We are well into the eighth hour of this motor race. Eight hours and 20 minutes. Cadillac is back in the hunt, and Joao Barbosa leads with the #5 AXR car. Felipe Nasr is third. Timo Bernhard in the #77 Mazda runs second. This race has been very clean. The Mazda ended up with an advantage on fuel after their pit stop, seven hours and 35 minutes into the motor race. The Ford and the Corvette are right in there. Corvette has not won yet this year. The net lead in GTLM remains separated by half a car length only. Wow. The GT Daytona battle has been heating up in an intense manner. #5 passes the #77. The #77 Mazda went very long on the most recent fuel stint, and more from the Action Express camp as well.
The #5 AXR car in the lead with Joao Barbosa at the wheel of it, is esssentially on the same strategy as the #31 AXR sister car. Felipe Nasr is in the Whelen car at the moment. Ah. What else has happened? The GTD battle has been heating up like crazy. The #33 Mercedes leads a group of cars that includes the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW and the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. The biggest fuel economy/fuel mileage advantage goes to the #29 Montaplast Land Motorsports Audi R8.
#31 now has made its way to second place in the overall. Felipe Nasr is behind Joao Barbosa. The Acura gets a lap back from the #31 car. Just over an hour and a half to go in this motor race. One of the Mazda's is getting time back, or trying to get time back, closing up on the Acura, and fast.
The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari has made it to the lead in GTLM. We are over the 1,000 mile mark. The #33 Mercedes is a wee ways behind the class leader. Alessandro Pier Guidi had to wait for traffic and made a move on the #67 Ford GT. The floor is not broken on the #31. Pipo Derani is back in. Timo Bernhard is trying to get by Joao Barbosa, but Barbosa is checking out, running Harry Flatters at the moment. Again, when you say Harry Flatters, that means, flat out. Pipo Derani looks as though he's been passed now by Jordan Taylor. It is fully dark at Petit Le Mans and we've still got an hour and 22 minutes to go.
403 laps are in the bag so far, 1,023 miles. Joao Barbosa now does pit from the lead. An hour and 20 minutes to go. Filipe Albuquerque will take over the #5 car. Fuel, tires, windshield tearoff etc. Dane Cameron is out of the #6 Acura, and Juan Pablo Montoya is back in. Rene Binder has also stepped out of the #50 Juncos Racing Cadillac. Rene Binder says they have had a problem with the car from earlier on in the motor race. The darkness is very challening for Binder, in his first race at Road Atlanta. He wants to come back and race Petit Le Mans.
Timo Bernhard has now retaken the lead of the motor race and could be, is, a lap upon the rest of the top five. That's a strange deal. Side by side stuff between the two JDC-Miller Cadillac's, the #84 and #85 cars. Filipe Albuquerque may be being reeled in by Jordan Taylor, ever so slightly. Timo Bernhard continues on in the lead of this motor race for Mazda. Mazda and Timo Bernhard need to pit. #77 will do so in a few laps' time. Jordan Taylor is now in the pit lane. Meantime, Joao Barbosa is feeling that there might be a chance at the win in this motor race, and it's so tough because the #5 car may or may not be back next year. More than likely, it will not be.
This is an emotionally heavy moment, for Joao. It'll be real weird to see Joao in a different place next year. It's not always easy, Joao says. It's an end with one team, but the memories last a lifetime. A great statement, from Joao Barbosa, one of the greats of sports car racing in the modern era. He raced for the British Rollcentre Racing team in Europe, with team owner Martin Short, in years gone by. AXR is really going for it trying to find partnerships to run a second car for the 2020 season, however, it may be that they will stick with the #31 next year and only the #31.
We have our last hourly update of 2019. Ricardo Feller vs. Bill Auberlen vs. Scott Hargrove vs. Jeff Westphal in GTD. Audi, BMW, Porsche, Ferrari. Felipe Fraga will need a splash and a dash before the end of the race. James Calado and Ferrari could win Petit Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same year. Ryan Briscoe for Ford second, followed by Tom Blomqvist for BMW. Porsche for Earl Bamber, and then Antonio Garcia in the Corvette next, and Nick Tandy in the #911 Porsche. Albuquerque, Derani, Oliver Jarvis, and Jordan Taylor next. Helio Castroneves and Juan Montoya come next. Juan Montoya can win the title event if AXR wins the race. We've passed the 1,000 mile mark.
We've completed 418 laps. The distance record in laps is 443. The final hour is coming up.
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