BMW #25 is into the lane as well, and it looks like the #912 Porsche is also on it's way to the pits for service. Ford GT #67 is in as well. Nothing hurriedly going on. New tires for some of the cars. Apparently, there are four new Corvette's designed by their factory drivers as limited edition models in different colors. They build on something that goes between racing and production. Cadillac does the same thing, allowing owners of these high end, performance cars, teaching owners how to drive them. Pipo Derani is leading the motor race at this moment, in the #31 Cadillac. Acura is in the lane from second with the #7 car. We've done 20 hours and are into the 21st hour. Ford GT #67 is in the pit lane.
BMW in the lane as well, the #24. Alex Zanardi gets out of the car, but, it's uncertain who has taken the car over. Ford #67 is off and back on the track. It's slick in the International Horseshoe. Everyone is running a fuel saving map behind the safety car. The driver is doing what their engineer tells them. Go to Map 5, and drive the car, this way, based on the settings in Map 5. Then, you go back to your racing map, and a harmonic is created, breaking parts of the car. Years ago, the cars were much less complex than they are now. If you aren't reminded of a new fuel map, you put your foot down, and all of a sudden... the engine goes bang. Use your traction control, too. Earl Bamber wanted traction, and he forgot to reset it, which is why he spun off the road.
Race car drivers make mistakes, especially this deep into the race. Imagine that you are the engineer, not getting any sleep, because you have to keep poring over the data on the car. Your chief mechanic is telling you when to pit, and talking you through things you've done a million times, but then, you have to make sure to have all your stuff undone when you get out of the car. Green flag, this time around as Pipo Derani leads Jordan Taylor and Alexander Rossi. Game over for the #6? Not so. It's not out of the race. It's back into the motor race, chaps. Wow. It will be a lap up on the #5 Action Express Cadillac which has been fraught with issues this whole race. Simon Pagenaud at the wheel of the Acura.
Pipo Derani is building brake temperature and tire temperature. Car #6 was having issues with a sump pump. So, the safety car makes its way to pit lane, and we think we're going green, but there's an automobile rotated on the backstretch, look. It doesn't matter because Derani mashes the pedal and he's gone. Tiptoe around turn one with all the water through the flick flack at turn two, look. Derani has clear track, but he doesn't know how much speed he needs. Do a rim shot, stay away from the other line that you'd be in on the dry, but watch out for the slippery bits, look. Make fine adjustments of the wheel, and watch your feet on the accelerator and the brakes. Right now, it is total concentration.
In three laps, these blokes will be into a rhythm. Look at the rooster tails of water spewing out from behind the cars! Derani radios to the team, "this is dangerous", and ironically, right as he keys the button, he's off the road, look. Jordan Taylor could take the lead! Not so fast. Derani gets back on the racing line, right in front and slams the door in Taylor's face. Oh, lookie lookie, we've got cars rotating on the whirligig here. There's all sorts of argy bargy going on. Nissan #54 is spun around and we've got a game of dodge 'em cars between the #66 Ford GT and the #11 Lamborghini Huracan! Oh no! This is going to be a crash, bang, wallop, for sure! Thank God the #54 exits the melee before getting T boned by the Lamborghini!
They're still skating off the road down there, look. The #911 Porsche is facing the wrong way. The two GTLM leaders skate right off the road. James Calado has taken over the #62 Ferrari from Alessandro Pier Guidi. The race lead battle is heating up, look. Pipo Derani is about to get eaten alive on the high side by Jordan Taylor. He cuts across the bow of Pipo Derani who is still fighting for traction. Whoops. We've got more spinners. The Land Motorsport Audi has rotated. Dries Vanthoor has paid admission on the merry go round, and who else will take that chance? Jordan Taylor is now leading by 2.6 seconds, and Dries Vanthoor is now rotated a third time, and he's stuck in the grass, the wet, sodden infield next to the high banks.
Vanthoor is spinning in slow motion. Vanthoor slides across to the lane, look, and another spin for the #52 LMP2 machine. Meantime, Joey Hand is rallycrossing across the grass in the Ford GT sans the rear wing. Porsche #911 in the pit lane and we see this replay again, where the GT cars just scatter. The Ford needs a new rear wing. These blokes are trying to take the rain line and they are finding grip only on the left hand side of the road. There's still water puddling down there. The #63 Ferrari is now spun at the Bus Stop, Dominik Farnbacher at the wheel of it. Cadillac #31 pits. Christopher Mies has taken over the #29 Audi.
