It is time for a street fight in Detroit as IMSA is in “The
Motor City” for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. GT Daytona has the sports cars that fans long
for. Acura won last time out, and Cadillac has also won this year. Filipe Albuquerque has pole
here. In qualifying, ESM and Acura
battled just as they did last time out at Mid-Ohio. Avoid bumps and avoid contact. This is a very bumpy circuit. Watch the pit lane exit with a wall in the
way. Heavy rain occurred yesterday and
there’s some argy bargy already before we get going behind the safety car. Juan Pablo Montoya v. Pippo Derani. Helio Castroneves also wants to win here. We have Prototype and GT Daytona here. The GT Le Mans teams are at Le Mans, for the test for the 24 hours that will run in a couple weeks.
Cadillac won the first street course race of the season, at Long Beach. Can they win again? Roger Penske's hometown is here in Detroit. The team has a lot of momentum after winning the most recent race at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course, and Penske has won his 17th Indianapolis 500, just last weekend. Wayne Taylor Racing and Cadillac, along with Jordan Taylor, he wants to win. He won the first five races of 2017, but here in Detroit, was Taylor's most recent race win, a year ago. He's hungry for a win.
We are ready to race, in Detroit. In GT Daytona, every manufacturer makes a car that everyone longs to own. Pippo Derani has pole. Derani was great at Sebring in the enduro. But this is a sprint, a 100 minute street fight. Prototype and GT Daytona are the only two classes here. Defending and charge. You have starters and closers, just like baseball. Lapped cars, at Mid-Ohio wouldn't get out of the way. Pay strict attention to where your competition is. Early track position is a major deal. Avoid contact. Execute to perfection. Watch the wall at pit out. Possible showers before the race is over.
Bring the field around slowly, and, go! Pippo Derani has the jump and there’s the Red
Dragoin going for it and one of Mazda’s is being shoved out of the way. The tires need to come up to
temperature. Eric Curran forced the
issue on one of the Mazda’s. This is
good racing, over the bumps. Misha
Goikhberg is trying to get back by Eric Curran. Renger van der Zande is also making a move. Goikhberg is making a move. Nissan have tested at Sebring
and found magic for bumpy circuits. The
rivalry is on between ESM and Penske.
Jonathan Bomarito and Tristan Nunez in the two Mazda RT24P’s, are flying
right now. Qualifying was cut short by a
crash for the #85 JDC Miller car, “the banana boat”, but that didn’t affect the
Mazda’s despite being down the order.
Bryan Sellers is leading GT Daytona. Katherine Legge in the #86 Acura NSX GT3 is
in the field, when MSR originally didn’t plan to run this race even though they
won it last year. Justin Marks in the
#96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 is pushing hard. Has Juan Pablo Montoya made contact with
Pippo Derani? Both Penske Acura’s are
past the Nissan. Derani may have trouble
with his transmission. He is a sitting
duck, being passed by the #10 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande. Derani is dropping like a stone. He's losing time, with too tall a gear.
Derani has no power out of these low speed corners. Lots of drivers had limited track time here
at Belle Isle. Pippo Derani is having
lots of issues shifting through the low speed corners. This should be a two stop race for the
Prototypes. Derani can't get through the gearbox properly especially through the low speed corners. Get asplash of fuel and then, change the steering wheel. Ooh! A bit of blocking in GT Daytona as we watch
Cooper MacNeil pressuring the #15 Lexus of David Heinemeier Hanson who was the
chap who nearly spun. Frantic action as
this race gets underway. Cooper MacNeil is all over David Heinemeier Hanson. It's Lexus vs. Ferrari in GTD.
The street fight is surely on at the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by Lear. Juan Pablo Montoya in the #7 Acura leads on this 2.35 mile track with multiple surfaces, and concrete walls everywhere. Into the pit lane is the #55 Mazda RT24P. Mazda is also having a gearbox issue. These are not mechanical issues, but rather, electronic issues. Change the steering wheel to remedy that. Did that steering wheel change fix the trouble? Not necessarily. Derani is in the lower rev range. He's slightly quicker than the GT Daytona cars he is running with.
