The best laps in this race so far, (to get an idea of the pace we are setting), are in the 1:40 and 1:41 bracket.
We are coming to the end of the full course yellow as we look in on Leh Keen in the #22 Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT America in GT Daytona. Alex Job, won an award at a ceremony last night... a Rolex watch. His dad, was a jeweler. The car is in pit lane. We are looking at a driver change. There are new rules this year, saying, no bungee cords for the safety belts, to yank them out of the way. Wolf Henzler and Bryan Sellers are in the #17 Falken Tires Porsche 911 RSR. These boys are back, for their first Rolex 24. Tom Long runs the #07 Mazda diesel.
Scott Dixon and Scott Pruett are going to battle once we go back to green, now. It's go time! The acceleration cone is right there, and you can overtake anywhere. Ricky Taylor remains in the #10 Corvette Prototype. There's not a lot of grip in the International Horseshoe. Jan Magnussen, Bill Auberlen, and John Edwards, all battle in GT LM. Corvette vs. BMW. We head back onto the banking. Let's see which tires can step up to the plate with performance. Falken Tire Porsche, are not able to dial in their car, after a December test.
The weather, affects the grip. Andy Meyrick works through traffic in the Deltawing. The Porsche passes Jan Magnussen in the Corvette. Nick Tandy is still pushing. The factory GT LM Porsche's are defending champions in the Rolex 24. Oh wow! Tandy goes straight. Come to a stop, and continue. Good job. Maybe Jan Magnussen still wants to push and force the issue. There was argy bargy between the Corvette boys earlier on of course. The Falken tires might come to temperature quicker than the Michelins on the factory cars.
Prototype, Prototype Challenge, and GT Daytona, all run spec Continental tires. Jeroen Bleekemolen in an SRT Viper, battles a Porsche. James Davison is in the #007 Aston Martin V12 Vantage, and he is coming up on the Viper and the Porsche in GT Daytona. Jamie McMurray wants to win the Rolex 24. If he does, he'd join A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti in winn ing both the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 24. The Bus Stop, is dirty, and has lots of mud tossed up on the curbs. Oh. The Deltawing is off. ...And, Damien Faulkner spins his GT Daytona Porsche 911 GT America.
Andy Meyrick in the Deltawing is alkso having issues. The Porsche is on the outside into turn one, and Faulkner spun after locking the brakes. This was on the tri-oval, intoi the first turn. A locked brake was the culprit. Damage to the left rear corner. In the garage, it's the #31 Corvette Prototype of Max Papis. The steering is an issue, and so the suspension will also be replaced. The Deltawing is off the road, and it's unsure if it will continue. Turn left to get to the safety crews. But, if you turn right, you are out on an island.
It used to be, much like at Le Mans, only the driver could work on the car. But now, a crewman can actually be down on the fence, telling a driver, how to make repairs, and bring tools. The newly designed EMCO gearbox may be busted in the Deltawing. Scott Dixon and Scott Pruett continue to run 1-2. If Pruett can win this weekend, he'll take the record for most victories in history in this race. James Davison has won five straight poles (going back to last year), with TRG and Aston Martin. That car is in the GT Daytona division. TRG was the overall winner of the Rolex 24, with a Porsche 911, in 2003.
We are back to racing, now. Oswaldo Negri Jr. passes Scott Pruett. The Chevrolet Corvette prototypes, (some of them), are having traction control trouble. Adjusting the traction control, helps with tire wear, and also, helps with getting your foot in the throttle earlier. Minimum intervention, maximum affect. Now, the Corvtte's are still battling, but get separated by Johnny Mowlem in a Prototype Challenge car. That is car #16.
Bill Auberlen and Wolf Henzler are battling. BMW isn't quick enough. But, they should have reliability. The Corvette boys go side by side. But, there was no passing attempt. Get some room in the braking zone. Scott Dixon continues to lead Joao Barbosa. Riley Ford vs. Corvette vs. Ligier Honda. Oh! The #2 Patron Racing HPD ARX-04b of Johannes van Overbeek has an issue. Henzler splits the Corvette's in GT LM. ESM has had issues with the gearbox casing, eating engines alive. Meanwhile, Magnussen wants by Gavin, and got sideways.
Henzler does not defend. Corvette has the pace. Keep it clean. Don't put a wheel off. Don't hit anyone. Don't hit anything. We have had two full course cautions so far. Ganassi continues leading the VisitFlorida.com Corvette Prototype. The Ganassi Ford's are fast, strong, and solid. They hav a wicked driver lineup, too. Car #01 pits for it's second stop. Pruett is in. Four tires and fuel... blowing out the radiators, as well. Pruett stays in the car. Pruett is a record winner of this race, tied with Hurley Haywood.
Scott Dixon has had a couple gorgeous, clear laps. Teams are feeling out fuel mileage. How far do you go on full tanks? 24 laps is the target. Scott Dixon has now gone two additional laps than Scott Pruett on fuel. He had 33 laps this most recent stint. In the next stint, Dixon will hand off to Jamie McMurray. They have eleven more tear offs on the windscreen. Again... a 37 mile an hour limit in pit lane. The battle in GT LM with the factory cars, continues. Wright Motorsports pits their #58 Porsche 911 RSR.
