Pit stops coming. #10 is in the lane, now. Tracy Krohn in the #57 Ligier Judd also hits the pit. Box, box, box. Jordan Taylor will take the #10 car to the finish. Their father won here, twice. 1981, and 1996. Eric Curran pits the #31 car. Antonio Garcia is ready to get into the #3 Corvette. We will see stops for the #33 and #007 GT Daytona cars. Viper vs. Aston Martin. Here they come. James Davison will stay in the car. Fuel is going in. Tires are being changed. The #912 goes ahead of the #3. The Viper noses in front of the Aston. A drag race between the Risi Ferrari, and the Falken Porsche. The top four GTLM cars came in together.
The GTLM battle is going to be hammer and tongs until the end. The #5 car is still a lap up in the lead. Now, we begin back timing the race as we're inside the two hours remaining mark. We are back to green, now. Can Christian Fittipaldi, hold the lead? Christian Fittipaldi is gapping Joey Hand. James Davison is going ahead of Jeroen Bleekemolen. Jordan Taylor is trying to fight his way through GT traffic. GTLM is seeing Giancarlo Fisichella, splitting the factory Porsche's. He's booking it right now. Brilliant!
We have just one Corvette remaining in the race. The #4 car is sinking down the order, promoting Bill Auberlen in the #25 BMW Z4 GTE. Action Express and Ganassi both need one more fuel stop. Ganassi will need less fuel, as they stopped sooner than did their rivals. The GT Daytona battle is heating up. Mario Farnbacher is really going for it. He's the quickest of the three drivers at the front of the class. Farnbacher is going to finish out this race.
We are getting into the final 90 minutes of this race. Christian Fittipaldi still leads Joey Hand, with Richard Westbrook, and Jordan Taylor, third and fourth. The Aston Martin team is planning on racing the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the other two events for the North American Endurance Cup. Will they come to Watkins Glen and Road Atlanta later in the year? Possibly. Darren Turner gave the #98 a good run. Mario Farnbacher has passed James Davison. It's Porsche vs. Aston Martin vs. Viper. Jeroen Bleekemolen is still in this fight, too.
The GT Daytona finish, could be a sizzler. Christopher Haase and Townsend Bell are also close by. Seven cars in GT Daytona, within 18 seconds of each other! Wow! Tom Kimber-Smith has led much of this race for PR1/Matthiasen. But, Colin Braun is still going for it, too. Patrick Pilet inches away from Giancarlo Fisichella in GT Le Mans. But, the GT Daytona battle, is simmering. In the Alex Job Racing pit, the #22's fuel hose, is delaminating. That's not good. No issue with the leader. But, Alex Job, team owner, is not happy.
The Daytona Prototype spec cars, have once again, outperformed the P2 spec prototypes. The #5 car is still having a sway bar issue, and they only have their rear sway bar. Bourdais steering an understeering prototype, it's within his wheelhouse. He did it, as a Peugeot factory driver,l years ago in the FIA World Endurance Championship. We will miss the Prototype Challenge cars, when they are going away, next year. Conor Daly has proven to be more than a single-seater driver.
Joey Hand is coming under intense pressure, from Richard Westbrook as we contest lap 297. The leader, pits. Christian Fittipaldi brings the car in on lap 299. There will be one more pit stop necessary for some of these cars. #01 and #10 will pit shortly. Book it. Go flat out. It's coming down to crunch time. Jordan Taylor pits from third place overall. The Aston Martin and the Viper continue to battle in GTD.
Marc Goossens is turning some great laps. Consistent laps. David Hinton in the #50 Highway To Help Riley BMW, has a puncture. But, he gets the car to the pit, with no need for a yellow. The #52 car of Tom Kimber-Smith pits. #01 pits. Scott Dixon takes over for Joey Hand. Fuel, done. Tires, done. Driver, done. But, the car stalled. Will they catch the #5 Corvette? Probably not, according to Joey Hand. Now, in GTD, Mario Farnbacher leads Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Marc Goossens, with James Davison dropping back a little bit. Both Viper's passed the Aston Martin.
Giancarlo Fisichella pits the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia. Lots of time lost, as the Ferrari doesn't start. He has an hour and eight minutes to go. But, he might not have enough petrol before the end of this one. It depends on if there is a full course yellow flag. Ricky Taylor looks as if he's leapfrogged a couple of his competitors, or, they plan to, with their pit strategy, before the end of this race. They don't have the quickest car. But, they might just be quick enough.
The #911 factory Porsche pits. Fuel and a driver change. Patrick Pilet, out. Now, #912 pits. There is a problem with the wheel nut. You've got to just go, and not worry about the broken wheel nut. Fred Makowiecki might think he's broken a mirror, by throwing a cat under it, while walking under a ladder.
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