The #10 drove right by its pit stall. That's odd. Were they assessed a penalty by the stewards? I don't know. For Ryan Briscoe, the breaker for the power steering triggered and he recycled the system. No worries. We start the 19th hour right now. Less than six hours to run. We're into the last quarter of the race. The sun has been above the horizon for a half hour now. We see a few light aircraft taking off from Daytona Beach Airport. We'll have more cloud cover today than yesterday but it's going to be a cracking day in terms of weather. We are going to look at overall and class leader updates in a moment, as the sole remaining #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R hits the pit lane for service. The #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini has pitted.
Mirko Bortolotti is back at the controls of the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi R8 while Andy Lally has third place in class aboard the #44 GRT Magnus Racing Flex Box Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Klaus Bachler is next up in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. In GT Le Mans it continues to be a Porsche 1-2 as Earl Bamber leads in class over Nick Tandy. 12.3 seconds is the margin between the two Porsche's. Third place sees BMW Team RLL back to third place with Augusto Farfus driving the #24 BMW M8 GTE. Jordan Taylor at the controls of the #3 Corvette that just pitted, he is coming back onto the track to continue in the race. In the DPi class, top of the shop is the #10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R in the hands of Ryan Briscoe.
He has 17.2 seconds over Loic Duval aboard the #5 JDC-Miller Mustang Sampling Cadillac, and in third spot, the #77 white Mazda RT24P currently with Tristan Nunez at the wheel of it, and Nunez, as we speak is in the pit lane for service. He gets new boots, new Michelin tires, on the car in a very quick stop, plus a tank of fuel and he's back underway. Watch the traction on new tires. It's very slick on the road as the race track is coming back to life. People are starting to wander back into the race track. Yours truly is still at the hotel, watching on TV. Now, the #3 Corvette is still missing it's right side daytime running light on the bottom right corner. The sister car #4 had a cracked bell housing that took over seven hours to fix.
The car is still on the track, trying to pick up points and put in laps. Ditto for Helio Castroneves. He's back to tenth place in the overall but has made up no ground. Actually he's eighth in the overall. The new distance record will be broken and we look at 841 laps. The #4 Corvette is back into the pit lane being worked on and looks cleaner than the sister car probably because it's spent all that time in the garage, being serviced. Into the lane, too, the second place #911 Porsche 911 RSR-19. It's a regular stop. You'll notice the car has two visible carbon streaks on the front of it as the white wrapped graphics have peeled away from the front bumper, revealing the carbon fiber bodywork underneath.
Four tires and fuel but no sign of a driver change. Nick Tandy will continue to drive as they take a tear off from the windscreen and he's serviced and sent. Back into the motor race goes Nick Tandy. He started his career in mini stock cars on short ovals just outside Northamptonshire, England. He has done consistent 29 lap stints and has now done a triple for a total of 87 laps. Problems here, and a boatload of smoke, look, for the beleaguered #74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3. That's a mosquito killer in the west horseshoe. Was that brake lockup? No. Clearly, I think the engine has gone bang on that Mercedes. The V8 lump in that automobile has expired, big style.
The GTLM leading #912 Porsche now pits. A footnote on the now expired #74 Mercedes is that automobile was suffering with electrical gremlins earlier on in the race and so the symptoms of those issues have maybe manifested themselves in the engine going ka-blammo. With that said, the two problems may not be related. Meanwhile, Earl Bamber has been serviced and sent. OK. Closer inspection from our buddies, and particularly Mr. Hindhaugh and his trusty binoculars at IMSA Radio tells us that this was not an engine going sour. That's good. But, it was a massive, colossal brake lockup for the #74 Mercedes. There are two thick streaks of Michelin rubber before the west horseshoe. That car locked up 50-60 yards away.
Felipe Fraga, the Brazilian had to have his hands full locking the brakes. The #88 WRT Speedstar Audi R8, meanwhile, is in and out of the pit lane. We've stayed green on the road and have a local yellow at the marshal's post. Have we gone Full Course Yellow? Not yet. Pit lane is still open. Into the lane, the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. But now, it's official. Ladies and gentlemen, we've gone Full Course Yellow. Caution is on the speedway, here at Daytona. The #48 car barely made it in, nanoseconds before the pit lane closed! Jeepers creepers! They needed a stop, because they'd been on track for 50 minutes. Madison Snow is out of the car, and Corey Lewis is now behind the wheel.
