We are set to go for two hours and 40 minutes of racing. 32 cars will start this race. As we are on the first of two pace laps, passing spots will be a big deal. Choose your passing points. Don't make a banzai move, with the speed differentials between the Prototypes and GT cars. The lap only lasts 66 seconds. You can just about make this race work on a three pit stop strategy, but it is going to be very, very close. Towards the end, the GT class cars will need a splash and dash, perhaps. Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya have put the #6 Acura ARX-05 on pole. The longest, most demanding corners are right hand turns here at CTMP. The competition is as hot as the weather. No margin for error today.
Nick Tandy for Porsche and Jack Hawksworth for Lexus, are your GT class polesitters in GT Le Mans and GT Daytona, respectively. A couple of cars were in the pit lane, but they got going reasonably well, so there are no worries with cars missing the start of this race. We will have a full grid. Race Director Beaux Barfield wants the cars to be lined up properly before the start of the race and not just slotting into position before the green flag drops. Robert Alon is alongside Dane Cameron in the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports, Hi-Tide Boat Lifts, Oreca LMP2 car, "the banana boat" as it is known to fans.
The safety car is in pit lane, and we are ready to race! It's time to bring the action, at Mosport! We're green and underway! Dane Cameron is followed through by Renger van der Zande who is starting the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R he shares with Jordan Taylor. Jonathan Bomarito also makes his way past Robert Alon, for third place. Bomarito sharing Mazda #55 with Tristan Nunez of course. Nunez has his hands full with Misha Goikhberg in the #99 JDC-Miller Motorsports Gainsco "Red Dragon". You'll recall this is the car that won the previous race, the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen.
Cameron and van der Zande are in the pound seats at the moment, having made wonderful starts to this motor race. Robert Alon has much less experience in these Prototype race cars, but he's really started well, look. He's going to be a factor throughout the race today, perhaps. Nick Tandy leads GT Le Mans for Porsche in car #911, and he is in hot pursuit, not by outside polesitter Ryan Briscoe in the Ford GT, but rather from one of the Corvette C-7-R's. Jan Magnussen is at the wheel of it right now, and he has shown very well in 2018 so far as we entered the season's second half. Oliver Gavin in the sister Corvette is running really well, and so is Jesse Krohn in one of the factory BMW M8 GT's for BMW Team RLL, (Rahal Letterman Lanigan).
Krohn has his team mate Alexander Sims in car #25 for company. Lexus leads GT Daytona after a front row sweep in the category, with Jack Hawksworth currently leading his team mate Dominik Baumann. Then comes championship leader, Bryan Sellers, at the wheel of the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. After that, is the first of the Mercedes AMG GT3's, the #33 car of Ben Keating. Porsche and Corvette both run very well here at Mosport, and there is a GM manufacturing plant not too far from this track, in Oshwa, Ontario. Dane Cameron leads Renger van der Zande by 1.4 seconds.
In GT Daytona, Jack Hawksworth and Dominik Baumann are opening a gap on their competition, too. Lap two, and already, Dane Cameron sets a new lap record at Mosport. 1:08.624. Stephen Simpson set last year's lap record at 1:08.9. Jon Bennett, sharing with Colin Braun in the #54 CORE Autosport LMP2 spec car, is hanging right in there. This is what the blokes at CORE Autosport have to do, as Bennett's team mate, Colin Braun has been fabulously quick, and so, they are putting their heads down and getting with the program right away. That's the plan if they want to win this motor race. We continue to watch the scrap for third in GT Daytona. Bryan Sellers has it, and Ben Keating, wants it.
Ben Keating, who is a gentleman driver, not a full on professional, actually ran quicker than his professional co-driver, Jeroen Bleekemolen during Saturday qualifying. 1:08 flat, 1:08.08 for Dane Cameron, as he and Renger van der Zande, they've been volleying that lap record around these last couple of laps. Dane Cameron has been the only bloke out there, who can give Colin Braun a tough run for his money, and right now, Cameron is right at the sharp end in the #6 Penske Acura. You haven't missed a thing in GT Daytona. Lexus leads, as Cooper MacNeil in the #63 WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3, chases the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3. That car won last week in class at the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, and has Robbie Foley at the wheel of it, sharing this weekend, with Bill Auberlen.
Nick Tandy is still up there in GT Le Mans as Jan Magnussen has his hands full with the sister factory Porsche 911 RSR of Laurens Vanthoor. #912 is a brand new chassis. This is a second brand new chassis, because it replaced the one written off during the practice and qualifying sessions for the 24 Hours of Le Mans three weeks ago. Speaking of Le Mans, stay tuned, because though all the race was covered here last month, if you missed anything, we will do another highlighted race report on Le Mans. When yours truly, has time for that, it will be posted. So, don't miss it... highlighted coverage of the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours. Dane Cameron's lead has now ballooned to 3.1 seconds. Renger van der Zande in the Cadillac is second still.
