A mere 60 minutes remain and the final hour, here, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog, starts now. Perched high atop the observation deck, I am keenly watching, as things will become a tad easier for us observing the race. Some cars will need a splash and dash and other cars will need a full fuel fill. In GT Daytona, everyone has to pit again with 59 minutes left on the board. The #16 car will need a lap more fuel than the #44, and the #44 will need four more laps than will the #48. The #88 Audi will need much less fuel. There's a half a stint difference between #16 and #88. 1;42.168 for the Porsche. Our pulses are through the roof right now. Mirko Bortolotti has been in the car for three and a half hours. He will have to get out of the car so he does not exceed his maximum driving time of four hours in any six hour stretch.
He will need to pit one more time and change drivers. Maybe this is a deliberate short stint. The #10 Cadillac, from the lead, i sinto the lane for it's final stop, presumably. Kamui Kobayashi will stay in the car as they take on Michelin tires and get rid of one of their windscreen tear offs. Waiti9ng on fuel and a fresh drink of water for Kamui Kobayashi. He is 17 minutes shy of making it to the end on fuel. The #5 Cadillac is also in the lane. We have a message that the #62 Ferrari is officially retired. Two Aston's, two Lamborghini's, the #74 Mercedes, and now the #62 Ferrari have retired. Check that, as the #74 car, despite all the woes they've had, is on track and running right now in this final hour as it gets underway and we are actually five minutes into the final hour, with 54 and a half minutes on the board yet.
The #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Cadillac is in the lane. Four tires for the car, and a fresh drink of water for Loic Duval as well. The #74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 is actually running 11th in GT Daytona despite the electrical problem the car suffered in the early morning just after sunup which also caused the car to lose the brakes and become a major handful for the drivers. Kudos to Riley Motorsports for curing that issue. Jonathan Hoggard and company in the #47 Precision Performance Motorsports Lamborghini is out of the motor race. We review all of the cars that are out of the motor race. The first of these is the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage, driven by Ian James from England, Spaniard Alex Riberas, Canadian Roman De Angelis, and Danish Aston Martin star, Nicki Thiim, which was involved in a puzzling, off the wall incident with the #47 PPM (Precision Performance Motorsports), Lamborghini.
Jonathan Hoggard was at the controls of that car, which ground to a halt in turn five more recently. Ross Gunn in the #98 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 factory car, that (after his scheduled pit stop), he clattered into the pit wall on the exit, and that spelled that automobile's demise (it was game over for Gunn, Mathias Lauda, Pedro Lamy (former Formula 1 driver), and Andrew Watson). Also out of this motor race through the fairly low attrition rate, the #19 GEAR Racing Lamborghini which had a fire which Christina Nielsen did put out, deploying the fire bottles before scrambling to safety earlier this morning, and as we mentioned, the #47 car, and the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari with it's horrendous damage from a right rear puncture.
Now, WRT Speedstar is close on drive time for Mirko Bortolotti to receiving a penalty if they go over the limit, but the team has confirmed that Mirko Bortolotti shall take the car to the end of the race in 52 and a half minutes time. You may want to remind the chaps at WRT of the four hour rule. Now, is that classified as outside assistance if the commentators try to give advice to the teams? Not in the rule book. But at any rate, these chaps from WRT Speedstar, they must know they will have a talking to from the IMSA marshals if they don't address this drive time shemozzle. They probably got a message from timing and scoring. Kamui Kobayashi now has 43 seconds over Oliver Jarvis who is ahead of Loic Duval by 30 seconds. Juan Pablo Montoya is in the lane and so is the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 with Bill Auberlen in the car who will take it to the finish. New Michelin tires on the car, and the blokes at Turner Motorsport have "Bill power". This is strange to see a Turner BMW not in yellow and blue as they have the Liqui Moly livery on the car, but they also have that all black carbon bonnet on the car that they've been running since the opening hours of this motor race yesterday.