It was a very clean pit stop, and now we are working the fourth Full Course Yellow of this race. Felipe Fraga, needing rescue, he probably had another electrical failure and realized what was happening, so, he slammed on the brakes and locked up all four wheels in a panic stop situation. He couldn't select neutral in the transmission probably. Wait. He's got the car going but there's something wrong. He has called the IMSA safety marshals and the car will be pulled back through the gate and he'll have to head to the garage. He's barely a quarter of the way around the track. Bill Riley is on the radio to Felipe Fraga saying, "let the marshals get you out of there. Don't fire the engine up. Just let them help you."
The sun is up here in Daytona Beach, as we approach 8AM Eastern Time. The thin layer of cirrus cloud is burning off and we'll have another postcard perfect day of weather, albeit a little chilly, here at Daytona Beach today, as we head to the end of the motor race before finding out who the winners will be. This is our fourth Full Course Yellow of the race. Meanwhile, the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini got lucky, otherwise they'd have lost the GT Daytona class lead. It was just in the nick of time. Snow says that pitting under yellow would be advantageous and he was looking for the pit commit line and found it. Madison Snow took a year away from racing.
He did some test days with the team at PMR, and now, he is confident again as a racing driver. The driver's strength, the chaps know each other and they are comfortable with each other. Madison is with his mom, Melanie, and dad, Martin, both former racing drivers in IMSA themselves. Madison Snow came back into last fall's Michelin Sports Car Encore at Sebring, last November. We're smashing the records of laps completed so far. We're working lap 636 I believe. OK. We're on lap 636 I think. 636 laps, 2,264 miles. Pit action for two of the Cadillac's. The leading #10 WTR entry is in and so is the second place #5 JDC-Miller car.
Right side tires only for Ryan Briscoe. Loic Duval is at the wheel of the #5 car right now. The two cars are back togther on track now. Loic Duval has done a couple of stints. He's on his third stint in this rotation it seems. It's time for us to take a breath and just sort ourselves out during the four Full Course Yellow as the #74 Mercedes has been removed from the track. We shall be back to racing, soon. Maybe the #74 Mercedes had a stuck throttle as the rear wheels were spinning while the front wheels were locked up entirely. What a scary, freak out moment for Felipe Fraga! He'd have no control of that automobile in that situation. Hopefully it isn't a coincidence. Ben Keating has had issues with the #52 PR1/Mathiasen LMP2 car, and he's been driving both that car and the #74 Mercedes.
GTLM cars are now in the lane. Actually, all GT cars are pitting now. BMW #24, and Corvette #3 are in the lane. Augusto Farfus stays in the BMW. Fuel and tires. John Edwards was suited and booted but only assisted with changing the data stick out of the car. Also, the #3 Corvette is in and speaking of BMW's, the #96 GT Daytona Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 has also taken service. The #3 Corvette team has just executed a brake change on the car, and going back to Felipe Fraga's wild ride, clearly there was brake lockup on the Mercedes, big style brake lockup. The Mercedes had had electrical failure, and the engine stopped into the kink, the wheels would have locked up and poor old Felipe Fraga couldn't have gotten the car into neutral.
We are seeing tire debris in the Bus Stop chicane. It's the world famous clag down there, and also, the air pressure of the dopplar effect of these cars screaming through the chicane has taken it's toll on the signage, the sponsorship banners, and they've blown away and onto the racing line. We've got the jet dryer out there to move the tire marbles out of the racing line and we see another pit stop for the #77 Mazda RT24P. Olivier Pla now at the controls and they came in, possibly, for a splash and a dash on fuel. Olivier Pla had only been on track for seven laps after taking over fromk Tristan Nunez. Kyle Busch is now at the wheel of the #14 Lexus. We're still on the clock and we should have about 200 laps left to run. The jet dryer is out on the far end of the circuit and it's hard to see across the water on Lake Lloyd.
