Drama to start the 21st hour. The #55 Mazda is on fire coming down pit lane! This looks like an oil fire as the crewman with the fire bottle puts it out. The #90 Visit Florida Multimatic Riley was in the lane at the same time for slick tires. Rene Rast is now driving. It looks like it is game over for Mazda #55. Meanwhile, in the wars once again, it is the pink Starworks Prototype Challenge car. This is car #8 running fifth and last in class. Another full course yellow. The weather is a mixed bag at the moment. We are back under yellow and have more info (perhaps), on the fire, that has put Mazda Prototype #55 out of this race.
It's an oil fire, and the oil is still leaking. An oil line came off, or, something split in the engine itself. Game over for Mazda, even though they were running extremely well. They worked real hard and they de-tuned the cars for the race. Mazda #70 is still out there pounding around. There's a level of disappointment as IMSA officials still need to work out Balance of Performance for these brand new cars. It isn't realistic to have all of them be equal, right now. But, with GT Daytona, we have nine brands, and three new makes. We've had 15 leaders, and seven of the nine makes lead. Two of them (Aston Martin and Lamborghini), were as high as second in class. We have less than four hours to go, and we have two cars in the top four that aren't Cadillac's. The #90 Multimatic Riley is still in there. The fastest car does not always win.
If van der Zande had slowed down more, he wouldn't have had the drive through penalties he was assessed. The 11th place Lamborghini in GTD has a wobbly tire. It was not shredded. It was not flat. It was wobbly, and appeared more like an inner tube that you swim with at a beach or swimming pool, than a flat tire. Said wobbly tire, was changed. James Calado passes Joey Hand in GTLM. He did so just before the yellow appeared. The #68 Ford GT is back on the lead lap. James Calado, Joey Hand, Antonio Garcia, Dirk Werner, Harry Tincknell, and Billy Johnson. All those drivers are on the lead lap.
We've seen well over 50 lead changes in GT Daytona. Andy Lally leads the class in the #93 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX. Mario Farnbacher, Tom Dyer, Robin Liddell, Christopher Mies, and Sam Bird, they are the top six pilots in GT Daytona, all on the same lap. Scott Sharp has brought the #2 ESM Nissan DPi into the lane. The #33 Mercedes has run a fastest lap at 1:47.8, and they are close to the fastest lap which is 1:47.2. Balance of Performance with the GTD cars is very well matched. Cars make speed in different ways, but, the lap times are very close and very consistent. 21 cars within a second on a minute and six second lap. Wow!
A lot of the drivers are actually having a blast out there racing. These cars are all equal, being driven by different drivers, even though they are different cars. It's almost like a 1960s Formula Ford race. Pit stop time for GTD cars. Both Acura's are in. The Nissan and Mazda cars are being more conservative on their engine mapping to ensure reliability for the end of the race. For a brand new car, that's how things will work. ESM did the endurance races last year and went for wins. But this year, they are going for a full championship. Many course vehicles have been at NASCAR turn four. Loads of oil was chucked out of the Mazda when it caught fire.
All of the oil, may be on pit lane, when the motor was getting sick. Everyone has gone back to slick tires for the most part. We've seen all of the rain. Slick tires are the way to go, but watch out for lack of grip off the racing line. So much of this race has been in the wet, teams will have as many slick tires as they want. This is indeed a new era of IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. We are still cleaning the oil up from the Mazda. Porsche #912 pits for slick tires. No driver change. Four tires and fuel. Pits were open for everyone. The Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, and the pink Starworks car have pitted too. Kevin Estre is driving car #912.
The previous stop for that car was longer than expected. Maybe they've been working on the brakes, the Porsche GT Team. Jordan Taylor and Christian Fittipaldi are 1-2 on the restart. Jordan Taylor takes the lead. 551 laps (1,962 miles), completed. Four Prototypes lead six GTLM cars. Ferrari, Ford, Chevrolet, Porsche, the top four in GTLM. Alexander Sims is the only GTLM BMW M6 GT still in the race, and is seventh in class. Caution timing has not been good to BMW as far as getting their lap back. Porsche #912 may have had a penalty. It's still a mystery.
We have a lead change for GTLM. Joey Hand takes the lead from James Calado, as Pippo Derani pits for a drive through penalty. James French in the #38 Performance Tech Racing car, leads Prototype Challenge. It is the only PC car in the top 30. Marcel Fassler is gaining ground in the #4 Corvette moving from 40th overall to 25th. More issues for the #26 Prototype Challenge car, into the tire barriers. Trent Hindman goes wide on an outlap. A Corvette recovers from a spin at turn one. Trent Hindman won the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season opener the Friday before the Rolex 24 driving a Porsche Cayman GT4 Club Sport with co-driver, Cameron Castles. You will hear about that race in a highlight link. Stay tuned, later on.
