We watch Acura #6 threading the needle between the GT Daytona cars. It's cool, and shaded in the pit lane and around the track. The temperature has dropped by about ten degrees. The teams are turning on their LED lights for the nighttime in the pit lane. They use the lights for vision and for decorative purposes. The #7 Penske Acura is coming back out of the garage, trying to get the huge crowd in the paddock out of the way. Now, they are pitting in their box, for fuel, and the sister #6 will box as well. Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, Simon Pagenaud takes over the #6 Acura. Kamui Kobayashi says the pace they are running at Wayne Taylor Racing is good. He says, "we have a lot of speed with a long way to go and we'll see what happens tomorrow. I have been patient, but I have to overtake when I have a chance. It is harder to overtake with less top speed. We are saving the car for tomorrow."
Kobayashi also talks about his new co-drivers, and how the team has the same strategy. While Kobayashi explains how his race is going, we have also seen the #55 Mazda hit the pit lane for scheduled service. Jonathan Bomarito is the new driver, replacing Harry Tincknell for this next stint. Keep your ears open, as there was an odd burbling sound from the 4 cylinder turbo Mazda engine in the back of the RT24P. We are into another racing hour, and here's the #77 Mazda. The #7 Acura was in the garage for a stint, for 39 minutes. The #7 Acura is caboose on the field, stone last, behind all the GTD cars, in 38th spot, 23 laps behind the overall leader. Olivier Pla leads the motor race in the sister #77 Mazda.
Championship points are awarded within the class, and there's no minimum distance to complete in this race to score points, like there used to be. There are just eight DPi cars in the class. 35 points goes to the car that wins this race when it is over. Helio Castroneves is at the wheel of the #7 car. All five LMP2 cars entered in the motor race, are running together, from eighth overall back to 12th. Nick Boulle leads the class. We have all Oreca built LMP2 cars in the race. There was a chance of a Riley LMP2 running this weekend, and that car did run at the Roar Before The Rolex 24 at the start of this month, but was then withdrawn. Now, the plot thickens in GT Le Mans as well, look.
BMW is the meat in a Porsche sandwich. It is the bratwurst in the middle of a pumpernickel bun, shall we say, and no, extra sauerkraut is not included. Matthieu Jaminet in the #912 Porsche 911 RSR-19 leads Chaz Mostert at the wheel of the #24 BMW M8 GTE, and the caboose in the train is the #911 Porsche is also back there. But, Mostert dives for pit lane, so that breaks up the serial for the moment. The lap before, the sister #25 BMW M8 GTE pitted, but there was no driver change and Connor De Philippi will do another stint at the wheel of that particular M8. The #24 will do a driver change. Chaz Mostert, out, and Jesse Krohn, in.
New Michelin tires and a full tank of gas at the BMW pit as well. This is a longer stop than the one for the sister car. Now, Krohn is back on his way. The driver change was finished long before the tank was topped up. We watch the #55 Mazda and follow eagle eyed listeners of IMSA Radio, who have pointed out to Mr. Hindhaugh and company, that the #3 Corvette, is a padiddle. It has but one working headlight. Now, as The Wallflowers sang in their hit song, in the 1990s, "we can drive it home, with one headlight." But, in sports car racing, having two, is a better idea, so you don't get dinged by the stewards.
As long as the car has one headlight and one taillight, that's fine. But it would be best to replace a nose or tail and have all the lights working. They might also have the day notice/daytime running lights on as well. If an illuminated race number board goes out that might also need to be fixed, but those don't always need to be turned on. The electrophosphorescent lighting is only on for part of the time as the Mazda is running well. Ladies and gentlemen, Houston, we've got a problem. The #81 DragonSpeed car, has shredded it's right rear tire, or broken a wheel. This is the #81 Flex Box (or Flexy Box if your prefer), entry, with the driving team of Ben Hanley, Colin Braun, Henrik Hedman, and Harrison Newey.
He's got half a lap to go. Braun is at the controls and he's trundling around the apron. Colin Braun is pushing vry hard and the car slammed to the ground when the air jacks retracted. We saw a lot of right rear tire trouble in the Friday Michelin Pilot Challenge event. Now, as an anecdote, yours truly was standing down at the International Horseshoe for the Michelin Pilot race and maybe didn't quite catch the tire troubles that would have happened on the banking. But, take my word for it, they did. We'll have a report on the Michelin Pilot event, eventually. Stay tuned for that one. The tire is reallying separating from the wheel as Colin Braun is in the lane to fix the problem.
