Ford #67 has an issue. Richard Westbrook's car is sputtering a little bit, and he's now back on the button, but that was close. The Tincknell/Jarvis tag team continues to lead the motor race as we begin the second hour. Antonio Garcia has taken over the GTLM lead as Trent Hindman leads GT Daytona for Acura and MSR. Eric Curran is fighting through traffic as we wait for GTLM pit stops. Mazda continues to whistle off into the distance at this point. Ricky Taylor is still third overall. One of the BMW's is in the lane as well. Felipe Nasr noticed he had a puncture, and he nearly hit the sister car of Filipe Albuquerque. Team boss Gary Nelson and team owner Bob Johnson, and the whole bunch, they will not give up. Christina Nielsen, meanwhile, in the lane for fuel and tires and Nielsen will get a new drinks bottle, and do a double stint. The Acura has a shark bite taken out of it, clearly. John Edwards remains at the wheel of BMW M8 GT #24. Cooper MacNeil has taken over the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari.
The #85 "Banana Boat" Cadillac has spun. Misha Goikhberg at the wheel of it, and dear me, he's tossed that racer into the tire wall, look. Is there a hole in the Banana Boat? Philipp Frommenweiler takes over the #14 Lexus on their pit stop. The Swiss driver is the third driver in the car this weekend along with Richard Heistnd and Jack Hawksworth. Antonio Garcia leads GT Le Mans for Corvette, leading Porsche and Ford. Trent Hindman pits from the GT Daytona lead. He will be getting out of the #86 car, handing over to avid adventurer and mountain climber/mountaineer, Justin Marks. Antonio Garcia is handing the #3 Corvette to Jan Magnussen, and Laurens Vanthoor nearly does a face plant after getting Earl Bamber into the car, and the Ford goes ahead of the Porsche.
Dillon Machavern has gone by Jan Magnussen. Just 8/10ths of a second between the two Mazda's still leading this race. The GT Le Mans battle is hot and heavy, as the Mazda's lead the race and their gap has ballooned now to 40 some odd seconds. Former World Manufacturer's Champion, Bob Garretson is here, honoring his friend Bobby Rahal. Garretson never won this race, but he did take part as a team manager of one of the winning teams. Garretson's racing days were before pits to car radio, back in the early 1980s with the Porsche 935s. Bob Garretson may go to see Le Mans next year. Garretson is now 86 years old.
Mazda still leads this race, having run a 1:30.6 for the race leader last time around. Dane Cameron in the #6 Acura ran a 1:31, and then, the last car on the lead lap, has actually fallen off. That's the #84 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. The second "Banana Boat". Romain Dumas has taken over from Jon Bennett in the CORE Autosport Nissan, which is two laps behind. New fastest lap of the race is 1:29.721. Oliver Jarvis was the chap to set that time, as the #12 Lexus is back into the pit lane from third in class in GT Daytona. Frankie Montecalvo is getting out of the car, but we don't know who will get in. #55 is hounding #6. We are an hour and 18 minutes into this motor race. Christina Nielsen is pulling a double stint in the #57 MSR Acura as Daniel Morad leads in class for Montaplast by Land Motorsports.
Storm clouds are rapidly approaching. The #5 Cadillac has sideswiped one of the factory Porsche's! Yikes! The GTD leader is in the lane, with a new left wing end plate, putting it on with fab tape. That's the Land Motorsports Audi. Down and away for #29, as Justin Marks goes back to the lead in class. He is followed by Dillon Machavern in the Turner Motorsports BMW. Daniel Morad has sunk to seventh place in class, after staying in the car. Mazda will be in the lane, momentarily. Cooper MacNeil is right on Phillip Frommenweiler's tail, as Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis both pit. Timo Bernhard will take over the #77 car and Jonathan Bomarito is now going to drive the #55 car. Simon Trummer is also in the lane. He will hand over to one of his co-drivers. Ricky Taylor in Acura #7. Helio Castroneves takes over the #7 car. Renger van der Zande will continue in the #10 Cadillac.
