Rain could be in the forecast. Pole for the Cadillac and Ricky Taylor. Olivier Pla is back, on the front row with
the PR1/Mathiasen Ligier. The Patron ESM
Nissan’s will have new electronics. The
#90 Visit Florida Racing team has a new Ligier chassis. Watch out too for JDC Miller Motorsports and
the yellow bird, their Oreca Gibson.
Ford is fastest in GT Le Mans. In
GT Daytona, Acura had a crash with Katherine Legge at the controls. But, the car was fixed quickly. Still, Andy Lally and Katherine Legge will
have a lot of work to do. There’s a 50%
chance of rain.
We are set to race, now!
Ricky Taylor and Jose Guttierez on the front row. Taylor gets a great start. Scott Sharp is also going for it. Guttierez gets Sharp back. Eric Curran gets around Goosssens. Nissan is now third and fourth. The Nissan has a lot of power and Jose
Guttierez wants by Scott Sharp.
Guttierez is going for it early.
Johannes van Overbeek is also successfully racing so far. Ricky Taylor is beginning to whistle off
iinto the distance. In GT Le Mans, BMW
is hounding Ford. Ryan Briscoe has been
going backwards. Gianmaria Bruni and
Patrick Pilet are moving up in the Porsche’s.
GTLM cars pass the Prototype Challenge entries although
Bruni has to work for it. Pilet makes
the move on the PC car. In GT Daytona,
Jesse Krohn is pushing, and fast. He’s
making his first Road America start and digging it. Ditto for Jeroen Mul in the Lamborghini for
Change Racing. BMW has a lot of pace
with their GTLM cars. Martin Tomczyk
closes on the Lamborghini. Patrick
Lindsey qualified third in GT Daytona.
Tomczyk vs. Mul, and the BMW is trying to draft past the
Lamborghini. In the braking zone,. The
GTLM car has more downforce.
Different tires, too.
Michelin for GTLM asnd Continental for GTD. The highest running Lexus is next with Scott
Pruett at the controls. He is followed
by both Acura’s. Madison Snow in the #48
Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 also wants to go for it. Andrew Davis in the Audi R8 for Stevenson is
going for it. WTR has not had the best
races here at Road America. But Ricky
Taylor is in the zone at the moment. He
is looking stout indeed. The #52, #90,
and #2 are competitive. However, people
like Olivier Pla, they want to win races.
The #90 team has had a torrid time before switching to the Ligier. Renger van der Zande will finish this race
and wants it.
Misha Goikhberg is pushing hard now too, in the yellow bird,
the Hi Tide Boat Lifts entry, also known as the Banana Boat. Lake Michigan off to the east and more
gorgeous forests off to the west. Ricky
Taylor leads. Ooh! Madison Snow taps Katherine Legge and Legge
spins. The Acura squad is not happy with
the driving tactics of Madison Snow and the Lamborghini. Snow is sent to the sin bin by the
stewards. Acura fixed the entire NSX
from the bulkhead forward with MSR, RealTime, and HART, all fixing the car.
The ESM Nissan’s have been pushing and Ryan Dalziel believes
the team is starting to go for it even though the season is winding down. They are creating momentum for 2018 as
well. Ooh! There’s a full course yellow. The #20 Prototype Challenge car of Don Yount
slides inton the gravel and crunches the wall.
Trim the car out, but have downforce for braking. Tight fuel windows for the Prototypes. Four stops for Prototype, and three for GT
Daytona. Tire loads will be another
factor.
The field is bunched up, and all the cars are on the same
lap. We will be back to green soon. Legge tries to get Madison Snow back, but be
careful. Stay cool. Don’t damage the car. Crunched bodywork isn’t good. OK.
We’re back to green. Taylor times
the restart to perfection with the torque of the Cadillac V8. Jose Guttierez fends off the Nissan challenge. Ooh!
Martin Tomczyk passes one Corvette and wants by another. He has also cleared the GT Daytona traffic
under yellow. The BMW’s are very quick
here at Road America.
Lexus changed their driver lineups. Scott Pruett is teamed with Jack Hawksworth
and Sage Karam with Robert Alon.
