Ford has been keeping their pit stops consistent. #67 in the lane as #66 continues on the track. BMW has finally gotten the Balance of Performance adjustments they've wanted, and there's a major scrum between Eric Curran, Nicolas Lapierre, and Jordan Taylor. The rear end of the car in the Cadillac works extremely well.n Close shave between Jordan Taylor and Nicolas Lapierre. It was a clean move. They have had good speed, but they have one bullet in the gun for victory. This is the only driver lineup with three former Sebring winners. Lapierre won with Peugeot in 2011, and of course Pippo Derani and Johannes van Overbeek, they were part of the winning ESM team in 2016. Harry Tincknell is in the Mazda now, and he hasa bit of argy bargy with the #99 Red Dragon from JDC Miller Motorsports, with Mikhail "Misha" Goikhberg at the wheel of it.
Tincknell may be penalized. He is managed by Allan McNish, and he runs with Ford in the GT in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Tincknell is serving his drive through penalty. In Prototype and GT Daytona, the Continental Tires available are spec tires. Night practice is a majorly critical component in the lead up to this race. Eric Curran tried to pass the Turner Motorsportsn BMW M6 GT3, but decided discretion is the better part of valor coming to Kristensen Corner. Lapierre wants by Curran. He has a head of steam. He wants by. Now he is trapped behind a lapped Mercedes AMG GT3, but only briefly. Through Bishop Bend. Wow. The Nissan is closing onn the Cadillac. The fuel window will close soon, and mean pit stop time.
Cadillac #5 in pit lane. Tires and fuel, as Joao Barbosa stays in the car. They are cleaning the windscreen and trying hard to not use up the tear offs. #5 has the first pit stall in the lane. You can use only six to eight tear offs because of the curve of the windscreen. Nicolas Lapierre is really poushing, forcing the issue and Eric Curran goes by, while Jordan Taylor gives Lapierre a little love tap. The fuel window is only 40 minutes, because of a 68 liter fuel tank. Lapierre and Nissan now take the lead here at Sebring. Mike Conway will take over the #31 Cadillac.
Lapierre and Nissan hold P1 at the moment. #22 hit the lane for a pit stop and now the #10 Cadillac is leading, but Mike Conway has now set the fastest second sector of the whole race in the Prototype division. Tristan Nunez is now at the wheel of the #77 Mazda RT24P. The #10 Cadillac is in the pit lane, with water being added to the car. Joirdan Taylor stays in the car. Correction. Oliver Jarvis is at the wheel of the #77 Mazda. Will the #10 Cadillac continue having to add water to their radiator? We'll have to wait, find out, and watch. The exit valve is forcing water and air through.; Was their water going into the radiators? The car might run a shade hotter than expected. James Calado has the controls of the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari, fifth in GTLM, 20th in the overall.
Actually, Alessandro Pier Guidi is in the car. Again, Tristan Nunez is in the #77 leading Mazda right now. Porsche first won Sebring in 1960 and since then, they have had 18 overall wins and 70 class wins. Incredible. Sebastien Bourdais is in the #66 Ford GT.. Bourdais of course, won the opening IndyCar race at St. Petersburg, last weekend. Phillip Frommenwiler has a slide off the road, but he is running just behind his team mate, Jack Hawksworth. The defending GTD champions, Ben Keating, and Jeroen Bleekemolen are running really well,n with third driver, Luca Stolz. These three will race a Ferrari at Le Mans with Risi Competizione.
Trent Hindman in the #86 Mike Shank Racing entry is running really well. This is Hindman's first 12 Hours of Sebring. The #48 Lamborghini is running well. Paul Miller Racing will continue for the full season, as the sprint races will commence after Sebring is complete. The Land Motorsports Audi continues to lead. Alessio Picarello of Italy is at the controls. Harry Tincknell understeers into a bump off turn 17, and he's a lucky boy to have saved the car, and there is a lot of tire clag coming out of the air inlets to the engine. 111 laps, 415 miles complete.
Nicolas Lapierre continues to lead to the tune of seven seconds. Bill Auberlen is making his 25th 12 Hours of Sebring start, and he is the only driver to have the most starts, besides the great Hurley Haywood. Connor De Philippi is another driver, who is a rising star. Bill Auberlen is chasing Scott Pruett, for a tie to the most wins. The other thing is, he is racing car #25, which is a lucky number for BMW. In 1975, BMW won sebring with the #25, in the 3.5 CSL shared by Hans Stuck, Brian Redman, Sam Posey, and Allan Moffat.
Mike Conway is running really well, and he will be racing for Toyota in the FIA WEC and doing some IndyCar races as well. Joao Barbosa is in the lane for service. Filipe Albuquerque takes over the car. Ooh! We have a tent canopy on the race track. There was a gust of wind that blew this awning onto the road. The wind caught that canopy and it flew onto the track. Helio Castroneves pits, right on time. Incidentally, referring back to Mike Conway, he is managed by former Formula 1, IndyCar, and sports car veteran, Mark Blundell.
Ford has a long history at Sebring. In 1966, Dan Gurney and Jerry Grant stalled at the start, and they secured the lead. Gurney pushed his car to the line, but another Ford GT40, the X1 Roadster, of Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby, was the race winner. We are coming to the end of the fourth hour. Pit lane is open for Prototype and GT Le Mans. Pippo Derani will be in the #2 Nissan. Mike Conway stays at the wheel of the #31 Cadillac. GT Le Mans cars have all pitted. Ford #67 had the nose pulled off the car for servicing.
No water was added or vented out of the #31 Cadillac as we saw with the #10 car earlier on.
No comments:
Post a Comment