The GT Daytona leaders come in, and so do the GT Le Mans cars. Pit lane is open for GT machines. #22 pits to do their driver change under yellow and so does the Falken Tire crew. Both Corvette's are in. They had to make a driver change on the #4 Corvette. Tommy Milner was almost out of drive time. Go ahead and top off. That may negate everyone's strategy, as we get ready to turn 'em loose one more time, to take this endurance classic, to the finish.
Some of the lead Prototypes pitted. The field is going to be close together on the restart. But it should be smooth sailing, for a battle between Joey Hand, and Ricky Taylor. One of the Corvette's had a problem with the wheel, but it was with the wheel gun and the nut, coming together. The rain is starting to taper off. Three of the four classes except GTLM, have the leaders all together. Green flag. Safety car is in.
The top three in Prototype clear Wolf Henzler. Everyone is searching for grip. We've got the top three together. But, the #4 Corvette is in the wall on the exit of turn one. This isn't good. We're back to full course yellow. He hit a Porsche, and broke the steering on the car. Game over for the #4 machine. No sign of yellow. But, there just has to be. He lost the front end, slammed into a factory Porsche (Earl Bamber in the #912), and hitting the wall, while Bamber spun. This is a short yellow. So, no pit stops.
The field is now neutralized behind the safety car. The engineers have smoke coming from their ears thinking, "oh man, what do we do?" Do they need slick tires if it stops raining? You will have to either stop now, hoping for another yellow before the end. But, it's more likely, to just roll the dice and see what happens. Oliver Gavin won Le Mans two weeks ago, and was on cloud nine. Today, Gavin crashes, and it's game over.
In 1948, the village of Watkins Glen hosted the first road race in the southern tier of New York State. Six decades later, there's still great racing. We are set for a green flag with just over 50 minutes to go. Ricky Taylor leads this race. Joey Hand wants a way by Ricky Taylor. Taylor protects the inside line. There's more water on the road than we've seen all day. Wolf Henzler is booking it. Renger van der Zande is up there in Prototype Challenge.
The Viper has passed Andy Lally, and is now behind the factory GT LM BMW. Marc Goossens is behind the wheel of the Viper. Goossens has not had a full-time ride of any kind this year and he's a sports car racing veteran. Leh Keen in the #22 car is going well. But, there's contact between the #10 and the #01! Was there a mix up? The #10 is all torn up front and rear. He spun and clouted the tire barrrier. Joey Hand couldn't turn, locked the brakes, spun, and damaged the nose.
Christian Fittipaldi goes from third to first. What heartbreak for Ganassi and WTR! Ugh! Away we go. We've got a scrum in GTD between Leh Keen and Andy Lally. There's mist and spray, hanging in the air. There's debris in the middle of the road. Car #5 pits, and it should be their last stop. There will be a driver change, and also, wet tires. It was thought that there would be no driver change. Not true. The rain is going to stay, to the end of this race.
The leaders have to respond now, and hit pit lane. Joey Hand is still running, looking for grip, diamonding the corner. He's got damage on the left front corner of the Riley chassis. He's got grip. Watch for the debris. Oh! Race control says that the #5 was too fast off pit lane, and will get a speeding ticket. Leh Keen is off the road and back on. There has been calamity these last few minutes. How will this wild race end? This was supposed to be an enduro. Instead, because of rain, it's been a demolition derby. A crash, bang, wallop.
We are currently under our seventh full course caution as the nose piece of the #10 car is still out on the road. The #10 car is out. A crewman made the slicing move across his throat, to say, "we are done. Game over." The #5 car hit pit road, to serve it's penalty. The #5 car got in, to serve the penalty before the yellow. They are back in the catbird seat, because their rivals (#01 and #90), still need to make pit stops.
Drivers have to turn the ignition off, and re-fire the motor, to save fuel. Fox Sports' Tommy Kendall, was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. The lights remain on, on the safety car. Bill Riley, and his dad, have been involved with 14 overall wins, and 30 winners, at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Sebring International Raceway and the 12 Hours, was voted as one of the top ten best motorsports events in the world.
Can we make it to the end of this race without another interruption? We've got 32 minutes to go. We are under the half hour mark. The nose piece of the #10 car was on the track. The #5 team had a penalty, is topped up with fuel, and the leaders, need fuel. The strategy, is up in the air. It's much the same in GT Le Mans right now. The #911 Porsche pitted under yellow. The #17 did not. Your heart goes out to Ricky Taylor, falling out of this race, with just four races remaining in the season. Plus, this is one of the big races of the year in the North American Endurance Cup.
