In 1968, Jacky Ickx and Lucien Bianchi, won the first 6 Hours of the Glen. The team car, was driven by David Hobbs. Meanwhile, Spencer Pigot has moved past Eric Curran. Marc Goossens has entered pit lane. This is a scheduled stop for Goossens. More drama for the #54 car. Whoa! One of the factory Porsche 911's (#911) exceeds the track limits in a huge way! He turned in too far and took evasive action. Fortunately, he didn't plow through the gravel trap. Nick Tandy was surely caught napping there. Porsche and Ford have announced extensions to their North American pro racing programs. Porsche has a brand new car for next year. They will have full factory efforts for next year on both ends of the pond. Ford commits to racing in North America and Europe, through 2019.
Matt Bell still leads GT Daytona with Lawson Aschenbach about ready to take over the car for another stint. Audi runs 1-2 in GT Daytona at this time. Jorg Bergmeister is running well in the Park Place Porsche. Meanwhile, Ryan Briscoe is chasing down the BMW M6 GT of Dirk Werner. Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the Ligier isholding these blokes up. Werner will; go on defense. Briscoe is in need of prize money with a new baby that needs shoes. This is the second daughter for Ryan Briscoe and his wife Nicole. Pigot makes a move for the race lead! He didn't get the job done. NJot yet anyway. Fittipaldi hangs on to the race lead. Pigot had no choice but to give way. Spencer Pigot times the run for the pass perfectly, and Christian Fittipaldi takes the braking in deep, and shuts the door.
The #33 SRT Viper pits. Christian Fittipaldi still leads. But Spencer Pigot is not giving up, nor is Eric Curran. The finish of this race, will be a shootout. Scott Sharp runs fifth. Pippo Derani will finish the race. Christian Fittipaldi and Spencer Pigot clear the #911 Porsche. Pardon, #912, Dirk Werner leads Ryan Briscoe, and Alessandro Pier Guidi in GTLM. In GTD, the #22 WeatherTech Porsche leads with Gunnar Jeanette, ahead of Alessandro Balzan in the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari. The Risi Competizione Ferrari pits. Joey Hand is now at the controls of the #66 Ford. Eric Curran runs wide.
In endurance racing, keep fine tuning the car. Get the tire pressures right, or go to a different compound if you are in GTLM on the Michelin tires. GTLM, BMW is in the lane. Full service stop. Dirk Werner will stay in the car. A fresh set of scrubbed tires go on the car. There will be one final stop for those boys to get to the finish. Dirk Werner has dropped into the 1:41 range for fastest lap. The drivers in #25 are swapping fast laps with a healthy rivalry. #55 hits the lane, and Jonathan Bomarito will take over the car. Great driving by Spencer Pigot during his stint. They have cleaned the car's windshield, too.
Christian Fittipaldi still leads. If a yellow comes out, pit lane is closed. So, Fittipaldi best pit soon. Cooper MacNeil could not race at Le Mans due to a food borne illness. But, he says he wants to be back at Le Mans, next year. Pit stop time for the #100 BMW with John Edwards at the wheel. He stays in the car, getting new tires and fuel. Eric Curran pits from the lead in car #31. Dane Cameron will take over the car. ESM is also in the lane. A battle for position, between the two Action Express cars. Barbosa has a run. Barbosa has to attack, now. He looks inside. Cameron defneds inside and gets by Barbosa. #10 is now pitting. Box, box, box. Goossens in the #90 spins and causes a local yellow.
Little visible damage to the #90. But, he needs to try and see if he can get back on track. Gooosens runs wide in turn eight. He couldn't rotate the back end of the car, and is now stuck. Goossens can't find reverse. Ricky Taylor is now in the #10 car. Race control has to call a full course yellow for Goossens' stricken Prototype, as the #67 Ford pits just in the nick of time. We are ready for a grandstand finish. We willn do a complete reset. The cars are now stopping on course. What's going on here? Ah. The DeltaWing, stopped. Katherine Legge at the controls. Renger van der Zande now leads Prototype Challenge.
We are still thinking of Katie Crawford, and hoping she gets well. Daniel Serra, Toni Vilander, and Jonathan Edwards, they lead GT Daytona. Mike Shank Racing sends their Ligier to the lane for fuel. Ford, BMW, and Ferrari lead GTLM. Correction. Drivers are: Ford = Westbrook, BMW = Werner, and Ferrari = Serra, and Vilander, for their respective squads. Leh Keen takes over the #22 Porsche. The Porsche's may have short filled. Mario Farnbacher has perhaps taken over car #23. Olivier Pla is now at the wheel of the #60 Ligier. Everyone out there in all four classes needs one last stop before we end this race.
Lights out on the safety car, so, we'll go back to green, with Dane Cameron at the controls. Pippo Derani passes Ricky Taylor. Pippo Derani cannot be stymied by Tom Long in the #70 Mazda. The GT cars are stacked up! Can John Edwards fight around the Ferrari? He tries outside of the Risi Ferrari as Joey Hand follows through in the Ford. A couple other cars run wide. The Corvette's are in the fight, too. The Corvette of Milner/Garcia gets a run on Joey Hand, while Alessandro Balzan has to take evasive action. Oivier Pla has gone off the road, scrambling for grip! Pla made the right move, but got way out in the dirt! On the gas, on the brake, release the brake.
Edwards and Hand continue to scuffle. Lawson Aschenbach is running well, but has his hands full with Alessandro Balzan's Ferrari. Aschenbach has less fuel than others in GTD. Balzan runs inside. The #55 Mazda with Jonathan Bomarito driving, he's doing very well. #2 of Pippo Derani, is stopped on course. A big plume of smoke. They were trying for their third endurance race victory of the year. But, they won't get it today. Toni Vilander was the Scuderia Corsa car that made a move. But, for Derani, he has to be crushed that he's out of this race. No three-peat in the enduros for ESM. Based on earlier pace, he was close. Very disappointing for ESM. He was hoping for a great last stint.
We could get back to green, very, very soon, as we close in on the final hour of this race. Mechanical failure ends ESM's day at The Glen. Electronic issues, more specifically. No indication of a failure, vias the telemetry. They led at the halfway mark at least. We are back to green! Dane Cameron rolls into the throttle. Bomarito will apply the blowtorch to Barbosa. Corvette has struggled, opening the door for Ford to capitalize. The repaving has made this speed palace, very quick. We will soon be into the final hour of this race. Lawson Aschenbach leads GT Daytona over a fellow Audi and the Ferrari.
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