Legge and Klingman still battle each other. Andy Lally started the Acura. The #29 Montaplast Land Motorsports Audi leads GTD. The best of the Mercedes AMG GT3's is the #50 WeatherTech Riley Motorsports entry with Gunnar Jeanette driving at the moment, alongside Cooper MacNeil, Shane van Gisbergen from Australian (the Aussie Supercars veteran who has also now become quite the talent in a sports car), and Thomas Jaeger of Germany, another young GT racing standout. Matteo Cressoni has taken over the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488. Rolf Ineichen is the top Lamborghini in the #11 Grasser Racing entry. Seb Morris is extending his lead. He's got over 20 seconds in hand over his team mate, Christian Fittipaldi as we have run 100 laps, 356 miles already.
Jeff Gordon is matching Christian Fittipaldi's pace, but Seb Morris is quicker than both of them. If we carry on at this pace, we might get into the distance record territory. But the weather forecast may not permit that. Rain might hit tonight at a quarter to 11 tonight. Seb Morris has to weave his way past a couple GTD cars. The Turner Motorsports BMW and the Dream Racing Lamborghini. Seb Morris has to get used to this position, in a Prototype car, with lots of traffic around. He's used to racing GT3 cars and dodge GT4 entries. But, there are 20 GT3 spec cars now having to be negotiated by a Prototype. As many GT Daytona cars went through the chicane, Seb Morris went straight on through the chicane, up on the tri oval, down the back straight.
It used to be, that if you blew the Bus Stop chicane, you had to come to a complete stop. That rule does not seem to be in effect in 2017. Seb Morris has lost time, and his gap has been cut down slightly. Action Express could be coming towards the end of their fuel window, and we'll have to see what the Konica Minolta team can do. The #2 ESM Nissan DPi pits. Fuel, tires, and a go fast energy drink for Scott Sharp. Some argy bargy between the #67 Ford and one of the Acura's, the #86 machine. Ryan Briscoe is at the wheel of the #67. The two Ford's still lead James Calado in the Ferrari 488 with it's 3.9 liter twin turbo V8 engine, as opposed to the 3.5 liter twin turbo V6 in the Ford.
All Ford GT's are in the top six spots. Seb Morris will be into the pit lane soon. But first, the sister Action Express Cadillac makes a stop. No driver change for the Mustang Sampling machine. The #10 Cadillac is in. Jeff Gordon will hand over to Max "The Axe" Angelelli, for his first stint of this race, but perhaps one of his last stints as a driver, as he will retire from racing after the Rolex 24. Sticker tires for Max Angelelli, as the #85 JDC Miller machine also pits. So does the #90 car. Renger van der Zande out, and in, Rene Rast. New tires and fuel. #31 is in for fuel, tires, and a driver change. Eric Curran takes over from Seb Morris. Curran stalls the engine. This is going to be costly for the #31 team.
Something might be wrong with #31 as the crew pulls it behind the wall. They pulled it way behind the wall to it's garage bay, pushed it with six men with a running start, before the car re-fired again. The #52 Ligier for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has spun. Jose Guttierez is at the wheel right now. There are no rules that say you have to shut the car off in the pit lane. It was a fluke incident with the #31, but you can be sure that Action Express and Konica Minolta Racing will be watching out for those big 6.2 liter Cadillac V8's so they don't stall. We are 108 laps, 384 miles into this race. Spencer Pigot and Ben Hanley run fourth and fifth in the overall right now.
Close action between the GT Daytona and Prototype Challenge cars. We follow the progress of the #50 Mercedes AMG GT3. Whoops! The #26 Prototype Challenge car for BAR1 Motorsports has spun. It has spun right at the Bus Stop chicane. Tom Papadopoulos at the wheel of it presently. He did not hit the wall, but a Lamborghini did have to take evasive action. These Prototype Challenge machines are in their final appearance here at the Daytona 24 Hours, as they are an eight year old car, essentially, having been introduced in 2009 during the old American Le Mans Series. Eric Curran is not matching Fittipaldi or Angelelli on lap times.
Oh dear! Another monstrous wreck! It involves the third place GT Daytona Porsche! This is the #73 Park Place entry that we spoke of so much earlier in the race, which has had a most massive accident in the chicane with a Prototype Challenge car! Full course yellow here, folks. It's the Park Place machine, and the #8 Starworks car, the pink car. The #911 Porsche factory car pitted. Dirk Werner, out, and in, Fred Makowiecki. The #70 Mazda came in, shut the engine off, and plugged a data cable into the car. The Prototype Challenge car #26 that spun, is now in the lane. Trent Hindman will replace Tom Papadopoulos for this upcoming stint.
We now know it was John Falb at the wheel of car #8 and Matthew McMurry in #73 who had this coming together. Matt McMurry had a double impact. Let's watch in replay. Falb spins off into the grass. McMurry, meanwhile, tries to pass Falb on the inside, can't make the corner, and absolutely spears the car, into the tire wall! Full speed ahead, and... crash! That was ugly. Patrick Lindsey and Jorg Bergmeister, will share the #73 through the balance of the 2017 season. McMurry was an innocent bystander. We are under full course yellow. We have been under green for the last hour and 20 minutes. This is the third yellow flag of the race so far.