The #90 and #01 cars could be good to go on fuel, as we reshuffle the deck. Cards please, ladies and gentlemen. Yours truly cannot pain this picture. We'll have to see how it plays out. We had no idea this endurance classic would turn out to be what it's been. The traction is really edgy with the Riley Ford. He has to feel his way through the uphill. Richard Westbrook has the championship lead over Action Express. So, it will come down to those two, for the win. Some teams are getting into their fuel window.
The #17 Falken Tire Porsche might be in a good place, too, with Wolf Henzler at the controls, with their fuel situation. Joao Barbosa is buried and has to thread the needle. The camera crews and the fans have braved this rain. Congratulations, everyone. It ain't over 'til it's over. We are going green with sixteen minutes left. Who's got the gas? Richard Westbrook is second. He won last year. Can he make it two in a row for VisitFlorida.com Racing? This is a shootout. No question of it.
The top eleven cars in GT Daytona are on the same lap, and all running together. Earl Bamber wants by Renger van der Zande so he can chase Wolf Henzler. Earl Bamber, is the Le Mans winner, along with Nick Tandy of course, and their team mate for that race, Formula One veteran, Nico Hulkenberg. Earl Bamber tries van der Zande and can't do it. We watch Marc Goossens, leading GT Daytona. These boys won at Daytona in January to start the year.
Goossens won't let this one go, easily. Dominik Farnbacher and Andy Lally are also hanging in there. Lally wants a win, too, as we see fourth place runner, Christopher Haase, who is the points leader. Some real aces are in the deck with the drivers behind the wheels of these cars. Tom Kimber-Smith is on the reserve pump for fuel in his Prototype Challenge racer. Joey Hand is also on reserve. He'll have to get a splash and dash. Whoa! This will be a nail biter right to the end!
Moments ago, the #01 pitted for fuel only and timed the stop. The #90 went by. The #5 did not. We have a full course yellow after Kuno Wittmer crashes the #007 Aston Martin who's day goes even more pear shaped. The second place GT Daytona #23 Alex Job Porsche is also off the road. This is going to be a shootout. The #007 was still on the lead lap. Kuno Wittmer was trying to make up for the horsepower different, with eleven of the twelve cylinders in that monstrous V12, still firing.
Seven minutes to go in the race. Mario Farnbacher was the driver who crashed the #23 in the toe of The Boot, chasing Christopher Haase. The #17 Falken Tire Porsche will win GTLM if he has five minutes of go juice. Go juice = fuel. This will be a one lap shootout on a skating rink, folks. This ought to be a hot one. The last time the same driver pairing won back-to-back at Watkins Glen was Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas for Ganassi, in 2008, '09, and '10. White flag. They can't go back to green.
This race will end under yellow, sadly. That's a real shame. We were set up for a good finish. It will be an anticlimax to not see a green finish. Tisk, tisk, IMSA. Starworks gets their second win of the season. Mirco Shultis is not here this weekend. Mike Hedlund is van der Zande's team mate, along with Alex Popow. Everyone can breathe a huge sigh of relief that we will end under yellow. They come through the toe of The Boot.
In a year's time, this track will be different, with the repaving. They are going to redo The Boot, and leave the short course intact. The cleanup was too late to preserve a green flag finish, and the championship standings, will tighten up, as we move to the next sprint race on the calendar. The clock is at zero. Richard Westbrook, and Michael Valiante, repeat, as overall winners at The Glen.
Prototype Challenge honors go to the #8 Starworks Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet of Renger van der Zande, the Flying Dutchman, Mike Hedlund, and Alex Popow. GT Le Mans honors, go to Team Falken Tire with Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler. In GT Daytona, Viper is victorious, with the #93 TI Automotive SRT Viper GTS-R- reclaiming victory that also came at Daytona in the 24 hours back in January, with Marc Goossens (the Belgian endurance racing veteran), Cameron Lawrence, and Al Carter.
Overall/Prototype: #90 Westbrook/Valiante Chevrolet Corvette Prototype
Prototype
Challenge: #8 van der Zande/Hedlund/Popow Oreca FLM 09 Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #17 Henzler/Sellers Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #93 Goossens/Lawrence/Carter SRT Viper GTS-R-
The next race is at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, (Mosport Park), in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, coming up, in two weeks. Four rounds to go in the 2015 championship. Six hours, kind of feels like 24 hours, with all the rain! It's been a long, long race here in the rain and fog at The Glen, today. Joao Barbosa leads the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, with one round to go, at the season finale, the Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, in October.
Action Express leads Prototype. PR1 Matthiasen leads Prototype Challenge. The #3 Corvette and the #93 Viper, lead the NAEC going into the Petit Le Mans. For now, we look forward to Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, in two weeks. We could have used a green flag finish. But, it was not to be. So long, everyone.
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