Cadillac is not having it all their own way in the Prototype class as they have in the past, as there were many changes to the rules before the 2018 season, and the motor was of course, downsized. We're just nine laps into the motor race, ladies and gentlemen, and Dane Cameron is lapping the slower GTD cars already. The leader has to wake up some of the slower drivers. The blue flag is for the leader. Get on the phone, the radio, to your driver, and say, "the leader is coming." Ryan Dalziel has gone past Helio Castroneves. That's the #22 Nissan DPi for Tequila Patron ESM. Dalziel sharing this weekend, with Pipo Derani. The #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport Ligier is closing up, with the Colombian duo of Sebastian Saavedra and Gustavo Yacaman sharing the car, and Saavedra is at the controls at the present time.
Helio Castroneves loves Mosport, and he is also very amazed by the job his Penske Acura team mates are doing. Dane Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Ricky Taylor. Penske is using a different team strategist, as Tim Cindric is supervising their IndyCar effort at Iowa Speedway. 15 minutes have passed on the clock. There's a good ways to go yet. Misha Goikhberg makes his way through the GT Le Mans traffic. Jesse Krohn is following Oliver Gavin. It is BMW M8 GT vs. Corvette C-7-R. This car has not yet had six months of competitive racing, having only made it's debut at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, at the end of January. Joey Hand is up there in the Ford GT as well, but there was a front suspension issue on #66 in qualifying.
Renger van der Zande has chopped Dane Cameron's lead back to 3.5 seconds as traffic plays its part as it always does in endurance sports car racing, here at Mosport. Jonathan Bomarito is catching van der Zande as well. Action Express has both of their Cadillac's running well, but remember, they are two different teams. Christian Fittipaldi at the wheel of the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac DPi-V.R, and Eric Curran in the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. Fittipaldi sharing with Filipe Albuquerque, and Curran, sharing with Felipe Nasr. Christian Fittipaldi is still substituting for Joao Barbosa who has had an arm and wrist injury. Barbosa is here to support his team this weekend. Tristan Nunez driving the #77 Mazda RT24P Prototype, sharing with Oliver Jarvis, has worked his way past Sebastian Saavedra.
Pit stop time for Acura #7. Helio Castroneves brings the car to the lane, and Ricky Taylor will take over. The #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac will also pit for service, as we have a car off the road. That is the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3-R in the hands of Wolf Henzler from Germany, and American driver, Michael Schein. #16 is off in turn five, Moss corner. Ford #66 is in the lane as well, for fuel and tires. We do have a full course yellow on the circuit, so there will be a flurry of activity in the lane, momentarily. React to circumstances, as the leaders come to the Mario Andretti straightaway, which is not too straight, and does have a curve or two in it. Pit lane is closed. Dane Cameron's lead will evaporate. The #99 Gainsco Red Dragon has pitted for fuel. Remember, Stephen Simpson and Misha Goikhberg won, last time out, at Watkins Glen.
Goikhberg at the wheel of it, fuel only. Cadillac #5 was waved back out of the lane and will pit next lap around. #99 did not make it in before the yellow. That will be a penalty handed to the team by the marshals. Jon Bennett and CORE Autosport will close up on the leaders. The #99 disputed with race control about the pit call, and the team was correct. They entered an open pit lane. The #10 Cadillac will take fuel and tires, but Renger van der Zande will stay behind the wheel. #85 is in the lane as well, but for fuel only. No tires, and Robert Alon stays in the car. Fuel and tires for both Corvette's with no driver changes. Cadillac #10 is now in the lane as well. Corvette and Ford pit, and a splash and dash for the #7 Acura.
Filipe Albuquerque is the last car out of pit lane on this cycle of pit stops. There was a wave around for any trapped GT cars before the pit lane opened. Pits are now open for GT Daytona. Penske has split the strategy. #7 pitted, while #6 stays on the track. However, the #7 machine had been into the lane before the yellow. So, why did they pit again? That's confusing. It is a mystery why #6 would have also pitted. They didn't, nor did the #54 CORE Autosport car. We are now 3/4 of the way through a fuel stint. Jon Bennett also has to fulfill his minimum drive time. The two Lexus RC F GT3's have not pitted, but Bryan Sellers in Lamborghini #48 does take the opportunity. Bryan Sellers is in for service. So are the #93 Acura for MSR, and the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari with WeatherTech sponsorship.
