SEBRING, Fla. — America, meet ‘Grello.’
Nicknamed for its distinctive bright green and yellow livery, Manthey Racing’s ‘Grello’ Porsche 911 has become legendary in European GT racing circles through its winning performances in the Nurburgring 24 Hours and the DTM championship.
Now Manthey has teamed up with Porsche to tackle all five IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup rounds in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the first time this year – fielding cars in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) and GTD PRO classes – and the new venture is off to a successful start.
Thomas Preining, Klaus Bachler, and Ricardo Feller drove Manthey’s No. 911 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) to its first American victory, claiming GTD PRO honors in the 74th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway.
Preining, the 2023 DTM champion who is also embarking with Manthey on its first IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup campaign, drove the anchor stint to best Harry King, Nick Tandy, and Alessio Picariello in another famous Porsche – AO Racing’s No. 77 911 GT3 R (992) known this race as ‘Roxy.’ The margin of victory was 1.43 seconds following an impressive pass with under 90 minutes to go. Tommy Milner, Nicky Catsburg, and Nico Varrone trailing home third in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
The two Porsches were the class of the GTD PRO field, as ‘Grello’ took the fight to the dinosaur-themed AO Racing entry that won at Sebring in 2025 and has been the ‘class of the class’ for much of the last two years.
“It’s obviously been a Herculean effort to come all the way from Europe to be able to drive in the first place at all, and to drive well and quick and at the front,” Preining stated. “Pulling it off to win the second race is really special. Big, big teamwork was necessary today – it was a very difficult race. Difficult to always have the right strategy and position yourself for the end when it counts and have the car quick when it counts.
“Obviously, we did a good enough job,” he added. “Can’t complain – really good!”
Bachler has now earned three consecutive GTD PRO class victories at Sebring. Preining won in his fourth IMSA start, while this was Feller’s sixth race in WeatherTech Championship competition.
“I’m speechless,” Bachler said. “I really hoped we could win this race after a tough Daytona. I had such a good feeling going into this week, and we were fast when it counted.”
“Grello is something special among all the Porsche race cars,” added Feller. “Every Porsche driver wants to drive it. Now this is the beginning of a new chapter for Grello in the U.S. That’s the first victory, and I’m pretty sure it won’t be the last one.”
The No. 21 Af Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO overcame three drive-through penalties to steal a thrilling last-lap Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class victory in the 2026 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
Antonio Fuoco took advantage of a slight error by Tom Gamble in the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo roughly a mile from the finish line to complete the No. 21 car’s rally from its misfortunes. When Gamble bobbled in the 10th of Sebring’s 17 corners, Fuoco nipped by in a flash and maintained a 0.746-second advantage at the checkered flag over the Motul Pole Award winning Aston that Gamble co-drove with Dudu Barrichello and Zacharie Robichon.
Fuoco shared the winning Ferrari with Lilou Wadoux and Simon Mann, both of whom won the 2025 Motul Petit Le Mans season finale and were part of the team’s Michelin Endurance Cup GTD title last year.
“It was a really chaotic race with some small mistakes, but at the end, we managed to put everything together,” said Fuoco, who was twice penalized for incident responsibility. “On the last lap, the Aston made a small mistake in Turn 10. I saw the opportunity and tried to go on the outside around Turns 11 and 12, and it worked out.
“I think Lilou, Simon and the team did an awesome job to never give up. After the last Safety Car, we were seventh with 26 minutes to go, and we won.”
Fuoco expressed frustration at the penalties the No. 21 car received, but he was proud of his victorious effort. It was his second win both at Sebring and in the WeatherTech Championship, the first coming in GTD in 2022.
“I went really aggressive through Turn 1 on the last restart and overtook two or three cars in one lap,” said the Italian, who also drives for Ferrari’s Hypercar team in the FIA World Endurance Championship. “Then I tried to push to the end. I’d put the last stint in the top three of GT races I’ve done so far.”
It was the third IMSA class victory at Sebring and the sixth overall for Af Corse. Mann and Wadoux earned their second WeatherTech Championship win in the last three races after winning the 2025 season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans; Wadoux is the first woman to earn a class win at Sebring since Christina Nielsen in 2016.
“It’s always nice to win here,” Wadoux said. “It was quite a difficult weekend with some issues in free practice, but we wanted to fight for the podium for sure. The team did a tremendous job in the race. We had lots of issues, but like a pendulum, we kept coming back.”
“To win at Sebring is for sure a pretty big bucket list moment,” noted Mann. “Petit Le Mans at the end of last year, now this…let’s hope we can keep it going!”
