At the sharp end of the field in DPI, it remains Acura, Cadillac, Mazda, all of them battling together. We are now into the third hour, and there's a long, long, long way to go. Olivier Pla tries inside Helio Castroneves, but Castroneves slams the door in Pla's face. However, it could be payback time out on the banking as Olivier Pla wants to pass the Brazilian. There's debris on the back straight just before turning into the Bus Stop. Now, Rik Breukers will be in the penalty box long enough that he could read a few chapters of "War & Peace" while he's at it. It is up to the drivers and teams to decide if they are eligible and then request a pass by from the marshals. Rik Breukers took the wave around but in the process, went a whole lap up on the rest of the field.
GRT Grasser are in the pit lane, taking their penalty. The #5 Cadillac, meanwhile, has fallen down the order a bit. The car had a new tail section installed because the taillights were malfunctioning. Christian Fittipaldi is behind Fernando Alonso. Eric Curran is second overall, behind Dane Cameron in the #6 Acura. Behind the Acura and the Cadillac are both the #77 and #55 Mazda's. Joey Hand has the #66 Ford GT ahead in GT Daytona. Problems again for the #46 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 as he has spun at the International Horseshoe, and has flat spotted another set of Michelin's. What a great scrap we have going on in the GT Daytona ranks, too! Ferrari, Audi, Mercedes, and Lexus, are all together, flying down the front straight here.
Christopher Mies is doing his level best to get past the #63 WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 coming back from earlier troubles. Ben Keating in the Mercedes and Mario Farnbacher in the #86 Acura are also in the battle as is the #71 P1 Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 being shared by Maximilian Buhk, Fabian Schiller, Dominik Baumann, and J.C. Perez. Two Germans, an Austrian, and a Colombian share that automobile. Phew! It's all going on early in this motor race. Alex Zanardi is the fastest car in GT Le Mans so far. He is really giving that car a great run, while braking and accelerating the car, using his hands of course.
Alex Zanardi is shifting with the paddle shifters, and also braking with a lever on the left side of the wheel, or, he is using the brake lever on his right side that also has a shifting mechanism in it. Correction. He shifts up, with the paddle on the steering wheel while he's accelerating, and then, performs the downshifts with the button on the brake lever. Alex Zanardi has done some DTM racing before as well. At the front, Dane Cameron leads Eric Curran and Rene Rast. Rast has the Soul Red Crystal #77 Mazda RT24P waiting to pounce if he can. Olivier Pla, his Mazda team mate is snext in line. In GT Le Mans, it is still Porsche vs. Corvette.
Helio Castroneves, Fernando Alonso, and Chris Miller are next in line in the DPi class. The four cars in LMP2 currently run with James Allen in the #81 DragonSpeed car in the class lead followed by the sister DragonSpeed #18 car, Ryan Cullen at the wheel of it. Then comes the #38 Performance Tech car of Cameron Cassels, and in fourth place, the #52 PR1/Mathiasen car, in the hands of Frenchman Enzo Guibbert. Ah. Henrik Hedman did three stints in the #81 car. Patrick Pilet is giving the #911 Porsche 911 RSR a good run, resplendent in it's retro Brumos Porsche livery, up the road an hour or so in Jacksonville, Florida. Fernando Alonso negotiates the Bus Stop chicane, running just behind Helio Castroneves presently.
Dane Cameron continues to lead the motor race, but Eric Curran is within striking distance, look. Mazda is still in this fight too, with both of their factory cars. Mazda had that extra turn of speed during qualifying, but sadly, so far in the race, it hasn't worked to their advantage thus far. There is no real point going flat out at this stage in the race, and Mazda understands that fully. Pit stop time for the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, Jack Hawksworth at the wheel of it. He will stay in the car for another stint. The Brit is sharing with Americans Richard Heistand and Austin Cindric, and New Zealander Nick Cassidy.
A jammed rattle gun on the left rear tire costs them no time as they also did other maintenance. AIM is Andrew Bordean, and the Willis brothers, Ian and Jeff, along with Jimmy Vasser and James "Sully" Sullivan, who are partners in IndyCar with Dale Coyne. Last year, they were a factory team. Ian James is giving the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi R8 a good run in GTD. That car, is distinctive, with the bright red maple leaf of the Canadian flag on the side of it. Ian James, the Brit, is sharing the car with Canadian Roman DeAngelis, Kelvin van der Linde of South Africa, and Belgian Frederic Vervisch, a familiar name to Audi GT3 fans if you follow the Blancpain GT Series. Jeff Westphal is currently driving the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3, followed by the #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Aussie Matt Campbell.