Get your sunglasses out, mate. The field is forming up behind the safety car, anticipating a restart, anticipating a wave by before that. What a gorgeous Sunday morning here at Daytona. The race leader, Ryan Briscoe did hit the pit lane. Would the #10 stay out and stop the #77 Mazda from getting it's lap back? No. They didn't want to give up tactical advantage to the #5 Cadillac running in second spot. Ryan Briscoe, or maybe it was Renger van der Zande, had to reset the power steering on the car. We all need a cup of coffee and some breakfast at this stage. A plate of bacon and eggs, or perhaps a breakfast sandwich sounds delicious at this time of the morning. Yours truly would fancy a cinnamon roll, Danish, croissant, muffin, roll, or doughnut. Something sweet would indeed suffice. Five and a half hours of this motor race remaining.
It's been a long, hard, but fast, and record breaking night with seven hours and 48 minutes of green flag running. The safety car is in the lane and we're back to green flag racing, now. Ryan Briscoe makes the start stick. The Mazda is pressing the JDC-Miller sister Cadillac, #85. The top six drivers at this stage include Ryan Briscoe, Loic Duval, Olivier Pla, Harry Tincknell, Pipo Derani, and Juan Pablo Montoya. Cadillac, Cadillac, Mazda, Mazda, Cadillac, Acura. Olivier Pla is having to deal with a banana that won't peel easily in the form of the #85 JDC-Miller "Banana Boat" Cadillac. Poor old Pla needs to get his footing right or he's going to slip and fall on that banana peel. Step away from the banana peel, and look out for the whipped cream as well. Someone might be trying to prank you this time of the morning, sunshine.
Squeezed to the outside, Tristan Vautier squeezes Olivier Pla! I told you to be wary of the banana peel and the whipped cream there, mate. These fellas are going to be a little pushy, a little cranky this time of the morning. Meanwhile, while you're grousing, Ryan Briscoe says, "cheery bye, mate. I'm gone." He's trainlengthed everybody and is off and running like a scalded cat. Co-driver Renger van der Zande did a marathon stint aboard the gloss black bullet in the middle of the night. The Acura's and one of the Mazda's are on the banking, chasing down the leaders. The sun beats down on the track even though the headlights are still on on the leasd cars. In GTLM, it'll be a 1-2 still for Porsche. Earl Bamber leads and now, Fred Makowiecki has taken over the #911 Porsche from Nick Tandy while Augusto Farfus remains behind the wheel of the better placed #24 BMW M8 GTE.
Jordan Taylor is next up in #3 Corvette. Drama at the sharp end, ladies and gentlemen! Drama at the sharp end, for Ryan Briscoe! The team has asked Ryan Briscoe to turn on the afterburners because he's been dinged by the stewards with a penalty. A stop and hold plus 60 seconds in the lane. He ran the red light at the exit of the lane! Ouch! That's mega. That stings! Ryan Briscoe has 3/4 of a second over Pipo Derani. AXR has to get on the phone to Pipo and say, "run your own race, mate." Briscoe has to answer the penalty within three laps. He'll be fuming! He's going to lose acres of time with the field as bunched up as it is. Ryan Briscoe is in NASCAR turns three and four. Box, box, box. Did he exit before the red light extinguished? Hard to tell.
Briscoe is in the lane now. He is transitioning the lane now on a drive through but he does stop in the penalty box. The marshal holds him and he's going to lose time. The #74 Mercedes is back on the pit lane. Felipe Fraga is back on track. Ryan Briscoe did not fight the penalty. He stopped in the penalty box, and shut the car off. He was told he ran through the light at the end of the lane. He did the time for the crime and is back on track. He has dropped a fw places and maybe has gone a lap down. He'll have to fight and claw his way back after the car that has been dominant for the last eight hours, has work to do. Turn it up to 11. Loic Duval now leads in the #5 Cadillac. Loic Duval is coming out of the International Horseshoe.
4.5 seconds between Duval and Briscoe, as we watch the GTD battle between the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi and the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini! They're side by side on the banking and still side by side through the kink! Corey Lewis and Mirko Bortolotti are still side by side! Almost coming together, and Bortolotti gets the better of the Lamborghini! Check that. Dries Vanthoor is in the Audi, and he moves past Corey Lewis. Side by side through turn one to the exit into turn two and 2A, and resolved through the International Horseshoe! That was scintillating! Dries Vanthoor has 3/10ths of a second on Corey Lewis. We cannot predict how the end of this motor race will be. We've still got a long way to go.
