BMW #24 hits pit lane. Tires and fuel for Jesse Krohn. The #67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook takes over the GT Le Mans lead. C.J. Wilson, whose teams have been running Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, he is now in IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. C.J. Wilson was a pitcher in Major League Baseball, but is now also a race car driver. Ford, in the lane. Both cars. Westbrook stays in the car. Wow! Some near contact between the two Ford's coming off pit lane! James Calado and Ferrari lead GT Le Mans, while GT Daytona sees Jack Hawksworth and Lexus ahead in class right now. Calado is 16th in the overall, and Hawksworth, is 25th in the overall, presently.
One hour down, and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Pippo Derani is coming, and fast, applying the blowtorch to Felipe Nasr in the #31 Cadillac. Nissan has changed something in their engine. The turbo cars were decreased in boost, and ten kilograms of weight were added to the Cadillac's, and these changes were made in the Balance of Performance, by IMSA of course. The middle of the speedway might be repaved. But, the concrete runways cannot be removed because they are slabs of concrete that are six feet thick. Cadillac #5 and Acura #6 in the lane. Simon Pagenaud will take over the Acura. At Action Express, there is a driver change for #5. Christian Fittipaldi may have gotten into the car. That ground shaking rumble of the Cadillac motor, compared to the higher pitched buzz of the Honda V6 motor in the Acura.
Ricky Taylor will double stint in the #7 and this brings the two Mazda's of Jonathan Bomarito in #55 and Rene Rast in #77, to the lead, as we are back timing the race from this point forward, say if you were a team manager deciding your driver rotation. The #31 Cadillac has another great pit stop, and Felipe Nasr remains at the wheel of it. The GT Daytona cars are faster now, on hot tires, while the Prototypes have cold tires with the pressures down. So much more racing yet to come, folks. We're open all day here at Sebring, except for a slot between 2:40 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. when you can follow the race either on Fox Sports Go, or on the IMSA app.
Jack Hawksworth leads GT Daytona, and their performance has been ramping up. The longevity of the RC F GT3 is still being worked on. Sean Rayhall is their new recruit after Scott Pruett's retirement. There is a shade of damage on the #15. Keep an eye on the right hand corner on the front of the automobile. The rear view mirrors on the BMW M8 GTE are a part of the aerodynamics package. They also have their effort for the FIA World Endurance Championship "super season", coming up. Penske team manager Tim Cindric says the two cars are separate in strategy. They are still trying to race and beat each other, even though they are team mates. There is no one more important to beat, than your team mate.
Cadillac President Johan De Nysschen is satisfied with their efforts to this point in the 12 hours. Corvette and Ferrarti for GTLM in the pit lane. The #3 goes back on track. They were in for a good while, and there was a battery that needed replacement. The #3 has gone back behind the wall! Oh deary me. This means Corvette could have just one bullet in the gun to go for the GT Le Mans class win today. Porsche is now leading in GT Le Mans, running 1-2. Nick Tandy leads Laurens Vanthoor at the moment. There was a lot of damage done to Sebring International Raceway during Hurricane Irma. But, that has made the place even better than it already was.
Spirit of Daytona got some sponsorship after their pole position earned yesterday. Porsche has pitted, and maybe made a driver change. Jesse Krohn, Joey Hand, and Richard Westbrook are 1-2-3 in GTLM and Ricky Taylor had a very close shave with Jon Bennett in the #54 CORE Autosport car. Corey Lewis is now replacing Madison Snow in the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Lewis, Brian Sellers, and Madison Snow, are sharing the car, and they did driver changes, on the drive to the track as well.
Ferrari #51 pits and no major changes, except for changing water bottles for the driver's. They have four drivers in the #51. They each need to do a minimum of two hours. Four drivers lightens the load, but complicates the strategy. In the professional classes, one hour is the limit. It's easier to slice the pie that way. Then, with three drivers, no one is arguing about the final slice of pie. Sheldon van der Linde passes Corey Lewis. Land Motorsports Audi R8 vs. Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. The #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 has a penalty for excessive wheel spin. Robert Renauer crashed the car on the reconnaissance lap at Daytona. Monster wiggle for Renger van der Zande! He was slide jobbiung the Cadillac! Yikes! Flat sliding through turn 17. That's unreal!
We are 48 laps, 180 miles into this race. Spencer Pigot in the #55 Mazda RT24P is running well. David Heinemeier-Hanson in one of the Lexus GTD cars has a penalty after running over pit equipment, probably a hose for one of the rattle guns to change the tires. We are 3/4 of the way through the second hour, here at Sebring. Sheldon van der Linde will take over the GT Daytona lead with the looming penalty for the Lexus. Team manager Peter Baron is part of this equation at Land Motorsports. Sheldon van der Linde will want to make the pass on the Lexus of Jack Hawksworth.
Lexus #15 now in the lane. The #75 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Kenny Habul is off the road. He is trying to get back on the road, going in a little hot into Cunningham corner, turn ten. Cooper MacNeil was in the emergency room for a reaction to a peanut allergy. MacNeil was cleared to race. Game over for the #64 car. Frank Montecalvo is OK. Pit stop time again, for the #5 Cadillac with Christian Fittipaldi at the wheel of it. Chris Miller was another chap to go off at turn ten. Calamity corner? It could be.
This track changes from year to year. There are bumps, sure, but also incredible camber changes. Jesse Krohn continues to wheel the #24 BMW M8 GT. Joey Hand in the #66 Ford GT remains second in class in GT Le Mans. The #54 prototype has no driver side window. The #7 Acura pits. Ricky Taylor out, and it looks like Graham Rahal is now in the car. Roger Penske himself, is calling strategy for the sister car, #6. Problems for the #6 Acura. Something wrong with the rear wing. One of the wing mounts has been bent. Felipe Nasr brings the #31 Cadillac to pit lane, and Renger van der Zande in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac. Mazda's now run 1-2. Once again, they are leading. Spencer Pigot in the #55 car, and Oliver Jarvis at the controls of #77.
Driver change for the leading #24 GT Le Mans BMW M8.
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