Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon maintain a Ford 1-2 in GT Le Mans. There is a severe threat of rain within the final two or so hours of this motor race. Wow. Ford CGR has had a brilliant performance in this race, chasing the team's 200th win in all of motor racing. Don't take any risks. Go for it. But don't do anything silly. The Ford GT cuts through the air, and is designed for Daytona and Le Mans. Ftanck Perera continues to lead GT Daytona as A.J. Allmendinger nearly gets crossed up with the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3. That is the Liqui Moly liveried machine. The #25 BMW M8 GT is soldiering on in GTLM after their litany of issues overnight. So many great cars and drivers are definitely working well in GT Daytona. Engineering staff has been switched between many of the GTD teams. Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler are a part of this second Scuderia Corse effort in a Ferrari 488 GT3. Frank Montecalvo and Ferrari factory ace, Sam Bird are on the driver's strength.
The Bourdais/Dixon scrum continues, as they will need three more pit stops. The rain could throw a spanner into the fuel strategy as we get closer and closer to putting a period on this motor race and presenting the trophies (the watches). We have run 711 laps (2,531 miles). We have just over the regular distance of 2 hours and 45 minutes, of a regular IMSA WeatherTech sprint race, remaining in the Rolex 24. We continue to watch the skies, for thunderstorms. The wind is picking up, and the clouds are rolling in. Rain tires are at the ready. Watch out for lightning. Lightning will cause a red flag, and yes, the Rolex 24 has been red flagged before in certain years. 1989 and 2004 are races that come to mind. '89 was for fog. '04 was for torrential rain.
One of the Lexus' is in trouble,the #15. Poor old David Heinemeier Handson has wrecked again. Through the kink, go deep, and, boom! This is the car Scott Pruett is sharing, and it is his final race. The car is mobile, and so, Scott Pruett should finish the final race of his illustrious career. Endurance racing is not for the timid. Anxiety, frustration, and fatigue come with it. Time is your enemy. When you lead, it never moves fast enough, and when you chase it, it runs out. Chasing glory is the reason drivers compete, to win, and to see your name alongside the greats. The Rolex watch, tells the story of this time.
We are just over two and a half hours away from the conclusion of this epic motor race. We were all set to wipe out the lead change record of 77 lead changes among 12 cars. Not so today. 63 lead changes among ten cars if I am right. Jon Bennett and CORE Autosport, are back into prototype racing after their GTD program from last year, did not pan out the way he'd hoped. Cadillac #31 is third in the overall and they just pitted. The fuel runs for the DPi and P2 cars have been really short, at 40 minutes. We continue to celebrate Dan Gurney. Success is the word that comes to mind when you think of Dan, and his 1966 Bridgehampton Can Am race winning Lola was presented to the fans.
Acura #6 and Lamborghini #48 get into some argy bargy. Yikes! That was close. Juan Pablo Montoya might be driving a tad too aggressively as we come to the end of this sports car odyssey. Montoya has to ease off a little bit and tame his aggressiveness. He's very talented. He's definitely a plug in and play driver. IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, back to IndyCar, and now, sports cars. Patricio O'Ward isiginv it a good race in the Performance Tech #38 prototype. He is eighth overall, 12 laps down. Pat O'Ward has run some really quick, consistent laps.
Brent O'Neill and Scott Raymond at Performance Tech are bringing their team to the fore and to the next level of endurance sports car racing. Acura #7 is off and on. More off road racing with some of the P2 spec cars. Ford #67 pits from second in GT Le Mans. Richard Westbrook takes over from Scott Dixon. The Englishman takes over from the New Zealander. Juan Pablo Montoya tried diving inside in the chicane on one of the Jackie Chan DC Racing machines. The AFS/PR1 machine of Ricardo Gonzalez, spun, and continued. Joey Hand is now driving the #66 Ford GT, and he had a longer stop. Richard Westbrook is stretching out a lead on his team mate. Westbrook went on a "bionic" out lap, according to Fox Sports' Calvin Fish.
Hand has won this race, twice. Joey Hand has run extremely well, and won, in every category he's competed in. Pace gets you through your career, and so does likability. Jan Magnussen is on the lead lap, but is 45-50 seconds in-arrears in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R-. Win if you can win, finish second, or get on the podium. Maximize what the car gives you, execute, and race to win. 20 years for Corvette Racing. 106 wins including Le Mans, and a 2001 overall win here. Eight Daytona wins, and 11 Sebring 12 Hours triumphs. Doug Fehan, Dan Binks, Gary Pratt, and many other people, have given everything to this program.
Jack Hawksworth is now at the wheel of the #15 Lexus RC F GT3. Scott Pruett will drive the car to the finish. Scott Pruett and Calvin Fish were team mates in Fish's final pro race at Sebring in 1995. Fish drove an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for Brix Racing in the 1995 12 Hours of Sebring. Fish and Pruett were team mates at Rocketsports Oldsmobile in 1993. The Rolex 24 is such a special race. It's an invitational, race of champions. IndyCar, Formula 1, NASCAR, sports cars etc.
Richard Westbrook tried racing, got into another business, then went
back to racing by mortgaging his home. He has run for factory teams
from Porsche, GM, and Ford. In an hour so, we'll see some rain come
down. There's lots of humidity. Should you stay on slicks? Should you
change to wet tires? Lots still up in the air, literally, and
figuratively. Filipe Albuquerque is much slower than some of his
rivals. Welcome back, Roger Penske, to sports car racing. Another
legend who was a driver and is a team owner. There is a ding dong
battle between the #6 and #7 cars. Roger Penske debuted his team in the
1966 24 Hours of Daytona, winning in class in a Corvette Stingray. An
off course excursion for Kelvin van der Linde. Wow! He runs wide, and
gets off in the dirt. He was able to input the steering, and
continue.
Roger Penske's 1966 Corvette did have the #6 on it. Mirko Bortolotti leads GT Daytona with A.J. Allmendinger second in class. A.J. Allmendinger is another driver with the likability factor and the talent. He could have stayed in single seat race cars, NASCAR, sports cars... he might try to reinvigorate his NASCAR career. MSR will continue the NAEC for 2018, but they may try to do a full season campaign. Former NASCAR driver Josh Wise is now a hire at Ganassi Racing, as a trainer.
Montoya will be penalized by the stewards, for launching the #29 Audi R8 into the grass. Montoya just served his drive through penalty.
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