We listen to the sound of a tortured but still running Audi V10. Loic Duval is in the lead of this motor race. We recall Ryan Briscoe's valiant effort to win the 2009 IndyCar title and coming up short. Briscoe is now pressing for another win. Loic Duval cuts a best lap of 1:35.1. 1:35.2 for Briscoe, stemming the tide, but pulling away from the Mazda's of Olivier Pla and Harry Tincknell. Poor old Tincknell is having a hard time keeping up with his team mate. Tincknell was penalized for contact with Helio Castroneves, yesterday. Loic Duval is your leader. Meanwhile, in LMP2, trouble for the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca, of Ben Keating. Harrison Newey is now at the controls of the #81 DragonSpeed Oreca LMP2 car.
It's a Porsche 1-2 in GTLM. Earl Bamber leads Fred Makowiecki and then about four seconds down the road, Augusto Farfus in the #24 BMW M8 GTE, the only BMW truly in contention in GT Le Mans at this stage. Then comes the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. The sister car had mega trouble with a cracked bell housing earlier in the race. BMW also had a fluid leak on their sister car #25 which is clawing it's way back, after an oil line issue, with Phillip Eng at the controls. History, tradition, heritage, and excitement, and great racing, that's what many circuits in sports car racing bring to us. Daytona is one of those tracks and there are so many more.
The #88 Audi has opened a gap in GT Daytona as we watch a lockup for the #85 Cadillac of Tristan Vautier into turn one. The #25 BMW M8 GT is closing up on the #3 Corvette C8.R but it isn't a battle for position because the BMW was delayed for about ten laps. Just over five hours of racing to go. We expected a lor of green flag racing, and well, we've experienced the longest stretch of green flag racing at the Rolex 24 that we've ever seen. The biggest key to the race is get pit stops right but with no penalties. That's what has happened to Ryan Briscoe. He either didn't see the red light on the gantry or didn't register it. It was a 60 second hold penalty that cost him the lead lap.
The #31 Whelen Cadillac has pitted and now, a new driver is at the wheel. Filipe Albuquerque has taken over from Pipo Derani and the car is on brand new, stone cold Michelin tires. So, Filipe Albuquerque will have to tread carefully for a few laps as he begins his next stint. Ryan Briscoe's pit lane woes, he had driven into Danica Patrick at the Indianapolis 500 one year. Hmmm. Well, no use turning over old stones of the past. Meanwhile, Loic Duval leads and then Ryan Briscoe is fourth but next in line followed by Olivier Pla in second and Harry Tincknell in third. Tincknell did have argy bargy earlier on in the race, yesterday. That has been well documented. So, no wonder his car is not quite as up to snuff as some of the others.
We are nearly at the five hours to go mark in this race as there's some movement in the pit lane. There's problems for the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. Filipe Albuquerque will be going back to the garage. He must have radioed to the team saying, "boys, there's something wrong with the car." We watch the #3 Corvette C8.R circulating on track. Good morning, everyone, as we are set for the action to begin to heat up again. Jonny Palmer is back in the booth for IMSA Radio, and he is well aware as all of us are of what's been going on. Everything has been switched around. Loic Duval has eight seconds on Olivier Pla and a further eight seconds between the two Mazda's. Ryan Briscoe is about six seconds behind Loic Duval, six seconds way from getting back onto the lead lap. Ryan Briscoe has a 1:36.1. Loic Duval turns a 1:35.4. Duval is well aware that he has to push to keep his rival at bay.
Potentially, there will be a race, as Briscoe wants to get back on the lead lap if another yellow comes out as Juan Pablo Montoya pits the #6 Acura. In and out. Bish bash bosh, and the pit stop is routine. Meanwhile, what could the trouble be for the #31 Cadillac? The gear cluster is being replaced. It's on the jacks. No panic. Everyone is going to work. Don't freak out. They are working as a team around the front and the back of the car. The front axle and bodywork are being examined while the gear cluster is also being changed. Don't freak out. Do the job, and get it done. Meanwhile, we are following up on a South African cricket match? Hmmm. Interesting. I guess, in the U.K. people are swapping back and forth between the Rolex 24 and also a cricket match between England and South Africa. Fascinating stuff indeed.
It was Australia Day, Chinese New Year, and Burns Night, last night. Several holidays this weekend. The Rolex 24 is among them.
No comments:
Post a Comment