CORE Autosport and Nissan are now back on the lead lap with two hours still on the board. Romain Dumas at the wheel of it, a man who has won Sebring and Le Mans. Pipo Derani brings the race back underway! Green flag again as the headlights pierece through the pitch darkness. Side by side stuff as Jordan Taylor dives inside! Taylor and Hartley are pressing each other, look. Wow. This is getting hot and heavy. Who can hold the throttle longer, and brake deeper? Harry Tincknell in the Mazda is still in contention. Oh dear. The #86 Acura gets dinged for running over pit equipment by the stewards. He'll have that penalty, and lose time driving down pit lane at 60 kilometers an hour. Jordan Taylor, is flying right now.
Jordan Taylor is pushing Brendon Hartley. Save your best for last. The #31 car is understeering as Trent Hindman heads for the penalty box. One hour and 55 minutes to go. It's time to lay your cards on the table and go for it. Prepare to throw caution to the wind, the 12 Hours of Sebring, is on the line. If the racing wasn't hot enough, we have another small weather system moving in. The chopper for overhead coverage had to land. The #11 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini has some damage, but they are still in contention. Jordan Taylor is applying the blowtorch to Pipo Derani, look. Taylor has the drive. Derani is on the defensive a little bit. Jordan Taylor is flying, and Brendon Hartley is also in this scrap along with Ricky Taylor and Romain Dumas.
Mazda has pace, but they have to dig themselves out of a massive hole. Katherine Legge leads GT Daytona over Jeff Westphal and Felipe Fraga. Brendon Hartley has stepped up his game. He is a Ferrari simulator pilot even though he's lost a spot in Formula 1. Nick Tandy is pressing Scott Dixon for the GTLM win. Tandy is a man on a mission, eyes wide open like saucers. He is reeling in Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe is understeering in the Ford while Tandy has the car dialed in. Katherine Legge is really quick and has self confidence. She won races in the Jaguar I-Pace series and has won in IMSA as well.
The critical factor is the pit stops. Legge pitted earlier than the drivers who are pursuing her at the moment. She may need a splash and a dash. Aaron Telitz is pretty happy with the #12 Lexus, as Townsend Bell is about to get into the car. They lost bodywork but the car is running well. We are going to see raindrops before the end. Deja vu, as we saw that yesterday in the World Endurance Championship race. Think big picture, even though it is early in the season. Execute, and maximize your points. Pipo Derani still has a two second cushion on Jordan Taylor who is still applying the blowtorch in second spot.
Felipe Fraga moves around Jeff Westphal. Fraga is not heeding the warning to save his brakes. He's flying. Physically and mentally, this race is still a tough one even as we get closer to the end. Pit stop time for the #86 Meyer Shank Acura with Trent Hindman driving. Hindman and company are rebounding from a pit lane speeding infraction. Katherine Legge now in pit lane, and she will need one more fuel load, or one of her co-driver's will. Legge will actually stay in the car. Jeroen Bleekemolen will finish the race for the #33 Mercedes in a double stint. The #33 gets snookered on the driver change. Jeroen Bleekemolen is going to finish out this race. Trent Hindman, he had a pit lane equipment violation, running over an air hose or something.
Flat left front tire for Bill Auberlen in the #96 BMW M6 GT3 for Turner Motorsports. A shame for this team, Auberlen, Robby Foley, Dillon Machavern, and the whole team. There's nothing in it between Pipo Derani and Jordan Taylor. Auberlen moved over from the factory team to the GTD/GT3 operation for BMW, for a customer team. Pipo Derani and Jordan Taylor, are turning it on in traffic at the moment. Also pushing hard, once more, is Heinricher Racing/MSR. In GTLM, Corvette is in the lane for service.
Antonio Garcia will finish it out for Corvette, who have been down on speed to the Ford's and the Porsche's. They want a yellow flag to leapfrog themselves to the front. Ryan Briscoe is still leading this race. Driver change time for Scuderia Corsa as Toni Vilander will finish the motor race;. Vo;amder is racing all over the world, hanging out with Kimi Raikkonen, running his own sports bar, and commentating for Finnish TV in Formula 1. Cadillac's in pit lane. An hour and 21 minutes to go, means they might have to squeak out one more visit to pit lane.
Filipe Albuquerque will finish out the race for Cadillac #5 while there are no planned driver changes for #10 or #31. Felipe Nasr will finish this motor race. Team boss Tim Keene knows who he wants in the car. Jordan Taylor is flashing the lights to distract Nasr. Using Ryan Briscoe as a pick, Taylor is all over Nasr like the proverbial el cheapo suito, look. Nasr is stretching the margin, stretching the rubber band over Taylor, with his foot to the floor. One more pit stop barring a yellow. It'sn crunch time, now.
Alexander Rossi is back on the lead lap with the #7 Penske Acura. Rossi, a former Indy 500 winner, has such raw speed. He just climbed into the car. Teammanager Tim Cindric is calling the fuel strategy and what maps to use on the fuel system. The Acura was absolutely undrivable in the wet. They need a yellow flag to get back up to the top three places. The #54 CORE Autosport Nissan, Romain Dumas at the wheel of it, is the final car on the lead lap in this race. Morgan Brady, is the leader of CORE Autosport and leads not just the Nissan team but also the factory GTLM Porsche team. Acura Team Penske is still in contention. They do need another yellow according to Ricky Taylor.
The finish of this race is coming closer and closer. One hour and ten minutes to go. Felipe Nasr now leads Jordan Taylor by almost eight seconds! Wow. All of these Prototypes will be tight on fuel for one more pit stop. Keep the leader in view, but also save fuel. Matthieu Vaxiviere will do the other two Michelin Endurance Cup races. Vaxiviere was going to race at Daytona, but then they confirmed Fernando Alonso for the drive. In LMP2, the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports car of Kyle Masson continues to lead. They are running 17th in the overall. Matt McMurry and company are several laps behind, and they were down 20 laps, trying hard to fight back. They've gained back six laps. Matt McMurry, sharing with Gabriel Aubry. We have to say kudos to the marshals who worked the FIA WEC race and this race, and the camera crews who filmed the races.
The #66 Ford GT is in the pit lane, topping up the oil reservoir on the car. Actually, it was also a full fuel fill. Corvette #4 in pit lane as well. It is well down the order while the sister car can still win in class.
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