The car also has a white plain door. So, it's been through the wars, but it has new boots underneath it for the end of the race. Now, ladies and gentlemen, as we speak, the battle in GT Le Mans is getting hot and heavy. It's Porsche vs. Corvette! The blowtorch has been ignited and will be applied in short order. Jesse Krohn has made up a 5.7 second deficit and set the fastest lap of the race in GTLM. The BMW is making up ground on the #3 Corvette. Krohn has set the pace on stun, and possibly kill, or vaporize. Nick Tandy will be forced to drive a very wide Porsche to keep the rapid Finn behind him. The gap is coming down through NASCAR turns one and two.
They fly through the Bus Stop. Now, Mr. Director, why are you showing us GTD when we should be fixated on the GTLM scrum? Thank you, Mr. Director for changing camera angles. Now, we can see the BMW bearing down on the Porsche through NASCAR turn four. This is for the lead, the win in GTLM and they're together. Nose to tail. Now, Jesse Krohn wants to slipstream the Porsche down the front straight. Krohn makes the pass right 'round the outside for the GTLM class lead! 48 minutes to go, and Krohn is denied! Nick Tandy slams the door at least partially into turn one. Tandy does slam the door in the Finn's face. What a scrap!
Tandy is the minnow. Krohn is the shark. That M8 looks more like an I8 because this car is absolutely electric coming off corner number six and headed back to the west banking. The #48 Lamborghini just pitted from the GT Daytona lead and there will be four tires and fuel for Marco Mapelli in the #44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini. Jesse Krohn has the draft of both the #85 JDC-Miller Cadillac and the #9 GT Daytona Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R as he is scything his way past the Porsche on the banking on the front straight! Tandy has the inside into turn one, drifts wide, and will Krohn attack? Yes! Tandy runs wide! Krohn slips right through! Or does he? They're nose to nose headed to turn two on the infield road course here at Daytona.
The jet black BMW prevails into the International Horseshoe! Brilliant racing! Whether Nick Tandy's tires were crying enough, or he just couldn't make the apex, you have to admit, this is what IMSA racing is all about. We still have 46 minutes left. The #912 Porsche has already made it's final pit stop. Fuel and tires for the #912. Earl Bamber will finish the race and #911 is in the lane as well. The BMW is stretching it's legs as the #911 is in the lane for the final time. Nick Tandy comes in from the GTLM lead and he very nearly blew it, locking up the wheels. Patrick Pilet, his long time co-driver for Tandy in Pfaff Porsche. Nick Tandy will finish this race.
The Pfaff Motorsports Porsche which led so much of the early stages in GTD, has made it's final stop with Patrick Pilet. Marco Mapelli will finish the race in the #44 Flex Box Lamborghini for GRT Magnus and would you believe, Mirko Bortolotti will finish the race aboard the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi. Nick Tandy on the long exit from pit lane. Andrea Caldarelli will extend his margin over the #44 Lamborghini. #48 needed more fuel. BMW #24 is in the lane from the lead of GTLM to respond to the Porsche's. Tires and a splash and a dash on fuel. That was a very fast stop for the BMW. Much tidier and quicker than the Porsche stop.
Porsche's only in turns three and four. Both Porsche's are now running together on the track but they are a long way behind the BMW. 41 minutes left and it'll all come out in a wash here for the Porsche squad. BMW very recently set the fastest GTLM lap. Now, 40 minutes to go and our race leader has run 808 laps, tying the distance record set two years ago. We've equaled that. The prediction is 832 laps. Porsche's side by side and the #912 pokes the nose on the inside and Nick Tandy runs wide! He can't turn in at turn one. Earl Bamber has been unleashed. We reckon the #912 has more fuel in the tank and the BMW is just four seconds or so up the road. 3.4 seconds is the gap. Bamber capitalizes on Tandy's mistake and the Kiwi slots in front.
