In Prototype Challenge and GTD, one Silver driver has to drive five hours minimum, and a two hour base drive time for everyone. We have completed another hour, and begin the 17th hour of the race as car #8 pitted, and Ben Keating is now driving. Keating of course, is doing double duty. He hopes to have two Rolex's if that's possible. Eight hours to go. Daytona International Speedway is soaked. Members of the ESM crew are trying to get some Z's or zeds and put in some sleep. It is 6:15 A.M. and we've been under yellow for over an hour. It is easier to restart after yellows as opposed to red flags. Get rid of standing water. Rain needs to ease and eventually stop. The level of water is massive enough to not race safely.
Into the pits comes the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE. James Calado is out of the Ferrari and there has been a driver change. The front brake rotors and pads are being changed, as are the rear brakes. Rotors changed on the front, and pads only on the back. The twin turbocharged 3.9 liter V8 of the 488 sounds great. Dirk Mueller and Andy Priaulx aboard two of the Ford GT's stay out, and they are on the 33rd lap of their fuel run. Jordan Taylor in the leading Cadillac is on his 34th lap. There's too much aquaplaning on the Bus Stop and out of turn six. Giancarlo Fisichella is now driving the Ferrari.
The #31 Cadillac is now pitting as well. Jonathan Bomarito will take over the red #55 Mazda RT24P as the car is in the lane for service. The driver's door isn't latching well. The Mazda is left hand drive, while some of the other Prototypes are right hand drive. The #5 and #10 Cadillac's both come in for service. Race leader in the lane. Ricky Taylor, out. Jordan Taylor, in. This of course, is Max Angelelli's final ride at Daytona, and Jeff Gordon is also in the driver lineup. #5 is done, but the #10 car stalls. Ricky Taylor is in the #10 car. Jordan Taylor just got out of the car.
The team push starts the car. Now, I know what you're thinking. "The rules say you can't push start the car!" Well, if you politely ask the marshals for a dispensation to push start it, you can. We have one of the track vehicles on the speedway with a jet dryer, blowing the water aside. The rain is easing up. It is only sprinkling. But, some of the track will need treatment as the GTLM class leading Ford GT's #66 and #69 are in the lane. Scheduled driver changes. Sebastien Bourdais gets into the #66. Dirk Mueller gets out. Not sure who is in car #69. The jet dryers are at the entrance to the Bus Stop. James French has spun the #38 Prototype Challenge leading car in the International Horseshoe.
It looks like car #90 has assumed the race lead. James French leads Prototype Challenge by a long way. Richard Lietz in the #912 Porsche leads GTLM. GTD has Oswaldo Negri Jr. leading in the #86 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX. The #2 ESM car is back on the lead lap. The aforementioned GTD leader is pitting now. The #27 Dream Racing Lamborghini and the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari is too. Down and away, with a driver change. The #23 Audi is also pitting. #86 is being held at the end of pit lane, briefly. No. It was a different car. #86 stays ahead of #63. The #29 Audi is being shown on pit lane, with Jules Gounon currently driving.
Ryan Hunter-Reay is at the wheel of the #86 Acura. A spin in the wet (live, not a replay), for the Prototype Challenge #8. Chris Cumming loses the car into the horseshoe. Wow. Peter Baron and his team have had the most star crossed race at this year's Rolex 24. Chris Cumming has to get the crunched pink car back into the lane for repairs, again. The rear wing is askew and the rear bodywork is in tatters. This all happened as we remain under full course yellow. Cars are instructed to bypass the Bus Stop because the track is still being cleaned up. One jet dryer is out there. The rain is getting heavier again and won't quit.
We will not get a wave by yet. We have been under yellow for almost an hour and a half. Teams have to keep a sharp eye out for fuel usage and driving times, as the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 comes to the pit lane. The #96 car is eighth in class in GT Daytona as the crew checks it over. Fuel going in, but no sign of a tire change. Maxime Martin is currently at the wheel and he'll know the conditions. Maxime Martin is a real rainmeister for sure. The #15 Lexus RC F is the first car behind the safety car, and we have the Audi R8 as the safety car, so the IMSA marshals must have refueled it and it is ready to pace the field again.
