Three hours now done and dusted. 108 laps gone. 384.5 miles. Side by side stuff between Acura and Lexus in GT Daytona, and the Wright Motorsports #16 Porsche is in the mix as well, making hay as the sun shines. Mazda #77 in the lane. Fuel and tires only. No driver change. Nick Boulle is about to hop into the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca. Patrick Long is at the wheel of the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Long shares that car with fellow Americans Ryan Hardwick and Anthony Imperato, and the German Porsche ace, Klaus Bachler. Misha Goikhberg is being harried by one of the Lexus'. Kamui Kobayashi has 38 seconds over Sebastien Bourdais in second in the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac for JDC-Miller Motorsports.
Another pit stop for the #31 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express. Pipo Derani stays in the car. Ross Gunn has been replaced by Andrew Watson in the #98 Aston Martin Vantage, as he is chasing down Alessandro Balzan. We've missed Alessandro Balzan. He is a smashing bloke indeed. With all this green flag running, pit stops are spread out. Robert Masson is out of the #38 Performance Tech Oreca LMP2. Don Yount is now in the car, and back out into the race. The IMSA tech team including Simon Hodgson among others are really enjoying this weather. Juan Piedrahita is into the lane and so is David Heinemeier-Hanson. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari has also pitted, after another 29 lap stint.
Rigon got out of the car and we see the #85 Cadillac has also pitted and is down and away. Daniel Serra is now in the #62 Ferrari. Daniel Serra will do both the FIA World Endurance Championship race at Sebring and also in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the next day. Ten minutes to 5PM in the evening. Cadillac #10 pits from the lead, Kamui Kobayashi still in the car. He will stay in the car, giving him some water. He does not use a drinks bottle system plugged into the car. Kobayashi ran 23 laps on his first stint, and 22 on his second stint. Tristan Nunez is in turn one coming off the high banks. Kobayashi should be arounbd soon. Kobayashi is flying towards the kink and here comes Tristan Nunez, closing on Kobayashi for the lead of the motor race.
Nunez has warmer tires. He is ijn the slipstream anhd on the inside, Nunez is on the yellow line and moves ahead into the Bus Stop. Nunez had the opportunity as Kobayashi is on cold tires, and he took it. Harry Tincknell registers new fastest lap at 1:35.388. Harrison Newey is chasing down Nick Boulle in the LMP2 class. It's #52 vs. #81. PR1 Mathiasen vs. DragonSpeed. Drive through penalty for the #10 WTR Cadillac. Speeding in the lane, +3 kilometers per hour. Oh boy. Ouch! Patience, Kamui. Patience. No mistakes on pit lane or anywhere else.
Earl Bamber leads the sister Porsche by four seconds with Chaz Mostert next up followed by Jordan Taylor. Porsche, Porsche, BMW, Corvette. The fuel advantage for Kobayashi and company might be undone. Pipo Derani is seventh in the overall as Kobayashi serves his drive through penalty. Helio Castroneves and Harry Tincknell will move up. Kamui Kobayashi is ngoing to move down to fifth just ahead of Sebastien Bourdais aboard the #5 JDC-Miller Cadillac. The #85 sister car has now fallen a lap down. Sebastien Bourdais has gone through and Kobayashi is now sixth in the overall.
It's really horses for courses, and it's nice to see a race that is run in long stints without yellows. There was trouble on the #10 car somehow. The rev limiter is not the culprit. Kobayashi shifted into second gear, negating the limiter. Pit stop time now for the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 car. Not sure which of the aforementioned four drivers is in that car. That is the Kyle Tilley, Dwight Merriman, Ryan Lewis and Nic Minassian driven car. Alessandro Balzan has pitted the #63 WeatherTech Scuderia Corsa Ferrari. He is back in IMSA, and he is staying in the car. He has won at Sebring and Watkins Glen but has not had success at Daytona.
Balzan is starting his sixth Rolex 24 and wants a podium. His best finish is fourth in GT Daytona. The #25 BMW M8 GTE is in the lane in GTLM. Connor De Philippi will stay in the car. He won in GTLM last year. Bruno Spengler will be his full-season co-driver. De Philippi puts some lock into the steering wheel in order to scrub the release agent off the brand new sticker Michelin tires. Kamui Kobayashi is reeling in Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais goes deep into the west horseshoe. The #4 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is in the lane. Marcel Fassler takes over from Oliver Gavin. The sister #3 Corvette is also in the lane and Nicky Catsburg is slated to take his first stint.
Connor De Philippi struggles for traction on his outlap from the pit lane, look, and goes off the road for a brief moment. Uh oh. We've got a crash on course, ladies and gentlemen. There's an Acura and and a Mazda involved here. Two factory cars from the DPi class. This was the battle for third overall. #7 and #55 are both into the tires and both moving. We remain green. The Acura has lost it's rear wing. Helio Castroneves at the wheel of it. Big damage to the car. The bodywork is rubbing on the tire and the marshals will look for falling bodywork. The Acura goes straight to the garage and the Mazda is pretty clean. In the lane, for service, there's a little damage to the right front corner.
New tires for Harry Tincknell as he continues. Let's see what happened, and Tincknell went inside and cannoned into the Acura on the inside line. Tincknell didn't even see the Acura. That's a completely unnecessary move into the turn. There's more tires in that corner when Ricky Taylor had the big crash on Thursday during qualifying. Incident responsibility penalty for Harry Tincknell, a drive through penalty. Another pit lane speed violation for the MSR #86 Acura NSX GT3. Tincknell does his drive through penalty and then, Kamui Kobayashi will start gaining again.
