Sebring 12h: Race leader Derani walks away from airborne crash

Derani, a multi-time overall winner at Sebring, was leading the 12-hour endurance race in the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac when he attempted to overtake the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari of Miguel Molina through Turns 9 and 10.

In a shocking turn of events, he clipped the left-front of the GTD class Ferrari, sliding off track and directly towards the the blue and white tire pack. The impact was head-on, and the car immediately launched upwards and rolled over, sending tires flying towards spectators. The car came to a rest upside down and on top of the tire barrier.

Thankfully, the Brazilian driver was uninjured and managed to walk away from the crash under his own power. There were no reports of injuries amongst the fans either.

A terrifying crash for Pipo Derani, crashing from the lead and flipping at Sebring! 😱

He is OK 👏 #Sebring12

🎥 @NBCSports pic.twitter.com/gUrYsARtsg

— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) March 16, 2024

Derani had a lead in excess of 11 seconds at the time of the incident. The full-course yellow lasted over 30 minutes as they made repairs to the barriers.

"I'm alright, thank God," Derani told NBC Sports after being released from the infield care center. "Dallara and Cadillac built a strong car. It's one of those days when all of sudden, things go upside down — literally. I'm glad I'm okay. Just a shame, because we had a really strong car. The Whelen Engineering V-Series.R was going strong and as you can see there, not much I could have done. The wall came up pretty quick. The moment I was heading to the wall, I knew the race was over.

"Yeah, first time for me flipping a race car. Not the nicest feeling to be upside down until they can turn the car around, but good that I'm racing in 2024 and not in the '60s."

Trapped inside the car

Derani also spoke on the feeling of being trapped, having to wait for track workers to pry open the door of his Cadillac.

"It's just a little annoying when you try to open the door and you can't," he said. "You start thinking whether there is fire or anything like that. But luckily, everything was alright. The safety crew was there quickly, so I was giving them signs that I was okay. Once you can see them outside, you realize that everything will be okay."

He credited the tire pack for absorbing much of the impact, saying he felt no pain afterwards. As for blame, he said of the initial contact: "We overtake thousands and thousands of cars through a race like this. It's just one of those moments. Maybe he didn't see, let go a little bit and there I was. Maybe I was just expecting him to hold his line to the right, knowing that I was going to go on the left. It's just one of those situations where it happens without you having any chance of thinking whether you should have done something different or not. 

"It's part of multi-class racing."

Jim Campbell, GM's Vice President, Performance and Motorsports for U.S. operations, released the following statement on the crash: "First and foremost, we are glad that Pipo was able to walk away from the incident under his own power and has been evaluated and released from the infield care center. That is what is most important.

"The construction of the Cadillac V-Series.R, its safety systems and Sebring's trackside safety elements all did their job to keep Pipo safe. With the uncertain condition of the engine and hybrid system, we made the decision with the team to retire the No. 31 Cadillac."