It is 2AM, the witching hour, with the Rolex 24 officially half over, and the #4 Corvette in the pit lane. New Michelin tires on #4, promoting the #62 Miguel Molina driven Ferrari to fourth. Now, DragonSpeed still leads in LMP2, with the #18 of Sebastian Saavedra leading the #81 of Nicolas Lapierre. Cadillac #85 has just left pit lane after it's litany of problems as the #4 Corvette also thunders away from it's pit box back out into the night to continue the race. #85 is sixth in class in DPi. Alex Rossi leads the motor race overall over team mate Simon Pagenaud who is running ahead of team mate Jordan Taylor. Pit lane speed violation for #85. Nope. They were serving that aforementioned penalty, dropping Devlin DeFrancesco another lap behind. He has just taken over the car from Misha Goikhberg.
Corvette #3 comes to pit lane for scheduled service. No drivrr change. Antonio Garcia will do a double stint. Fuel is being added, and the windscreen clean, and he's back on track. Great pit work from the Pratt & Miller crew. No requirement to shut the engine off in IMSA, which is a bit worrisome with fuel going into the car. It is a little warmer now, as we are getting closer to sunrise. CORE Autosport is still tracing their electrical gremlins on their heritage liveried car. We have a spin, look, for the #11 Grasser Racing Lamborghini. It's just exited pit lane. #11 gets back on track out of the west horseshoe, and he was fighting for position with the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. Rolf Ineichen was trying to stay with Bryan Sellers, but couldn't quite do so, and spun the car.
Bill Auberlen led briefly, overtaken by Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3. Christina Nielsen at the wheel of the #57 Caterpillar sponsored MSR Acura NSX GT3, has gone a lap down. Tim Pappas has hit pit lane in the #540 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. Porsche #911 pits from the GT Le Mans lead. Four new tires and fuel, but no driver change. New Michelin tires for the Porsche. GT Le Mans has an open tire policy, but everyone is running on Michelin tires. Assuming it rains, for the wet tires, GTLM and GTD cars will have essentially the same tires. In DPI, Jordan Taylor has overtaken Simon Pagenaud, running behind Alexander Rossi. Once again, in GTLM, it is Porsche and Chevrolet running together. Matthieu Jaminet is in the pit lane now, and there's side by side action betwren the Corvette and the Porsche!
Fred Makowiecki locks the brakes as the beleaguered #50 Cadillac goes by down low. Pit stop time now, for BMW and Alex Zanardi. Zanardi brings the #24 BMW into the lane. Fuel and tires for "Jam Jam". Alex Zanardi hands the BMW over to Jesse Krohn, for the regular steering wheel. The windscreen is cleaned. Bill Auberlen is in the pit lane for the #96 BMW. Also in is the class leading #33 Mercedes as Jeroen Bleekemolen stays in the car, and coming in too, is the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari. A couple LMP2 cars in the lane, too. Keep your eyes open, and be safe. Amazing effort by Alex Zanardi. He takes off his own steering wheel, puts the regular steering wheel back on, helps with the belts, and then, propels himself out of the way.
Alex Zanardi is a champion human being, never mind being a racing champion and a gold medal paralympian. Meanwhile, Simon Pagenaud is battling Jordan Taylor. Miguel Molina, and Joey Hand for Ferrari and Ford have exited pit lane, back onto the track. Philipp Eng has passed Richard Westbrook as well. Philipp Eng goes by the Ferrari, too. A cracking battle for GTLM. It's an epic scrap for fourth through seventh in class. Ford #67 is in the thick of it despite being a few laps down. Miguel Molina passes Westbrook on the high side. Meanwhile, Taylor vs. Pagenaud is still simmering. This has been going on, hammer and tongs for quite a while. Alexander Rossi has whistled off into the distance, by about ten seconds.
Rossi and Taylor are both running in the 1:35 range and so are Simon Pagenaud and Pipo Derani. It's a stout pace as we are 42 minutes away from half distance. 2018's lap record was a 1:36.2 and we are running quicker than that now. It was decided, when the Prototype classes were split, to speed up the DPi cars, to create a performance differential between DPi and LMP2. The speed balances work all around for all four divisions. The DPi cars have more performance and better lap time potential. Christina Nielsen has finished her stint, and she says she's been under the weather, not feeling so well. Christina Nielsen has done very well with the Acura, coming from driving a Ferrari and a Porsche in the last couple years.
