Plenty of cars still running. The #14 Lexus, the #24 BMW, both ESM cars are retired along with the #4 Corvette, and so is the #70 Mazda. We still have 40 cars on track. Check that. 39 cars. The #13 Rebellion Oreca Gibson is back in the pits. Misha Goikhberg loses another lap to the leader. Misha Goikhberg has come through IMSA's feeder series, and ran for a few seasons in the Prototype Lights division. The LMP2 car is suiting his style better than the Prototype Challenge car did. JDC Miller have been the standard bearers for the global LMP2 cars in IMSA so far this year. They run fourth in the overall. They are 24 laps ahead of the next Prototype, and that's Jonathan Bomarito in the Mazda, which is fifth in class, but way down in 31st in the overall. They've only gone 238 laps (890 miles). The #93 Acura is back on track with Katherine Legge driving. Jens Klingman in the #96 BMW M6 GT3 is in the lane, and so is Mike Conway in the #31 Cadillac.
Conway has run 21 laps (78.5 miles). That's been a typical fuel stint for Prototypes all day, at least for the Cadillac machines. #5 has run 20 lap stints, and for #10 it's been 22 laps. So, all three Cadillac's are in the ballpark. Second and third in GTD are both in the lane. Matteo Cressoni in the #63 Ferrari and Christopher Mies in the #29 Audi. The #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 has had a pit stop, and Madison Snow takes over from Bryan Sellers. Cressoni is in the lane for fuel and tires and he stays in the car. Pull the windscreen tear off off the car, and Cressoni is on his way.
The fastest lap of the race in GTD has been set by Lexus #14. Cool. Check that. Lexus #15, with Jack Hawksworth, who is in the car at the moment. T minus four minutes before we see the Delta 4 rocket launch at Cape Canaveral. We'll get a big fireworks display over turn one here at Sebring. We bring you everything here at Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, including a rocket launch. What a bonus! Patricio O'Ward has not only been racing in IMSA, but also ran in the Mazda open wheel series, and has transferred also this year into Indy Lights, the feeder series for the IndyCar championship. So, he could go sports car or IndyCar racing in the future if he so desired to look at either option.
Mercedes #33 comes to the pit lane. This is the GT Daytona class leading car, pitting for fuel, tires and a driver change. They've done 249 laps (931 miles). Jeroen Bleekemolen is now at the wheel. GTLM cars dive for the lane. #66 Ford, in, as Joey Hand gets in the car. #67 is in and will have a driver change. Tires for both cars. No double stinting tires. Not sure who is in the #67. T minus four minutes and holding for the rocket to launch a communication satellite. The boys at the space center, are probably watching the race, too. Jordan Taylor is making inroads on the leading #5 car. The Cadillac battle has been intense these last few hours. Darkness begins to fall here at Sebring.
The #911 Porsche has regained the GTLM lead, but is out of sequence with the competition. Scott Dixon closes on James Calado. The #912 is a few laps back. The first GTLM car off the lead lap is the #25 BMW M6 GT with Kuno Wittmer at the controls. There's less than a second between the two leaders who have now run 271 laps (1,013 and a half miles). We have only had four full course yellows and are seeing the true pace of these cars. The Delta 4 WGS 9 rocket is still on hold for it's launch. There's a gantry swing arm issue on the rocket. They're waiting for full darkness for launching that communications satellite.
8PM is coming. On top of that rocket is a $442 million satellite for the U.S. Air Force. It's about the same value as all these race cars in the paddock. We've reached full darkness. Get a warm drink, and settle in for the action as we head to the finish. Five to six cars on the lead lap in each of the GT divisions. The atmosphere is incredible. Jordan Taylor has gone past Filipe Albuquerque. 1:51.7 to 1:53.7. Jordan Taylor is 2/10ths faster. It is comforting in the darkness to be racing with other cars and seeing where the headlights are going. Sometimes a driver can be lulled into backing off just a shade.
Matteo Cressoni is following one of his fellow GTD competitors, and that is the #54 CORE Autosport Porsche 911 GT3 of Nic Jonsson. Jordan Taylor has now retaken the lead and is pulling away from Filipe Albuquerque. Taylor leads by 3.5 seconds. Jordan Taylor has turned a couple very good laps. Pit stop time will be coming soon, maybe the next lap around and the lap after that. This will be the 14th pit stop of the race. We have already started a stint that is equal to a regular distance IMSA race. With the darkness, it's harder to see the apexes of the corners. The #27 Lamborghini's unfortunate race continues, with the car stopped out on track.
Paolo Ruberti is at the wheel of the car, which was in seventh in class in GT Daytona, dropping to eighth as Tristan Vautier passes. Where is it? How dangerous is it? Again, pit stop time coming soon. Pits are closed. We have a full course yellow flag. Both our leaders have been out for 19 laps (71 miles), The safety car will pick up the field. The #5 team was looking to pit just before the yellow came out. They've run 20 laps for every stint so far. This is our fifth full course yellow of the race. The #10 car generally goes longer on fuel than #5. Mike Conway in Cadillac #31 can stay out and gain a lap back.
The #85 JDC Miller entry is four laps down. Does Fred Makowiecki pit in GTLM? Yes. But, some of the others have not done a long enough stint just yet. Maybe they are halfway through. Makowiecki last pitted on lap 244 (so over 100 miles ago). A bad break for Dream Racing Motorsport and Paolo Ruberti. They were moving into contention just off the lead lap in GTD looking for a top ten. Our pals at Cape Canaveral can now launch their rocket. The gantry issues are no more. Restart the countdown holding at T minus 4. Daytona and Sebring are 70 miles apart. Rocket launches and seeing them at Sebring, is old hat for the locals.