Also in contention is the #8 Starworks Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 with Scotsman Ryan Dalziel at the wheel of it, sharing with American Parker Chase, Germany's Christopher Haase, and Argentinian driver Ezequiel Perez-Companc. Townsend Bell is leading GT Daytona. Pit stop time for the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3, with Corey Lewis at the wheel of it. He is sharing with Bryan Sellers, Ryan Hardwick, and Italian Lamborghini factory ace Andrea Caldarelli. Tires and fuel done. They are on a recovery drive. Not sure who got into the car. But, we have another penalty coming, for the #67 Ford GT of Richard Westbrook, the Castrol liveried car.
An improper pass around will mean a three and a half minute penalty! The IMSA marshals are not messing around. The cloud cover has remained, but the temperature is dropping. The weather forecast is iffy, but so far there hasn't been much rain. No rain this evening, but by 5AM Sunday morning, that could change. Rik Breukers is dinged again, by the IMSA stewards, this time for an improper pit commit. He is having a Rolex 24 to forget, so far. Christian Fittipaldi in the #5 Cadillac has a quick spin. Rik Breukers is back in the pit lane to serve another penalty for the #11 car.
#67 has yet to serve it's penalty. Christian Fittipaldi now runs behind the #85 "Banana Boat" JDC-Miller Cadillac, in the hands of Canadian Misha Goikhberg. Fernando Alonso has been quietly working his way through the field and is now sixth in the overall. Townsend Bell leads Ben Keating, Christopher Mies, and Pedro Lamy in GT Daytona. The order is Townsend Bell, Ben Keating, Christopher Mies, Dominik Farnbacher, and Pedro Lamy, followed by Ian James, Jeff Westphal, Matt Campbell, and Dominik Baumann.
Dane Cameron continues to lead this motor race, putting another lap on the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C-7-R- that had all the drama with the broken steering arm on the pit stop earlier on. Ford leads GT Le Mans with Joey Hand at the wheel of the #66 car, the Motorcraft liveried car, followed by the Porsche of Patrick Pilet, the #911, and the #4 Corvette of Tommy Milner. Alessandro Pier Guidi is next up in the Ferrari. Then, the BMW's are 40 seconds back. Pit stop time for Acura, so Eric Curran will take the race lead. Acura #6 is in the lane from the lead. So is the sister car, along with a number of other DPi and LMP2 cars. Christian Fittipaldi will stay in the #5 Cadillac.
They are tasking the rear deck lid off the #5 car. The taillights are the concern. It's a jigsaw puzzle toput these cars back together and take them apart. Eric Curran pits and so does the #77 Mazda of Rene Rast. Olivier Pla pits as well, and we still have five manufacturer's in the top five of both GT Le Mans and GT Daytona as Townsend Bell is fending off the challenge from Ben Keating in the heritage liveried Wynn's Mercedes. There's still a real problem in the lane for the #5 Cadillac. They are working on the wiring, using zip ties. The GT Daytona top three are right together. Townsend Bell can't keep the rear tires together on the Lexus, as Christopher Mies is chasing down Ben Keating as well, look.
A short time ago, contact and a spin for Christian Fittipaldi which has necessitated this pit work that is going on at the moment. Did that spin dislodge a mounting pin for the rear bodywork? AXR seems to be trying to kill two birds with one stone, and they are going through the electrics at the moment, doing the equivalent of a British MOT test for passenger cars. Again, we continue to watch this cracking battle in GTD as Will Owen aboard the #50 Cadillac continues on his way, and Andrea Bertolini in one of the Ferrari's is attrempting to get a lap back. Mario Farnbacher in Acura #86 is chasing Bertolini aboard the #13 Brazilian flag liveried Ferrari for Via Italia Racing.
Ben Keating has Christopher Mies coming up on him, while also trying to go by Townsend Bell. Mies has to defend from Andrea Bertolini, trying to unlap himself. Wow. The #5 Cadillac is in trouble, as they are pushing the car behind the wall. The #66 Ford GT has to make a scheduled pit stop. AXR was taking up pit space. So, they are going back behind the wall. The car is driving through the garage area, look. They pushed it backwards down the lane and got a push start. Ford GT #67 is scheduled to pit for it's penalty. The most recent restart is under review from the stewards in race control.