WeatherTech Racing has changed from the Mercedes AMG GT3 to a Porsche
911 GT3. Cooper MacNeil did a club
racing event here at Road America last weekend as they fly through the
kink. Ben Keating has Kenny Habul behind
him. Jeroen Bleekemolen has won five
races here at Road America. Wow. We’ve nearly reached the half hour mark in
the race. Acura #93 is in the pit lane. #86 is red, #93 is blue. We won’t go into a possible reason for that.
Acura #93 has some bodywork damage and Legge is checking the
steering. That was a hit without a
doubt. Legge is having trouble with the
rear of the car, taking the shortcut. Ricky
Taylor flies uphill up the straight. He
has 1.9 seconds on Jose Guttierez. 168
miles an hour down the straight, downhill to turn three. Up another long straight into turn five at 60
miles an hour. Up to turn six and
through major elevation change. The
carousel is next. Wind it up through
here, squeeze power gently, and through the kink. Feel the curb on the inside, brake into
Canada corner. Climb the hill, use the
entire road. There used to be a bridge,
but it is no longer there, and then, come across the final corner onto the
straight.
Porsche is pushing, but the #3 Corvette with Antonio Garcia
at the wheel of it, has plummeted. They
have lost their points lead. Jan
Magnussen started the car. Corvette has
to roll the dice. It’s a long lap. They can back time the race and play the fuel
strategy to get some help. It might be a
two stop race for the Corvette boys. The
Corvette’s in GT Le Mans don’t have the outright pace of the Ford’s Porsche’s,
or BMW’s. Second to eighth in Prototype
was covered by 6/10ths of a second in qualifying. Eric Curran has lost a dive plane off the
front of the #31 Cadillac.
Renger van der Zande and Marc Goossens are still getting
used to the new Visit Florida Racing Ligier.
Christian Fittipaldi has three of his four qualifying tires on the
Cadillac. The same is true for the
#90. There was lots of rain as Misha
Goikhberg and Jose Guttierez push each other and they nearly crashed! Guttierez has been passed by a lot of
cars. Ooh! No place to go and Goikhberg almost loses
it! Both ESM Nissan’s are in the lane,
resplendent in the green and black Patron tequila livery. Pit stop time for tires and fuel for both
cars.
The race out of the lane is due to fuel. Equal pit stops. If you pit early, you could be in a little
bit of trouble. The pit lane at Road
America is long, so there’s a long delta.
But there’s lots of space. Patrick Lindsey and Jeroen Mul battle in GT
Daytona with Jesse Krohn, the Finn, leading in class in the BMW M6 GT3. Change Racing scored the pole, but they are
having just an OK race. They have the speed, but not the pace. Pit stop time for Action Express, both
cars. Eric Curran stays in #31. #5 has some damage. Not sure if it is Christian Fittipaldi or
Joao Barbosa in the #5 Cadillac. #10 Is
in the lane for a scheduled stop.
The #5 Cadillac has some damage to the left rear bodywork
and they are back in to try to fix it.
The team has to replace the under tray, and also, the rear wing and the
engine cover. This is costly. Marc Goossens tagged Christian Fittipaldi
coming to the pit lane and Joao Barbosa had the damage occur after he got in the
car. Marc Goossens tagged the #5 after
locking the brakes. The rear wing end
plate connects to the bodywork, and then, it got dislodged. It’s been an eventful few laps for the #90
car as Jose Guttierez is keeping in touch with the two Nissan’s.
The #38 Performance Tech Prototype Challenge car, has
hometown hero, James French, in the car.
They are going for seven straight Prototype Challenge wins, and they
could win the championship. James French
and his father won historic Formula 1 racing here at Road America in a vintage
race. But they want to win
professionally. Pat O’Ward, French’s
team mate, has also nbeen real fast. The
Ford GT rolled off the truck and have been fast all weekend. Dirk Mueller has had two straight poles here
at Road America.
GT Daytona cars are in the lane. The #75 Mercedes AMG GT3 with Kenny Habul at
the controls went off the road at Billy Mitchell corner. Richard Westbrook is now installed into the
Ford. Porsche #911 has Dirk Werner at the wheel of it. Corvette #4 is in the lane. Oliver Gavin
hands over to Tommy Milner. Jesse Krohn
pits the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3.
The #66 Ford GT is in. Joey Hand
will take over the car. Bill Auberlen is
now at the wheel of the #25 BMW M6 GT.
