Nick Heidfeld did bring in the Rebellion entry, and it is stationary in the lane. The #25 BMW M6 GT has rejoined the race. Dion von Moltke pits the Paul Miller Racing #48 Lamborghini. Ryan Dalziel ran a 1:57 flat last time around. There are alternator issues with the Rebellion machine. Most of the crew has headed to the paddock to fix the car. Another global spec LMP2 car, having issues. All cars are based on the same four chassis' in the Prototype class. But, the parts and pieces have had issues, although mechanically, the three Cadillac DPi-V.R machines have been running pretty well.
The two leaders in Prototype Challenge battle. But Sean Rayhall is about to go a lap down to James French. They battle through the Tower Turn. Katherine Legge in the #93 Acura NSX hits pit lane. She shares that car with Andy Lally and Mark Wilkins. Mario Farnbacher leads GT Daytona in the #33 Mercedes by over a minute from Christina Nielsen in the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488. Third in class is the #11 GRT Grasser Racing Lamborghini with Rolf Ineichen at the controls. Jules Gounon is fourth in the #29 Land Motorsports Audi, and in fifth in class is the #15 Lexus RC F GT3 in the hands of Robert Alon. The #55 Mazda RT-24P Prototype has made it's way back onto the track here at Sebring.
Mario Farnbacher pits the #33 Mercedes. All four tires are changed, and fuel is added. The poor blokes on the team are still working on the damaged #50 sister car. The #68 Ford GT has passed Mike Rockenfeller in the #3 Corvette. So, Olivier Pla is catching Scott Dixon and Joey Hand. Only five Prototypes are at the head of the field, and just two on the lead lap (the two Cadillac's). The gap is 20 seconds between the two of them. Traffic is playing a part, as always in endurance sports car racing. Jules Gounon battles Rolf Ineichen in GT Daytona, for third and fourth in class. Frankie Montecalvo has the #23 Alex Job Racing Audi R8 in 17th overall, and they have not had the best of races so far here at Sebring.
The competition is troublesome because if you lose ground, it is very hard to make it up again. The #29 Land Motorsports Audi R8 has been running up front all weekend. Christina Nielsen pits the #63 Ferrari 488 GT3 and relinquishes the GTD lead to Mario Farnbacher. Prototype lap time comparisons see the Cadillac's running in the 1:51 bracket while the Nissan DPi in the hands of Bruno Senna runs a 1:52.5, and the Rebellion Oreca with the Gibson lump, is in the 1:53s. Mike Conway in the third Cadillac is running in the 1:50 bracket, practically tearing it up, as he's the quickest of all in Prototype presently.
Ford has given us numerical symmetry on the GTLM timing screen, with #66, #67, and #68, all running together. That's Joey Hand, Scott Dixon, and Olivier Pla. Toni Vilander in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE is harrying the Ford trio. Vilander got around Mike Rockenfeller in the Corvette. The two Porsche's are still sixth and seventh in GT Le Mans. Joey Hand has edged away from Scott Dixon by three seconds or so. Toni Vilander is running faster than the Ford's. He ran a 1:59.9 on the previous lap while the Ford's did 2:00.1 and 2:01.1. The GT Le Mans battle is starting to heat up as the fuel loads get lighter with the tires still working well. We'll see more pit stops for the race leaders in three to four laps.
The #93 Acura has been in the lane for a good while now. What could be the problem? Acura is working on the left front corner and also the right rear. There's a broken left front shock on the car. The crewman leans on the car and it sags. They need to have a block of wood or something to hold the car up. The shock issue is surely the big issue at the moment. Consternation in the lane for Acura. They are 19th in class, 37th in the overall. Mike Shank Racing have been running short on spare parts. The spare parts at Acura have been in short supply as one of their Pirelli World Challenge entries for RealTime Racing had a major smash in the opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the week before Sebring. You saw that race, here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.
One of the global platform LMP2 teams did not have a full spares package for their race car either, coming into this event. Colin Braun takes the #54 CORE Autosport GT Daytona Porsche 911 GT3 around Sebring. He is sharing with Jonathan Bennett, the team owner, and the experienced Swede Nic Jonsson. Mike Rockenfeller is running consistent lap times in the sole remaining factory Corvette. But, he is not running fast enough by any means. Olivier Pla and Toni Vilander have passed him by, and now, he is being hounded by Patrick Pilet. Jeroen Mul takes the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 into pit lane, from third in the GT Daytona class. Mul sharing the car with Corey Lewis and Brett Sandberg, of course.