The GTLM battle is still going as Porsche #911 leads. #3 and #4 on the Corvette team are nose to tail. The rest of the order remains as it has been with Porsche, Porsche, Corvette, Corvette, BMW, and Ferrari. We're half an hour away from half distance. The night time is the right time. We are at 2AM on the east coast. Alex Zanardi is still hanging around in the BMW pit box. He says he is too excited to go to sleep. BMW #24 is not giving up, and Alex Zanardi says "we are fighting our way back, having recovered four laps, and are still four behind. We are not even at halfway. Anything is possible. We don't want to lose hope. It may rain later. Things are still open, and it's very important to finish and score points for Jesse and John."
"If it does rain, I hope it doesn't happen while I'm driving." What an amazing person Alex Zanardi is. A gentleman, a great driver, and an Olympian. He'll be mega in the wet. Mazda #55 makes a pit stop. If we stay green, we could have more distance covered. Current class standings show that in GT Daytona, Bryan Sellers leads aboard the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, ahead of Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #33 Riley Technologies Mercedes AMG GT3. Jens Klingman is third in class in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3, the Liqui Moly backed car. Then, it is the #63 WeatherTech sponsored Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 in the hands of Finn Toni Vilander, followed by "Super Mario", Mario Farnbacher in the #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3.
Six brands are in the top six in GT Daytona at the moment. Seven manufacturers in the top seven spots, actually, as Zacharie Robichon, the Canadian, has the #9 Pfaff Motorsports tartan plaid car celebrating their heritage. Fred Makowiecki leads GT Le Mans in the #911 factory Porsche 911 RSR in the special Brumos tribute livery. Antonio Garcia is second in class after they had the broken steering arm yesterday afternoon. Marcel Fassler is third in the sister Corvette, followed by the #25 BMW M8 GT of Philipp Eng. Sebastian Saavedra and Nicolas Lapierre have been at the head of the field in LMP2, and so, DragonSpeed consolidates their Rolex 24 lead in the class. The only other LMP2 car in contention is the #38 Performance Tech entry in tenth overall, still in the hands of Kris Wright.
Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud still run 1-2, and have just come into the pit lane from the lead of the motor race. #7 gets four new Michelin tires, and he was upset about how he was managing the traffic, but is back after it. Now, the #6 car is back out with Juan Pablo Montoya now behind the wheel for the graveyard shift. They were making adjustments to the right hand door mirror after a bit of a contretemps out on track. Now, Fred Makowiecki is ahead of Antonio Garcia by a car length or so in GTLM. They dive for turn one into the road course section of the track as Garcia is just a tenth or two behind, through the International Horseshoe. The mid-engine Porsche vs. the front engine Corvette. The Porsche lets the Corvette through, opening the door wide open. Antonio Garcia takes the lead in GT Le Mans.
Makowiecki makes a right mess of the Bus Stop and loses time. Garcia, meanwhile is trying to get past Mario Farnbacher in the #86 Acura, fifth in GT Daytona. The GT Daytona cars are quick around the banking and they brake amazingly well with the anti lock brakes. That is something that the factory GTLM cars don't have. Twelve and a half hours still remain. Pit lane speed violation for Devlin DeFrancesco in the #85 "Banana Boat" Cadillac. Another speed violation in the lane for that automobile as Antonio Garcia takes loads of curb in the Bus Stop. The BMW comes around the outside. Check that. It was Marcel Fassler being caught by Philipp Eng. There's a whole boatload of GT Daytona cars ahead of the GTLM leader.
Alexander Rossi has been turning some really fast laps and is now third in the overall, having been passed by the #10 and #31 Cadillac's. Actually, those two cars were in the lane for our five laps ago. Pipo Derani leads by 2.2 seconds at the moment. Traffic is a major headache for drivers at this point in the evening. In endurance racing, cars seem to clump together in the hours of darkness. It doesn't matter the length of the track. Cars are attracted to each other in the darkness. It happens here at Daytona, at Le Mans, at Spa, wherever. Pipo Derani increases his lead to four seconds. How on earth did he manage to take the lead? The Acura's and the #10 Cadillac, got swamped. Derani had to have taken fresh tires.
