The Ford and Corvette battle in GTLM is heating up. Juan Pablo Montoya has also been driving really well, but Montoya's lap times have been slower than the Mazda's even though they are catching him up. The second Mazda is being balked by the BMW. Oh boy. Connor De Philippi saw a flash of flame and thankfully, got out of the car. Sad sight to see that the BMW is harmed due to this flash fire. Montoya moves defensively to the left in the Inner Loop. Was this reactionary? That's the kind of maneuver the marshals don't like, especially if you take a defensive line out of the corner. He's treading thin ice there, but is still leading the motor race. The GTLM battle is cooking, and Nick Tandy, this bloke has been on rails, all day long.
Acura's #86 and #57 are making their final pit stops, and they'll be sitting pretty if there are no more yellows. No tires for Mario Farnbacher. Katherine Legge gets left side tires, and fuel, and somehow stalls. Poor old Townsend Bell has a penalty for not having his safety belts done up correctly. Tandy is caught, as Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis lose time, but now, Nick Tandy has an advantage over the Ford's. There is a spot of bother for both of the Mazda boys. WeatherTech, Pfaff, Land, and others in GTD are in the lane. The WeatherTech Ferrari has a very quick stop! No one else has moved, until now. Lexus beats the Pfaff Porsche, and here come the leaders! Everyone is nose to nose here, equidistant. Does Tincknell have the run through the esses? He's not quite close enough! He had a head of steam there, look. It's a chess match now between the Mazda's, and Montoya's front end is washing away a shade.
Tincknell is pressing Montoya, and Montoya says, "no way, sunshine." We've got a pit stop window opening in another 15 minutes for Prototypes. Now, Tandy is in the lane for a splash and dash. Fuel only. They are cleaning the gunk off the gorgeous Brumos livery. Antonio Garcia makes his final pit stop, for fuel only. They dive again to the right hand first turn. The car is loading up onto the front end into the esses. The two Mazda's are trying to drag their way up onto the leader. Ryan Dalziel in the #8 Starworks Audi in GT Daytona, the car he shares with Parker Chase and Mike Skeen. Two Ford's lead GTLM. Earl Bamber is behind the Ford's. The Mazda's are harrying Montoya. The top three are within half a second of each other.
Was there enough room left on the outside, by Montoya? He didn't leave a car's width. The paved runoff area is a blessing and a curse at the same time. Montoya has a warning from the stewards before he gets dinged for track limits. 182 laps, 619 miles. The Mazda's don't want to be fighting amongst themselves. They need to be pressing the Acura in the lead of the motor race. The wick is being turned up as we close in on the finish. No need to panic. A big move, look, for the Mazda, and Harry Tincknell has gone to the lead! Yikes! 42 minutes to go. Yes, the other Mazda of Oliver Jarvis is trading paint with Montoya, and the Mazda boys are ahead once more. Montoya has to counter punch here. Nick Tandy is behind Earl Bamber. Porsche go 1-2 in GTLM. Maybe #912 needs to pit again. Tincknell has pulled out a two second lead.
Good on IMSA Race Direction, and they will let these blokes race. 40 minutes to go now. The Mazda splits the Lexus and Tincknell moves ahead. He can check out now. Ryan Dalziel is now driving with pink, fluffy slippers on to try and save fuel. Jarvis and Montoya's battle might end in tears. Tincknell runs a 1:30.2. He is clear of the Jarvis/Montoya scrap. Jarvis needs a can opener. If he sticks the thing on two wheels and runs it up the Armco he could go for it, but that's very unlikely. Ryan Dalziel is babying the Audi at the moment, running ahead of Mario Farnbacher in the Acura. But, Dalziel may need a Full Course Yellow.
Felipe Nasr takes the final pit stop for the #31 Whelen Cadillac, coming out right in front of Oliver Jarvis, as Helio Castroneves is all over Renger van der Zande. Helio Castroneves has to keep clawing his way towards Renger van der Zande as Harry Tincknell is all over the curbs, but he needs to bring it home and not push so hard, barging the curbs. Just bring it home. Hang loose, Harry. Hang loose. Don't do anything silly. Fuel and four tires for Harry Tincknell, to bring home the win. Acura #6 is headed for the lane, and the Mazda team takes a long fill. 35 seconds for the Mazda pit stop. The Mazda rear bodywork is in tatters it seems.
Stay out and do a faster lap, but Montoya is in the lane, and so is Mazda. Mazda will beat Acura out of the pit lane! Oliver Jarvis beats Juan Pablo Montoya! Wow! Mazda go 1-2. Tincknell, 190 laps, 646 miles. Mazda will likely be in the pound seats to win this thing now. 30 minutes to go if the race stays green. This will be a stormer of a motor race in the last half hour. Don't go anywhere. Earl Bamber leads GTLM, but, they might be low on fuel towards the end, leading his sister car by 21 seconds, with the Garcia/Magnussen Corvette next. Ryan Dalziel leads GTD over Mario Farnbacher and Bill Auberlen. Five and a half hours, 178 laps, 605 miles.
