The No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 GT3 RSR,, which was running sixth in the GT2 class for the first seven hours of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, lost a right-rear wheel on the course, came in for a replacement and fender repair, and then lost the same wheel again, bringing out a full course yellow. Unfortunately, the runaway wheel hit the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, which was only 3.7-seconds from the GT2 lead, breaking the wheel and causing the left-rear tire to shred, forcing the defending class champions into the pits.
The pits were still closed, however, as the pace car had not picked up the overall race leader yet, so the Lizard crew could not work on the car by rule until that occurred. So Jorg Bergmeister sat in the car in the Lizard pit for more than three laps until the crew was allowed to change the tire.
Meanwhile, down the pit lane, the Falken car decided to repair their car while the pits and incur the penalty, but both cars have slid downward in the standings, with the Lizard Porsche now in fifth place, three laps down from the class leader, and the Falken Porsche is back in the garage, currently shown in 12th position. The Melo/Bruni/Kaffer Ferrari continues to lead the class at the eight-hour mark, followed by the two factory BMWs.