Fernando Alonso ran a 1:35.4, the best lap so far for the #10 Cadillac. Helio Castroneves is also very competitive in Acura #7. The closing speed between the DPi's and the GTLM and GTD cars, is phenomenal, and the GTLM and GTD cars are not slow by any means. Rene Rast has taken the Mazda to second overall over Eric Curran. The #66 Ford GT is in the pit lane. Dirk Mueller will take over the #66 Ford GT. Fernando Alonso continues to chase Helio Castroneves. Oh wow! The restart was under review, and now, Tom Milner, in the lead of GTLM, will get a drive through penalty from the stewards for jumping the restart. Getting dinged for this restart, Milner is going to have to answer for their discretion.
Richard Westbrook is also in the penalty box for three and a half minutes. Castroneves squeezes past Eric Curran for third spot and here comes Alonso. Eric Curran moves across in front of Alonso, and is holding his racing line. Curran is not going to drive full-time for the team, and just do the endurance races. Pipo Derani is the full-time driver as Tommy Milner does his drive through penalty, and Richard Westbrook will have time to have a soft boiled egg before he goes back on the track. Pastor Maldonado meanwhile, has passed team mate James Allen, for the LMP2 class lead as the DragonSpeed cars fight amongst themselves.
Cameron Cassels is still third in class in the #38 Performance Tech car. Mercedes #33 pits. Ben Keating out, anhd another driver starting his stint. Not sure who got into the car. Alex Zanardi brings in the #24 BMW M8 GT, and handed the car over to one of his co-driver's. Now, the #24 BMW is stalled in the pit lane exit road, and other cars are having to take avoiding action, look. Full course yellow now. What could be happening? Jesse Krohn is now at the wheel of the BMW. Lexus #12 also makes a pit stop. Dane Cameron is now at the wheel of the #6 Acura.
Poor old Grasser Racing, needed fuel right when the pit lane closed as the yellow flag came out, so they could only do a splash and a dash. He'll drive another lap and go back in. Jesse Krohn is now behind the wall. Pit stop time for the DPI cars. Fuel only for Eric Curran in the Cadillac. Mazda and Acura pit. Everyone came in from the top nine and Romain Dumas gets the pass by to get the #54 Nissan back onto the lead lap. Rene Rast in Mazda #77 has leapfrogged himself to the lead of this motor race. Cadillac #85 made a stop and is up to relative speed again behind the safety car. Ford GT #66 and the rest of the GT cars (Le Mans and Daytona), will be able to pit. Fernando Alonso runs ahead of Misha Goikhberg, Will Owen, Rene Rast, Eric Curran, Helio Castroneves, Harry Tincknell and Romain Dumas.
Some course vehicles are at the exit of the Bus Stop to tidy things up. Jesse Krohn has the #24 BMW M8 GT in the garage and #25 is still circulating, Colton Herta at the wheel of it. So, both #88 and #8 Audi's are in the lane from the GT Daytona lead. Lexus #14 is also in. Colton Herta pitted under green, just before the caution came out, and he was back on track before the yellow waved, but he's lost a chunk of time and has gone a lap down. A lap down isn't much in a race like this even though it's so, so competitive. Christopher Mies leads Townsend Bell. Audi lead GTD with Lexus in second spot. Mario Farnbacher in the #86 Acura, Patrick Long is in the #73 Park Place Porsche, and Felipe Fraga has taken over the #33 Mercedes while Matthias Lauda is in the #51 Ferrari.
Miguel Molina leads GTLM over Dirk Mueller and Tommy Milner as well as Patrick Pilet and Colton Herta. So, it's Ferrari, Ford, Corvette, Porsche, BMW in GT Le Mans. Pastor Maldonado leads LMP2 over Nicolas Lapierre, Enzo Guibbert, and Cameron Cassels betweeen 11th and 14th overall. Rene Rast and Mazda leads DPi. Dane Cameron and Acura are second followed by Eric Curran, Helio Castroneves, Fernando Alonso, and Chris Miller as well as Misha Goikhberg, Harry Tincknell, Will Owen, and Romain Dumas.
We are getting ready to start the fourth of 24 hours in this race, coming up very, very soon.
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