Mercedes #33 was getting in the way of Filipe Albuquerque and he was not happy about it. Drivers are crawling to save fuel, as the pits won't open for another lap yet. We have a rocket launch coming, and we have fans having fun with glow sticks in the infield here at Sebring as well. The #27 Lamborghini has been cleared from the circuit. Pits will open soon. The countdown has restarted at Cape Canaveral, and we have now opened pit lane, too. Action Express is looking for their car. This battle between WTR and Action Express, is going to be a sizzler. We wait in agony, hoping to see the cars, and now, they come.
This is a 22 lap stint for both of the Cadillac's as we've completed lap 280 equaling 1,047 miles. No driver change for either car. Fuel and tires only. Will a fuel advantage for the #10 come into play that we've seen at Daytona and here at Sebring? #10 is down and away. The Prototype Challenge leader is now fifth overall. Darkness has settled over Sebring, and there are floodlights. But it's not fully lit. There are parts of this speed palace that are shrouded in darkness, as our rocket carrying the satellite launches into the sky. Look to the light in the northern sky and you will see it. The light rises in the sky over turn three. The Delta 4 WGS 9, carrying a U.S. military communication satellite, climbing into the sky.
The first stage separation of the rock boosters is complete. Roll is initiated, and it climbs out of earth's orbit. But, we come back down to earth, to check out pit stops. The #911 Porsche 911 RSR is now back on the same strategy as their competition in GTLM. Ferrari #62 has pitted and so has Madison Snow in the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. The #15 Lexus and the #23 AJR Audi also pitted and Snow nearly swiped the AJR Audi. The #33 Mercedes pitted and has Jeroen Bleekemolen still at the wheel. Tires and fuel, and the #33 holds the lead in GT Daytona. None of the three Ford GT's pitted in GTLM. What a surprise. They didn't split the strategy this time.
If they'd come in, they would have given track position back to the Porsche. #66, #67, and #68 are numerically in order at the lead of GTLM. The wave around is now happening, giving another lap back to the #31 Cadillac. Cadillac now runs 1-2-3. Jordan Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque are together in the queue. The #90 Visit Florida Multimatic Riley is in the lane. Laurens Vanthoor has brought Porsche #912 to the pit lane. They are still a couple laps off the GTLM lead. BMW Team RLL cannot get their lap back for the #25 M6 GT. All systems nominal with the rocket. A successful launch from Cape Canaveral. Awesome!
Tristan Vautier has come back onto the lead lap in GTD driving the pole sitting car in class. Matt McMurry in the #73 Park Place Porsche and Jeff Segal in the #86 MSR Acura, are now on the lead lap. The #57 Stevenson Audi is a lap down. Tom Dyer in the Acura and Lawson Aschenbach in the Audi. Lights are out on the Corvette safety car. We're back to green after our fifth full course yellow. Jordan Taylor leads overall. Jordan Taylor has now pulled out a half a second lead. 1.3 seconds the gap, as Taylor is on the dark side of the track. The three Ford GT's are still in numerical order. Joey Hand #66, Scott Dixon #67, and Olivier Pla #68. Taylor and Albuquerque continue to scrap for the lead.
We mentioned car #90 earlier. Renger van der Zande is at the controls. Antonio Garcia passes James Calado for third in GTLM. Fred Makowiecki is also back there in the #911 Porsche. Makowiecki is on Calado's tail. Antonio Garcia is the sole remaining Corvette after the #4 car retired with overheating issues. Tristan Vautier in the #75 GTD Mercedes AMG GT3 is still competitive. He's halfway through his current pit sequence as Makowiecki gets sideways in turn 17 but recovers. Mike Conway goes through in the #31 Cadillac. You see the flames from the exhaust and glowing brake discs as they step on the brakes.
Antonio Garcia is dealing with a very dirty, smudged windscreen on the Corvette. Hopefully there is another tear off. That windscreen is streaked like no tomorrow. He's catching Olivier Pla. We've run 286 laps (1,070 miles). Jordan Taylor ran a 1:51.8 on the most recent lap. Jeroen Bleekemolen still leads GTD. Bleekemolen keeps his hands relatively still on the wheel. This is the hallmark of a good racing driver. A whole conga line of GTD cars all follow each other down Ulmann straight, headlights ablaze. The #75 Mercedes is just 5.5 seconds away from the class leader in GTD. This has been another classic 12 Hours of Sebring ladies and gentlemen, and it's not over yet. Jordan Taylor has pulled the pin, and has eked out a 3.2 second gap on Filipe Albuquerque.
Mike Conway is one lap off the lead, in the same sector as the lead battle. Conway is now in the lane. He stops on a dime, and hands the car over to Eric Curran. Correction. It is Dane Cameron now at the wheel. They need a big break to get back on the lead lap though. Cameron should finish this race out in #31. That would be a triple stint. What tires have you got left? How much do your drivers have left in the locker? Put it all on the line. Jeroen Bleekemolen leads GTD by 3.1 seconds. Antonio Garcia is trying to catch Olivier Pla. Ford vs. Corvette. #68 vs. #3. Garcia gets around Pla in turn one despite his ultra smudged and dirty windshield.
No comments:
Post a Comment