In GT LM, it's still a battle between Corvette, Ferrari, and Porsche. Magnussen, Beretta, Tandy. Joey Hand leads overall. 217 laps completed. 772 and a half miles. We have our sixth full course yellow, and a big wreck for the #51 AF Corse Ferrari, as well as the #007 Aston Martin. The Ferrari of Francois Perrodo, is toasted, with a busted radiator, and Brandon Davis, has damage to the front end and also to the suspension and the brakes. Prototypes are modular and come together like a big set of Lego's. GT cars don't.
The #81 and #51 crashed, and Francois Perrodo, was in the middle of the road. Brandon Davis was fine, and then, Francois pulled in, and clobbered the Aston Martin, giving team boss Kevin Buckler, a heart attack. I don't think Perrodo ever saw Brandon Davis. We're going to be coming to the end of the first day of coverage, folks. If you want to follow the overnight on IMSA.com, go ahead, folks. You might not get the best footage, depending on your connection. Yours truly is going to go to bed.
The temperature drops and the wind dies down as the night falls. It will be 39 degrees overnight, which is cold. Great for the engines. Not for the drivers who aren't in the cars. We'll be back at 6AM tomorrow, to go through to the conclusion of this great race. The stewards will surely analyze this latest accident as we watch it again. Brandon Davis has nowhere to go when Francois Perodo moves over, and... ker-runch!
The #02 car pits for a brief stop. Tony Kanaan is stillo at the controls... seventh overall. Play it smart under yellow, and you can get a lap back, or more than a lap. There was a nose change, too, probably for better headlights for the darkness. The #912 Porsche went down seven laps with an alternator issue. They are a lap down to the class leader. That's amazing. Green flag is back out. Sebastien Bourdais nails it, and is under attack from Ricky Taylor.
Another spin, and more contact among the Prototype cars, while the GTD cars fling debris all over the road. For the lead, it's Taylor vs. Bourdais. No pro wants to be passed on the outside of the kink as they fly up onto the banking again. Whoops. The #11 PC car is off. He was punted off the road. Bourdais stretches a lead over Ricky Taylor through Nascar turns three and four. How does anyone get through those accordion effects? The defending Prototype Challenge champions are in trouble.
Colin Braun has a flat left rear tire. He's on the apron in the tri-oval. Ricky Taylor is drafting Sebastien Bourdais. Core Autosport does pit and goes for fuel and four tires. No body damage to the car. Touch wood. No rush. Ricky Taylor is continuing to hound Bourdais. He had a shallow line in the Bus Stop. Ricky Taylor is catching up. In GT Le Mans, Nick Tandy leads with the factory #911 Porsche 911 RSR. They are separated by a very small amount. Jan Magnussen is pushing in the Corvette.
Alex Popow leads Prototype Challenge in the #8 Martini liveried Prototype Challenge racer. Popow is from Venezuela. PC has been the action class so far as Tony Kanaan flies around the outside. Popow hists pit lane. In GT Daytona, Dominik Farnbacher has the SRT Viper out front. There's debris after the earlier fracas. Farnbacher has a slight lead over Bill Sweedler's Ferrari, and Dion von Moltke's Audi. We're almost ready to sign off for tonight, fol;ks.
The #10 Corvette Prototype is leading overall. Jan Magnussen will have to get out of the Corvette C-7-R- and let Ryan Briscoe and Antonio Garcia, drive. The #7 Starworks car is running eighth overall in the hands of Ryan Hunter-Reay. Brendon Hartley and Rubens Barrichello are running well, too. Hartley has not driven the new Porsche 919 evolution yet. He'll be able to drive it, soon. The team is in a better spot than last year.
Patrick Pilet echoes the sentiments that teams have to stay out of trouble, keep pushing, and keep racing. Pilet is a factory Porsche GT driver. Don't take any risks during the night. When the morning comes... charge. Tweak your driver lineups. Back time the race to see who will take the car home towards the end, and this is true for all four classes. Put your strongest night drivers in the car. These cars are banged up, as we are only 1/3rd of the way home. We'll see you at 6AM central time tomorrow morning to find out, everyone.
GT Daytona is a superb class, even though it's the fourth class. It's going to be wild in GTD and in GT LM. GT LM is on it, racing cars we'd all dream of owning ourselves. This one is going to go to the wire. Sixteen prototypes... eight have led. 21 lead changes. We'll have all the highlights tomorrow morning. Porsche is running hard to stay with Corvette. What a race this is. Feel the traffic out, settle down, and go for it. We'll see you tomorrow morning at 6AM straight to the end.
Day one. Done. Night, to come. See you tomorrow. Have a great night, folks.
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