Since it's gotten wet, Jordan Taylor seems to be coming up to speed. We are dealing with a wet track. The Starworks Prototype Challenge car leads the class, with former DTM start Renger van der Zande at the wheel. Pit stop time for Scuderia Corse and Turner Motorsports in GT Daytona. Turner Motorsports, takes slick tires. The car is stationary. Will there be fuel added? Both the #5 and #90 put wet tires on, and the same thing happens with the #4 factory Corvette. The #48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS went with slicks, which may not be the right way to go. The #01 car pits, too. Joey Hand is at the wheel, taking over from Scott Pruett.
Word is, rain is heavy on parts of the track. Rain in some places. Dry in others. That can be a recipe for disaster. Jorg Bergmeister stays at the wheel of the #912 factory Porsche. Bergmeister is hugely experienced. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche pits, with Wolf Henzler at the wheel. Falken Tires used to dominate with wet tires in the old American Le Mans Series. But, the advantage is not existent any longer. Just over two hours to run now. This stop, and one more, might get you better fuel mileage, and more yellow flags.
The #25 BMW pitted and so does the #911 Porsche. #911 is bouncing around, because of the earlier suspension problems. The #31 is also in the lane. They will fit wet tires, obviously, pitting from fifth in the overall. The #62 Risi Comeptizione Ferrari is on pit lane now, too. Tires and fuel, and no driver change. Pierre Kaffer stays in the car. We have exactly two hours to go. So many decades of memories here at Watkins Glen. Oswaldo Negri Jr. is headed for the house. Game over for the MSR Ligier Honda.
Search for grip when it's wet. There's concrete, asphalt, and sealant. This whole track, will be resurfaced, after the Nascar race in August. It's become very murky. A bank of fog, and a wet track. Joey Hand has taken over the #01 Ganassi car, from Scott Pruett. Michael Valiante and Richrd Westbrook have been off strategy, but, they've been real competitive, too. Tommy Milner leads GT LM, and we see Colin Braun in the #54 Prototype Challenge class leader, off course. Wolf Henzler is right behind the Corvette.
The weather is getting worse. Popup thunderstorms are around. Will there be more water? Ricky Taylor has 20 seconds in hand. Give a shout out to the TV camera crews for Fox Sports, bringing the pictures of the race, to the race viewers. The #44 car still leads GT Daytona. This weather is amazing, and yet deplorable. Yikes. Joey Hand is closing back up on Christian Fittipaldi, finding the grip, in the rain. The #007 Aston Martin, pits again. Kuno Wittmer is at the wheel, and the car still has an engine miss in it's V12. But no dropped cylinder.
We now have our fifth full course yellow. Double yellow flags, mean, a full course yellow, in road racing. The reason is, the rain, and the standing water. The visibility isn't good either. The sky is lightening. But, we are still under full course yellow for all the rain. The ground around the track is saturated. Is it safe to keep the cars out there? This race is now under a red flag, and the field will come to the pit lane. Race Director Beaux Barfield said, 'we race in the rain and qualify in the rain." But, "if there's too much standing water, we can't keep racing."
They need to do some work on the track. There's a stream rolling across pit lane. The tractors are out in full force. The crews are coming out to the cars. A crewman can go with an umbrella, and they can clean windshield, cover the car, or look at it. But, they cannot do any work on the car. The GT classes are changing. The GT3 specs are coming, next year. Alex Job Racing, has ordered two new GT3 spec Porsche's for 2016.
The command has been given to start engines, and we will resume under yellow, to start racing again. A Ford GT40 won the first Six Hours of The Glen. David Hobbs and Paul Hawkins were leading. But then, Jacky Ickx and Lucien Bianchi beat them. Team boss, David York, had to deal with Hobbs' wrath. He was not happy. Richard Attwood also raced for the team. This was in 1968. Check out the International Motor Racing Research Center. It is located at Watkins Glen International Raceway.
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