With a mechanical shift linkage, you can do something, but electronically, it is harder. Dominik Baumann is pressurizing the Acura of Lawson Aschenbach at the moment. One bad moment can ruin your race and your season. There's possibly a half shaft or driveshaft issue with the Mazda. Through these bumpy corners, the driveshafts and transmissions can be shocked, and so can the traction control system. Joao Barbosa is catching rhe Acura's hand over fist! He's won here before, and Cadillac won't give up at their home race. A weak link in the Acura is how the tires fade earlier than those of the Cadillac's.
Try saving your fuel. Oh! The #15 Lexus is in the wall with David Heinemeier Hanson at the wheel. He's hit hard. Crunch! Did David Heinemeier Hanson have some assistance into the barriers? The wall is so, so close. GT cars are on the limit, holding on through the corner. You can't push the bye bye button to get away from the GTD machines. Eric Curran has had some contact. Tristan Nunez in the sister Mazda he shares with Oliver Jarvis, is going for it. That's the #77 machine. Full course yellow for debris. The plot thickens. Said debris may have come from the Lexus when Heinemeier Hanson had his shunt a minute or two ago.
Heinemier Hanson is in the pit lane for service, now. The majority of Prototypes pitted, except for the #5 Cadillac. There's a discrepancy in the pit stop time for when the Prototypes can hit the pit lane and that is definitely a factor on street circuits. Fans would want to drive the Corvette Z06 safety car as well, with 650 horsepower under the bonnet. Now, most of the Prototypes have come in, although the leaders have stayed out. In GTD, the minimum drive time in 30 minutes. We are just short of that with 23 minutes on the board at the moment. 23 minutes elapsed. We will go back to green this time by.
How will the battle turn out between Lamborghini and Acura in GTD? We'll find out. Track temperature is much lower than we've seen this weekend so far. Juan Pablo Montoya has handed his Acura ARX-05 to Dane Cameron. The Lexus is stranded in the lane. Acura Team Penske is right in front of them. Watch out for the limited pit space on a green flag stop. Joao Barboisa leads the field back to green. Pippo Derani passes Jon Bennett. Derani is up to second as Dan Cameron hits Jordan Taylor, and Stephen Simpson in the #85 car, the "Banana Boat", spins. Bryan Sellers defends from Katherine Legge. Acura is very quick and they seem to have more pace than the Lamborghini of Bryan Sellers.
Legge wants to make a move. She's not sure she will race the rest of the year besides the enduros. We'll have to see. Both Acura's got leapfrogged in pit lane and are going for it. Passing cleanly and safely is a hard thing to do. There's no room for error, as Jordan Taylor and Tristan Vautier pass Jon Bennett. Vautier starts for the first time in the blue Spirit of Daytona #90 Cadillac since that car had a hard shunt at the 12 Hours of Sebring back in March and had to skip two races to repair the damage. The Acura NSX has better traction on cold tires early than does the Lamborghini. Sellers can roll the apex speed, but the Acura has better mechancial grip and sticks to the race track, better.
Bryan Sellers is really pushing, and the bumps literally put the wheels in the air. Dane Cameron made a power move on Jordan Taylor before the "Banana Boat" was on the outside, and the boat didn't sink, but it spun. Robert Alon possibly at the wheel of it. Katherine Legge has to be aggressive and prove herself so she can keep her seat at MSR with Acura. Joao Barbosa leads the way in Detroiut, for Cadillac. There's a new man at the head of Cadillac, Steve Carlisle. Fans who own V Series Cadillac's in Detroit, are out in force to support their teams.
Can Cadillac and GM dominate at Detroit? They've done so before. But, Pippo Derani isn't giving up. Into pit lane, Bryan Sellers. Good call for these blokes to pit, as the Lexus was already pushing, and the Acura of Katherine Legge will stay out so she can leapfrog her competition. Madison Snow takes over the #48 Lamborghini. Everything to play fort still. Acura #93 nips the Lamborghini on the road. Acura #86 has also pitted. They are running harry flatters right now. Michael Shank is bullish about what they can do here in Detroit. Pressure is definitely on right now.
