Six hours to go, as we are under another caution shortly after 8:30 A.M. Ricky Taylor leads the safety car crocodile. 491 laps complete (1,748 miles). Some cars are catching up to the safety car. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari has a quick off and on due to understeer. Cadillac remains 1-2. But, the #90 Multimatic Riley has continued to charge. There's more stress on the Cadillac than there is on the Riley. Think about this for a second. If you wanted to buy a secondhand prototype race car, (say for vintage races), would you buy the Cadillac, or the Riley? Yours truly, might buy the Riley because it's been cared for slightly better. One pre-owned race car, only used for the weekend. We are into daylight here at Daytona International Speedway.
This is the 14th full course yellow of the race. Giancarlo Fisichella is in fifth place, in GTLM. Both the leading and second place Cadillac's are in the pits, and many other cars are also taking advantage of the yellow to pit. A driver change in the #10 Cadillac, as now, the #5 Cadillac has taken the lead in pit lane. There was an issue for #10. Joao Barbosa leads Ricky Taylor, and he almost ended up going slow out of the lane. The GT Daytona teams are having to be careful with the traction control. Anti lock brakes are also taking a beating. Both Continental and Michelin have had a hard time getting their tires up to temperature. The trouble is, if you don't scrub in the wets and get rid of the silica based release agents (a non stick solution), the cars will slide all over the road.
Prototypes are not getting much mechanical grip and not much aero help unless they are driving faster. The #911 Porsche is in pit lane. This is the GTLM class leader. It is GT pit stop time under yellow. Ford #66 and Corvette #3 have been serviced, as the Corvette nearly came together with Mercedes #33. #66, #3, #62, #911, and #912, is the top five in GT Le Mans. No tire warmers are allowed in IMSA. The tires are stone cold. Tire blankets or tire ovens would help warm the tires and also the wheel rim which would radiate heat. The Bus Stop chicane is closed right now.
The #26 Prototype Challenge car that brought out our current yellow, has been repaired. Joao Barbosa is back in the race lead at this stage. Scott Sharp pits the #2 Nissan DPi and is back on the lead lap. The Nissan DPi is built by Ligier. Loic Duval in the #81 Oreca is the best of the Oreca's but is sixth in Prototype and way down in 14th in the overall. The global P2 cars are quick, but have had their problems. Joao Barbosa leads the field back to green flag racing as one of the GTD cars goes off the road at the International Horseshoe. Some contact headed towards the kink, has dislodged and let loose some bodywork from one of the cars.
Cadillac is slow right now, but we see the #88 Prototype Challenge car for Starworks, spun around. This team's dreadful race, continues. The car is fourth in Prototype Challenge, pretty much the last car in the category. Toni Vilander in the #62 Ferrari has gone past the #10 Cadillac. Is Ricky Taylor missing a gear, or having trouble shifting the car? A major wiggle for the #911 Porsche. In the meantime, now the #8 Starworks PC car spins! No replays, folks. Both Starworks machines have taken a turn on the whirlygig.
Car #26 takes a penalty and the #28 Alegra Motorsports Porsche was also off the road earlier. The #90 car has now caught the #10. Toni Vilander has been passed by the #10 Cadillac again. Deja vu. Renger van der Zande cannot pass the Ferrari. Tire temperature is the trouble. In GT Daytona it is Acura #93 vs. Audi #57. Ryan Hunter-Reay in the #86 Acura leads the #33 Mercedes with Adam Christodoulou at the controls, by three seconds. Apologies, chaps. I am just as confused as Graeme Goodwin from IMSA Radio is. It is Andy Lally in the sister #93 Acura who is leading the aforementioned #33 Benz.
Sebastien Bourdais is sixth overall in the #66 Ford GT. The #2 ESM Nissan is not back on the lead lap. Renger van der Zande gets sidways through the first turn. Max Angelelli is lapping quicker than Joao Barbosa. The top five in GTLM are separated by less than five seconds. In GTD, the top five are separated by less than ten seconds. The top five in GTLM are Ford, Porsche, Ferrari, Porsche, Chevrolet. The top speeds are really fast, even in the wet. This is half dry/half wet, and that's even more of a risk than full wet conditions on the road. It's hard to pick your braking point. Toni Vilander in the #62, slides wide, and Laurens Vanthoor drives around him. Check that, it's Patrick Pilet passing Toni Vilander.
