth and final full-course yellow came when Riccardo Pera stopped on track in the #912 Manthey Porsche. With just 20 minutes remaining, Porsche capitalized on the restart and began to pull away, ultimately securing a second consecutive “36 Hours of Florida” sweep with a 1–2 finish. Nasr led the way in the #7, followed by Estre in the #6.

In LMP2, United Autosports claimed their first 12 Hours of Sebring class victory. In GTD Pro, the #911 “Grello” Manthey Porsche powered past “Roxy” and the #77 AO Racing crew to secure its first U.S. win.

The final-lap drama came in GTD, where Antonio Fuoco—despite his earlier penalty—charged past Tom Gamble after a small mistake, making the decisive pass to secure the class win for AF Corse.

“Sebring usually is a pretty intense race,” Nasr stated. “Exactly what we found out today from beginning to the end. I mean, there’s always going to be all the versions. My version, the team versions, and the other drivers’ versions. I signed up for this program because I believe I can win for the program, I can win for the team. My teammates did everything perfectly today. We build the race ahead. We did everything we needed to do to be in front at all times. These guys deserve all the credit from the whole race that they’ve done. To me, I can only say it’s another dream start, honestly. Last year we had the chance to do it. Now again winning here at Sebring, it’s fantastic. I love winning for Roger, I love winning for Penske, to our sponsors. And that’s what I’m here for.”

“I think the best way to describe it is we had to make some difficult decisions today, but we made the right decision to make sure we finished 1-2,” Team Penske President Jonathan Diuguid stated. “That was the goal, was to make sure Porsche won first, and if we could finish 1-2 after that, that’s the goal, and that’s what we did. Dream start to the season.”

Antonio Fuoco commented on his late-race pass for the win, stating, “I mean, with the GTP, it’s always 50/50. Sometimes it can be good, sometimes maybe they overtake you and you lose a bit more time compared to the guy in front. I think on the last lap I lost a bit compared to the last one. I was thinking that I have a chance, especially on the last corner, because I was able to get a bit more speed there. I was trying to think on the last lap, even if I was a bit far, I was a bit better in sector two compared to them. I was thinking to try on the last lap in the last corner. Luckily, he made a mistake a bit early, so it was a bit easier.”