We could see GT pit stops at this time. The #98 Aston Martin is 25th in GT Daytona, but back out on the speedway. It's lost 40 some odd laps. Christian Fittipaldi leads this race by 2.8 seconds. Max Angelelli is second, with Eric Curran in third. Three Cadillac's in the top three. The #51 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 goes behind the wall, after Alessandro Pier Guidi put it on pole. Rino Mastronardi of Italy, was at the controls when the car went to the garage. There could be another car headed to the garages. The #8 car is limping, with damage, back into pit lane.
Both the #5 and #10 Cadillac DPi's are getting fueled up. But, the engine cover comes off the back of #5. Could there be a problem? The #8 overshot it's pit box. The #10 is back out on the track to keep pounding out laps. But, now, more trouble for the #5 as the bonnet and the rear wing assembly both get removed from the car. They are reinstalling the engine cover, as the queue of cars begins to move signaling the pits becoming open again. There's a fuel spill at the #88 Starworks pit. Sean Rayhall pitted in the second Starworks car. #5 is back on track. The #8 car went right through the pits, and the rear wing is totally askew on the car. Did he miss his pit stall? It could be. The pit exit was closed while the safety car was lapping. The #8 crew was waving him in. The brake lights on the #5 car were not working.
John Falb ended up arriving at Daytona on crutches after a skiing accident. He has to be on crutches to get to the car. He is nursing the skiing injury. Pit stop time for GT class cars. GTD and GTLM cars in the lane. Marcel Fassler takes over the #4 Corvette from Tommy Milner. All four Ford GT's came into the pits for fuel and tires. The last one to leave was the last one into it's box, the #68 car. The #8 car went back to the garage. It only has one rear taillight working. We are just transitioning into darkness with the lights on around Daytona International Speedway. If you like cars new and shiny, this Rolex 24 is your race.
We watch the crocodile behind the safety car, come through NASCAR turn four. The taillights and rear lights on the #5 Action Express Cadillac were not working properly. The caution timing was a happy accident for car #5. Cadillac has dominated the first four or so hours of this race, as we are into full darkness now. We are back to green. Cautions breed cautions. Lets hope for a long green flag run. The Porsche #911 and the #48 Lamborghini are in the pit lane. Fred Makowiecki is serving a penalty for a transgression of some kind under the safety car. This is actually Laurens Vanthoor's first appearance in a U.S. sports car race after having so much success in Europe.
The Ford GT's are all over Giancarlo Fisichella in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari. Three wide on the back straight between one of the RLL BMW M6's, the factory Porsche GT Team Porsche RSR, and the Land Motorsports Montaplast Audi! Oh man! Matteo Cressoni is at the wheel of the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488, the defending champions of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in the GT Daytona class. Thomas Jaeger, Jesse Krohn, and Niclas Jonsson are next in the queue. Mercedes, BMW, Porsche. The two Acura NSX's are ninth and tenth in GTD. Katherine Legge driving the #93, and Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the #86.
The sole surviving Lexus RC F #15 is still in this one. They are 12th in class with Robert Alon at the controls. We also see a spin for the #46 Ebimotors Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Emmanuel Collard, a veteran, is driving, but he missed the chicane is at the top of the banking. It's a cold night in Florida, and will only get colder tonight. The #46 Lamborghini is making it's way back to pit lane, or trying to. Oh no. The #911 Porsche factory car is back in the penalty box, again. Frederic Makowiecki has just done his second stop. Meanwhile, at the front, Max Angelelli is quicker than Eric Curran. We have a battle royal between the two Cadillac's. Max Angelelli wants to go out on a high. The #22 ESM Nissan taps the #52 PR1 Ligier into a spin, right in front of Max Angelelli!
Michael Guasch is at the controls of the #52. Jonathan Bomarito has a quick pit stop. A penalty is assessed for Bomarito. We've had a swath of penalties. Improper wave by for #55. The #8 car will serve a ten minute penalty for hitting the #73. More issues for the #46 Ebimotors entry. It pitted, and has been in trouble since. Emanuele Busnelli is at the controls. Fred Makowiecki has a second penalty for not serving the first one he was called in for properly. Rolf Ineichen and Lawson Aschenbach scuffle for position, as Eric Curran is flying! New fast lap for Curran at 1:36.793. That's quicker than the pole time at 1:36.903. We're cooking, here at the Rolex 24!
Curran is closer behind new leader Max Angelelli. Welcome to the future of Prototype racing. The #61 Lamborghini spins. Roberto Pampanini is at the controls. The #55 Mazda has also just been black flagged. Rene Rast has been strong in the #90 Visit Florida Multimatic Riley. 1:36.923 is the fastest lap for Max Angelelli. Rene Rast has run a best lap of 1:39.183. The #55 Mazda is having cockpit issues. A mechanic is zip tying a piece down inside the cockpit. The sister car #70 will also pit soon. The #55 did the improper wave around, because Spencer Pigot could not hear the team on the radio.
Radio issues are things IMSA does not mess with. The Cadillac's continue to lead.
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