Harry Tincknell says that his contact with Helio Castroneves was due to dicey racing and he couldn't see the Acura. If there was a car in front into the Bus Stop, lift early. He says "I was much closer and I'll nip through. The closing speed was 30-40 kilometers an hour, and I tried to get out of it, but I feel bad for Penske and sending them into the wall. We got the penalty and I will move on and take the blame for this. When you saw it from my perspective from onboard, you'll know why it happened." Kyle Busch is preparing for his first stint aboard the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 he shares with Jack Hawksworth, Parker Chase, and Michael de Quesada.
Harry Tincknell will accept his mistake and move on. You have to be fully committed to making a pass, but also, you can't dwell on the little things in an endurance race. You just have to keep going, and keep pushing. Tincknell did not move Castroneves out of the way on purpose. It's a mistake, but it's not deliberate. Accept what the driver says, but take things at face value. Let's leave it there and not dwell on it. We've got to move on. Two jobs I will never do in racing, Balance of Performance, or Race Steward. The sun has dropped below the horizon. Kyle Busch is readying for his stint. The sister #12 Lexus has had a new door put on it. Or, they are preparing a new door for the car. Porsche #912 pitted from the lead in GT Le Mans. Matthieu Jaminet stays in the car and gets new tires. We will not see double stints on tires until the night falls.
Every class is on Michelin, but GT Le Mans has multiple compounds that can be selected before going to the track. Shane van Gisbergen is at the wheel of the #12 and the window came out of the other door. The pit stop is going just fine. Porsche #912 is back on the track and so are a few others. The #74 Mercedes AMG GT3, and the #31 Cadillac DPi with Filipe Albuquerque. Can telemetry be fixed? It isn't an issue unless there are cameras in the pit lane. Lexus #14 is in the pit lane for service and yes indeed, it's time for Kyle Busch to go to work.
He will be in at Happy Hours with new Michelin tires. It is amazing that some drivers can fasten their own seat belts, because you just can't see down far enough with the helmet and the HANS Device. You've got to get the belts seated on the HANS collar properly. There's a lot to do in a driver change. We have GT Daytona cars in the pit lane. The #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 is in the lane. The LED headlights and ID lights are extremely bright. Kyle Busch runs a little deep into turn one but the tires are still cold. More rubber goes down at the width of the track through turn one. Lars Kern leads GT Daytona for Pfaff Motorsports, and 21 seconds behind is Corey Lewis aboard the #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini.
Following him, the identical Lamborghini, car #11, with Franck Perera at the controls. That is the GRT Grasser entry. 2.4 seconds behind the #11 is Anthony Imperato at the wheel of the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Imperato, the American, sharing with American Porsche factory driver, Patrick Long, Ryan Hardwick, and Austrian Porsche driver Klaus Bachler of course. Mattias Lauda is next up and Lauda has just hit the pit lane. Mat Lauda, not Mattias. He is teamed with Pedro Lamy, Ross Gunn, and Andrew Watson.
The gathering darkness is coming and there's just some high cirrus clouds out there. Nature must be a sports car racing fan with orange and blue, the Gulf Racing colors, in the sky. How about that. Thank you, John Hindhaugh. Love it! Now then, the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, the Mustang Sampling car, in the lane for scheduled service, and we have a new GT Le Mans leader in the form of Jesse Krohn, the Finn, aboard the #24 BMW M8 GTE for BMW Team RLL. Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet are next up in the two Porsche's and then comes the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R and it is followed by the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi.
Also into the pit lane, Loic Duval, aboard the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac. Duval is headed out of the pit lane out of the speed limited pit exit road and back onto the road circuit here at Daytona. The sister #85 car is also running well headed for the far horseshoe. That's the other JDC-Miller Cadillac, the "Banana Boat", Mattheus Leist at the wheel of it. More pit stops as the race leader is in now. Renger van der Zande brings the #10 glossy black Konica Minolta Cadillac to the lane for service. He is staying in the car for another stint. He is the only car in the lane right now and has no surprises. New tires, more fuel, off the air jacks, clean windscreen, great stop.