Romain Dumas says that the electrical gremlins for Nissan had to do with the gearbox. He couldn't shift gears in the car without the clutch. This puts fear in a driver of damaging the gearbox. The gearbox is a weak spot on the Nissan. Jon Bennett took over the car and got into it with a brand new steering wheel. Lexus #12 is in the pit lane for a scheduled stop. Townsend Bell climbs out of the car and a new driver comes into the car. It is either Frankie Montecalvo, Aaron Telitz, or Jeff Segal. Not exactly sure. The GTLM cars have confidential tires, and the DPI, LMP2, and GTD tires are semi-confidential. There are a range of temperature options within the classes for how their specific tires are made.
A spin for the #73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Patrick Lindsey. Alex Rossi is closing up on Jordan Taylor for second in the overall. Alexander Rossi got off pit lane behind Jordan Taylor and he still can't pass the Cadillac. In GTLM, it's still a battle between Antonio Garcia and Frederic Makowiecki. But, the lead battle between Derani, Taylor, and Rossi, is the one to watch. The target for Rossi is the Cadillac, #10 of Taylor and he's acquired it. The #19 Moorespeed Audi R8 is in the pit lane for service. Townsend Bell says the grip is going away on the Lexus and the tires are going away. They are having a traction issue.
The rain later on will reset the car. One of the issues Lexus has was keeping the tires together. With the new Michelin tires, there's no real difference. The torque of the V8 engine is a benefit for that car, but the wheel spin is giving the team some trouble. We are 12 minutes away from the halfway mark in the race. Phillip Eng has clear track ahead of him, and he's gone past Marcel Fassler, so he can put the welly down and go for it a little bit. Matthieu Jaminet has also passed Marcel Fassler who is down to fifth in class. Pipo Derani is three seconds ahead of Jordan Taylor and Alexander Rossi right now. These on track battles are very intriguing.
There's still a scrap going on betwen the Cadillac and the Acura for second spot. Jordan Taylor and Alexander Rossi pass GTD leader Bryan Sellers. Will the horsepower advantage go to the V8 Cadillac or the V6 turbo Acura? Rossi can close up under braking, look. But, then the Cadillac stretches the margin out to ten seconds or so. GT Le Mans pit stops begin. BMW #25 and Corvette #4 are in the lane. Oliver Gavin has replaced Marcel Fassler in the car. Eng stays in the BMW as we await the class leader, Corvette #3 of Antonio Garcia to hit the lane.
If you are slow, stay low so the Prototype drivers know you are there. GT Daytona leader Bryan Sellers makes his pit stop. Paul Miller Racing is at the very end of the lane. Fuel and tires, and Sellers will do a triple stint. The car is cleaned up. Corey Lewis is on deck but he has not yet had the chance to take over the car. The pit lane speed limit does not come off, it extends through the end of pit lane around towards the International Horseshoe. It is all the way around to the pit exit. Some people have understeered on cold tires, straight into the wall coming out of the lane.
Corvette #3 is slow on the apron of the tri-oval! Garcia is out of fuel! The engine has no drive! Wow. That car has run 372 laps (1,324 miles), so far. The car is dead in the water as Fred Makowiecki and Matthieu Jaminet pass for the GT Le Mans class lead. It's a fuel pressure problem for Corvette. They are ready for their pit stop, but the fuel pressure sensor is indicating no fuel in the tank or something. Corvette Racing has really struggled. They broke the steering arm on the car running into the sister car, early yesterday afternoon. So, because of the maladies for the Corvette, we are under full course yellow.
Mistakes will cost you, and Corvette Racing have shot themselves in the foot here. They pride themselves on doing things right. Here in IMSA, they can get assistance from the marshals, unlike the rules at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where if you have outside help, you are disqualified. This is unbelievable. Absolutely bewildering. Garcia is talking to a marshal. The team is dejected. They are entering their third decade of factory backed racing. For a long time, GM didn't have a factory team, and Corvette Racing was born in 1999, just as the American Le Mans Series was founded. On American soil, they've won 99 races. They are looking for their 100th win in the U.S., but it is not likely to happen here at the Rolex 24, a race they have triumphed at overall, before, back in 2001.
Antonio Garcia loses drive coming off turn six and onto the banking out of NASCAR turn two. The drama continues as we reach half distance and Garcia has lost the lead. Pit stop time for the leaders, the Daytona Prototype International cars, and we'll cover that, as we begin the next hour, here at the Rolex 24.
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