Rolex 24: Hour 7

Tristan Vautier has been magic in the bluebird, the #90 Cadillac DPi-V.R.  Vautier went through the Mazda ladder of single seater racing, and now, he has gone to sports car racing.  Many drivers try to go racing in open wheel, but then, they end up finding a home in sports cars for the most part. The three cars that have traded fast laps in the 1:39 range are Vautier, Jordan Taylor, and Olivier Pla.  Be cautious with the tires.  Mike Conway is in the #31 Cadillac DPi-V.R.  Conway is a sports car driver who started out in open wheel racing.  The #33 Mercedes AMG GT3 is running very well in GT Daytona right now.

We've hit the six hour mark, meaning points for the leading teams, at six, twelve, and 24 hours.  Ben Keating will be the next driver into the Mercedes #33.  Corvette Racing originally had the idea for a rear view camera, but then, sold that technology to Bosch, and now the rear view cameras are common as replacements for a conventional rear view mirror.  Alessandro Balzan has taken over from Cooper MacNeil in the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari.  It is easy to get laps back if there are yellow flags.  Ladies and gentlemen, we have yet to see any yellow flags in this 56th running of the Rolex 24. 

Mike Conway makes his way past the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 in the hands of Bruno Junquiera of Brazil.  Cadillac and Dallara hope to maintain what they have, even with huge steps being taken by Mazda with Joest and Acura with Penske.  Here's a breakdown of the automakers and their chassis constructors. 

Acura: Oreca
Nissan: Ligier
Cadillac: Dallara

Scott Pruett is going to make his final start at Daytona and his final career start, soon.  Acura #7 ub tge kabe frin tge kead,  A bise cgabge fir tge Acyra,  Us tgus a geadlight change, or a setup change?  Maybe there's splitter damage.  They fueled the car, but no tires were changed.  Acura has a new sequence.  Mazda #77 is also in the pit lane right now.  There was a hole in the side of the bodywork.  It was repaired with Bear Bond.  That's strong, sticky tape.  But can it withstand the wet?  Fernando Alonso is preparing to do another stint.  Scott Dixon is trying to chase down his Ford team mate and rival, Sebastien Bourdais. 

Dixon is quite the driver.  He's a racer... pure and simple.  He wants to get past Toni Vilander in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari.  Corvette #4 pits and has a clean stop.  The dive planes were taken off of the Acura.  Penske wanted to adjust the downforce.  We have about 17 and a half hours to glo.  More issues for the #25 BMW?  No.  They are coming back out on track.  Bill Auberlen, Alexander Sims, and company.  Acura still leads Cadillac.  The #23 United Autosport LMP2 car is still running really, really well.

Dane Cameron has passed Jordan Taylor.  The Acura has really improved over the course of this race.  Jordan Taylor is running fourth. If you can't count on a yellow flag,.change your race strategy.  Everyone has been fairly well behaved to this mark in the race.  Sheldon van der Linde moves over for Richard Westbrook in the #67 Ford GT.  Patrick Pilet in the #911 Porsche is coming, fast.  These chaps are covered by a number of seconds, and amazingly, we have not seen any yellows as of late.  Helio Castroneves moves past the #71 Mercedes AMG GT3.  Filipe Albuquerque must be turning the wick up.

We have a good ways to go yet.  Filipe Albuquerque, Rene Rast, Oliver Jarvis and others, that Audi had, then, they pulled the plug on their endurance racing effort, and somke of the chaps who drove for them have found their way to other top teams.  Albuquerque is faster than Castroneves.  1:38.5 to 1:41.3.  Close lap times are fine, but there is a trade off if you are not close enough to make the pass on a competitor.  Most of these cars have a chance to change the Gurney flap on the rear wing.  Castroneves can motor onto the banking, but then, Filipe Albuquerque can close up in the twisty bits.

The bright, colored lights on top of the cars, are for the teams to identify their cars more than anything.  It has nothing to do with timing and scoring.  Bobby Rahal says the race is surely a test session, because the BMW M8 GT is a brand new car.  Bobby Rahal is thrilled to see his son Graham Rahal driving for Roger Penske.  Rahal won the Bob Snodgrass award.  Snodgrass was the leader and founder of Brumos Porsche, which was a great Florida based Porsche dealer, and also, a race team owner.

Filipe Albuquerque pits for fuel, and goes right back into the race.  Castroneves will assume the lead, and Eric Curran is also moving up in the #31 Cadillac.