Additionally, the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche is also in the lane. That is being shared by Christina Nielsen and Patrick Long. Tires and fuel. No driver changes. As far as the #93 Acura, Justin Marks is at the wheel of it, sharing with Lawson Aschenbach. Jon Bennett will be into the lane on the next lap, as the crew is ready to service him. #54 is now in the lane as we have one lap of full course yellow before the green flag waves again. Colin Braun has gotten into the #54 car. Bennett drove for 30 minutes. Perfect strategy for CORE Autosport and Colin Braun's dad Jeff, who is the team manager. Bennett is doing a respectable job, but he will get a wave by. He will be right on top of Filipe Albuquerque.
The class split can happen all the way until the green flag waves again. That happens, now! Take a deep breath, again, and hold on for a wild ride, as we are back underway, here, at Mosport! Misha Goikhberg gets some wheel spin, and Felipe Nasr is now right on his gearbox. Renger van der Zande dives around Felipe Nasr. There is a touch between the #10 and #31 Cadillac's. Goikhberg's car has as much downforce on it as possible, as he is the rabbit, and the #10 Cadillac is the hound at the moment. The #99 team tried to trim the car out on Saturday in qualifying, but it was diabolically sketchy through the turns. Goikhberg makes an error, and opens the door for the Cadillac to walk through.
There is debris on the front straightaway as Dane Cameron is eking out more of a lead. Colin Braun is now up to tenth place in the overall. Jesse Krohn leads GT Le Mans in BMW #24 after not making a pit stop. Bryan Sellers in seventh, was the first GTD car to stop for pit work, and is the leader in the class championship. Now, we have on track problems once again. The #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R has gone off the road. It's beached in the dirt, right off of turn five, Moss corner. Christina Nielsen is at the controls of the #58. This will be a short yellow flag, and it seems Nielsen was tipped into that spin by her team mate. The sister car, #16 driven by Michael Schein and Wolf Henzler was right behind Nielsen.
It is hard to tell, but there was a slight touch between the two Porsche's which sent Nielsen into the wall. There is no wave by due to the quick yellow. Colin Braun and Filipe Albuquerque have worked their way into the top ten, passing Robert Alon and Sebastian Saavedra to do so. The #58 car will get a flat tow out of the grass. Joey Hand is dropping down the order in GT Le Mans. Dane Cameron pulled out a four second lead before the yellow. He wanted to give it some welly before making a stop, and hasn't hit the lane yet today. Christina Nielsen is pointed back in the right direction again.
All the new improvements to the venue here at CTMP have come without taking the character out of the original track. That's always good. Things in the world of broadcasting and motorsports have changed, and now, we have a lot of it online compared to television. We are going back to green flag racing. Green flag back in the air! Ricky Taylor is moving up nicely in the #7 Penske Racing Acura. Taylor has been making up positions like the proverbial rat up a drain pipe. Jesse Krohn leads GTLM for BMW, but Nick Tandy is hot on his heels in the Porsche. Laurens Vanthoor in the sister Porsche is right in the fight as well. So, the GTLM scrap is getting pretty tasty. In GT Daytona, Jack Hawksworth and Dominik Baumann for Lexus elected to stay on the track, and thus, they have a 1-2 lockout at the head of the class at this moment.
The IMSA Radio broadcast crew has been joined by Roger Werner, Accus Chairman. Accus is the overarching body of American motorsport, that works along with the FIA. Former Accus President Nick Craw has worked with the FIA and the same goes for current President, George Silverman. American motorsport is a healthy, thriving business. Road racing and open wheel racing have made huge strides. NHRA and NASCAR are hanging in as well. The industry is on solid ground. The FIA also has a huge stake in road safety, which Accus is also a part of, to an extent. The FIA covers motorsports, and transportation. Accus is primarily having to do with motorsport. Meanwhile, Bill Auberlen is headed back on track in the #96 BMW M6 GT3 and Andy Lally is into the #44 Magnus Racing Audi R8. Those two blokes are going to be very, very quick.
New lap record by Dane Cameron once more. 1:07.863. The pace is amazing. There is enthusiasm for Mosport Park. IMSA is right on their game with a bunch of manufacturer's. Pit stop time for Acura #93. Motorsports is a business, but also, a race track is for the fans. That is what the management at CTMP have been considering. Mercedes #33 is in the lane, and Jeroen Bleekemolen will get into the car. Jeff Segal will take over the #63 Ferrari. Kyle Marcelli, a hometown hero, from Canada, will also get into the #14 Lexus for his stint. Dane Cameron leads Renger van der Zande and Felipe Nasr. Misha Goikhberg has passed Nasr.
Pit stop time for the leader. Dane Cameron will stay in the car for another stint. Fuel and tires for Acura and the #14 Lexus, mentioned above, is now in the pit lane, too. Ryan Dalziel brought the #22 Nissan into the pits and Pippo Derani will take over the car.; Dane Cameron is back on track and it will be a race out of pit lane between Jeff Segal and Kyle Marcelli. Ferrari vs. Lexus. Ferrari will win this little race out of pit lane. The #22 Nissan DPi is pitting earlier than expected, and there could be an issue, because the bonnet is up at the back of the automobile.
