Whether the #22 needs a flatbed or a tow back to the garage, remains to be seen. Brendon Hartley had an opportunity to win two 24 Hour races in the month of January. But, that will not happen now, even though he did win his first race in a Porsche GT car in Dubai. Car #10 is struggling to gain grip, and it was the same issue for Hartley. Brendon Hartley did not hit the wall, and was not hit, but had zero grip. That is the peril for going for a tire change, no matter whether they are slicks or wets. Those were Continental wet tires. You are damned if you do, damned if you don't, insofar as tires. This is the eighth full course yellow of the race. The track temperature is 52 degrees Fahrenheit. Stone cold, and wet. No wonder there's no grip, because you can't get heat into the tires.
The tires won't work if they are so cold. We look again at Brendon Hartley's shunt. He was off once before, and driving in the wet. He's on the high line. The car wiggles, comes down the track, trying to change his line, went back up abruptly, and wham! He smashed the wall. Hartley changed his line. The blue Racer's Group Porsche had zero to do with the accident. Hartley was fighting the car, and was too high on the banking for the speed he was going. The car was out of his control, but not fully. What a bear. Joao Barbosa came to the pits for a short pit stop after the yellow. That stop is done and dusted. Ricky Taylor stayed out. A number of Prototypes are pitting.
They are all the new generation global Prototypes. We see the #13, #52, #81, and #90. The #55 Mazda also pits. When the #22 hit the wall, it damaged the steering. He did not lose the power. He felt the car was out of his control. The #22 did not make a massive hit. The steering arm was broken, on the left, and then, there was no steering. Pit stop time for the GTLM cars and GTD cars. The #3 Corvette is one of the GTLM cars in the lane. The #3 car did a full brake change. James Calado, and then, Joey Hand, will be in the class lead in GTLM. The #54 CORE Autosport Porsche 911 pits as well.
There was a brake change done on that car. We should have a green flag next time by. Brake pads were changed on the #3 Corvette. The brake discs and pads were worn, but the team won't have to make another change. The #991 Porsche is also making a stop. The #75 Mercedes AMG GT3 is also in pit lane right now. #75 led GTD briefly before being behind the wall as we go back to green flag racing. Joao Barbosa is now a full lap behind Ricky Taylor. We have one car on the lead lap, the lead #10 Cadillac. Renger van der Zande is right on Joao Barbosa's tail. The #57 Stevenson Motorsport Audi is leading GT Daytona at this time.
Both Acura NSX's are running well in class. The #93 is second in class. Andy Lally is driving. Matt Bell is at the wheel of the class leading Audi. A spin, right in front of the leaders! It's the third place Prototype Challenge runner, car #26. Tom Papadopoulos is at the wheel. Three wide, almost four wide on the banking. Gently, boys! That might not work. Patricio O'Ward in the leading PC car #38 has completed 300 laps so far, which is better than anybody thought they'd do. 300 laps, (1,068 miles). Fred Makowiecki is slicing through traffic. H's third in class right now. Andy Lally in the #93 Acura gets shuffled around a bit.
Lally is making his way past the #75 SunEnergy Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. Boris Said is currently driving. The #55 Mazda is back on track, with Jonathan Bomarito at the wheel. Dane Cameron still has damage on the #31 Cadillac, which holds the fastest lap of the race. That car of course, had right front suspension issues. The team car, now holds the fastest lap (car #5). It was during the early drizzle at 8PM or so in the evening. The #70 Mazda has had a transmission issue. The #15 Lexus is back in pit lane, still missing it's right rear quarter panel. It can't be wet enough that the car is throwing spray. But the marshals just won't worry about the damage. In the old days, officials didn't really worry about missing bodywork.
I remember, years ago, there was a car, a production based car that ran in the Rolex 24, that had lots of damage. The whole hood was gone, and the crew made do with having the bare frame rails and the engine, and made makeshift headlights, by gaffer taping two flashlights on top of the cowl. We've got thirteen and a half hours to go in this Rolex 24. Everyone, bar Lamborghini, has led in GT Daytona, on the manufacturer's side. More slithering and sliding onto the banking on the oval. That's the #96 BMW and the #11 Lamborghini. Jens Klingman wants by Mirko Bortolotti in the Lamborghini.
Thirteen and a half hours still to go. Klingman makes it past the green Lamborghini and now tries to challenge Alessandro Balzan in the #63 Ferrari. Mirko Bortolotti is actually working on racing with Balzan. This is a four-car battle for position in GTD. Klingman and Balzan have fought off Bortolotti. Bortolotti makes the pass. Thomas Jaeger in the #50 Mercedes is coming through the field. Adam Christodoulou is driving, in the #33 Mercedes. Christodoulou is sharing that car with Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Mario Farnbacher. More rain to come looking again at the radar.