Kamui Kobayashi has broken the distance record at 809 laps. Cameron Cassels has brought the #38 Performance Tech LMP2 car to the pit lane and they are goinng behind the wall with only 38 minutes left to run in the Rolex 24. They want to see the checkered flag, but it could be game over for that car. Meanwhile, Earl Bamber might be losing ground to his team mate but he's getting closer to Jesse Krohn in the BMW. The pit stop for the #24 BMW M8 GTE sw the tem tke sticker Michelin tires. The Porsche's scrap into the tri oval and Tandy tried to defend Bamber from poking his nose in there and Tandy went off the road. Remember a few years ago, the two factory Porsche's tangled in the infield during the night time hours. That had to be around 2015 or 2016. Earl Bamber was pumping his fist saying, "yes, yes, yes!" and Nick Tandy had to be mumbling inside his helmet, "dang it! Why did I do that?! Arrgh!"
It shows how eager each of these cars are to win in GTLM. 1;42.8 for Jesse Krohn. 1:43.1 for Earl Bamber, and 1:42.8 for Nick Tandy. Kamui Kobayashi will pit at the end of this lap for their final stopp. He is in the lne now. It's the final stop for the race leader. Kamui Kobayashi will finish this race. They are enjoying this weekend. That's their approach. The crew's job is done and they can watch the car run out the rest of this race. Kobayashi lets an LMP2 car go. Oliver Jarvis was close enough to take the race lead for a short spell. Kamui Kobayashi comes out second behind Oliver Jarvis with Loic Duval in third place.
Juan Pablo Montoya has also pitted. He may have to do one more stop. Mattheus Leist in the #85 Cadillac will take fuel on it's final stop. Some GTD Daytona traffic from the #11 Lamborghini that kicks up a lot of dirt. Poor old Richard Heistand has that Lamborghini 14th in class in GT Daytona. Marcel Fassler still circulating in the #4 Corvette C8.R, 36th in the overall of 38 cars after spending seven hours and 50 minutes in the garage for a cracked bell housing. Oliver Jarvis in Mazda #77 is leading over Kamui Kobayashi and Loic Duval. Oliver Jarvis pits for the final time and the #10 Cadillac will resume in the lead as Jarvis pits easily. He has the first stall in the lane for being on pole at the Roar Before The Rolex 24. Oliver Jarvis scored pole on Thursday in qualifying which seems an eon ago now.
Oliver Jarvis will take the #77 Mazda to the finish, trying to win. Juan Pablo Montoya did hit the lane for a splash and dash. Kamui Kobayashi now retakes the lead of the motor race, working lap 814. So, 814 laps, 2,898 miles. The predicted distance will be 831 laps, 2,958 miles. That will without doubt be a new record. Oliver Jarvis remains second and Loic Duval is 30 seconds further behind, but he likely won't make up that amount of time in the less than half an hour we have left to run in this race. 29 minutes to go. Kamui Kobayashi has no pressure. Ease it home. He leads by 50 seconds.
Kobayashi does have to get past the #74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3. The #6 Acura is definitely tattered and splattered. Check that. We are looking at the #7 car. At the end of the race, you want to seal the dirt and grime from the travels into the wrap the car is covered in. They are rarely painted anymore. They are wrapped in graphics. Juan Pablo Montoya will take the #6 Acura to the end with team mates Dane Cameron and Simon Pagenaud. The #81 DragonSpeed LMP2 car was in the pit lane and Ben Hanley is now into the International Horseshoe. Fuel and tires for Ben Hanley. Gabriel Aubry has been pressing really hard aboard the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car but it looks like second in LMP2 will be their best effort when this motor race is done and dusted in 27 and a half minutes time.
Helio Castroneves brings the #7 Acura into the lane for a final time, for fuel only. He is eighth in DPi and will score 23 points, but he's ten laps down to the next car which is Felipe Nasr in the #31 Whelen Cadillac. Two cars that have had long, difficult races, that will score some points, but will definitely be looking forward to the remainder of the season. Cadillac #10 puts another lap on BMW #24 and Jesse Krohn has put six seconds on Earl Bamber who is also gapping Nick Tandy, his team mate. Andrea Caldarelli leads Marco Mapelli in the two Lamborghini's, and Mapelli is 19 seconds behind, with Mirko Bortolotti behind in the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi, the Lamborghini and the Audi have the same motor, the 5.2 liter V10. The Porsche's come next in GT Daytona, with the #16 Wright Motorsports car of Klaus Bachler, and Jeroen Bleekemolen in the #54 Black Swan Racing entry.