Alvaro Parente and Kyle Marcelli are the two blokes who will assume the 1-2 in GT Daytona for the time being. Brryan Sellers, who made a pit stop, is already behind the Acura as Lexus #15 is now in the lane, too. The pits are a frantic spot here at CTMP. Jesse Krohn just barely hangs on to the GT Le Mans lead over Nick Tandy in the Porsche. Tandy has Laurens Vanthoor behind him in the sister Porsche, and then, we see both Covertte's liner stern. Oliver Gavin followed by Jan Magnussen, it seems.
I stand corrected. Gavin is ahead of Magnussen at the moment. ESM is back on track, but we will have to keep an eye out for that car. Last weekend, at Watkins Glen, we know the engine got sick. Ricky Taylor is trying Misha Goikhberg. Goikhberg says, "no you don't", uses the Ford GT as a pick, and slams the door in Taylor's face. On board with the #67 Ford, we can see there is a problem Jon Bennett and Jonathan Bomarito are in a scrap for position as CORE Autosport are going for it. Colin Braun has been the fastest man on track all weekend, and that continues during the motor race itself.
Renger van der Zande is opening a gap at the front of the field, and so is Felipe Nasr. Nasr is pulling a good distance away from everyone else, too. It'd be nice to just sit back with a cool drink and watch this race unfold. Can't really do that. The cool drink, yes. But, I also have to keep talking about this race and how it is unfolding, and continue to let the words hit the paper, or, well, the computer screen as the case may be. No urgency at all in the ESM pit, the rear decklid is off that motorcar, and it's got trouble, with a capitol T and rhymes with E which does stand for engine!
The left side of the lump, has trouble. Have they lost a header? Have they lost a coil pack? Those are two good guesses.
Alvaro Parente is in the land from the GT Daytona class lead with the #86 SiriusXM Acura NSX GT3. A full tank of fuel, no driver change, and fresh, sticker Continental tires for the car. Stick tires, are simply fresh ones, that still have the manufacturer's sticker for their serial and batch number, on the tire. Those are different from scuffed or scrubbed tires, which have had a few laps put on them of course. Alvaro Parente is back out, as Katherine Legge waits in the pit lane, enjoying this gorgeous and cool weather in Canada during the race. To score points, Legge will need to drive a minimum of 45 minutes, before the race ends.
Renger van der Zande leads by a whopping 7.5 seconds over Felipe Nasr in the #31 Cadillac. Misha Goikhberg is third, and very quick, pulling 176 miles an hour on the straight. It is also very close between Tristan Nunez, Sebastian Saavedra, and Robert Alon. Ford passes BMW in GTLM. Jesse Krohn has been holding off both of the Porsche 911 RSR's. BMW hasn't had the ultimate pace, but they are going for it as the #22 ESM Ligier Nissan is down the order. Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and the rest of the team have had a fraught race.
Scott Sharp and ESM have had a real race to forget, here in Canada. Some argy bargy between the #33 Mercedes with Ben Keating driving, and the #4 Corvette, which costs the Corvette a place to one of the Ford's. Joey Hand is reinvigoratedn after a slow start in that Ford he shares with Dirk Mueller. Porsche, Porsche, BMW, Corvette in GT Le Mans as Jesse Krohn is falling into the clutches of Oliver Gavin it seems. The Porsche's are whistling off into the distance, and it is becoming more and more difficult for BMW to try and spoil their little party. Misha Goikhberg is still fending off a challenge from the Mazda of Jonathan Bomarito, and the rest of the pursuers in Prototype at the moment.
Renger van der Zande is still leading over Felipe Nasr. The Cadillac's out front are setting quite the pace. ESM is having turbo trouble, or so they think. Turbo trouble. That's a tongue twister for you race fans. ESM has nothing to gain. No chance of a podium. So, it could very well be game over for #22. We keep reiterating this fact, but, the Nissan DPi is essentially powered by a GT3 spec motor. That's the 3.8 liter turbo V6, twin turbo, that powers the GT-R GT3 production based racer, a car that if it ran here in IMSA, would be at home in GT Daytona. Oliver Gavin is trying to fend off the Ford challenge, and has a touch with one of the Mercedes GTD entries, which slows him down, allowing the Ford to get closer.
We look again in replay, and yes, the argy bargy was not the Corvette and Ford. It was rather between the Corvette and the AMG Mercedes. Meanwhile, Dane Cameron has dropped outside of the top ten in the #6 Acura. We have another stirring battle among the Prototypes, featuring Misha Goikhberg, Jonathan Bomarito, Ricky Taylor, Colin Braun, Filipe Albuquerque, and the sister Mazda. They are liner stern. There's not even 2.5 seconds between these five Prototype machines whether they are DPi or LMP2 cars. Nick Tandy and Porsche have dominated GT Le Mans, and said domination continues. He's off in the wild blue yonder, with no one really to worry about at the moment.
