We are on the Monterey Peninsula, and will have a doubleheader to look
forward to. The Northern California coast is known for gorgeous
beaches, wine, and, of course, Laguna Seca Raceway. We are set for a
doubleheader today. A new chapter begins, now. First up, it's the
Prototype and GT Le Mans race. Nearly 60 cars entered. So, promoters
put together a doubleheader. Each race will be two hours long. The first one is Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona.
Watch out in Prototype Challenge for the #54 CORE Autosport machine. RSR shows a lot of speed, too. Bruno Junquiera has pole for this race as he did at Sebring International Raceway. The PC cars will have two pit stops, while the GT Daytona machines, have just one scheduled. Watch out for AIM Autosport in the #555 Ferrari 458 Italia, but they are deep in the field. The #45 Flying Lizard Audi R8 LMS has pole, with Spencer Pumpelly at the wheel, sharing with Nelson Canache Jr.
These cars have not raced in seven weeks. Patrick Dempsey tested a Porsche in Europe, but lost his mother Amanda, to cancer. Dempsey looks forward to a good result. Dempsey has a cancer center in Maine. Ben Keating, of course, caught fire at Sebring with the SRT Viper GT3. The car was melted down completely. But, it's rebuilt. The driveshaft broke, severing a fuel line. But, much of the car was salvageable. However, the #33 Viper has a new car, with the burned out car, rebuilt into a backup car.
Cooper MacNeil starts the #22 Weathertech Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America. MacNeil had final exams for college, and then, he flew from Colorado to Laguna Seca to quickly practice the car this morning. As for this track, it's south of San Francisco. A 2.238 mile track, with sand all over it. Play nice, stay cool, and focus forward. An overall win is possible for a Prototype Challenge car. The PC cars come down in their own groups.
Duncan Ende starts. Here we go! Green flag! Prototype Challenge and GT Daytona. Ende locks the brakes, and Luis Diaz is second now. Did a tire get flatspotted? Jon Bennett and Colin Braun drop to fifth. Braun is at the wheel for the start. Cold tires. Watch the sand. Nelson Canache leads GT Daytona with Cooper MacNeil moving up already. These guys have two hours to get the job done. Charlie Putman in the #46 Fall Line Audi R8 LMS makes a pass. Nelson Canache is running well, and Stefan Johansson is second.
Patrick Dempsey is off the road now. He's stuck in the gravel, and we have a full course yellow. What will pit strategy be? Dempsey loses it in the Corkscrew, and spins the car. Ian James and Mario Farnbacher in the sister AJR Porsche, had engine problems just before the race started. The car is hot, and the engine was changed very quickly. The bad part... that engine, is HOT! We're back to green. Luis Diaz wants by the leader as Chris Cumming clashes with another competitor. Watch the #8 PC car. It is in the classic Martini & Rossi livery.
John Montecalvo wants by Mirko Shultheis. CORE Autosport had an alternator issue, and missed the whole second practice session. Look at the big picture for the championship. These Prototype Challenge cars are all identical. Find out what will break. There were only two one hour practice sessions. Nelson Canache tries holding off Stefan Johansson, a former Formula One driver, and sports car veteran. Kyle Marcelli is Johansson's team mate.
Markus Palttala and Dane Cameron are running well. They are performing well. Patrick Dempsey is back on course. But, Nelson Canache and Stefan Johansson, have their own battle at the front of the GT Daytona field. Nelson Canache and Stefan Johansson continue their battle. Mario Farnbacher passes Cooper MacNeil. That had to be team orders. Mario Farnbacher is a quick driver. Kyle Marcelli is running well with the Ferrari, and right now of course, Johansson is in the car.
Marcelli likes driving the Ferrari. Being linked with a manufacturer, is very important. Johansson's pace has dropped, and now, Bryce Miller is pressuring him in the #48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS. The Ferrari is a well balanced car. Porsche and Audi tend not to handle as well on the rear tires. Duncan Ende has been passed for the Prototype Challenge lead, by Luis Diaz. Diaz has been trying to set him up for a pass, and was finally successful.
Nelson Canache might have better handling in the Audi. Bryce Miller spun and lost time, giving an advantage to Stefan Johansson. Ben Keating, will get a stop and hold penalty for avoidable contact with the #94 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GTE. He has servrd his penalty. Riley Technologies built the #33 Viper, and fortunately, they had a large amount of spares. The Viper spins again, and he may have a steering issue. The #48 Audi and #94 BMW battle. Dust everywhere.