Lawson Aschenbach and Mario Farnbacher share the second Acura NSX GT3. Meyer Shank Racing is going for it right now, indeed. The strategy call worked, but if there was a full course yellow, everything would have gone pear shaped on them. Kenny Habul in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3 is now leading in class in GTD. Bernd Schneider, AMG and DTM legend, as well as former Group C and GTP racer. He's a quick shoe. He used to drive the Joest Racing Porsche 962 back in the 1990s. Mario Farnbacher is not the regular driver in the Acura NSX GT3. He is the third driver for the endurance events. But, nhe can prove himself now.
Can Mario Farnbacher lead Acura to a win in GTD? Can Cadillac and Wayne Taylor Racing stay out front in the Prototype class? Joao Barbosa is in heavy traffic right now as Pippo Derani is chasinmg him down. These cars are close together on the road, but the strategy is totally different. If both pitted at the same time, the Nissan will need less fuel than the Cadillac will as Dane Cameron is balked by the Audi and Ryan Dalziel forces the issue on Dane Cameron! Yikes! Misha Goikhberg is pressing hard as well. Goikhberg is a real scrapper today. He's going for it. Action Express Racing team boss Gary Nelson must have something up his sleeve. AXR has a ten second lead over the two Penske Acura's at the moment.
Stephen Simpson will take over from Misha Goikhberg. Simpson, originally from South Africa, is now a U.S. citizen. Strategy in these short, 100 minute sprint races, is a huge factor. Can Johannes van Overbeek push when he gets into the car. A slow Lexus of Kyle Marcelli is splitting the Cadillac of Joao Barbosa and the ESM Nissan. Pippo Derani has slightly more fuel in the tank. Filipe Albuquerque will now get into the #5 Cadillac as they make their second and final pit stop. Pit, get out, stay on the lead lap, and gain the lead under a closed pit lane. Tires, fuel, driver change. This is going according to plan for AXR.
That pit stop was flawless. The tank had to be filled to the brim with fuel. This is Filipe Albuquerque's first race at Belle Isle. How long will it before we see Nissan dive for the pit lane? Spirit of Daytona is back in IMSA competition. So much of the production cars for Cadillac, have gone into the race car. The future of Cadillac's design comes from this race car. Everyone is moving into their fuel window with less than 45 minutes to go in this motor race. Dane Cameron got caught in traffic. Acura must hit the lane, now, if they want to be competitive against the Cadillac boys. Ricky Taylor has worked his way past Sebastian Saavedra in the PR1 prototype.
Acura is supposed to have reallyn good fuel mileage. Felipe Nasr brings the #31 Whelen Cadillac to the lane per the strategy of crew chief/team manager Tim Keene. IIn replay, we see Ricky Taylor slam the wall, and have a banner come off the barrier. Oh boy. #99 dives for the lane, look. 40 minutes to go. Dane Cameron is pushing, but gets caught behind another car. Stephen Simpson takes over the #99 "Red Dragon". Jeff Segal is chasing Jeroen Bleekemolen in GT Daytona. Bleekemolen took over from team mate Cooper MacNeil. MacNeil says the Scuderia Corsa team is going for a one stop strategy.
Cooper MacNeil is testing at Le Mans today, and he will race Ferrari Challenge in Canada supporting Formula 1 in Montreal, and then going back to Le Mans for scrutineering and the race. All of the drivers in the field today, will be racing at Le Mans. Alessandro Balzan is recovering from surgery. He's not driving, though. Jeff Segal is running very well as a super sub. Ricky Taylor is going for it right now. Acura has gone 42 minutes on their fuel stint currently as Ricky Taylor has them in the lead, but there are only 37 minutes left on the clock.
Penske has pitted both Acura's, and now, the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac of Felipe Nasr is leading. Fuel only for Dane Cameron. No tires. Fresh tires for Ricky Taylor, going to the end of this motor race. It's a rivalry between the two Penske Acura's. Mazda #77 is running in fourth place, with Oliver Jarvis at the keyboard right now. Jarvis is booking it right now, trying to chase down the two Acura's. Ricky Taylor's tires are coming up to temeprature. Colin Braun exits the pit lane and comes out just behind the #77 Mazda. Braun has taken over from Jon Bennett in the #54 racer. Jeroen Bleeekemolen continues to be hounded by Jeff Segal.