Jesse Krohn makes his way towards pit lane, for what will be his first pit stop of this motor race in the #24 BMW M8 GT. Krohn is out of the car, and has handed the driving chores to John Edwards. Four new skins for the BMW, and fuel. John Edwards heads back out on track. Colin Braun has made up a place, getting around Misha Goikhberg for position on the road. Colin Braun is within strking distance of Ricky Taylor and has gone ahead of Misha Goikhberg at this stage. Sebastian Saavedra pits the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Ligier from 11th position in the overall. New tires are on the car, and we have a wheel that has gone walkabout on the circuit here someplace.
Did car #52 lose a wheel on the way into pit lane? Good question. We have an hour and a half left in this motor race. We are under full course yellow, and the pit lane is closed. #52 is having the tires changed, but spins the wheels while up on the air jacks. That is sure to be a penalty handed down from the marshals. Nick Tandy passed Jesse Krohn on the outside, through turn four. Gustavo Yacaman replaces Sebastian Saavedra at the wheel of car #52 and he will have to claw back time and do an iron man stint.
Renger van der Zande leads Felipe Nasr right now, followed by Jonathan Bomarito, Ricky Taylor, Colin Braun, Filipe Albuquerque, and Misha Goikhberg, ahead of Tristan Nunez, Robert Alon, and Dane Cameron. Tandy leads Vanthoor, Magnussen, Hand, Gavin, Briscoe, Sims, and Edwards in GTLM. A bunch of cars get pointed by after being trapped between the safety car and their class leader. In GT Daytona, Bryan Sellers leads from Jeroen Bleekemolen, Bill Auberlen, David Heinemeier Hanson, Alvaro Parente, and Jeff Segal. Prototype cars will be able to pit next time around, and then, the GT cars will have their turn in the lane.
Wowzers. Good grief, the whole Prototype field is in the lane! This will be frantic. The #10 Cadillac is in and there will be a driver change. Renger van der Zande will hand over to Jordan Taylor. Fuel and tires for the Cadillac, and Ricky Taylor will remain in Acura #7, which is also taking on fuel and tires. Both Corvette's and both Porsche's in the lane. Driver changes all around. Patrick Pilet and Earl Bamber will get into their respective cars. Harry Tincknell takes over the #55 Mazda. Both Ford's were in. Dirk Mueller in #66, and Richard Westbrook in #67. Alexander Sims has the lead in GTLM in the #25 BMW. Gustavo Yacaman will get a lap back, or try to.
GT Daytona cars will come in soon. Englishman Jack Manchester is here to see about North American sports car racing. He is the driver for AKKA ASP in the Blancpain GT Series. They are GT3 cars, of course. Madison Snow will take over the #48 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 from Bryce Miller. Ferrari #63, BMW #96, and Lexus #14 also pit. Dane Cameron has come out ahead of Jordan Taylor. Running a different strategy, Dane Cameron has handed the #6 Acura to Helio Castroneves and has come out of the lane, having moved forward from tenth to second place.
Prototypes will get back to the front and we have an hour and 20 minutes left to run. We're halfway home, here at CTMP. #5 and #54 have lost spots. We are back under green here at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Jordan Taylor got the jump on Dane Cameron on the restart. Felipe Nasr, meanwhile, is holding back the challenge of Mazda and Harry Tincknell who is now at the wheel of car #55. Cadillac #5 has lost some places after this restart. Gustavo Yacaman will indeed serve a penalty for wheelspin in the pit lane. Jeff Segal also gets dinged by the marshals for running the red light at the end of pit lane. That's a stop plus a minute hold.
#52 with the drive through and #63 with the stop and hold, are serving their penalties now. BMW runs 1-2 in GTLM. Alexander Sims over John Edwards. A good showing for BMW and for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The stewards are reviwing the most recent restart. Did Harry Tincknell jump the gun, early? Porsche #911 is making up ground, trying to pass one of the BMW M8's. Meanwhile, a fraught race for the sister #912 Porsche with a puncture on the left rear tire. Bamber's troubles bring out another full course yellow. Man, oh man! There's loads of debris littered throughout Moss corner, which could have only come,n from a Porsche.