Scott Pruett brings the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 to pit lane for a routine stop. There's problems. The universal hand across the throat gesture was given by a crewman to say, "not good". A new tire is put on the left front. But, could the car have broken an axle or a suspension piece? The engine is running, and the car remains on its air jacks. The car is running and down off the air jacks now. Pitting from the race lead is the #5 Cadillac. Joao Barbosa stays in the car, getting fuel and four tires. Scott Pruett leaves the pit lane, only to dive hard right into the garage. Meanwhile, into the lane comes the #67 Ford GT.
No driver change. Four new Michelin tires. Fuel, tires, and a replenishment of the drivers' drinks bottle. Ian James at Lexus confirms that the suspension has issues. But, Katherine Legge has now left the lane after getting the suspension fixed on the #93 Acura. I would suspect the rough, worn nature of Sebring is causing suspension problems for these GTD racers. In his previous stint, Jordan Taylor stayed on track two laps longer than the #5. Andrew Davis has gotten out of the #57 Stevenson Audi R8 and was exhausted due to the heat. The 12 hours is beginning to take it's toll. We have almost 79 degrees Fahrenheit as an air temperature here at Sebring.
The #10 Cadillac is back in pit lane for a routine stop. From one Taylor brother to another, as Ricky Taylor steps out, and Jordan Taylor will take over the car. #10 and #5 did equal 21 lap fuel stints. That's 78 and a half miles on a tank of fuel. Bruno Senna has the ESM #22 Nissan back in pit lane. Problems, as the car is steaming and smoking, with the engine cover removed. The crewmen are hitting the car with the fire bottles. The right rear has some flame on it. Pit stop time for the #31 Cadillac, too. Sticker Continental tires go on the car. The pit crew had to bump start the car. Dane Cameron takes the car over from Mike Conway.
Cameron is fourth overall. But it is four laps down. Bruno Senna is in the lane, and the smoke was cleared. Now, however, all the engine parts are covered in powder from the fire extinguisher, as Brendon Hartley takes over the driving chores. Ford and Ferrari come to pit lane for GTLM pit action. Porsche does likewise. ESM is pushing the #22 car away from the lane and back to the garage. We have the #68 UK Ford GT pitting, along with the aforementioned Risi Competizione Ferrari #62 and James Calado will get into the car. The #911 Porsche 911 RSR also pitted. Indeed, James Calado is in the Ferrari. Stefan Mucke, James Calado, and Dirk Werner are in a battle in GTLM.
Connor De Philippi is back at the wheel of the #29 Land Motorsports Audi R8 in GTD. Back on track is the #86 Acura NSX, tenth in class in GTD with Tom Dyer at the controls. Joao Barbosa now leads Ricky Taylor by 26 seconds. Dane Cameron runs a 1:52 flat on his first flying lap. Only Joao Barbosa is faster in the #5 Cadillac. #5, #10, #85, #31, are your top Prototype cars. Patricio O'Ward is still leading in Prototype Challenge. The #24 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GT has stuffed it into the tire barriers! Nicky Catsburg is at the wheel of it, and this incident is going to bring out a full course yellow flag.
So, the fraught race for these chaps, continues. This is also awful news for the #3 Corvette squad, because they were just preparing to make a green flag pit stop. Nicky Catsburg is trying to restart the car, and the transmission clunks as he's trying to get the car out of gear. This happened through the Gendebien bends. Corvette #3 has to come in for emergency service under yellow. Not good. We watch a replay of the #24 BMW's crash. It looks like Catsburg didn't have any brakes, or, he slide wide in the turn, went off the road and boom!, plowed into the tire wall. Catsburg's wreck has happened at the end of turn one. The Porsche Cayenne GTS snatch vehicles, and the sweeper, are out cleaning up the track.