Laguna Seca is becoming a skating rink. No grass here. It's all sand offline. Don't overstep the boundaries on this Laguna Seca course. Dropping wheels, will cause a driver to lose grip. Watch the pit exit. Don't put more than two wheels on the white separation stripe. Elevation changes also make things real difficult. You're looking at the sky. It's fun, but tricky. The RSR cars are 1-2. Do 40 minutes to get points. All four classes practice together, so, it's hard to strategize for one of these split class races.
We are 32 minutes into this race. Eliminate yellow flag time to get to the 40 minute minimum drive time. You cannot see over the dip in the Corkscrew. It's a completely blind corner, that drops ten stories. We have our second full course yellow in this race. Charlie Putman is off the road, and now, Jon Bennett has a problem. He wanted to do a driver change, but was told by the team... "no, stay in the car!" Bennett ran into Mirco Shultis.
That stop was confusing to Colin Braun. H was just shy of the maximum allotted drive time. The Audi spins with hlp from another PC car. But, he smoked the clutch trying to go up the hill, in too high of a gear. It could be game over for the Fall Line Motorsports Audi. Porsche and BMW were unrestricted, but are now cut back. Ferrari and Aston Martin had some adjustments for equating the Balance of Performance. The GTD class leader is in. Spencer Pumpelly takes over the Flying Lizard Audi.
Alex Job Racing leapfrogs the Audi. The drivers, and the car, are good for points. Don't have a hired gun who runs 95% of the race. Jack Gerber and Eddie Cheever III. run a Ferrari, (the #51 AF Corse Ferrari). These two are not having a good race, because the door is busted, and needs bear bond. Green flag! Bruno Junquiera lights up the rear tires. Someon runs wide into the clag. Alex Tagliani gets passed by Shawn Rayhall.
Sean is no relation to Bobby Rahal. The name is spelled differently. But, there are other good drivers. Watch for Alex Tagliani and Gunnar Jeannette, too. Renger van der Zande is also doing well. Ben Keating is replaced by Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #33 SRT Viper. They are off sequence. Bleekemolen is a good driver. The #08 PC car of Alex Tagliani, and the #63 Ferrari of Alessandro Balzan, will head for the sin bin, for speeding in pit lane.
The #18 Porsche of David Calvert-Jones runs in the GT Daytona lead for Muehlner Motorsports America. Ooh. A spin for a PC car. Jeroen Bleekemolen is 20th in class, 27th overall. Alex Tagliani spun in the Andretti hairpin. Sean Rayhall and David Calvert-Jones, are the class leaders so far. Dane Cameron is up to third in GT Daytona, passing Ian James. Christopher Haase also tries to pass. and actually gets around James. We are almost an hour into this race. One hour to go.
Gunnar Jeanette is chased by David Ostella. The #8 car with the Martini livery, is beautiful. Shawn Rayhall is running very well at this point. The #8 car has loose bodywork after contact with another car. Rayhall leads PC with Spencer Pumpelly leading GT Daytona. The #007 Aston Martin Vantage is running well with James Davison and Al Carter. Al Carter has run three different cars this weekend. Leh Keen and Dane Cameron race together in a battle as Cameron slides it down, but goes to pit lane.
This is a strategy call, topping the car up with fuel, sharing the car with Markus Palttala. Sean Rayhall is the halfway leader in this race. The #18 Porsche is in the pits. Matt Bell takes over the car. Sean Rayhall leads Bruno Junquiera by seven seconds. These are spec cars. Bruno Junquiera is running well and so is the #8 machine. The #64 Ferrari tops off with fuel. Kyle Marcelli is in the car now. No tires. Just fuel. The #08 RSR Prototype Challenge car of Alex Tagliani, pits for the final time.
Stefan Johansson has been around a long time. Townsend Bell is now in the #555 Revo AIM Autosport Ferrari. Dane Cameron takes the spot away. Less than an hour to go in this first of two races at Laguna Seca. Christopher Haase in the #48 Audi is quick, and has Kyle Marcelli behind hi,. Haase has fresh tires. Marcelli, does not. Andrew Davis has taken over from Patrick Dempsey in the #27 Porsche, which continues to have brake issues.
Sean Rayhall has pitted and made a clean stop. 47 minutes left in this race. By the way, coming up in just oiver a month, is the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans. You will get all the highlights, of the whole race, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog. Stay tuned. That race, will be loads of fun! Yours truly, guarantees it. The #52 Prototype Challenge car pits with Frankie Montecalvo and Gunnar Jeannette at the wheel. Jeannette is in the car.
Doug Bielefeld was supposed to compete in PC in this race, but, he had a big wreck, and damaged the car's tub. So, it was game over, even before the race began. The #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT America is running well with Patrick Lindsey and Kevin Estre. They are sponsored by Children's Tumor Foundation. Kuba Giermaziak is giving the #30 Momo NGT Porsche a good run, but they are down in 16th in class. Henrique Cisneros is the second driver.