Porsche #912, after it's crackup, receives emergency service. It was thought Dane Cameron would need fuel in the Penske/Acura pit. But, no. This was emergency service, as stipulated within the rules. Now. was there contact between the Porsche and the Acura? They should never have been anywhere near each other on the track. Debris from Earl Bamber's Porsche from a cut down tire, is why we are under yellow. Bamber is still on the lead lap in GTLM. Earl Bamber began having trouble when he was trying to pass Richard Westbrook in the #67 Ford GT. There is damage on the left hand side of the Ford. The Porsche supposedly hit the Ford in it's left rear corner, and yet, both vehicles have left rear corner damage. How is that possible?
Westbrook has yet to come in and you'd think the marshals would call him in to have a look at the damage. Cameron and the Penske crew believe the debris from the #912's incident on the back straightaway, is to blame. We are now headed back to more green flag racing action. Jordan Taylor leads Felipe Nasr and Harry Tincknell, as we have an hour and ten minutes still on the board before this race is done and dusted. Taylor, Nasr, Tincknell, the top three. A couple of penalties coming, with the #52 PR1/Mathiasen car, and one of the Penske Acura's. A stop and hold penalty for the Acura.
One of the cars ran the stop light at the end of pit lane. In replay, we see the contact between Porsche and Ford. Indeed there is a penalty for the #6 Acura. Earl Bamber has pitted for fuel and tires. Oh dear! John Edwards is off the road, and he has damage to the left rear corner of the BMW and smoke coming off the car. Pilet was ahead of Edwards and the contact was totally unnecessary. Penske was trying a creative fuel strategy, but it didn't work and wasn't necessary. BMW #25 also pits. Alexander Sims, out, and Connor De Philippi, in. The contact between Pilet and Edwards is now under review by the stewards.
The toe link has been damaged on the BMW. Edwards pits, for new tires. Oh boy. Bill Auberlen is off the road in the final corner, turn ten. Bill Auberlen is eighth in class. The argy bargy between #911 and #24 remains under review by the marshals. What will their call be? No further action on that incident. It's a racing incident, pure and simple. Edwards knew the Porsche was there, and he pinched the Porsche. Shutting the door when the horse has bolted, essentially. Did Patrick Long in the #58 Wright Motorsports Porsche have any part in spinning Bill Auberlen in turn ten? This is another questionable mishap.
Auberlen hits pit lane, and I stand corrected, as it seems he is running eighth in the overall. Jordan Taylor leads this motor race from Felipe Nasr by 2.77 seconds. Cadillac holds three of the top five places in the Prototype class right now. Garcia and Bleekemolen now lead the GT classes, GTLM and GTD. It is game over for Bill Auberlen and Turner Motorsports, as a right rear toe link on the car, is broken after the incident from mere minutes ago. Patrick Long will receive an incident responsibility drive through penalty. Kyle Marcelli makes his way around Alvaro Parente in GT Daytona.
Katherine Legge would leave here, if things finished as they are now, leading the GTD points, but still not knowing if she has a drive for the next race, in two weeks at Lime Rock Park. Details on that motor race, coming up after this one is completed. Some argy bargy, meanwhile, between the team mates at JDC-Miller Motorsports, the "Red Dragon", and the "Banana Boat". Lexus #15 pits and Jack Hawksworth will be behind the wheel for the final stint. Stephen Simpson is driving car #99 and Simon Trummer is in #85. Lawson Aschenbach and Madison Snow pit together. This is the last series of pit stops for GTD before the end of the race.
Lamborghini beats Acura out of the pits. Patrick Pilet also pits the Porsche. Can GTLM cars go 55 minutes? Lexus #14 and Acura #86 also in. Katherine Legge takes over the Acura. Fuel and tires for the #3 Corvette, and Antonio Garcia will take it to the flag. Katherine Legge was very slow coming out of Moss corner. Legge is very slow on her outlap out of the pits, and now the #48 Lamborghini will move ahead. Ford #66 pits, and now the floodgates have opened for GTLM and GTD cars. In 2014, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating won for the first time, here at CTMP. Kyle Marcelli moves to the class lead in GTD.
Jack Hawksworth in the sister Lexus also puts in fastest lap in class at 1:16.9. Mercedes #33 got out ahead of the #15 Lexus. Bleekemolen splits the Lexus cars. Katherin Legge runs ahead of former team mate Andy Lally. Harry Tinckne;; has moved back to third in the Mazda. Colin Braun, took pole for this race and has moved his way back up to fourth place. With 50 minutes to go, the leaders will need one more pit stop for a splash and dash. Dane Cameron has ten more laps of fuel than everyone else, but he is a lap down. Colin Braun looks inside Harry Tincknell into turn eight, but no dice.
