Porsche’s banner 2018 season had to start somewhere. It did with an authoritative win by its No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Nick Tandy, Patrick Pilet and Fred Makowiecki took the newest generation Porsche 911 RSR to its first major endurance race victory worldwide. The car premiered in 2017.

The win came after a back-and-forth tussle with BMW, which sought its first win with its new M8 GTE.

Porsche’s car handled the extreme temperature swing and intense bumps that characterize the Sebring 12-hour race.

Tandy and Pilet “completed the set” of major endurance race victories themselves, having also won the Rolex 24 At Daytona and Motul Petit Le Mans together with the CORE autosport-run Porsche North America GTLM program. Additionally, Tandy has also won the 24 Hours of Le Mans overlal with Porsche.

FIRST OF MANY 2018 MAJOR WINS

This served as Porsche’s first major triumph of its 2018 season, as the manufacturer celebrated its 70 Years of Sports Cars anniversary.

Porsche also won the 24-hour races at the Nurburgring and Le Mans, and also with Michelin. They capped off the year with a win at Petit Le Mans. Porsche’s Rennsport Reunion VI at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was a major highlight of the year.

This trio looks to repeat its triumph in a couple weeks. But that’s provided the sister car’s drivers don’t have anything to say about it.

After finishing third at Daytona, Earl Bamber, Laurens Vanthoor and Mathieu Jaminet are keen to climb two more steps on the podium.

Both cars continue with the Brumos Racing historic livery at Sebring. Porsche has won with historic liveries adorning its cars in 2018. The 1971 917/30 “Pink Pig” featured on the Le Mans winner. Porsche featured its 1998 911 GT1-98 livery at Petit Le Mans.