Joey Hand now passes James Calado for the GTLM lead. In the dry, the Ford is superior. Not in the wet, though. So, the race could be coming back to Ford. Maybe the Porsche's have found an advantage in the. Marcel Fassler spun the #4 Corvette. He had run a 1:57.8 lap. Another yellow, as the Prototype Challenge car of Trent Hindman, needs to be rescued. Well, Hindman has now backed the car up. He is trying to drive the car across the infield grass and has to apply opposite lock, so he does not spin the automobile. This could be a quick yellow, thankfully. It will be a short yellow and the pits will be closed. The field bunches up behind the safety car and no wave by will be necessary.
Taylor, Fittipaldi, and Rast, the top three. It's hard not to be distracted by these chaps out on Lake Lloyd who are doing water hover boarding 20 feet in the air with water spraying out from underneath their hover boards to keep them suspended in the air. Pretty amazing. Again, in GTLM it's Hand, Calado, Garcia, Tincknell, the top four. Trent Hindman has brought his car to the lane, caked in mud. Johnny Mowlem will take over the car. The nose will be replaced and the mud will be cleaned off the car. We have a restart and are underway once again with the two Cadillac's still leading this motor race.
As the safety car entered pit lane, the leader, passed it. Now, will that mean a penalty for Ricky Taylor in the #10 Cadillac? We'll find out. James Calado and Antonio Garcia are left to scrap for second place as Joey Hand has put some daylight between himself in the Ford, and the Corvette/Ferrari scrum. The gap between Taylor and Fittipaldi is 2.8 seconds. Joey Hand puts a lap on the #911 Porsche with Dirk Werner at the controls. Hold on a second. Actually, it may have been Kevin Estre. He is in car #912. Jeff Gordon has only driven the #10 for two hours. Will he drive again? Or will he let Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor, and Max Angelelli keep driving? He might get in for one more stint later on.
Gordon has done his minimum drive time. Ricky Taylor and Jeff Gordon are both in pit lane and either of them might actually drive. Jeff Gordon has driven three stints. Joey Hand is being caught by James Calado. Antonio Garcia and Harry Tincknell are coming. So, the GTLM battle is heating up, as Mario Farnbacher still leads Robin Liddel in GTD. Sam Bird has also passed Liddell for second in class. Tom Dyer and Christopher Mies are right in there and so is Katherine Legge in the second Acura. Tom Dyer is making his debut in pro sports car racing. He started out in open wheel cars, and did race in Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. The top four GTLM cars are together, and yes, you could throw the proverbial blanket over them.
We work lap 557. 1,983 miles into the race. All four of the GTLM cars have been closing in on each other. How much fuel have these chaps saved? The fourth place car is not Harry Tincknell. It is actually the #67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe, tenth in GTLM, and 32nd in the overall. Tincknell is closing on Garcia. One of the Lamborghini's bails out of the way. That's the GRT Grasser entry. Ryan Briscoe might be a distraction to try and pull Harry Tincknell to the front group in GT Le Mans. Briscoe tries on Garcia, but can't pass. Ford has a slight advantage in the dry.
The nearer the sharp end you are in GTLM, pit stops will be close, because the drivers have been out for a range between 23 and 26 laps. The GTLM fight is still hot, even if the cameramen are showing us the battle between the Audi and the Acura in GTD. Come on, Mr. Director! Johnson seems to be ahead of Tincknell. Billy Johnson has indeed passed Tincknell. Those cars need to be confirmed across the timing beam at the end of sector one. Tincknell did pass Johnson, it appears. Calado drafts Hand on the back straight towards the Bus Stop.
No. This is in the tri oval. Calado's nipped him. It's a five car train (six cars) in GTLM. Wow! Four Ford's, a Corvette, and a Ferrari, which is at the head of the queue. Echoes of Le Mans last year, between Risi Competizione and CGR. Antonio Garcia has to pass Ryan Briscoe and get to Joey Hand. Briscoe is going to go on defense and protect Joey Hand. He'll be the wing man for his fellow Ford team mate. Hand is on the 31st lap of his stint. The leading Prototypes of Jordan Taylor and Christian Fittipaldi will pit. In fact, Fittipaldi is in the lane. Every second counts now with just over three hours left.
The #90 Riley Multimatic pits and so does the Stevenson Audi. Fuel only for car #90. The #81 DragonSpeed Prototype is also in. Nicolas Lapierre, out. Ben Hanley, in. The #10 Cadillac is in. Fuel only. No tires. No driver change. Rene Rast is in the #90 car, still third overall. Jordan Taylor extended his lead to 11.6 seconds under the caution. Before that, he was only 1.4 seconds ahead. Car #10 has an edge, and does so on fuel as well. The Wayne Taylor Racing crew had a longer stop than did the Action Express team.
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