Patrick Dempsey is on the driver's strength. The car is wearing the colors of the great Brumos Porsche dealer. ESM is still having real engine issues. The've blown eight motors. Now, Johnny Mowlem has spun again, tangling with another car. Mowlem got a tap from another car. It's the #73 Park Place Motorsports GT Daytona Porsche 911 GT America. Dr. Jim Norman at the controls. The #4 Corvette gets punted, and gets slammed by Park Place.
Oh no. The #24 RLL BMW Z4 GTE has a left rear tire down. Bill Auberlen knows how to drive. But, the tire stays on the rim... fortunately. If it shreds, then, there's real trouble. Auberlen was fourth in GT LM. Paul Dalla Lanna spins his Aston Martin V8 Vantage in turn one. A close call for the GT LM contender. He is well off the track. No yllow needed. Something seized in the driveline. Scott Dixon still leads.
The Mazda prototype lead a lap for the first time with their prototype. Jonathan Bomarito is back running for Mazda. He is able to guide his younger co-drivers. These boys are 15 miles an hour faster than they were last year. The Mazda is no longer slow. It is a tiny 2.2 liter twin turbo four cylinder... running biodiesel made from chicken parts and other things. The car's exhaust, smells like a box of French Fries. Jonatahn Bomarito is back at Mazda. He won the 24 Hours for Mazda in 2010.
Tom Long is in the pits. The car is loaded with smoke. But, it is from tires... not the motor. Antonio Garcia is at the wheel of the #3 Corvette C-7-R- now, as the monstrous Chevrolet V8 thunders on the banking. The BMW Z4 GTE goes by, because Garcia is going to pit. He's only gone five laps. Was there a tire that went down? Likely. The #911 Porsche 911 RSR of Patrick Pilet takes over the GT LM lead.
We have a spinner. It's the TRG AMR Aston Martin, again. It's the sister car to #007, (#009), with Derek DeBoer at the wheel. Mazda's issue is a high pressure fuel line that came loose. Another car off. It's a Prototype Challenge racer. There's a clutch issue for Aston Martin, and that car is on the rollback, going to the garage, to be fixed. Scott Dixon continues to lead this race. Johnny Mowlem has continued to lead Prototype Challenge with the BAR1 machine, with a SpongeBob Squarepants graphic. Who'd have thought a sponge, was so aerodynamic!
Oops. A Ferrari is slow. Johnny Mowlem is back in America after three years racing in Europe. Rui Aguas is at the wheel of this slow Ferrari. But, he continues. He has lots of development miles in a 458 Italia. Jordan Taylor, has sorted the electrical issues. They seem to be coming back to life. Oh no. Flat left rear tire on the #93 SRT Viper with Cameron Lawrence at the wheel. Tonight, it's supposed to be very cold.
Shane van Gisbergen is back at the Rolex 24. Ooh. More battling between PC cars and Porsche's. Alex Popow continues in one of the Martini cars. Dorsey Schroeder is now taking over the #50 Riley BMW. WEll, he just came back from a stint. He is a colleague of the boys who cover sports cars for Fox Sports, and it's his first race in a sports car, in 12 years. 76 laps... 270 and a half miles, completed. A long, long, long way left to run.
Racing legends David Hobbs and Darrell Waltrip, tweet that they are watching this race. The #50 car is back in the garage. David Hinton (one of the team drivers), says the brakes are an issue. David Hinton is President of a historic racing group, that will run vintage cars from the past of the Rolex 24. The quality and number of cars for that vintage race, it was incredible. In Europe, people love the Rolex 24, just as much as Le Mans, it's sister event.
Car #5 will make a pit stop, and do a driver change. Joao Barbosa will get oput of the Mustang Sampler Corvette Prototype. Christian Fittipaldi takes over. These blokes won the Rolex 24 last year and won the inaugural Tudor Championship. The MSR Ligier Honda is pitting, too. The program came together not even two months ago. Thy were on pole for this race, and are running well so far. Just incredible! Oh boy. We've got another BMW with a tire problem. This is the GT Daytona #97 Turner Motorsports BMW.
The #10 Corvette pits, with Jordan Taylor in the car. Tracy Krohn is at the wheel of the #57 Ligier Judd he owns. Alex Brundle is one of the other drivers, along with Olivier Pla. Krohn, an oil man... is also racing in the car, and he owns it, too. The sun is starting to sink and lots of glare as the sun will set in the west later on, before the many hours of darkness at Daytona. Sage Karam has taken over the #01 Ganassi Riley Ford EcoBoost while Scott Dixon continues leading, in the sister car.
One of many things that distinguish the Rolex 24, from Le Mans, is the amount of darkness (a maximum of nighttime hours, and cold), while Le Mans, is in June, in summertime, with a minimum amount of darkness, and warmer weather. Patrick Long is the wheel man in the #17 Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR. Jamie McMurray has taken over from Scott Dixon in the #02 Ganassi Riley Ford EcoBoost.
This is multi-class racing at it's best into the International horseshoe. Prototype, Prototype Challenge, GTLM, GTD, all together.
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