Oliver Jarvis in the sister #77 car is seventh. Tincknell, Braun, and Taylor run third, fourth, and fifth. Tincknell is maneuvering through traffic. The question remains, what will the tire strategy be at the end of this race? No more pit stops for GTD. But, there will be more for Prototypes. Pit stops coming from the #99 "Red Dragon" who won last weekend at Watkins Glen, and also for the #10 Cadillac. Neither Milner nor Westbrook in GTLM have made their last pit stops yet and when they do, that will give the advantage to Patrick Pilet in Porsche #911. Harry Tincknell pits the Mazda from third place. More teams will now dive for the lane after Tincknell's stop. Jordan Taylor reacts and is in the lane now.
Felipe Nasr and Ricky Taylor stay out. Sticker tires for Jordan Taylor as well as fuel. Both fuel and tires for the two JDC-Miller cars, the Red Dragon and the Banana Boat. Mustang Sampling has a slow stop and Jordan Taylor is out first. CORE and Mazda also pit. Penske and Acura as well as Whelen Engineering, pit. The #31 and #7 are in the lane. Can #31 win at CTMP three years in a row? Cadillac beats Acura out of the pits. Corvette #4 also in the pit lane. Fuel, four tires, and Tommy Milner will take Corvette #4 to the finish. Richard Westbrook is 24 seconds ahead of Patrick Pilet in GTLM. Westbrook pitted last on lap 52, 35 laps ago. Cadillac #5 gains gobs of time after it's pit stop leapfrogging the #54, #7, and #55 cars.
Jordan Taylor extends his lead. Colin Braun and Oliver Jarvis set fastst laps for both their cars, in the 1:08 bracket. Albuquerque is catching Nasr. The battle is on between the two Action Express Cadillac's that really and truly, run under different team names in reference to their sponsors. Mazda's now run sixth and seventh. Colin Braun passes Filipe Albuquerque for third. Braun is steaming right along. Meanwhile, Andy Lally and Katherine Legge have been fighting for fifth in GTD for the past 20 minutes. Braun zooms past the GTD battle. This distraction allows Andy Lally to pass Katherine Legge in GTD for fifth in class.
We have a proper humdinger of a finish to this motor race, coming up. Don't go anywhere. Ferrari #63 pits. Felipe Nasr and Colin Braun are catching Jordan Taylor. They ran 1:09 laps. Jordan Taylor slows down into the 1:10 bracket, which isn't too bad. Richard Westbrook still leads GTLM despite damage. Juan Pablo Montoya will take the #6 Acura to the end, and get his first ever laps around CTMP. Felipe Nasr passes Colin Braun, running only a second and a half behind Jordan Taylor. Bamber and Mueller battle in GTLM, and there is trouble for an Acura! Just out of pit lane, and Juan Pablo Montoya has lost a wheel!
The left front wheel has departed the Acura! The tire is rolling across the race track, as we have Ford #67 in pit lane. We have a full course yellow at the front of the field and this will close everything up. Ford and Richard Westbrook make a brilliant strategy call for left side tires only. Montoya's wheel fell off at the exit of Moss corner on his outlap. Montoya is back in the lane, but has overshot his pit. The wheels have truly fallen off the proverbial wagon for Penske. Dane Cameron won't get his third straight win at CTMP today.
Can Colin Braun make a move on Jordan Taylor? That is the big question here, chaps. Braun has to hold second, as the global LMP2 cars don't come up to speed well on restarts. Acura #6 pits. The restart will be key. This will be a short yellow because we are inside 30 minutes to the end of the race. Penske continues to work on the front end, the suspension, the front end geometry, the steering, the brakes etc. of the #6 machine. Richard Westbrook and the #67 Ford, these boys have struck gold, and hope to parlay what they've been given, as manna from heaven, into a victory. The Acura is having a brake caliper changed. The caliper was broken and the line sheared when the wheel came off.
Acura #6 is 11th overall. The #22 Nissan is out of contention, and the Acura may go behind the wall. CTMP is all about track knowledge and commitment. Everyone is on the lead lap in GTLM. Kyle Marcelli leads Jeroen Bleekemolen in GTD. Jack Hawksworth in the Lexus has moved right up with the GTD front runners. We're green again at CTMP with less than 20 minutes remaining. Acura #6 is still being worked on in the lane. Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor run wide and nearly go off track after getting great restarts! Nasr is defending from his team mate Albuquerque, with the Mazda chasing them both. Montoya is now back on track. Penske fixed their problems. Now, the plot thickens. We see Colin Braun right on Jordan Taylor's tail, in second place.
Whoa! Sliding, big style for the #14 Lexus! Jeroen Bleekemolen will have a shot at catching Kyle Marcelli. Richard Westbrook holds a razor thin lead, at 7/10ths of a second in GT Le Mans over Patrick Pilet. Bleekemolen has made a pass. Whoa! Another, whoa, indeed, as Andy Lally has made his way to third in class in the #44 Magnus Racing Audi R8! Knock, knock. Jack Hawksworth finds his way back around Andy Lally! Lally in the Audi is right on Hawksworth's bumper in the Lexus! Good stuff here! Good stuff! Through comes the GT Le Mans leader, the #67 Ford. Patrick Pilet in the #911 Porsche is closely following. Now, there's a malady on that Lexus with Hawksworth at the wheel of it. The GTLM cars are carving their way through the GTD traffic.