The #29 Audi loses a lap on it's pit stop. Six cars in GT Daytona are on the lead lap. Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3 is the new GTD class leader ahead of Andrew Davis at the keyboard of the #57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8. The two Acura NSX's follow. Katherine Legge, driving car #93 and of course, Ryan Hunter-Reay, driving car #86. Christina Nielsen is next in the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari which is the last car on the lead lap. One lap down is the #28 Alegra Motorsports Porsche with Michael Christensen. One lap down also is Jules Gounon in the #29 Audi, followed by Bryce Miller in the #48 Lamborghini, and the #96 BMW of Jens Klingman. Check that. That's possibly Maxime Martin, unless Klingman did get in on the previous pit stop. Not sure.
Christina Nielsen may need more seat time. Sam Bird took over the #63 car. This is the first time Sam Bird has driven a GT3 spec car. He has driven the more powerful GTLM or GTE car, and he was very successful in open wheel racing too. Once again, we have seven and a half hours remaining as we go back to green flag racing here at "The World Center of Racing", Daytona International Speedway. The cars are headed to turn one. A battle rages in GTLM between Ford, Corvette, and Porsche. The #15 Lexus may be in the pits. We are under green at 7AM. We were under yellow for an hour and 41 minutes. The sky is getting a little brighter. The sad moment at Le Mans is when the garage door comes down. Here at Daytona, the sad moment is when the fuel rig is dismantled.
It is game over for the #50 WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3. They are out of the race. Get the crewmen a warm breakfast and they can start packing up for the trek back to the shop to get ready for the 12 Hours of Sebring next month. Not much sun will be out, but the eastern sky is becoming more blue. It looks as if the #63 Ferrari is going to serve a penalty. Another car is also headed for pit lane. The #61 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Grasser Racing, currently in the hands of Rolf Ineichen. We have a queue in the penalty box. #63 is released and #61 is serving a penalty now.
We have a new leader and Marc Goossens has lost time. The #5 Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque is the new leader. 449 laps, 1,598 miles. So, 1,600 miles have been run for all intents and purposes. Ricky Taylor is not too far away from the overall lead. Ryan Dalziel is fourth in the #2 Nissan DPi. The GTLM cars take up fourth through ninth, and the #55 Mazda is tenth in the hands of Jonathan Bomarito. The #81 Dragonspeed Oreca 07 passes the similar #85 JDC Miller machine. Ben Hanley gets past Misha Goikhberg. Richard Lietz goes past the Bus Stop and continues on the NASCAR banking. Filipe Albuquerque is taking the high line, with a 17 second lead margin over Ricky Taylor.
Taylor, meanwhile, has passed Marc Goossens. We will have official sunrise in eight minutes at 7:14 A.M. Eastern Time. The #29 Audi who has been through the wars, may have lost a lap when they decided to do a brake change. They have endured a puncture and a penalty, too. Jules Gounon still driving, and he is the son of former Formula 1 and sports car driver Jean Marc Gounon. 1-2 in GTD it is still Jereon Bleekemolen in the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3 ahead of the #57 Audi R8 of Andrew Davis. The Acura's still run third and fourth. Ryan Hunter-Reay still drives #86 and Graham Rahal took over the #93 from Katherine Legge. It may look like Oliver Gavin in the #4 Corvette is getting a spot back from the #62 Ferrari of Giancarlo Fisichella. Mike Rockenfeller is ahead, and can attack Fisichella. The #4 has had a litany of problems. Gavin is trying to work his way by a slower GTD Lamborghini.
