Sebring, Fla. (15 March 2025) – Acura Meyer Shank Racing (“Acura MSR”) scored its second podium finish in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season-opening Florida endurance classics, taking a hard-fought third-place in the 73rd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly and Alex Palou teamed in the No. 93 Acura MSR with Curb-Agajanian ARX-06, hanging in the hunt for victory throughout the race. Yelloly made several charges at second place in the closing laps before taking the checkered flag 5.017-seconds behind the winner.

Rebounding from an eighth-place finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona after early suspension damage, the No. 93 Acura led four times for nine circuits around Sebring International. Palou, who won the recent NTT IndyCar Series opener at St. Petersburg, led seven laps in his first race at the historic 3.74-mile airport circuit.

Meanwhile, the No. 60 Acura MSR ARX-06 of Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and Scott Dixon — a very close second at the Rolex 24 — qualified second but was knocked out of contention with three hours remaining.

Blomqvist started on the outside of the front row and the team ran in contention for two-thirds of the event, with Braun leading 10-consecutive laps at one point.

After an extended four-hour, 11-minute green flag run, Blomqvist pitted along with the leaders while running fifth. Exiting the pit box, he made contact with a competitor and came to a stop at the end of pit road. The team repaired the damage on pit road but lost five laps, resulting in a 10th-place finish.

After 36 hours of racing in the two Florida endurance classic, the IMSA WeatherTech Championship next travels to California for a 100-minute sprint on the streets of Long Beach on Saturday, April 12.

Meyer Shank Racing Team Quotes:

Nick Yelloly: “First podium in red for Acura and Meyer Shank Racing and I’m pretty happy about it. We didn’t have quite enough speed for the Porsches in that one unfortunately and it was a straight fight at the end for about 18 to 20 laps. I’m very happy to get my first podium for HRC, Acura, MSR and my teammates Alex [Palou] and Renger [van der Zande] – they drove fantastically all day. I’ve finished second and third at Sebring and now next year we need to get that win.”

Renger van der Zande: “I don’t want to say it feels like a victory, but it feels like a victory. It was one of those races where we didn’t have the pace or the power to really attack at all. But I think defensively we made it to the podium. The Meyer Shank and Acura guys all together did an amazing job on strategy and that’s why we are on the podium. We can be very proud of that and very excited to build from here.”

Alex Palou: “Super happy, and it feels like a win. Amazing job by everyone at HRC, Meyer Shank Racing and my teammates. We had some struggles throughout the race and we didn’t know if we were going to be able to fight for a win or a podium. First podium with the team and I am ready for more.”

Tom Blomqvist: “I’ve never had a good result here and unfortunately this year was the same. The race was kind of all over the place for us, we were at the back and then at the front. And then we had issues getting out of pit lane and one car wasn’t properly in the fast lane and I had to maneuver around another car and it was just too tight and I broke the front left [suspension]. I’m obviously very disappointed for the guys and I think we could have had both cars fighting for third and fourth.”

Colin Braun: “Super excited for the 93 guys to get a podium for Acura. For us, it was a tough deal on pit lane. Kind of an uneventful, eventful day. Everyone did a great job on the timing stand and we had good pit stops, Tom and Scott did great in the car. You have days like we had today, that’s motor racing. It was a long fight and I’m glad we were able to bring it home. I’m proud of the guys for getting the car fixed back up and for Tom for hanging in there and doing his thing. You’re going to have bumps along the way in the championship and we’ll get it back together and go on to Long Beach.”

Scott Dixon: “Definitely a trying day for sure. We had a burst of speed here and there. I think we could have fought for the podium but ultimately we had the pit stop altercation with the BMW and that kind of took us out of it. But huge thanks to the crew for getting the car back together so that we could at least finish out the race.”