Yellows breed yellows. But. we are getting ready to resume the motor race moving into hour seven, into the second half of the race. Cold tires, damp track. Yellows breed yellows, once again. Watch for the #10 Cadillac. Joao Barbosa is back in contention in the #5 AXR Cadillac. Mazda #77 is back into this race to score points. Use this as a test session. We have crossed the halfway mark as there's a battle in GTLM. Back time this motor race until the end to figure out how to make the fewest pit stops between now and the checkers. Antonio Garcia has become the meat in a Ford sandwich, look. V6 turbo vs. BMW #25 stopped for emergency service and was dinged by the stewards for it. Strategy will start coming into play, soon.
Haven't we been here before? Dark clouds on the horizon, with rain forecast for the evening. Of course we have. Remember the WEC race last night? Same scenario this time, ladies and gentlemen. We watch the "lumberjack special", the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Their Porsche was running well in the rain and they might just get that chance again. Five hours and 44 minutes still on the clock. Now, we either miss this next batch of rain, or, we may get a deluge. Oliver Jarvis is at the wheel of the #77 Joest Mazda, but they are out of contention. He, Tristan Nunez, and Timo Bernhard will just have to keep going.
The complexity of the suspension, with a major hit, there could be a lot of big damage that will show up later. Christina Nielsen is in the #57 Acura followed by Cooper MacNeil and Patrick Long. Acura, Ferrari, Porsche. Pit stop time again for the #31 Cadillac, filling the fuel tank and they want to run to a pace and not worry about the next few hours. AXR wants to keep going. Acura #86 is off the road in the clay again. Justin Marks is at the wheel of it. The parity in GTD is very good despite nthe Balance of Performance and how some tams are not keen on it. Cooper MacNeil is the defending Ferrari Challenge champion while Christina Nielsen has won IMSA championships before.
Bill Auberlen has the BMW for Turner Motorsports, second in class. In GTD, Felipe Fraga is being monstered by the #11 GRT Grasser Lamborghini at the moment. More issues for Penske Acura #6. Poor old Dane Cameron continues to have electrical gremlins on the car. In GTLM, the Ford's are leading in class ahead of the Corvette boys. Scott Dixon is first in class right now. Jorg Mueller is next up followed by Jesse Krohn in the BMW M8 GT. Scott Dixon is really being hounded by the sister Ford GT, again, Dirk Mueller at the wheel of it.
Traffic again, look, as the Mazda is fighting the Action Express Cadillac. One of the team members for Mazda passed away during the weekend of the Rolex 24. That's a very sad situation. Jordan Taylor has taken the overall lead in the #10 Cadillac. We have seen 17 lead changes in the first half of this race. Mazda #55 in pit lane and they might be losing some time, but this is a scheduled pit stop for them. Action Express continues to lead. Jordan Taylor leads, and now, Colin Braun is next with Jon Bennett and Romain Dumas. Bennett has finished his time as a Pro Am. Simon Trummer, Stephen Simpson, and Chris Miller, they are in the pound seats as well.
Felipe Fraga is catching Bill Auberlen, who is second on the all-time starts list here at Sebring. Rest In Peace. Mazda team member, Bill Cappel. Pit stop time for DPi and Acura, Nissan, and WTR Cadillac have all made it into the lane, but Colin Braun leapfrogs the Cadillac. Now, Pipo Derani is back in the lead of this motor race. We're well past the halfway mark in this motor race. We are seeing more raindrops. Bill Riley at Mercedes says they need rain, but Felipe Fraga is definitely hounding Bill Auberlen at the moment. Jon Bennett has fulfilled his drive time requirements, but Bennett might still need time in the car.
No driver can drive more than four hours in a six hour window. The Mercedes sails off the road into the mud and then comes back onto the track. Don Yount in one of the Lamborghini's had a huge shunt in Thursday practice. The differences between the classes can be designated by the headlights on the cars as Fraga goes off into the dirt briefly. Don't tear the splitter off the front of the car. Fraga is all over Auberlen like a rash for second in class. #33 is in the lane, doing a driver change from Felipe Fraga to Jeroen Bleekemolen. Tires and fuel for the car.
Pipo Derani has stayed in the lead, with the end of the fifth hour coming up. Trouble for Audi #19, look. He's slow, and crawling around the circuit. He's got a slipping clutch it seems. Every time he goes off throttle, the engine revs up. The #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche is in the lane for tires and fuel and Zachary Robichon stays in the car as Bill Auberlen is in the pit lane as well. Where is the Mercedes relative to where these chaps are? Jeroen Bleekemolen gets beaten off pit lane by Bill Auberlen. It is a gain for #96 and a loss for #33. Rain drops fall again, as the Audi trundles into the pit lane with it's clutch issue.
Solid pit stop for Scott Dixon in Ford GT #67. Pipo Derani in the lane in the Cadillac. Cold, slick tires the order of the day here. Cold tires in the rain isn't good. They are cleaning the windscreen but saving tear off's. Filipe Albuquerque is now leading as precipitation is beginning to appear once again. This race, like the WEC event yesterday that you've no doubt read about, has had some amazing twists and turns, and it's not over yet.
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