Fred Makowiecki in Porsche #911 takes a spot away from the #68 Ford GT which is back out in the hands of Olivier Pla. Fisichella kicks up some mud on the apex of the Bus Stop. Dust? No, mud. #62 goes a tad deep. He's searching for grip in fourth in GTLM. The #29 Audi had a pad and rotor change which cost them a lap. Filipe Albuquerque seems content with the high, wide line, coming onto the oval, right against the concrete wall. There's superior grip even in the rain, on the top line. The track is very damp even though it is sprinkling. Fred Makowiecki is closing on Richard Lietz in GTLM. Makowiecki is going to take the lead and Lietz needs to stop soon because he has less fuel in the tank.
Makowiecki pulled away from Olivier Pla, and is the quickest driver, although Andy Priaulx in the #69 Ford is running very well, too. 2:01 for Ricky Taylor. 2:05 for the GTLM cars. Makowiecki had a great race in 2013 at Le Mans as an Aston Martin driver in the wet. But, he went off the road and clipped the barrier, turning the race pear shaped for the team. Misha Goikhberg has run wide through turn six in the #85 JDC Miller Oreca. The #22 ESM Prototype straight lines the chicane and it is many laps down. Brendon Hartley is in the car. He led the race earlier and spun on cold tires. He actually made contact with a GTD car and slammed the wall. Some argy bargy between the #93 Acura and the #29 Audi.
For the first time in a long while, someone has cut a lap below two minutes. 1:59.651 for Seb Morris in the #31 Cadillac. Morris is ninth in Prototype, and 19th overall. The leaders including the #10 Cadillac of Ricky Taylor, are lapping in the 2:01 range. The Porsche's leading GTLM are now separated by less than half a second headed through NASCAR turn four, onto the front straight. The gap between the two Porsche GT Team entries, has been closing rapidly, and now they are just a few car lengths apart. Mike Rockenfeller has the #3 Corvette in third spot. Olivier Pla in the #68 Ford GT is not as comfortable as he once was, as Giancarlo Fisichella in the #62 Ferrari 488 GTE works his way by. Pla has don a 31 lap stint, and his tires could be knackered.
Rockenfeller is on newer tires. 31 laps around Daytona equals 110 miles. Pla will hit the lane for a stop. Porsche is coming in soon, too. Richard Lietz does lead Fred Makowiecki. Prototype battles are heating up. 1:59.6 for Filipe Albuquerque, and 1:58.4 for Ricky Taylor. Seb Morris is down by 16 laps, but is running 3.5 second quicker than Albuquerque at 1:56.1. Stefan Mucke replaces Olivier Pla in the #68 Ford GT while the #69 entry was handed a drive through penalty. The windshield wiper blade is being changed on #68 as Pla almost missed his pit box. Pla had no handling and nearly took out the cones at the pit entry as his tires were indeed used up. Out of turn six, Fred Makowiecki has to check up, to avoid plowing into the #15 sole remaining Lexus RC F GT3!
The two Porsche's remain nose to tail. But, why didn't the Lexus driver stay on the high line, out of the way of the faster cars? A few drive through penalties have been assessed to Stefan Mucke, to Sam Bird, and to Andy Priaulx. Jeroen Bleekemolen leads GTD over Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, and Andrew Davis, followed by Michael Christensen in the #28 Porsche. Olivier Pla did not enter the lane correctly. He missed the timing beacon bollards at the start of the pit lane. But how can you see them if you can't see anything out of your windscreen? Poor old Seb Morris in the #31 Cadillac is slow in the International Horseshoe. Ryan Dalziel brings the #2 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan DPi into the pit lane. The #52 PR1/Mathiasen Ligier is also pitting.
Seb Morris is still moving, and it's not limping, but it isn't speeding along either. #2 was in fourth and had a quick pit stop. Scoring shows Ryan Dalziel in the car. Not the case. Someone else is in the car. The #911 Porsche pits, and Fred Makowiecki steps out, while Patrick Pilet seems to be taking over the wheel. Four tires, a driver change, fuel, and a replenish of the drink bottle. Seb Morris puts the #31 Cadillac back in the garage and to close out hour 17, speaking of Cadillac, there's a battle for the overall lead. Filipe Albuquerque has Ricky Taylor in hot pursuit.
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