We still have 20 and a half hours left in the motor race. Pit stop time for the #74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo. Lawson Aschenbach stays behind the wheel. There was also a pit stop for the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3. Bryan Sellers stepped out of the car being replaced by Corey Lewis who is slated to run a double or a triple stint. The carbon fiber bodywork of the Acura is in shards. There are bits of debris everywhere. What part of the cooling system and the radiator has been affected on the #7 Penske Acura?
Daniel Morad pits the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi and he will stay in the car and have routine service. One of the AVS Lexus RC F GT3's has also pitted. Meanwhile, Kamui Kobayashi locks the brakes into the International Horseshoe and almost runs right into the back of the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, Sebastien Bourdais at the controls. 38.7 seconds between Kamui Kobayashi and Tristan Nunez, with Sebastien Bourdais third.
Bourdais made sure he had room to take the right apex and keep the door closed so Kobayashi couldn't walk through it. Wow. That was quite the scrap. Helio Castroneves is out of the car. He is not happy either. A crowd gathers outside to watch the action. Putting a new fuel nozzle on the fueling rig didn't help Corvette. Alexander Rossi and Ricky Taylor are trying to console Helio Castroneves. Their chance of victory has evaporated for this race, perhaps. So confusing to figure out why one of the two Corvette's are struggling with fuel fill at this point.
Kamui Kobayashi goes purple in sector three. He is pressing Sebastien Bourdais as Tristan Nunez wants to lap Juan Piedrahita. Side by side action in GT Le Mans and it's Corvette vs. BMW for sixth and seventh in class. Marcel Fassler vs. Connor De Philippi. De Philippi's team mate, Chaz Mostert has moved past one of the Porsche's. Fassler just can't seem to have any advantage on fuel as we watch a big scrum between Kamui Kobayashi and Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais has a much better drive off the corner. These cars are equal. Two Cadillac's. Kobayashi just can't get the job done trying to pass Bourdais.
In the gloom, Bourdais continues to fend off Kobayashi's challenge as they lap past the #86 MSR Acura NSX GT3. Sebastien Bourdais might have more juice out of the corner. Misha Goikhberg has had a good time in his first race in a GT Daytona car. He is really enjoying the race here at Daytona right now. Goikhberg says he is cramping up and needs a seat adjustment. A few GTD cars have come in including the #19 GEAR Grasser Racing Lamborghini with a recalcitrant wheel nut. Katherine Legge in the car. The fuel was slow on the #44 Flex Box GRT Magnus Lamborghini, Andy Lally at the wheel of it. Kamui Kobayashi must feel held up by Sebastien Bourdais. A little argy bargy out on course between the #38 Performance Tech LMP2 car and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage.
That car being shared by an international team of drivers. Ian James from England, Roman De Angelis from Canada, Danish Aston Martin WEC driver Nicki Thiim, and Spaniard Alex Riberas. Tristan Nunez into the lane in the #77 Mazda, handing over to Olivier Pla from France. The #31 Whelen Cadillac is also in the pit lane as the western end of the speedway is completely in the shade and back into the sunshine noff NASCAR turn two and into the Bus Stop. Kamui Kobayashi has passed Sebastien Bourdais in the infield and he is pulling away. One of the GTD cars is in the lane and it's the leading car, the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. Lars Kern has taken over the car from Dennis Olsen.
Another correction is Katherine Legge has not gotten into the #19 GEAR Racing Lamborghini. Rahel Frey is still at the wheel of it. The #7 Acura is still being worked on, being topped up with fluids. Dane Cameron is third but is dropping behind the two leading Cadillac's. Pit stop time for the #38 Performance Tech LMP2 car. This race is indeed a 24 hour sprint race. The #7 Penske Racing Acura is still being repaired. No worries in the Penske garage right now. Everyone from both crews are working on the single car. The #10 Cadillac is in the pit lane for scheduled service.
Helio Castroneves says that he wants patience from his competitors so they can work together. He says the race with the Mazda was a good one. He is frustrated by being in the garage. The #7 can indeed go back out on the track as the bodywork is being fastened down and the engine will re-fire. Renger van der Zande is the new driver into the #10 Cadillac. The stop was early by about three laps. 23 laps for Kobayashi between fuel stops. The golden light at sunset is here now, with Dane Cameron leading by 11 seconds over Olivier Pla in the #77 Mazda RT24P. Renger van der Zande is third with Loic Duval next in line.
Nick Boulle leads LMP2 in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car. Colin Braun is second in the #81 DragonSpeed car. The #8 Tower Starworks car is third. Dane Cameron leads this motor race by 11 seconds over Olivier Pla and Renger van der Zande. Loic Duval is fourth. Nick Boulle leads LMP2 right now ahead of Colin Braun. John Farano is next in line, perhaps. Matthieu Jaminet leads GT Le Mans in Porsche #912 ahead of Chaz Mostert in the #24 BMW and then comes Matt Campbell in the #911 Porsche.
Leading GT Daytona, Lars Kern in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche followed by Corey Lewis in the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 and in third, the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3. Dane Cameron leads the motor race aboard the #6 Acura. Did Dane Cameron double stint a set of tires? 38 sets for DPi teams as Cameron sets a best lap of 1:35.70 on lap 142. 142 laps, 505 and a half miles completed. The #77 Mazda has fallen behind the #6 Acura by 11 seconds. The #77 lost time trying to pass the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. Olivier Pla at the wheel of the Mazda right now.
We are close to completing another racing hour, rapidly approaching 20 minutes before 6:00 P.M.
No comments:
Post a Comment