Yet another pit stop cycle has come and passed. Cadillac #5 will be pitting again soon. Actually, it was trying to take the lead, but couldn't. It is third place on the road, behind the Mazda's. Acura leads BMW by 17 seconds in GTD. Justin Marks is driving the class leading car, as Romain Dumas makes a pass on Rene Binder. It's a Mazda free for all at the moment. Jan Magnussen leads GTLM by 1.8 seconds over the two BMW's and Patrick Pilet in the Porsche and Joey Hand in the #66 Ford. Richard Westbrook in the sister Ford has fallen down the order in GT Le Mans a little bit. Cameron Cassels has brough the #38 Performance Tech Motorsports car to the lead in LMP2. Two years ago, Mazda couldn't finish a race, and they couldn't at the beginning of this year. Can they deliver today?
Renger van der Zande passes Helio Castroneves for third place, look. We are looking 'round the circuit to find other scraps on track. Cooper MacNeil seems to be closing in on one of the Lexus cars. Christina Nielsen and Daniel Morad are chasing each other at this point as well. The scrap is hot and heavy in GTD. We've thankfully had some long green flag runs. The cool weather is helping out the Mazda boys at this point. Juan Pablo Montoya has gotten back on the lead lap, however, Mazda, these chaps are in another zip code at the moment. Romain Dumas is up to eighth in the overall, two laps down to the field. Rene Binder brings the #50 Cadillac to the lane for service. Will Owen takes over the car. The Binder/Owen squad is just a two driver team, as Eric Curran is digging his way back to the front of the order after the puncture for his team mate. Juan Montoya is still running well, also.
Montoya is happy and content, and super competitive this year. He is not under any pressure. AIM Vasser Sullivan has been struggling with tires. The two Mazda's have put another lap on Romain Dumas in the CORE Autosport Nissan. Pit stop time for the #31 Cadillac. Four tires, fuel, a windscreen tear off, and a new drinks bottle for Eric Curran. Actually, it appears Pipo Derani has come into the car. Nick Boulle at the controls of the #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Patrick Lindsey of course, has won Le Mans this year. They have lost the mirror on that car. Romain Dumas is now in the pit lane with new tires. It's beginning to cloud over, and there's some rain it seems.
There is some rain out there. Four hours and 20 minutes now remain. Jonathan Bomarito and Timo Bernhard lead the race and are five seconds apart, over Renger van der Zande. Helio Castroneves and Mike Conway are up next. We wonder why Acura is not showing the pace they had in qualifying. A spin for Stephen Simpson through the Parabolica, and one of the Lamborghini's is in this scrum, too, the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. Check that. It's the #44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini, John Potter at the wheel of it. Stephen Simpson has beached it. Pit stop time as we are going to go yellow. Now, Corvette #3 leads in GTLM, and Earl Bamber makes a late decision to pit. Jesse Krohn and Tom Blomqvist will take over the BMW's, and now, Ryan Briscoe is going into the #67 Ford GT. Justin Marks brings the MSR Acura in.
The marshals may penalize Porsche #912 for a driver change infraction. Potter was getting up to speed, and then the #85 and the #31 Cadillac, both of them spooked Potter. Now, Potter came into contact with the #85 and there was no damage for the #31. Trouble in Ford land? Hmmm. Ryan Briscoe is in the car, but there is an ill wind blowing in the Ford camp it seems. The leaders have run 59 laps, 200 miles. Broken suspension for Stephen Simpson. The #84 Cadillac will need to be repaired and the crew is fixing it now, in the lane, meaning only a certain number of crew members can work on it.
The pits are open for the Prototype cars now. We are under a Full Course Yellow for the tire barrier being damaged, on driver's left of the Carousel. The clouds seem to be blowing over Watkins Glen. Acura and the WTR Cadillac are expected in the lane, and Jonathan Bomarito has pitted as well. Mazda have split their strategy it appears. Timo Bernhard has stayed out on track. Trouble for the #73 Park Place Porsche 911 GT3R as well. The Mazda is staying out, to keep themselves on the lead lap and make it harder for their competition to catch up. The Mazda's will fall to the back of the lead lap pack, but only in fifth overall. The Prototype cars can run a maximum of 22-23 laps. The GT Daytona cars are in the lane now.
The AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus leads, car #12. Ford #66 was leading GTLM, but now, Tom Blomqvist leads with Jan Magnussen in second place in class. Ryan Briscoe and the #67 Ford is in the lane for a reset. Strangely, both Ford's have hit the pit lane again. We are nearly at 1/3rd distance. Have Mazda succeeded? Have they made a mistake? We've seen some shuffling in GT Daytona and in the Prototype ranks here. Four or five cars stack up behind Robby Foley and Daniel Morad has Spencer Pumpelly to deal with at the moment.
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