He and Joey Hand were BMW team mates for a while, and now they compete.
CORE Autosport pits their #54 Porsche 911 GTG3. A loose rear wheel for the #75 SunEnergy1
Mercedes AMG GT3. Kenny Habulk at the
wheel of it. Marbles are building up in
the kink. That’s dangerous. Watch for the corner workers with the white
flags to let you know there is a slow car in the vicinity of where you are
racing. Eric Curran is 5.8 seconds
behind Ricky Taylor. Dane Cameron wants
another win. Cameron won GT Daytona in
2014 and Eric Curran won the Grand Sport class in Continental Tire Sports Car
Challenge. These two blokes love to race
at Road America. Who doesn’t?
Eric Curran has been running very well in second today. Scott Sharp passes Johannes van
Overbeek. This is the nature of
multi-class sports car racing. Long
straights, hard braking zones, and 90 degree corners, are what make great race
tracks. Road America has all of
this. Could Action Express Racing win
four straight here at Road America?
We’ll find out. Hedge your bets
if the weather changes. Ricky Taylor
leads Eric Curran at the moment. James
French, Joey Hand, and Jens Klingman are your class leaders. Out of the carousel, you have to be on your
toes. It’s so fast! Ooh!
Stephen Simpson puts the yellow bird off the road!
If you go off there, it’s a big one. Simpson is a lucky chap not to crash. Now, he has to clean all the clag off his
tires. The Mazda’s are not here this
weekend. But, of course, now Mazda has
Reinhold Joest, a true legend, helping them out. Joest team manager Ralf Juttner will be a
part of this team, as they will return to American racing. Mazda was with SpeedSource for 20 years and
team boss Sylvain Tremblay, winning two Rolex 24’s. Joest won Road America five times with
Audi. 16 Le Mans wins for Reinhold Joest
as well. Reinhold Joest made his legend
by buying Porsche 956s and 962s and beating the Porsche factory. Corvette #3 is in the lane. Regular service for them. They have extended their points lead as the
car stalls. BMW has had issues. Bill Auberlen had a right front shock
failure.
BMW will be dented in the championship. Auberlen and Alexander Sims have some
catching up to do. Bill Auberlen is in
chase mode. Corvette had a real wild
victory here last year, beating the Ford.
Porsche #28 FOR Alegra Motorsports has a flat tire. Jordan Taylor is now at the wheel of the #10
Cadillac. He is chasing Joao Barbosa in
the #5 Cadillac for Action Express Racing.
Dane Cameron is taking a bit of time out of Jordan Taylor. Olivier Pla is the fastest man on track
running fastest lap at 1:54.2.
Alessandro Balzan takes fourth from Corey Lewis in GT Daytona. Jeroen Bleekemolen is going for it as well. He’s gotn four wins at Road America.
Some argy bargy, between Balzan and Lewis. The two Lexus cars are second and seventh in
GT Daytona. Scott Pruett and Jack
Hawksworth are developing a dynamic racing as team mates in the same car. Pruett has driven everything at Road America,
driving with Bruce Jenner in 1985 for Jack Roush in Ford Mustangs. He’s raced GT and Prototype sports cars,
stock cars, and IndyCars here at Road America.
He ran for Jack Roush with Bruce Jenner in the 1980s.
Laurens Vanthoor and Dirk Werner are fourth and fifth in GT
Le Mans, four seconds in-arrears of John Edwards in the #24 BMW M6 GT. Ford runs 1-2 with Joey Hand leading Richard
Westbrook. The Fprd GT is designed for a
long, fast track like Road America. Road
America, when you are testing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is as close to Le
Mans as you’ll get with the long straightaways and flowing corners. Edwards’ tires are a little older than those
of Westbrook. We’re getting close to an
hour remaining in this race.
We watch the battle for third in Prototype and third
overall. Dane Cameron is being chased by
Stephen Simpson. The yellow bird is
right there. Simpson tries the outside,
but Cameron protects his spot.
Yikes! Jordan Taylor leads by
over eight seconds here. Misha Goikhberg
is not comfortable in the car, but Stephen Simpson is going for it with just an
hour to go. Cooper MacNeil says that the
transition between the Mercedes and the Porsche has been a bit
troublesome. Tire degradation is not a
problem with the Porsche 911 even though it is a rear engine car vs. front
engine for the Mercedes AMG GT3.