Big damage for the #66 as Felipe Nasr is now driving the #31 Cadillac, replacing Pipo Derani. This is Nasr's first stint in this heavy rain. The #911 Porsche is in the lane and Mirko Bortolotti says he knew nothing of the incident we've just seen. He was hit a couple of times as he was aquaplaning off the road. The water is really bad, Bortolotti says. He was minding his own business before the GTLM cars piled on because they couldn't stop. In the dry, you run into the International Horseshoe too wide. Traction Control determines forward wheel spin and there is also a yaw control. The tires are getting better as they are bedded in.
The #54 Nissan is spun around again. At Le Mans, they go green anyplace on the track, and maybe IMSA should consider doing it this way as Jordan Taylor has to avoid a spinning Lamborghini. Blimey! The #44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini was just too close for comfort there! #540 spins out of second spot in GTD. Romain Dumas is the Nissan driver backwardsa and going nowhere fast as the rear wing is gone. The #66 Ford GT will be repaired in the garage. Jeff Segal is up to second in GTD in the #12 Lexus, and A.J. Allmendinger leads GTD running sub 2:10 laps and we have ourselves another full course yellow bang on 11AM. Jordan Taylor still leads this motor race even after avoiding that spun Lamborghini.
Alexander Rossi is second in the #7 Penske Acura. Third is Felipe Nasr. Romain Dumas is still fourth sans the rear end of the Nissan. Misha Goikhberg is next in the #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac. The top three (the only three) in LMP2 are next in line in fifth through eighth in the overall. Nicolas Lapierre leads for DragonSpeed in car #81 ahead of Roberto Gonzalez in the sister #18 followed by the #38 machine. James Calado is back to the sharp end in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GTE. Earl Bamber is second in class in the #912 Porsche 911 RSR after he spun on the banking. Augusto Farfus is third in the #25 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team RLL, followed by Richard Westbrook in the #67 Castrol liveried Ford GT. Nick Tandy is next up in the heavily damaged #911 Porsche 911 RSR.
In GT Daytona, A.J. Allmendinger leads Jeff Segal, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Fred Vervisch, and Jack Hawksworth. So, it is Acura, Ferrari, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus. Five manufacturers in the top five in GT Daytona as the #540 Black Swan Racing Porsche is beached on the grass having the marshals recover it in a similar fashion to how we saw the now retired Pfaff Motorsport #9 Porsche recovered a little earlier on. The GTD guys are the slowest cars, but they are still really quick with GT3 specs, and there are some epic drivers out there, who are extremely talented, and they'd go quickly driving a factory prototype. Acura #7 pits. All the GTD cars have ABS and they must be really grateful for that in the wet.
The #54 Nissan did remove the rear wing, and gets the new wing and rear deck lid on that car. Emergency service makes the car good as new. Chris Wright is at the wheel of the #38 car. Keep distance on restarts so a car in trouble can recover. Don't hit anything is the golden rule in racing. Jeroen Bleekemolen pits from third in GTD, in the #33 Mercedes AMG GT3. He gets four new Michelin tires as the leaders in class stay out. A.J. Allmendinger leads Jeff Segal in GTD. Patrick Long pitted from third in the #73 Porsche and will lose ground on a scheduled stop, allowing Fred Vervisch to inherit third ahead of Jack Hawksworth.
Toni Vilander has taken over the #63 WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari. How much fuel is being used under the safety car? How will we back time this race?: That's what the engineers ask as they crunch the numbers. Class leaders want to know as much info as they can. #10, #7, and #31 will be the top three when we go back to green. Toni Vilander is in his third stint in this race. Many drivers in that car have done triple stints, and a couple double stints. James Calado leads Earl Bamber in GTLM as the #66 and #911 cars have been delayed. #911 is a couple laps down. #62, #912, #25, and #67 are all on the lead lap. Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Ford. Corvette #3 has pitted and will move into sixth spot in class in GTLM.