Renger van der Zande is coming up on the two factory GTLM Porsche's that now run second and third in class. He comes by Matthieu Jaminet and now will pass Matty Campbell. Jesse Krohn and BMW lead GT Le Mans, and of course Chaz Mostert drove that car previously in the most recent stint. Now, the #7 Acura is still running after it's accident. Helio Castroneves is driving, but the car is 22 laps behind, 22 laps off the lead. Castroneves has run 138 laps (491 miles), and Renger van der Zande in the lead of the motor race has completed 161 laps (573 miles). It was in for service and repair for an entire fuel stint, 22-23 laps, or 40 minutes.
The sister Acura, #6, leads the motor race with Simon Pagenaud at the wheel of it. But it's no Saturday afternoon cruise for Pagenaud. He's being monstered, side by side style, by the #77 Mazda! Side drafting here, look. Gently, boys. Bish bash bosh, and Olivier Pla is trapped behind a slower GT Daytona car. Indecisiveness reigns supreme, before Pla realizes he has to back out and let Pagenaud pass. Pla was balked by the aforementioned #48 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini. Pagenaud knows oval racing. He has a trophy and championship ring from the most famous oval on the planet, having won the Indianapolis 500 last year. Pagenaud edges Pla and Pla had to lift.
Side by side again for the Bus Stop, and the pass is made by Pla on Pagenaud, and poor old Corey Lewis in the Lamborghini was the inadvertent road block. You're tooling along at 170 miles per hour in your GT3 sports car and you see not one, but two sets of DPi headlights and all you can think is, "oh boy, please tell me you've seen me!" Just hold your line. Once you are high on the track, stay there, otherwise it will be calamity. Campbell leads Jaminet in the GTLM Porsche battle. Jesse Krohn is up the road in the BMW and the best Corvette is 14 seconds in-arrears. That's the #3, the yellow C8.R with the silver stripes, Nicky Catsburg at the wheel of it at the present moment. The black BMW and the two Porsche RSR's are the relevant cars in the GTLM lead battle right now.
Filipe Albuquerque has now just set his best lap of the race so far in the #31 Whelen Cadillac. Once again, yours truly, is following the team, in this race, and will have a report on how they do, after it is completed. So, stay tuned for that. Here are some of the best laps for the DPi cars so far.
Mazda #77: 1:35.6
Acura #6: 1:35.7
Cadillac #10: 1:35.4 (this was the best lap, but isn't anymore at this stage)
Cadillac #5: 1:35.7
Cadillac #31: 1:35.6
Mazda #55: 1:35.3 (this is the new best lap in DPi which was faster than the #10)
Cadillac #85: 1:35.8
All seven DPi cars are within a half a second. The air and track temps at this stage, according to Michelin, are still very warm and they are both the same. 18 degrees Celsius. That is 64 degrees Fahrenheit if you are doing conversions. 64.4 degrees to be exact. Not sure of the ambient temp but it's dropped since the race started. Now, one of the Lamborghini's is in the pit lane for service. It's the #11 GRT Grasser car, and the team was asleep at the wheel so to speak, not ready for the car to appear in the lane to be serviced.
GRT Grasser opened and closed the door on the #11 car, but they were actually prepared for the sister car, the #19 GEAR Racing Lamborghini to enter the pit lane. #19 is being fueled, new tires are being bolted on, and there will; be a driver change. The #11 had to do a Control Alt Delete. Franck Perera is still slow. Two-time defending champions in GT Daytona in this race, the aforementioned squad of GRT Grasser are having issues. Again, Fracnk Perera is in the car. The #7 Penske Acura is pitting. Guess who is leading GTD? Is it the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche? Ding ding ding. We have a winner! It is in the pit lane now, chaps.
Lars Kern will stay in the car. The windscreen is clean, with a removed tear off. It's a routine stop for the Canadian team. Alexander Rossi has taken over from Helio Castroneves. New tires on the car, and some scrubbed Michelin tires. Pedro Voda, from Porsche, is in the IMSA Radio booth, as we watch a pit stop from the #55 Mazda RT24P. The #11 Lamborghini goes behind the wall for repiars as the #6 Acura is in the lane as well. Porsche has had record sales in the last decade with internal combustion engines, but they are building an electric car, called the Taycan. They are not fighting cars like the Tesla. They are making it a car that is just the same as their heritage.