Catsburg was in the middle of the corner, and veered offline as if something broke. Catsburg was on a perfect line, committed the cornr, and then every went pear shaped. Inside that helmet, Catsburg had to be thinking, "uh oh. This isn't going to be pretty", before slamming the barrier. The #90 Visit Florida Multimatic Riley is in the lane. Rockenfeller will return to pit lane for a full service, and a driver change. But then, whoever the next driver is, they will have to go to the sin bin for Rockenfeller's transgression. Prototypes come to pit lane, now. Both Mazda's are being serviced. What happened to Nicky Catsburg?
He's fine. The car is very damaged. The brake pedal went all the way to the floor and the car wouldn't turn even though Catsburg was turning the wheel. Visit Florida is in the pits now too. The #24 BMW was the one with the vibration that the team couldn't find. We are under just our third full course yellow of the day. Car #90 stalled leaving pit lane, and the car coughed. Both the #66 and #67 Ford GT's will pit soon. The Riley chassis cars are all having trouble. That includes car #90, and both Mazda's. The Rebellion Oreca Gibson #13 of Nick Heidfeld, is having alternator problems. The JDC Miller car is the only global spec LMP2 in the race that has not run into issues, and the Cadillac's which use Dallara built chassis', they have been running like Swiss watches for most of the race as well.
The leading #66 Ford pits with Joey Hand at the wheel. The #28 and #63 GTD cars are in. Alegra and Scuderia Corsa. Joey Hand stays in the car. Four tires and fuel. We've also seen GTD stops for Land Motorsports and the #29 Audi and the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3. Car #33 had a driver change as Mario Farnbacher handed the controls to Jeroen Bleekemolen. The sister RLL BMW M6 GT #25 made a pit stop. Bill Auberlen completed his stint, and handed over the wheel to Sebring first-timer, Alexander Sims. The #14 Lexus RC F GT3 is back on track, and the sister #15 pits. Antonio Garcia will have to come in to pit. Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug. The #85 Oreca and the #31 Cadillac hit the lane, to top off with fuel.
Sean Rayhall pits the #8 Starworks Prototype Challenge car, and he has run ahead of the #38 of Patricio O'Ward. Rayhall has handed the car off to Canadian newcomer Garett Grist. The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 takes the wave by. Not sure who is at the wheel. The right side of the hood is damaged. Jesse Krohn is at the controls. Krohn can't see out of the windshield very well, but had to come back around to get into the crocodile behind the safety car. The right hand side of the bonnet is bowed up on that BMW. Ozz Negri Jr. pits the #86 Acura NSX GT3 from 11th in class. The #11 GRT Grasser Lamborghini didn't pit. Richard Antinucci cycles to the class lead.
#33, #29, and others in GT Daytona, have pitted. Matteo Cressoni is at the wheel of the #63 Ferrari. The #48 Lamborghini is fifth in class with Dion von Moltke driving. Lawson Aschenbach is back on the lead lap in the #57 Stevenson Audi. The sole remaining #15 Lexus RC F GT3 is on the lead lap with Austin Cindric at the wheel of it. Corey Lewis got the wave around is back on the lead lap in the #16 Change Racing Lamborghini. Then comes Matt McMurry in the #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 and at the back of the GTD field is the aforementioned Jesse Krohn.
Ten cars are on the lead lap in GTD, and Michael de Quesada in the Daytona winning #28 Alegra Motorsports Porsche is the first car a lap down in class. The track crews are cleaning up debris from the surface here at Sebring. We are headed back to green flag racing despite a jet dryer still being out on the back straight. Joao Barbosa goes ahead of Ricky Taylor. Misha Goikhberg is a lap down and buried in GT traffic. The battle resumes for the lead between Joao Barbosa and Ricky Taylor. The #67 Ford GT still does not have a door mirror on the driver's side. In the days of the old American Le Mans Series, rules required a lost part such as a door mirror to be replaced immediately. But nowadays, it is done at the team's convenience.
The modus operandi is to change not just the mirror, but the entire door. Pardon me. That's the #66 car that needs the mirror, not #67. Sorry to panic the crew on that one. We need a mirror? Oh no! Nicky Catsburg is OK after the big wreck he had. Both Mazda's are still running as we mentioned. They are a long way down the order. Our race leader has now run 172 laps (643 miles). We are seeing quite the scrap develop in GT Daytona with good cars and good drivers going for it headed into the hairpin at turn seven. Incidentally, Jan Heylen is now at the wheel of Porsche #73 for Park Place Motorsports that was mentioned earlier on.
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