No letup in the rain looking across to the Atlantic Ocean. Three hours and 20 minutes to go. Everybody knows roughly where the standing water is. Hug the grass and run deep into the corner. There was a lot of dry running leading up to the race and this part of the race is making up for that. The racing line is draining and drying. The horizon is brighter, too. The #540 Porsche is back on track with Dirk Werner at the wheel of it. It is 13th overall a couple laps behind the GT Daytona class leaders. The rain is letting up, but the wind is picking up. Drivers want to know who is in the cars around them. Put your best blokes in the car in this weather.
Some guys who have gone off the road are the best of the best. It's getting down to crunch time now. You definitely want to know who is around you, because it could be a pro like Helio Castroneves, and, well, the Am driver who is an orthodontist. Now, the lights are out on the safety car. So we are ready to go back to racing. The gloom is less in central Florida now. #52 is slow on the apron. That's one of the lagging LMP2 cars. Nicolas Lapierre leads the class over Roberto Gonzalez and the #66 Ford GT is back with a rear bumper, diffuser, and wing. We're back to green flag racing. Here comes Felipe Nasr, chasing after Alexander Rossi and Simon Pagenaud who is a lap down.
An Audi is about to rejoin the race and we have a spin for one of the DragonSpeed LMP2 cars in the International Horseshoe. That's the second place LMP2 runner, #18. Off course excursion, too, for the #50 Juncos Racing Cadillac. The water is sucked right out of the race track by the DPi cars, and the Lexus, can't tell which number, spins. Wet racing is frightening for first timers. Jack Hawksworth is the chap who spun the Lexus and he was way off the road before continuing. It wa sa spin through turn one. Acura #86 is in the lane for a driver change, and the #63 Ferrari pits, too. A car is off the road. That's the #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac with Devlin DeFrancesco at the wheel of it. Jordan Taylor leads. He is working lap 566, (2,015 miles).
Taylor's gap has extended to 5.3 seconds. WTR are prepared and they are not making any mistakes. Felipe Nasr is trying to catch Taylor. Nasr is separated from the lead lap Acura #7 of Alexander Rossi. Simon Pagenaud has the sister car in ninth place. #31 darts 'round the outside and makes the pass stick on the Acura. Go where you can find the grip. The Cadillac teams must be sharing information. That's always a possibility. The Cadillac boys work very well together. Felipe Nasr is a wheel man. He is right on top of his game. Jordan Taylor is flying and Jeff Segal in the #12 Lexus is going for it, and now, Dirk Werner has spun off the road at turn six up onto the banking, battling with Spencer Pumpelly. They are a lap apart and Marcos Gomez goes by in the #13 Via Italia Ferrari, chasing Bill Auberlen as Augusto Farfus is harrying Earl Bamber.
We have a Full Course Yellow, and it will be a short one, to try to retrieve the stricken Porsche. Turn your TC down and then forget to turn it up again. Poor old Dirk Werner has spun and he can't get the Porsche restarted again. He;s got it going now. He is rejoining the race, look. Turn everything off, wait, recycle, and crank the car up again. Two years ago, we had the same scenario, but in the dry, with the #10 and #31 Cadillac's. We are calling Fernando Alonso "the Emperor of Spain", and Kamui Kobayashi, "the Prince". Alonso has raced for the best. He continues to do so here. If Alonso wins, he may buy himself a Cadillac. Hardy har har. Trent Hindman has taken over the #86 Acura from A.J. Allmendinger.
Hindman is eighth in the GTD class. He is the last GTD car on the lead lap. A mere sprint race is still to come yet here at Daytona. It is not over by any means yet, folks. Still some track cleanup to be done as a Lamborghini is on an out lap. Check that. It's the Acura of Trent Hindman at speedway turn one. This track is starting to dry it seems. The fear factor is being reduced it looks like. Some people might tiptoe around the inside. Don't knacker your tires, whatever you do. All street cars and all race cars stop well in a straight line. You don't drive a classic line into a decreasing radius corner. The confidence level is going up with warm tires and hot brakes. Taylor, Nasr, Rossi, the top three. This time by, the green flag will be waved as we reach three hours to go in the Rolex 24. They condense behind the safety car.
Devlin DeFrancesco loops the #85 "Banana Boat" Cadillac, but he remains in fifth plac in the overall. He is ahead of the three LMP2's as the safety car will dive for pit lane this time and to start the 22nd hour, we are going to go back to green flag racing. It's on Jordan Taylor's shoulders to decide when we restart coming to the restart zone.
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