The #911 Porsche 911 has spun and slammed the wall! He got back on the lead lap and was passed by both the Ford GT's. Tandy lost control of the car and smashed the tire wall! Ker-runch! He was off line in the dirt. Straight to the garage for the #911 Porsche. This will be a lengthy repair for the Porsche boys. Wow. Tandy knocked the wing askew. He missed the apex, and smashed the barriers. Wow. More bodyworki and aerodynamic damage is caused than structural damage in an older 911 that had the motor in the rear of the automobile instead of being mounted amidships. We are going hours and hours sans yellow flags, and so the complexion of this race is totally different than we expected it to be.
Jeffrey Schmidt in the #29 Land Motorsports Audi is leading GT Daytona over their rivals from Magnus Racing. This race is like a boxing match, getting an opponent on the ropes. Can the #90 Cadillac team come back into this race? Jeffrey Schmidt continues to run well in the #29 Audi. The #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche is thankfully back on track. They are 106 laps behind, but, thankfully are soldiering on for valuable championship points. The temperatures are rather warm and only have a 13 degree delta. 75 degrees during the day tomorrow, and 62 degrees overnight tonight. Problems continue for the #90 Cadillac. The team and Earnhardt Childress Racing engine specialist Richie Gilmore are still trying to figure this out. But, it could be game over for Spirit of Daytona.
This race is far, far from over. 14 hours and 46 minutes remain. Nick Tandy is back into the #911 Porsche. They look like they're getting the car buttoned up, ready to go back on track even after the wallop that Tandy took a little earlier. It was freezing in the 30s and 40s for the Roar test session at the beginning of this month. The only hope for the contenders trying to chase Ford in GT Le Mans, is maybe to use a softer compiund. Fernando Alonso is giving it some welly in the #23 United Autosports Prototype. The same Continental tires are being run here as they have in the past, but the parameters are very close.
Daniel Serra chops Joey Hand in the #66 Ford GT. Right rear tire trouble for the #31 Cadillac. Deary me. Another Cadillac, and another puncture. Oh man. There is no damage to the #31 car though. The tire is changed and they are back out on the speedway. Maybe trying to triple stint these tires is not such a good plan. You only need to hit one curb in order to damage the sidewall of a tire. How much negative camber are you running in that tire. You bend a piece of paper, and it folds, creating a weak spot. This is the same as when one of these racing tires is on the knife edge. Use the curbs as feelers for the corner, but don't be too aggressive, because crashing over the rumble strips will hurt the tires.
Adam Christodoulou is chasing Katherine Legge in GTD. Acura NSX GT3 vs. Mercedes AMG GT3. Christodoulou is a Mercedes factory pilot after he won the 2016 Nurburgring 24 Hours. The Mercedes does have good braking. Christodoulou moves past Legge. But, Katherine Legge is not wanting to give an inch. She's a real scrapper. Some more real argy bargy in the chicane. Keep pushing. Ricky Taylor in the #7 Acura ARX05 leads this motor race. The #29 Audi R8 has been issued a monumental, five minute penalty for sandbagging.
This is the nuclear option and the bomb has been dropped. They dropped the nuke on Lamborghini a number of years ago after the race ended. Team boss Peter Baron can't be happy. Adam Christodoulou in the Mercedes may be even faster. The complexion of this race has just changed in GT Daytona. Adam Christodoulou has gone into the class lead in GT Daytona. How fast do you go to catch up? Holy smokes! What is every other Audi team thinking? Has the boom been lowered on the Audi? What about Ford in GTLM, as they are the fastest cars in class. The Audi has been released from the penalty box.
Again, Adam Christodoulou is now your GTD class leader. A.J. Allmendinger is next into the #86 Acura NSX GT3. IMSA made a statement at the Roar Before the Rolex 24, saying, like a father talking to their son or daughter, "I told you this would ahppen." Right rear tire trouble for Alex Brundle in the #78 Jackie Chan DC Racing entry. The marshals are equating many cars that are all so different. But, the fuel tanks and fueling rigs are all standardized. The Land Motorsports crew was supposedly filling the fuel tank too fast, and they are now within the window IMSA wants. But, team boss for Land Motorsport, Peter Baron is none too happy about it.
Anything can and will happen. Trouble for the #82 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3. They had a fire in the daytime, that was caused by a fueling issues. Let's say that the Magnus Audi team has the same fueling configuration, but doing a timed fuel fill, they won't get caught. Did another team tattle on the #29, or was this a flagrant foul? Ryan Dalziel has a problem in the #2 Nissan, as Ricardo Gonzalez goes off the road in the International Horseshoe maybe after having made contact with one of the Mazda's. This is only the second full course yellow in six hours.
Pits will open soon. Lots of stories yet to be told.
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