This car also had a big crash last time out at Sebring. Correction, they are seventh in class. Leh Keen is running well, but has a slide through Rainey curve. Henrique Cisneros says the Porsche is different, and better, with a paddle shift transmission as opposed to a sequential gearbox, and a bigger motor. 36 minutes to go in this first race. Sean Rayhall is now fourth overall. Fuel is going to be close. The strategic plans of the teams are all different.
Townsend Bell has a moment, and did not know the Prototype Challenge cars were coming, sliding to the outside. No audio, but the spotter was saying, "three wide! Three wide! Three wide!" Rayhall runs a 1:21.5 while Bruno Junquiera runs a 1:21.6. Colin Braun has fastest lap at 1:21.2. A half hour remains in this race. Ooh! The #38 PC car of David Ostella spins and hits the wall. He dropped a wheel and broke the left rear suspension. Ostella is clearly frustrated. He crunches the concrete bridge abutment, missing the tire wall.
Ostella grts spun a second time, by a GT Daytona car! Ugh! This could be a full course yellow. Jan Heylen in the #58 GT Daytona Porsche tried to pass another car, but did it in a dangerous place. If you need fuel, come now. Don't let the pit lane close. Two tires for Duncan Ende and Bruno Junquiera. Sean Rayhall goes by. It takes longer, because in pit lane, you are allowed just two wheel guns. They changed the right side tires only. Race control has decreed there's no yellow.
David Ostella has gotten the car fully off the racing line. Just over 20 minutes to go in this first race. Sean Rayhall still runs second, with Renger van der Zande ahead. Will van der Zande need a splash and dash for fuel? More traffic. Be careful. Eddie Cheever III. is now driving the #51 Ferrari. His dad, Eddie Cheever Jr. has won the Indy 500, run in sports cars, and, in Formula One. Eddie Cheever Jr. was a BMW Junior driver, along with drivers like David Hobbs, many years ago.
Renger van der Zande is running well. Sean Rayhall is coming fast, though. van der Zande does not want a yellow. But, both Alex Job Porsche's are going to come up short on fuel, without a yellow, and will need a splash and dash. Spencer Pumpelly still leads GT Daytona over Leh Keen. Fuel mileage might just be a factor in the last 15 minutes of this race. BMW and Audi battle through the braking zone. The #58 Porsche is in the pits. Jan Heylen and Madison Snow, share the car.
Team manager Martin Snow is calling the shots. Rayhall is balked, trying to go inside Dane Cameron, and around he goes! No room. There didn't appear to be contact. The #8 car is just fine, and good to go on fuel. The Starworks team with Peter Baron as team manager, they could win, and with the Martini livery on the car, and body damage. Both AJR Porsche's will have to do the splash and dash. The #45 Audi is risking it on fuel. They'll leave Spencer Pumpelly out. But, Dion von Moltke in the sister car #35 will get a splash, according to team strategist, Thomas Blom.
Pumpelly has a six second lead. Ian James, Dane Cameron, and Christopher Haase, will battle for third in class. Cameron runs inside and takes the position away as Ian James needs fuel. He was planning to pit. So, Leh Keen will also need a splash and dash. Fuel only for the #23. This will be a great battle to the finish. Leh Keen needs to pit. Two laps is the most you can run with dwindling fuel in the tank. Dane Cameron is now second in class in GT Daytona. A splash and dash for Leh Keen. Haase and von Moltke in the Audi's appear to be ready to pounce.
Pumpelly has a big lead. Four minutes or so to go. Renger van der Zande is on cruise control. He's got a buffer over Sean Rayhall. Starworks told their man to conserve tires and fuel. So, he'll win this one. A couple laps left to run. Fuel is the deal. There's sand all over. No white flag yet. Two more laps now. Cameron will get more time. Make the call early. But, for Dane Cameron, that hasn't worked. He slid down through the Corkscrew.
We expect the white flag this time by. One more lap, and Starworks will win this. Renger van der Zande crosses the finish line at 136 miles an hour. Save fuel on the last lap. That's what Audi and Flying Lizard are telling their man. Don't let the fuel slosh around in the tank. Renger van der Zande, Starwoirks, and Martini, win!
Overall/PC: #8 van der Zande/Schultis Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
Oh no! The Audi is out of fuel! He had an eleven second lead. Here comes Cameron! No! Can the Audi catch the BMW? Dane Cameron wins for BMW!
GT Daytona: #94 Cameron/Dalla Lana BMW Z4 GTE
Whoa. What a race! Stay tuned for the Prototype/GT Le Mans race, a little later on.
No comments:
Post a Comment