Sebastien Bourdais is moving ahead. Drivers are full tilt on the banking, but in the corners, there is no touching the brakes in the wet. They are letting the cars coast through the corners. The wet makes a race mentally demanding and less physically demanding. Vilander sticks a pass on Pilet in the West Horseshoe. Sebastien Bourdais continues to lead in GT Le Mans. We keep an eye on Toni Vilander. Ford #66 will lap Ford #68 in the hands of Stefan Mucke in seventh. Patrick Pilet and Laurens Vanthoor will pass by both Stefan Mucke and Tony Kanaan in the European based Ford GT's. Renger van der Zande will bring the #90 car to pit lane for fuel. He may stay in the car, or allow Rene Rast to take over.
The #86 Acura NSX has been at the sharp end for a number of hours. One or either of them have been running in the top three. One of the Starworks entries comes back to the race. Max Angelelli continues to chase Joao Barbosa. Angelelli goes around the #26 PC car, now in the hands of Johnny Mowlem. No one is really in control of this race. The #90 car is not quick enough to keep up with the leading Cadillac's. Those two are going to go as fast as they can, and see if advantages fall into their hands. #912 passes #911 for position in GTLM. Another spin for the Starworks car, as the leaders are together in the hairpin. They head to the West Horseshoe.
Max Angelelli is closing on Joao Barbosa. Angelelli does not want another second at Daytona, in his final career race. The #98 Aston Martin V8 Vantage is 18th in class and 41st overall, with Marco Sorenson at the wheel of it. They've had a fraught race for sure. The Aston Martin ran as high as second in GT Daytona before hitting trouble. Tommy Milner puts the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3 down another lap. Max Angelelli is absolutely flooring it right now. Matt Bell has done great things when he's been at the wheel of the #57 Audi along with team mates Lawson Aschenbach, Andrew Davis, and Robin Liddell. Both Starworks cars have rejoined the race.
A local yellow flag is out somewhere. The leaders lap past the #22 ESM Nissan Ligier DPi. Barbosa and Angelelli are still scrapping. Search for grip on the outside line where there's rubber laid down. The rain has stopped. We might just have teams rolling the dice and going to slick tires, very soon. The track might still be greasy out there. If you are struggling to get temperature into wet tires, trying to do the same with slicks, will be even harder. Renger van der Zande came to the pits, and now, he's off the road on his out lap. He's gone off at the International Horseshoe. He's right on the edge of the road! Wow.
Scott Sharp is now on the same lap in the #2 Nissan DPi as van der Zande is. van der Zande has no grip anyplace. There used to be a concrete wall in turn one on the road course, but it is no longer there. Alessandro Balzan closes on Andy Lally for fourth in GT Daytona, in a fight for position in class. Acura vs. Ferrari. Matt Bell is still chasing Adam Christodoulou as #88 spins again, at the same spot it did before, with James Dayson at the controls. What a pear shaped race for these folks. Max Angelelli wants to dive down the inside of Joao Barbosa, but there is no room for him to do so. Cadillac has history at Daytona, going back to their early LMP program back in 2000. A lot of testing of the Northstar LMP was done at Daytona.
Max Angelelli was one of the drivers of the LMP Cadillac. The pace is coming down. Laps are being run in the 1:53-1:54 range. Adam Christodoulou has become a very solid endurance sports car racing driver. He has fended off the challenge of Matt Bell and is close behind the leader in class. Adam Christodoulou raced in 2010 in the old Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Alessandro Balzan passes Andy Lally for fourth in GT Daytona. Alessandro Balzan is one of those guys who doesn't say a lot. He just gets in the car and does the driving. Balzan goes by the #3 Corvette in GT Le Mans as well.
GTD, GTLM, Prototype, three wide in the tri oval. The Corvette of Jan Magnussen passed Balzan at that three wide moment. Joao Barbosa and Max Angelelli get even closer together. Car #90 running third in the overall is about to be lapped by the leading Cadillac's. Barbosa has to drive offline, to get past two GT Daytona cars into turn one on the road course! Wow! Angelelli tries the inside. No dice. Angelelli can't pass Barbosa. The Nissan DPi is off the road. That's car #2, which has picked up one of the Continental Tire billboards as well, carrying it on the front of the car. He loses the billboard, but swerves right in front of the #19 GTLM BMW M6! Wow! Whoever is driving #19 had to take evasive action.
The billboard is on driver's right in the short chute between turns five and six. So, the end of hour 19 sees a little drama.
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