The car was rebuilt from a completely new chassis after a practice session when Trenton Estep had a mega size crash. They sourced a new chassis to be able to race. Use a different car but use the same engine and transmission that you have. 24 minutes to go now. Kamui Kobayashi leads by 52 seconnds over Oliver Jarvis. Victory Lane is being prepared, with the trophy and with the coolers full of Gatorade for celebration and refreshment for the winners. Yours truly sees his favorite flavor back there. That'd be lemon lime. Oliver Jarvis will finish second in this race, but they've done a whale of a lot better than last year when the two Mazda's both went out of the motor race within the first six hours last year.
It's amazing that the Mazda will be a finisheer this year. Four Rolex 24's for Oliver Jarvis and six for Olivier Pla and the best between both of those drivers, being sixth and eighth. This will be a huge improvement. It's a finish too, for the #74 Mercedes despite the fact that they've had a litany of problems. Now, Porsche's are still scrapping away, glued together in GTLM through speedway turns one and two. Nick Tandy has slipped a little ways behind, honing in on Earl Bamber. So, the Kiwi best look out. Get it to the end but don't crash into each other, whatever you two blokes do. The gap is opening up to the GTLM leading BMW and Nick Tandy gets the inside line in the International Horseshoe but now they're banging each other! Don't hit each other. This isn't a short track stock car race. Is Nick Tandy finished being Generous George here?
There was argy bargy, a love tap. Nick Tandy tries to fend off Earl Bamber and you saw, bish bash bosh, the results of that little dust up. Maybe Nick Tandy wants to test the water for trying to get ahead. But the rule is, don't hit your team mate. What? Do you want a cookie? Then don't bash your team mate! No cookies for you, sunshine. This slang essentialy is a backhanded compliment to someone who is blowing their own horn and trying to say, "look what kind of beauty I've got." This can be the case with racing drivers, especially if they are team mates.
Team mates in the lane probably can't look at the screens. Fred Makowiecki and Matty Campbell as well as Laurens Vanthoor and Matty Jaminet can't look at the screens right now. Jesse Krohn meanwhile, is scampering away. The Porsche boys realize they won't catch the BMW. Colton Herta in the sister #25 BMW M8 GTE is in fifth in GTLM with the demise of the Risi Competizione Ferrari. Fifteen minutes left on the clock. Jesse Krohn will most certainly help his team mates to GTLM victory while it is becoming more certain of victory as well for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, despite penalties for Kamui Kobayashi and Ryan Briscoe, but has run flawlessly for the most part. Andrea Caldarelli leads GTD by 18.6 seconds over Marco Mapelli and Mirko Bortolotti. Bortolotti did make his final stop for a splash of fuel.
He is 20 seconds ahead of Klaus Bachler. Madison Snow was a Silver rated driver on the FIA rankings but not on the IMSA rankinngs, and could not race last year. IMSA fixed their system and so Snow is now a Silver rated IMSA driver and able to drive with Bryan Sellers again in GT Daytona. 55 seconds is the margin between Kamui Kobayashi and Oliver Jarvis. Loic Duval is going to complete the podium finishers. 825 laps completed, 2,937 miles even. The prediction has been upped to 832 laps, 2,962 miles. Just 38 miles short of 3,000 miles. Ben Hanley still leads LMP2 as Gabriel Aubry pits for a final fuel splash and Aubry, the 21 year old Frenchman will finish the race, followed by John Farano.