A bit of irony about not using the Mercedes, Jeroen
Bleekemolen has the fastest GTD lap in a Mercedes. Some damage to the #15 Lexus RC F GT3 to the
rear taillight. He is eight seconds down
on Jens Klingman who is in the pit lane for a stop, from the class lead. The #38 Performance Tech Prototype Challenge
car goes off and on. The #86 Acura NSX
has a cut tire. Renger van der Zande is
having some handling issues under braking and Stephen Simpson almost crashes
into Richard Westbrook! Yikes! We have a full course yellow.
The #24 BMW M6 GT for BMW Team RLL is stopped. He is dead stick on the front straight in the
uphill entry to pit lane. We are still
under yellow after the #24 came to grief when the fuel tank ran dry. Edwards is crawling uphill and stops dead stick. Ugh!
How brutal is that? He cranks the
engine, but it doesn’t catch. Pit stop
time for Prototypes. They had extra fuel
but the GTLM and GTD cars didn’t. 50
minutes left. Prototypes can’t run 50
minutes on a tank. So, they will neeed a
splash and dash. The Cadillac’s and THE
Nissan’s both pit. The ESM cars might
just be in contention for a win here.
Pippo Derani probably came over the radio saying “I have the lead!” The pit crew probably said “no you
don’t.”
Gunnar Jeanette also needed to have fuel. Pit stop time for the GT cars. Ford and Porsche are both in the lane. No one you want to beat more than your team
mate, and this is true for Ford, Corvette, and Porsche. #3 beats #4 off the pit lane and they file in
right behind the #67 Ford GT. Laurens
Vanthoor beat the Ford’s out of pit lane.
We’re back to green, now! Pippo
Derani sticks a pass on Jordan Taylor! Oh!
Dirk Werner in the #911 Porsche is off the road in a big way, beached in
the gravel trap! There are signatures on
the hood of the car, as ooh, he spins like a top into the gravel trying to make
a move on Antonio Garcia in the #3 Corvette.
Richard Westbrook passes Joey Hand. We are now under full course yellow. This will be a short yellow. Anyhow, all the signatures on the hood, it
was the whole team signing the hood, which will be taken as a thank you by Jens
Walther who is leaving the Porsche Motorsports team for factory and customer
teams alike. Walther will remain with
Porsche, but not in a racing capacity. Joey
Hand tried to go outside of Laurens Vanthoor.
Richard Westbrook also wanted to make a move but couldn’t quite do
it. It could be game over for the #911
Porsche.
Lights out on the safety car and it’s go time! Pippo Drrani
is right on top of Stephen Simpson.
Simpson slams the door in Derani’s face, but he comes back to the inside
and tries to go for it with a half an hour to go. Derani is told to bide his time, but he wants
to go for it. This is sketchy stuff! Derani
goes inside! Oh my! That was nearly a touch. Jordan Taylor is closing on these two
blokes. Simpson and the JDC Miller crew
have dug themselves a hole by not pitting under yellow as the #66 Ford GT is
now the GT Le Mans leader. Joey Hand
leads. Ooh! Corvette #3 is trying to pass Jens Klingman,
but now, Garcia is in the pit lane, or not.
Well, he is. #4 also goes for
it. Garcia has a penalty handed to him
by the stewards after hitting Werner’s Porsche earlier.
This is multi-class racing at it’s best at one of the
world’s greatest race tracks. There was
a block by the #912 Porsche, but Garcia surely did drift over a lane and was
obviously penalized for it. The field is
under another full course yellow as the #93 Acura of Andy Lally runs over a
rumble strip, spins, and crashes into the wall.
Game over for the #93 car. Joy
Hand, on the restart, presses by his team mate Westbrook when he gets the
traction. Then, he chases after the
Porsche. Laurens Vanthoor was maybe
struggling for grip just a shade.
A few corners later, Vanthoor tries to pass the Turner
Motorsports BMW, but then, runs wide, and Joey Hand makes the pass. Jorg Bergmeister is second in GTD in the #73
Park Place Motorsports Porsche. Stephen
Simpson pitted while the lane was closed, was penalized for it, and now has to
pit again. We have just under 17 minutes
left to race. Ryan Dalziel wants to go
inside, and he can’t quite make it.
