We have reached the halfway mark (almost) of this race now. Something is dragging off the end of the JDC-Miller Cadillac, and one of the tires got reamed or lathed off the contact patch of the tire. Eric Curran has an exotic car shop in California, outside of his racing. Felipe Fraga is running his first stint aboard the #33 Wynn's liveried Mercedes AMG GT3 for Riley Motorsports. Ben Keating is finished with his driving chores for the day. Keating is not a pro driver. He is another businessman, and he's a phenomenal driver. He is one of those blokes who is a "sneaky silver" or a "sneaky gold". He owns automobile dealers.
We've had so much clag on the road from both WEC and IMSA. It's unreal. The temperature is cooling. People watching at Sunset Bend are getting a really cool view. Ford GT #67 is in the pit lane. Ryan Briscoe leads in class. Scott Dixon is now in the car. Mazda also in the pit lane. There's smoke out the back of the car. Don't speed in the lane. Lots of penalties were seen with speeding in the lane during the rainy section of this race, but now, that has subsided. Mike Rockenfeller in the #3 Corvette seems to be running well, in the lead of this motor race in class in GTLM. But, of course, after their win last night, in WEC, the Ford's might have something left in the locker as Porsche is in the lane with the #912 car. Both #911 and #912 hope to improve and regroup in the dry. Will the RSR come to the fore? That flat six motor sounds glorious!
That 4.0 liter flat 6 in the Porsche revs to 9,000 RPM and is extremely loud. The Corvette V8 shakes the ground as well, and the Ford V6 with the turbo in the back of the GT, is quieter, because of the turbo. But that flat 6 with no turbos, is ear splitting. Corvette pitted and we are looking at the Corvette's racing each other. Anti roll bars in the suspension are used in place of springs to stop roll on the car. The #12 Lexus is still trying to stay in contention in GTD. Speaking of contention, Renger van der Zande will be back on the lead lap soon. The #31 Cadillac is in the lane for scheduled service as Pipo Derani replaces Eric Curran for the next stint.
Pipo Derani has now won this race twice, and he is the terrier, nipping at the heels of other competitors, just like Allan McNish used to be. Eric Curran is a veteran driver, and he is competing in the endurance races for IMSA. Curran and Nasr looking for their first wins at Sebring, while Pipo Derani is going for his third. Jonathan Bomarito is running well, but the rain is coming back, as teams tell their drivers what pace to run, still on slicks. Barbosa is on slicks, but now it is raining. So, he will be in the doghouse if he has to hit the lane again for a tire change. It's raining on half the circuit and not on the other half.
Pipo Derani wants the lead back from Honathan Bomarito. Cold, slick tires are not the answer. That would be a living nightmare. Now, maybe the rain will pass, as Pipo Derani is booking it at the moment. Take it easy, though. Don't go pitching the car off the road. Bomarito has a door open on that Mazda and the marshals will want to check that for safety. It is a skating rink out there right now. Pipo Derani passed for the lead as this race continues, with more rain imminent. Jonathan Bomarito is off the road! He's on slick tires on a wet track, and he speared off the road, and... crunch! He ran out of grip, and ran out of road.
The nose cone on the car is askew and he's pushed the car into the wall. Lots of load through the right front suspension. Cadillac #10 in the lane for service. They are making a scheduled stop and will loose track position, but not lose a lap. The #84 JDC-Miller Cadillac is in the lane, too, as is the #54 CORE Autosport Nissan. Mazda has made it back to pit lane. The wheel seems to be straight. The bodywork needs repairs. The suspension might be OK. These chaps dodged a major bullet. They are jolly lucky to get into the lane as it was open for Prototype class cars anyway. The GT cars are clear for their scheduled stops.
Dirk Mueller will now get into the #66 car, for Ford CGR. No driver change in #67. Scott Hargrove has a scheduled stop.
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