Segal will drive with the WeatherTech team at Le Mans in a couple weeks. The battle continues as Mario Farnbacher continues to lead for Acura in GT Daytona. Farnbacher is being pursued hotly by team mate Lawson Aschenbach. Farnbacher has won here in Detroit, taking the win in 2015. Jeff Segal is having the blowtorch applied by the Lexus of Kyle Marcelli. The Lexus GT3 cars are starting to run successfully, and you will find out more about that in a couple upcoming race reports, so stay tuned.
Simon Trummer is now in the #85 JDC Miller car, the "Banana Boat". With the GT Daytona cars, they have enough downforce that it could upset the car in front of you. GT3 cars are incredible machines. Oh dear. Trummer is in trouble. He spins, and continues on his merry way, thankfully with no damage. Johannes van Overbeek in the second Nissan is pushing. We have just over 20 minutes left to run in Detroit. Ricky Taylor is going for it as Roger Penske looks on from the pit box. We have less than 20 minutes left to run here in Detroit. Acura #7 gapped the team car, #6. Tim Cindric and the boys have short fueled this car, and there's right rear damage on the Red Dragon. Not good.
Stephen Simpsonn is pushing. But, the right rear end plate is damaged and the right rear suspension could very well be askew. A mechanical black flag or "meatball" is givento Simpson. Simpson tried threading the needle on Filipe Albuquerque, and Albuquerque slammed into nthe #99, as he was making the move on the #14 Lexus RC F GT3. There's a big hunk of carbon fiber littering the road right now. Simpson is serviced and sent, back onto the track. The bodywork was definitely loose. Kyle Marcelli was squeezed by the two Prototypes.
Drive through penalty for Stephen Simpson, from the stewards, for incident responsibility. He was reacting to the #5, and it's the #99 that gets pinged for the contact. Mario Farnbacher leads GT Daytona right now. Acura wants to repeat, with MSR, after winning their first GT Daytona race at Detroit, last year. Shank says that pit stops were everything in how they performed in today's race. Just over ten minutes remain in this race. The two Acura's for Penske are still chasing Felipe Nasr in the #31 Cadillac.
Felipe Nasr continues to lead as Johannes van Overbeek has spun on the back straight. van Overbeek locks the brakes, and adds rear brake on the downshift, spinning the car, without hitting a wall. With the new teams here, and the established teams, the competition in IMSA right now is pretty amazing. The gap is closing. Dane Cameron has just made his way past Bill Auberlen with the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 in GTD. Turner Motorsports could surely be a contender in our next race. Details to come after the finish of this one.
As the leader, all you can hope is you are getting euqal treatment and respect from the lapped cars. Eric Curran won in Detroit in 2015 and should have done so last year. Both Acura's make their way by a couple of the GTD cars. Where do you catch traffic? How do you minimize the individual effect, and maximize the effect for your comeptition. Jeff Segal is glued to the Mercedes in GT Daytona. Ricky Taylor is on the attack, and he gets balked by a GTD car! Taylor was 1.1 seconds quicker last time by. Two laps to go.
Strategy is the deal? How did you play your hand? How are your tires? If there's traffic for the leader, then Taylor will pounce with fresher tires. Oh my! This is going to be a hot one! The lead was 1.9 seconds and is now 1.5 seconds. Catching is one thing, and passing is another. What will happen when Nasr catches the GTD cars, with Madison Snow? No worries for Nasr, but Ricky Taylor will be balked. That's not whwere you want the traffic. Cadillac vs. Penske. Final lap. Felipe Nasr is going for it, and Nasr is going to win at Detroit! Cadillac wins in the motor city!
Acura #86 will win GT Daytona! Marion Farnbacher and Lawson Aschenbach give Mike Shank two straight wins in Detroit. Mario Farnbacher is the perfect sub for Alvaro Parente who could not race here this weekend. Mazda #77 is stopped onj the road, out of petrol. Katherine Legge and Mario Farnbacher win for Acura in GTD!
Overall/Prototype: #31 Curran/Nasr Cadillac DPi-V.R
GT Daytona: #86 Legge/Farnbacher Acura NSX GT3
Now that this street fight is over and settled, the next focus is the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and then, IMSA will resume action, at the beginning of July, so in less than a month, with round three of four in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen from Watkins Glen International Raceway in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York, in a month or so.
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