Four LMP2 cars run ahead of five GTLM cars. BMW, Porsche, Porsche, Corvette, BMW. They had troubles with the right front wheel when the rattle gun failed. They had a huge mechanical issue on the #25 car. In the end, the #24 car has the advantage over the two Porsche's. BMW put all their eggs in one basket for the #24. They want one of their cars to win. But at Porsche, they have two podium places, but they don't know yet who would be on the podium steps yet. Bamber and Tandy have been scrapping quite a bit. The leading three cars in GTLM, for the drivers, Nick Tandy has a Rolex and so does Augusto Farfus, but for everyone else, they'd get their first Rolex watch. Oliver Jarvis had a class win in 2013 in an Audi for Alex Job Racing.
He has had two straight poles in this race, 2019 and 2020. Check that, for Jarvis. He got a Rolex for a win at Sebring, the only Rolex ever made for a Sebring win. 828 laps completed, and four to go. 2,948 miles. Four more laps of this speedway, one of the best in the world, one of the most famous, and 14 miles. We'll get to 832 laps. We've had six yellows and three in succession within an hour and a half which was a wild deal, and we've also broken a record for maximum green flag running at seven hours and 48 minutes, 280 laps. They didn't used to have Full Course Yellows at Daytona but they have in recent time. Smallest field in this race's history, but the number of cars has lessened the opportunity for accidents even though purist sports car racing fans would get concerned. The convergence announcement might arrest the slide.
Paul Miller watches his #48 Lamborghini that will win GT Daytona if everything works out as the #48 car has 22 seconds in hand over the next three laps to complete this race. Kamui Kobayashi will likely take the final lap, the white flag. There is no white flag yet. Two laps to go for Kamui Kobayashi. We could get 833 laps. The advantage now is over a minute over Oliver Jarvis. Konica Minolta Cadillac, DragonSpeed, BMW, and Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, will be the winners. We are inside 90 seconds to go. White flag this time. Last lap time, as Kamui Kobayashi negotiates the #57 MSR Acura. Use as much fuel as you like. He is 1:02 ahead. Thge two Porsche's are a second apart and the #912 will finish ahead of #911. They've settled into an order. The Corvette C8.R will not get a podium during their first race. Porsche will get a double podium for the 911 RSR-19, but they will not win on debut.
This Rolex 24 has been dry throughout, and Wayne Taylor Racing wins! BMW RLL wins GTLM with the BMW M8 GTE #24 for John Edwards, Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, and Jesse Krohn. LMP2 honors go the way of DragonSpeed and the #81 Oreca for Ben Hanley, Colin Braun, Henrik Hedman, and Harrison Newey. GTLM goes to BMW! #24 wins for BMW Team RLL aboard the BMW M8 GTE in the hands of John Edwards, Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, and Jesse Krohn. Paul Miller Racing wins GT Daytona with Andrea Caldarelli, Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, and Corey Lewis.
Overall/DPi: #10 van der Zande/Briscoe/Dixon/Kobayashi Cadillac DPi-V.R.
LMP2: #81 Hanley/Braun/Hedman/Newey Oreca 07 Gibson
GT Le Mans: #24 Edwards/Farfus/Mostert/Krohn BMW M8 GTE
GT Daytona: #48 Caldarelli/Snow/Sellers/Lewis Lamborghini Huracan GT3
Congratulations, to all the winners! So, the 58th Rolex 24 at Daytona is in the books. Yours truly has enjoyed all the time he has been here at the speedway, but now, it is time to head home from the speedway, well, back to the hotel anyway, and grab some lunch. What a race this has been as the winners deservedly celebrate! What a long race. What an incredible race. What an incredible experience to be able to be here in person, to see it. More to come about Action Express and their race, later on. Congratulations to all the winners. This Rolex 24 is history, but wow, it's amazing to see this race in person, for the very first time. More to come. Stay tuned.
The next event for the IMSA WeatherTech Championship is another crown jewel, the second event of the 2020 campaign and the Michelin Endurance Cup, the famed 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway as we move to central Florida, for the "Super Sebring" weekend we in IMSA will share with the FIA World Endurance Championship in the middle of March. Can't wait for Sebring. See you there, ladies and gentlemen. So long, for now, from the World Center of Racing, Daytona International Speedway, a place yours truly has finally been to for the first time nd it is an unforgettable experience.
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