The next event in the WeatherTech Sports Car Championship is next weekend, putting the teams back into sprint mode, north of the border, at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport Park), next weekend. Harry Tincknell and company have to bring it home. This'll be the hardest half hour they've run since their Le Mans successes with Audi. Don't stress the car. They can go into cruise mode. 1:30 dead for Jarvis! Wow! There's nothing to gain from flying. They've got to survive 'til the end of this motor race. That's impressive, but it's madness.
Nick Tandy is not gaining at all on Earl Bamber right now in GTLM. Antonio Garcia's car, the #3, has the fastest lap in GTLM. Mike Conway and Filipe Albuquerque had the fastest lap for a Cadillac at 1:29.6. But it's been the Mazda drivers who have really shone well all day today. Oliver Jarvis now is within 2.5 seconds of his team mate with less than 20 minutes to go. Is there loose bodywork for the Mazda? This could be trouble. Mario Farnbacher is catching Ryan Dalziel for the GTD lead. Dalziel had the inside, and made the Acura go 'round the long way. 16 minutes to go and Mario Farnbacher leads. Bill Auberlen is coming, and fast.
There was some debris that was collected by Harry Tincknell's Mazda. The undertray is flapping around. Nick Tandy is 18.8 seconds behind Earl Bamber. Bamber may need a splash and a dash. Definite bodywork damage for Mazda. It's the door! Wait. What the heck is this damage? The #912 Porsche does it's splash and dash. There's a problem with the left hand sidepod on the Mazda. It's the engine cover on the left hand side! Oh dear! The whole of the left hand side of the engine covr is unfastened. They are the only Prototype to run a double sided engine cover. Everyone else uses a flush, single unit. The #8 Audi is in the lane for a splash and dash and it stalled.
They will drop outside the top ten in class, and gave it a valiant effort. Toni Vilander and Katherine Legge have been scrapping for a good while now. Mario Farnbacher is being harried by Bill Auberlen still as well. We have a recalcitrant Audi, a fussy, grumpy race car. Two seconds now in it between Tincknell and Jarvis. No time for the engine cover to be removed from Tincknell's Mazda. Will the marshals deem that safe? Will the team deem it safe? Will he be black flagged by the marshals? It isn't flapping around. It's just sitting there. Will the meatball be displayed? The meatball is the black flag with the orange dot that means someone is having a mechanical issue and must be called in to rectify it by the stewards.
Mike Conway in the #5 Cadillac is gaining on the two leaders, trying to get a lap back. The Starworks Audi #8 is running again, but they are now 12th overall. The whole of the back end of the Tincknell Mazda is flapping around. Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet are leading GT Le Mans. The Mazda's are still there, running really close together. Jarvis gets between the two GTD cars. Mike Conway wants a lap back aboard the #5 AXR Cadillac, the Mustang Sampling car. Two laps left in this six hour motor race, ladies and gentlemen. It's crunch time, now. The two Mazda's should be OK and might still win this race. Porsche #912 is back in pit lane. They will retain the GTLM points lead but the points will be close.
Right front tire trouble for the Porsche. This team has run 192 laps (653 miles). White flag this time by. 3.4 miles to go, and an extraordinarily long journey, for Mazda, and Mazda have dominated, with the smallest engine car in Daytona Prototype International. Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis are in flying team formation, and Mazda is going go 1-2 at get the win at Watkins Glen! All of the class winners are going to be really, really close. Montoya has closed up but it won't be enough. Now, the GTLM traffic is ahead, and the GTLM cars are getting an extra lap. Mazda breaks the curse! They've won in IMSA! Mazda Team Joest are the champions!
MSR wins GT Daytona by 6/10ths of a second! It was 3/10ths in Prototype. Tandy is struggling! He's got understeer. What is he going to do? Can he survive? I think so. He has to get other cars out of his way. Garcia is coming! He's right on the Porsche, but the Porsche is going to get it! Porsche wins GTLM! Brumos colors, victorious at Watkins Glen! Porsche wins on the anniversary of Hurley Haywood winning for them, here. GT Daytona honors go the way of Acura, and the #86 MSR Acura NSX GT3 of Mario Farnbacher, Trent Hindman, and Justin Marks.
Overall/DPi: #55 Bomarito/Tincknell/Pla Mazda RT24P
GT Le Mans: #911 Tandy/Pilet Porsche 911 RSR
GT Daytona: #86 Farnbacher/Hindman/Marks Acura NSX GT3
The next race, is north of the border, going back into sprint mode, up in Canada, at the legendary Mosport Park, (called Canadian Tire Motorsport Park these days), for a 2 hour and 40 minute encounter, next weekend. One more endurance race left, the Petit Le Mans, which is the finale of the 2019 IMSA season, coming up in October.
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