The Corvette's are racing each other for position. Jan Magnussen is running behind the Ford GT of Billy Johnson. Right now in the overall, Ricky Taylor leads Joao Barbosa, Renger van der Zande, Ryan Dalziel, and Dane Cameron. Ford GT's #66 and #69 are 1-2 in GTLM followed by the Porsche #911 with Frederic Makowiecki at the controls. Laurens Vanthoor is in the second car behind Makowiecki, followed by Ryan Briscoe in the third Ford, followed by Giancarlo Fisichella, Billy Johnson, and Jan Magnussen. Christopher Mies is back in the lead of GT Daytona in the #29 Audi passing Andy Lally in the #93 Acura, followed by Matt Bell in the Stevenson Audi #57, who is pursued by Jeff Segal in the #86 Acura and the #33 Mercedes of Adam Christodoulou.
The Turner Motorsports #96 BMW M6 is in the lane. The #22 ESM Nissan does have a broken steering arm. That crash was a racing deal. Billy Johnson runs wide, and Jan Magnussen catches up to him. The top eight in the field are separated by 25 seconds for GTLM. Eight cars are on the lead lap in GTLM. Nine cars on the lead lap in GTD, and only the leading #10 Cadillac DPi the only Prototype on the lead lap. We might be close to or have beaten a record of different makes leading in classes, and that has probably happened in GTD. Aston Martin and Lamborghini were the only two that have not led GT Daytona, but both have run in second place.
Renger van der Zande passes Joao Barbosa for second. The #38 Prototype Challenge leading car pits. Fuel and tires for the #38 car. No driver change. Wow. All five Prototype Challenge cars are back circulating even though the Starworks cars had lengthy pit stops. The PC cars could be eligible for the new 24 Hour Proto series. We've got a dozen or so of those cars racing in a one make series. There was a PC support race at Le Mans, but more at another race at Silverstone. The #2 Nissan DPi is back in pit lane for scheduled service. Scott Sharp will take over the car. Ergonomically, these new DPi cars are very tight. It is hard to fold a driver into these cars with the small door and window.
The #10 Cadillac pits, and Max Angelelli will take over from Ricky Taylor. New wet tires are on the car too. There's tread on the old ones, and steam coming off means they have temperature in them.
With the cold ambient temperatures, that's why you see steam coming off the tires when they are changed. The #48 Lamborghini pits. Continental has a single compound wet tire. It has to work in the cold, but also, in warmer, spring shower temps you find in Florida, most of the time. Max Angelelli has taken over the #10 Cadillac, and then, Barbosa, and van der Zande will pit soon. With the curved windshields in the DPi cars, it is horrendous vision for the drivers, while in the GT cars, they are getting clear, HD vision. The Prototype drivers are dealing with dreadful window conditions, just like when your windows at home, frost up in the cold. The wipers are more efficient on the shape of the production car windshields.
The #22 Nissan DPi is still in the garage. The 3.0 liter V6 in this car, will also be used by the CLM team for ByKolles in the LMP1 class in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Nissan supplies four different customer engines to sports car racing teams. There are two V8's specifically for LMP3 and LMP2, but they are entirely different motors. You then have the GT3 spec twin turbo V6 which is being used by ESM, and another different motor for the ByKolles car. There's a 3.0 liter racing motor, a V6, built with Cosworth, and then, a 3.8 liter V6 for the GT-R/this protoype. LMP3 is the VK50, a 5.0 liter motor in LMP3, a 4.5 liter in LMP2. So that would be the VK45. The rain looks to be getting worse. While the repairs finish up, Johannes van Overbeek will take over the car.
The 3.8 V6 Nismo motor is fired up, and van Overbeek brings the car back. It is now 38th overall, 26 laps down. 299 laps for ESM. 325 laps for the leaders. Barbosa and van der Zande will both pit in short order while Dane Cameron in the #31 Cadillac is in the lane now. Eric Curran takes over. The #55 Mazda is also pitting. Spencer Pigot will take over the #55 from Jonathan Bomarito. The Mazda has tear off's on it's windscreen. You want a breakdown of which Nissan racing engines are which, here it is.
LMP3: VK50 V8 5.0 liter V8 420 horsepower
LMP2: VK45 V8 4.5 liter V8 (used in Asian Le Mans Series, bizarrely with more power but less capacity in cubic centimeters).
DPi: VR38 V6 3.8 liter twin turbo V6 (also in the Renault RS01) 550 hoirsepower
LMP1: VRX30A 60 degree 3.0 liter V6 with at least 700 horsepower.
So, there's your Nissan sports car engine clarification. Drivers are still very concerned about driving in the wet with bad visibility and slick, treacherous track conditions.
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