Wow. Some argy bargy between the #14 Lexus and another of the Mercedes cars! Hawksworth could be fading because his tires are knackered. Oliver Jarvis passes Ricky Taylor for sixth overall. Taylor, Braun, Nasr, is your battle for the top spot in the Prototype class. After contact with one of the Cadillac's, that is what messed up the alignment on the Ricky Taylor driven Acura, car #7. Some tire smoke from the #10 Cadillac. Could the left rear tire be rubbing on the fender? Taylor runs the fastest lap for #10 at 1:08.2. Braun continues to gain on Taylor. Patrick Pilet has dropped behind the Corvette's in GTLM and we have a Mazda, off the road! Tincknell's dropped it in the kitty litter! Deary me! This will be a full course yellow, as Tincknell is buried at Moss corner.
The Porsche was compromised by a Lexus and got outrun by the two Corvette's up the Mario Andretti straightaway. Colin Braun passed Jordan Taylor into turn one, just as the yellows waved. This is a short yellow as Tincknell is pulled to safety, out of the gravel trap. Braun is really going for it now, right behind Jordan Taylor. Whoa! The #14 Lexus slides and nearly goes off the road. Bleekemolen has indeed gone through. Wow! Andy Lally has made it up to third place now. There's a touch and Jack Hawksworth barges his way back through! Here comes the Ford, #67 leading GTLM. He's on the outside at turn eight. Something is wrong with Jack Hawksworth. Pilet has lost ground to the Ford. Mercedes keeps their tires together better than the Lexus does. Lexus has some knackered tires. Oliver Jarvis makes a move on Ricky Taylor for sixth. Jordan Taylor leads for Cadillac, ahead of Colin Braun, ahead of Felipe Nasr and Filipe Albuquerque. The Corvette's are third and fourth in GTLM. Great stuff from the tape apes, the video operators doing the replays. Some tire smoke as the tire rubs the fender of the #10 Cadillac. Jordan Taylor sets the fastest lap for #10 at 1:08.2. Braun is gaining. Patrick Pilet has dropped behind, and meanwhile, Harry Tincknell has put the Mazda off in the kitty litter! He's binned it, somehow. This is Moss corner, turn five. Twelve minutes to go, and there is a yellow. Did he jump? Was he pushed? We have yellow on the course. The exit of the Porsche off the corner, onto the Mario Andretti straight, was compromised, and he got smoked by the Corvette's after being balked by a Lexus.
#54 leads and they are driving away from everyone. In about six minutes, they will record a fantastic, come from behind victory. Braun controls the race and lowers fast lap to 1:07.6. Lexus in trouble. #14 blocks a quicker car, and Jack Hawksworth has now gone off the road another time in the sister #15. Andy Lally on the podium. Madison Snow and Katherine Legge move up to fourth and fifth in class. The two Lexus cars may have come together on the road, somewhere. John Potter kept the Magnus Audi competitive today before handing the car to Andy Lally. We watch a replay of Porsche #911 getting tapped by Lexus #14 before that car went back up the inside. That hung the #911 out to dry and hence, the two Corvette's said, "see ya!" and blew by. Tommy Milner sets his and the #4's fastest lap of the race with a 1:15.3. Richard Westbrook remains 3.5 seconds up the road. Plenty of battles still taking place out on the track. Jack Hawksworth is in the pit lane right before this race ends.
Hawksworth needs grass blown out of the radiator, as the engine of the Lexus RC F GT3 begins to overheat. No tires needs even though they were on the wall. Andy Lally looks to pass Kyle Marcelli. Lally is in the slipstream of the Lexus. He must try the outside. A couple more laps for Colin Braun. The CORE Aosport team is holding their collective breath. Richard Westbrook is going to win GTLM even though the Ford GT has damage on the back. It is now, the final lap, here at CTMP. Colin Braun passes the battle for second in GTD. Braun still has traffic to contend with. Two turns to go as he gets by Jeroen Bleekemolen. Colin Braun, and Jon Bennett, win the Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix! Two wins in a row for ORECA!
Overall/Prototype: #54 Braun/Bennett Oreca 07 Gibson
GT Le Mans:#67 Westbrook/Briscoe Ford GT
GT Daytona: #33 Keating/Bleekemolen Mercedes AMG GT3
An amazing win, for another underdog privateer LMP2 team. Wow! So, the next race on the schedule, is the Northeast Grand Prix at the bull ring, the 1.53 mile layout of Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Connecticut, next weekend. See you then.
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