The new Taycan is totally silent, but it has a bunch of torque. There is a whirring electric motor noise, and the Sport mode amplifies it. So, check out the Porsche Taycan if you are so inclined. Now, we've got drama on the raceway, ladies and gentlemen! We have a crash on the front straightaway! We've got two GT Daytona cars facing opposite directions in the infield on the front straightaway! It's the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, and the #47 Precision Performance Motorsport Lamborghini Huracan Evo. One of these cars has lost the bonnet and after nearly five hours of racing, we see our first Full Course Yellow of the 2020 Rolex 24.
#47 was headed for pit lane, and in that shemozzle he lost the bodywork. The PPM machine is being shared by Brandon Gdovic, Eric Lux, Mark Kvamme, and Jonathan Hoggard. Three Americans, and a Brit are in that automobile. The driver's were told in the morning driver's briefing before the race, to commit early to the pit lane upon entry, and we see heavy damage, look, to the #23 Aston, the car being driven by Ian James, Nicki Thiim, Alex Riberas, and Roman De Angelis. That is not an excusable incident. Eric Lux was told to drive through the pit lane but he stopped for tires and fuel as emergency service, and they will have to serve a penalty.
The Aston Martin is extremely crunched, and unfortunately, the drivers have not obviously seen the fact that we're under Full Course Yellow. They seem to be booking it around the track, traveling at full tilt boogie, without any semblance of noticing they need to slow down! This could be ugly. This is disgraceful! Blokes, you need to slow down! We are under yellow flag conditions! In other championships, there is a protocol called Code 60, where the cars all have to instantly slow to 60 kilometers an hour at the scene of a crash, but the Code 60 protocol is not used by the IMSA stewards. Maybe it should be considered.
The Aston will have to be cleared up. In replay, were the Aston and Lamborghini playing a game of cat and mouse? They seemed to just hit each other. Alex Riberas is out of the car under his own steam, and he is talking to the medics. He just wants to walk back to the pit lane, but the medical staff is saying, "no, Alex. Per the rules we have to take you to the infield care center and make sure you are OK." The Porsche 911 is going to stay with an Internal Combustion Engine. Porsche is taking a three tiered approach to their cars. Internal Combustion Engines, plugin hybrid gas/electric cars, and all electric vehicles.
The Porsche Cayenne Coupe is coming out, a new version of the Cayenne SUV. The Porsche Macan will also have an Internal Combustion Engine. Porsche's sports car heritage will continue even with new technology coming in. Now, we still havew a car running slowly on the apron of the course. This is the GT Daytona leading #9 Pfaff Porswche from Canada. They do not hav a fuel issue. Something else is rwrojng with the car as the plastic curbs are being battened down in the Bus Stop under this Full Course Yellow. It appears both cars were headed for the pit lane. The Aston was behind the Lamborghini and both cars came down belo0w the double yellow lines and the Aston clobbered the Lamborghini.
But there is more damage to the Aston after it had cannoned into the PPM entry. The pit lane is open with a safety car at pit in. The lane is open for prototypes. The #77 Mazda pits from the lead of the motor race for tires and fuel. New tires but no driver change. Fuel only for Acura #6. Acura Team Penske win the drag race off pit lane as the #10 Cadillac is also in for scheduled service. The pit lane exit light was red and is now green. There is a new wing and a new piece of bodywork going on the #10 car. Now theyu will refuel the car.
It was a timed stop for fuel for Simon Pagenaud with no tires on the #6 Acura. The #31 Whelen Cadillac ducked ahead of the Mazda's. #6 came out ahead of everybody else. The two DPi cars that did not pit were the #55 Mazda and the #85 Cadillac. Each class leader is pointed by the safety car and gets to go back into their spot in line. Now it is time for pit stops for the GT cars, both GT Le Mans and GT Daytona. Matty Campbell slid into his pit box with the nose facing away from the wall. Nick Tandy gets back into the car. Full service for the #912 sister car. Robby Foley is now taking over driving duties in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3 with the Liqui Moly livery. Laurens Vanthoor is now at the wheel of the #912 Porsche 911 RSR-19.
#9 was using a running light in the lane and it is now up to speed again as thr debris from the accident is still being cleaned up. The wave by is happening now for the cars inbetween the safety car and their class leaders to move into their correct running positions.
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