Taylor is still trying to pass Stroll. Go to another, more aggressive fuel mapping setting, and go for it. Derani is eating time out of Taylor's lead. Derani is a half second off his fastest race lap. Ricky Taylor puts two tenths back into the leader. 1:40.9 for Ricky Taylor. If we stay green and the #2 car has no troubles, those boys from ESM could be in the catbird seat. Fred Makowiecki is flying in his GTLM factory Porsche. These boys are really flying. Bruno Spengler in the #25 BMW M6 GT is also running well, second in GT Le Mans. Patrick Long brings the #540 Porsche into pit lane, and does a driver change. Don't trap the hose for the air gun, under the car, drop it off the air jacks, and go for it. Nicky Catsburg will take the car to the finish.
#23 has a dragging diffuser. They will have to fix that, if the marshals tell them to or not. A piece of debris flies off the car, and this could mean a full course yellow. Mario Farnbacher at the controls. That debris, is on the back straight, and it flew nesxt to the wall. They don't have to stop from a safety standpoint. Now, the diffuser is dragging. Maybe that piece will stay on top of the track, right up in the spot on the track where you don't want to be, where all the clag is. Clag, is colloquial, for tire debris.
Antonio Garcia is now third in GT Le Mans. Marcel Fassler in the sister car, is back on the lead lap. Fred Makowiecki in the Porsche and the sister Corvette of Marcel Fassler, both might need just one more pit stop. The next few minutes, will be critical. The #5 car was penalized for spinning the rear wheels, while on the air jacks. Ricky Taylor knows that Pippo Derani is really moving, and he's coming, fast. There's lots of traffic. Ricky Taylor has to open the door, and see if Derani si going to make a move. He wants to go for it. No rush. Pick your moment.
Meanwhile, some pit action as Oliver Gavin replaces Marcel Fassler in the #4 Corvette. Luis Felipe Derani is sweeping around slower traffic. Can Ricky Taylor stay with Derani? Derani adds a second to his lead. Ricky Taylor has to work through GT traffic. Derani passes the GT Daytona leader. It's still Shane van Gisbergen vs. Rene Rast in the Audi. The #3 Corvette of Antonio Garcia has cycled through.
Let's look at a recap. The Ford's did really well yesterday, even though they had the tire issues too, yesterday. There was a brake line issue, too. The #2 Ligier Honda ran well, and the Deltawing was flying early yesterday. John Pew crashed into Johannes van Overbeek. The Deltawing crashed last night. This was the fastest car on the track. Jamie McMuray spun the #02 car off the road. Ligier Honda vs. Mazda, and then, issues with right rear tire failures for the Ford GT.
The #02 Riley Ford went down, and Ozz Negri retired with engine issues. Two Lamborghini's crashed into each other. By morning, a drive line issue, for Porsche. The #73 Park Place car could not get back to the garage area. We saw the Corvette (#4) run the red light at the end of pit lane. More issues too, for Action Express, and the CV joint going bad. They are six laps in arrears. Game over for the #02 Ganassi car, too. We have an hour and a half or so left.
Could Honda win it's first Rolex 24? We'll find out. We have an hour and a half to go. 684 laps have been completed so far. 2,435 miles. The Scuderia Corsa Frrari 488 GT has been running really well. Earl Bamber, last year's Le Mans winner, is running very well. In GT Daytona, six cars are on the lead lap. Rene Rast still wheels the Magnus Racing Audi R8. Car #2 might pit top safeguard against a yellow flag. In third, in GTD, is the #540 Black Swan Porsche. We are now down to the last match of high speed chess. Derani drops to pit lane.
The pit stop needs to be mistake free. Fuel, and a cleaning of the air ducts, are all the car needs. They have to keep up the pressure. The 3.5 liter V6 motor, is a good thing for the car, as it is more powerful, and can keep up with the V8's and other turbo V6's in the Daytona Prototype cars. WTR is in the lane, and they are spot on with their pit work. Fuel and tires only, for this stop. Derani is close. Derani sweeps by into the road course section. Everything is working. The players in this chess match, are rising to the occasion.
Rene Rast is under pressure from Shane van Gisbergen, but, oh! van Gisbergen has a lurid spin outside the kink! Big wiggle, and sliding, sliding, sliding, but fortunately, he didn't hit anything. THAT was scary! Dirt tracking. The rear wing angle is askew. The wing has gone back further, even if it had been set back, to trim it out for top speed. The inter-class battle, is amazing. The rhythm of this race, has changed, from what it used to be.
Ryan Hunter-Reay has brought the #90 Corvette Prototype to pit lane. Hunter-Reay will finish the race, for the team. #2 is leading the #10 car by a good eleven seconds. But, this race is not over. van Gisbergen is in the lane, checking the wing, and the tires. The mounting supports have fallen backwards, and not just the wing itself. Oh dear. Pepe Derani, may have a gearbox alarm. Oil pressure, oil temperature, water pressure... the alarm goes off, for a reason.
Will Derani make it to the finish? The #3 Corvette pits, and Earl Bamber in the #912 Porsche 911 RSR takes over the GT Le Mans class lead. The #22 Porsche spun again. Shane van Gisbergen also has lots of grass in the radiator grille. The car is in the pit lane again, putting bear bond and a tie strap on the back. They have to ratchet the tie strap down. Another dash warning for Luis Felipe Derani. Something is wrong, with the car, perhaps.
The fuel mapping might be an issue, or, the engine needs to be cooled, and it could be running too lean. Wayne Taylor Racing is still spending the last amount of time, in th pits. Is the Ligier Honda daling with turbo issus? Pepe Derani needs to cool down and see what he can do. Is the power steering suspect? Could Derani be activating the traction control earlier than intended? We'll see what happens.
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