Renger van der Zande is pushing hard with the Ligier, but he’s got
pogoing over the bumps with this new car.
Jordan Taylor has an advantage on fuel mileage. But with the yellows, fuel mileage is out the
window. Toss out the playbook. Turn the
mix knob to full rich in the cockpit and push, push, push. Laurens Vanthoor wants to push for s Porsche
GTLM win. Pat O’Ward is being pressed by
the BAR1 CAR in Prototype Challenge.
Stephen Simpson is pitting for a penalty. Mike Johnson for Stevenson Motorsports is in
his 300th sports car race as a driver, owner, strategist, and
manager. Wow!
Lots to play for as we head for the finish here at Road
America. Joey Hand and Laurens Vanthoor
are still scrapping for GTLM honors, and Vanthoor is not letting Hand go. Alexander Sims is flying right now in fifth
in class running a 2:02.7 compared to everyone else racing in the 2:03 range. The BMW has great pace and Sims is laying
down fast laps running the U.S. circuits for the first time and just going for
it. Hand and Vanthoor are close. Dig deep.
Find pace. Every position is
crucial with the home stretch of the championship in full swing.
Pippo Derani has opened a four second margin over Jordan
Taylor. You are turning your way into
the braking zone. Milner didn’t take the bait.
Jens Klingman leads Jorg Bergmeister and Lawson Aschenbach in GT
Daytona. Second through sixth in class
covered by the proverbial blanket. Be
decisive with overtazking. You can’t
second guess it, because if you do, you crash and get a penalty from the
stewards for avoidable contact. Seven of
the eight makes in GT Daytona are in a major nbattle. Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, Ferrari,
Lamborghini, BMW. CORE Autosport runs
well in GTD and they also have the factory GTLM team with team boss Morgan
Brady, and Colin Braun’s dad Jeff Braun is the team manager for the GTD team.
'
Olivier Pla tries to pass the Lexus, runs wide and gets into
the marbles, dropping the left rear tire onto the grass. Pippo Derani will take the white flag. He has a cushion and does not need to take
chances in traffic. WTR likes to win,
but points are a key deal here, so they don’t have to win. Prototypes just have two rounds of their
championship remaining. Derani has
enough margin, but JHordan Taylor has to fend off Ryan Dalziel in the sister
ESM Nissan. It is the final lap though
for Derani, and Derani looks like he is going to be your overall winner.
Joey Hand needs clean, clear laps, to try and beat Laurens
Vanthoor for GT Le Mans honors at Road America.
Vanthoor is close between Canada corner and Billy Mitchell corner. Vanthoor got into turn 14 a little too
hot. He couldn’t get the grip. White flag for GTLM. The race is over soon. It is the final lap. Pippo Derani into Canada corner one more time
coming behind Bryan Sellers in the Lambo9rghini. But, Alexander Sims has turned the #4
Corvette as Pippo Derani and Nissan earn their first IMSA win of 2017!
Sims drove down the inside of the #4 of Tommy Milner. The stewards will review that. James French from Sheboygan, Wisconsin, wins
his first pro race at Road America, clinching the Prototype Challenge title for
Perofrmance Tech with Pat O’Ward. Joey
Hand and Dirk Mueller win for the second time in GTLM for their #66 Ford
GT! GT Daytona is dominated by the
Turner Motorsport BMW #96 of Jens Klingman and Jesse Krohn! They are the winners. Jorg Bergmeister gets second over Lawson
Aschenbach as BMW #25 is damaged and might incur a time penalty now that the
race is over. Sims and Milner definitely
had some argy bargy happening.
Wow! What a race!
Overall/Prototype: #22 Derani/Sharp Nissan DPi
Prototype
Challenge:
#38 French/O’Ward Oreca
FLM Chevrolet
GT Le Mans: #66
Hand/Mueller Ford
GT
GT Daytona : #96 Klingman/Krohn BMW M6 GT3
Time is of the essence in the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sports
Car Championship. Merely three races now
remain to decide the champions, and only two of those events are set to feature
all four classes running together at the same time. The next event on the schedule is another all
GT class affair, as it was at Lime Rock Park.
That race is at Virginia International Raceway (VIR), in Danville,
Virginia, coming up in less than three weeks.
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