A close battle in GT Daytona as we watch the fight between Porsche and BMW. It's Pfaff Motorsports vs. Turner Motorsports. Bill Auberlen wants a bite of the cherry, but if he makes the move too soon, he's going to get the pit. Both cars press hard into the western horseshoe and we are pressing on towards 1/3rd distance. Twenty minutes to 9PM and the time is flying by right now. That's what happens in endurance racing. Scott Dixon is definitely on the boil and percolating right now. 1:35.288 was the fastest lap for the #10 car and Dixon is already within a half a second of it, extending his lead over Oliver Jarvis. Nick Boulle has moved back to the lead in class in LMP2. David Heinemeier Hansson, the Danish gentleman driver, has taken over the #8 Tower Motorsports by Starworks LMP2 car. He runs ahead of the #81 DragonSpeed entry of Henrink Hedman. Check that. Hedman runs third in class. Second in the division in LMP2 now, is David Heinemeier Hansson. Dwight Merriman and Cameron Cassels are next in line, in the LMP2 class which has five cars as we've mentioned already.
All five LMP2 cars are running well and occupy the eighth through the twelfth spots. The Oreca 07 chassis is the car to have in LMP2 in IMSA, FIA WEC, and ELMS. Oreca is the most popular even though Ligier, Dallara, and Multimatic Riley are also accepted. In years gone by, LMP2 was much more open in terms of chasis and also engine branding, and yours truly remembers those years, back in the early 2000s when LMP2, blossomed, with a myriad of different manufacturers, chassis constructors, and configurations, when the cars were open cockpit for the most part and maybe under a few different class names depending on the sanctioning body.
Well, enough of that LMP2 tangent and waxing nostalgic. We've still got a current motor race to run here, lads. We were half expecting a Riley chassis to be in the race. It was present at the Roar Before the 24 test at the beginning of the month, but then, was withdrawn. Nick Boulle is indeed at the wheel of the #52 machine. We are also noticing the sister factory GTLM BMW coming back up to speed. Scott Dixon has uncorked a 1:35.5, another great lap. Dwight Merriman has made a pit stop for the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 car. They didn't take tires. No driver change and Merriman is in the zone to do another stint.
Prototypes scrapping for position on the road course here at Daytona. Ryan Hunter-Reay in the #55 Mazda RT24P is fifth in the overall and he moves past the much troubled #47 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Precision Performance Motorsport. Darting past on the right, is the GTLM scrap between Augusto Farfus and Earl Bamber, as there's 4/10ths of a second between those two and Fred Makowiecki is not too far away. Behind Makowiecki, Oliver Gavin in the #4 Corvette, as well as Daniel Serra in the #62 Ferrari, and Antonio Garcia in the #3 Corvette. PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, out of Fresno, California, wanted to race two cars in the LMP2 class, but they couldn't find drivers who would meet their criteria, at the Roar test session.
Their intention was to have well funded Bronze rated drivers, but no one could step up to the plate, with the bread, or the qualifications for the drive, and so they had to withdraw their second car. That being said, PR1 team boss Bobby Oergel believes the team shall have two cars on the grid for the 12 Hours of Sebring. Stay tuned about those developments, should they arise. Car #18 was in the lane for fuel, and there were radio issues for Dwight Merriman, who stays in the car, and they did fix the radio. Electrical and radio/communication issues are a real bear to deal with here at Daytona. #18 is back on track.
The #57 Acura NSX GT3 has A.J. Allmendinger at the controls. Now, if you are an Aston Martin fan, you may well have tears in your eyes, and need to grab for a handkerchief. Both the privately entered Heart of Racing Aston Martin, and the factory car from Aston Martin Racing in Gaydon, England, are out of the race. Game over. A few crew members from each team, are tearing down their pit equipment. Sorry, chaps. See you next year. It's a great shame. We see some argy bargy there between A.J. Allmendinger and Townsend Bell. They were squabbling for space, the two NBC Sports Network race commentators who are also driving in the motor race.
The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari of Daniel Serra in GTLM goes by, running behind Oliver Gavin. Scott Dixon moves around the GTLM and GTD traffic. Oliver Gavin has Daniel Serra's headlamps burning a hole in his back bumper. Through turn six and up onto the banking, Townsend Bell motors away from A.J. Allmendinger. Those two are going to have some stories to tell and a little needling going on in the NBC Sports commentary box a little later on, I reckon. 8.2 seconds is the lead for Scott Dixon over Oliver Jarvis and then Mike Conway in the #31 Whelen Cadillac, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Joao Barbosa.
Barbosa's car has a familiar livery. That's the Mustang Sampling #5 car, but in an agreement, it is now run, by a different team, run by JDC-Miller Motorsports as opposed to Action Express who are still running the #31 Whelen Cadillac. I shall put this out there, and that is, yours truly is friends with Action Express and team owner, Bob Johnson, and at the same time, keeping tabs, while at the speedway, attending this motor race, on the #5 and the chaps from JDC-Miller, since Mr. Johnson also is still using the number of the car, and entrusting the care of it, to the JDC-Miller team, who happen to be from my home state, Minnesota. So, all is well for everyone concerned in both camps at the moment at JDC and AXR.
You have seen diary entries, pertaining to Action Express and their progress in this motor race throughout the weekend. There will be another installment, after the motor race is completed. Meanwhile, back to the racing itself. The #5 car has adopted that number and the livery. Thank you for mentioning that, Mr. Jonny Palmer. The carnival and the Ferris wheel are in full swing as the #10 car motors out of turn six. Scott Dixon leading, and Oliver Jarvis is working on catching him, but Dixon has opened a margin of 1.2 seconds. It's hard to read a clean lap in isolation, which is why average lap times are so incredibly important across a stint.
Now, while all of this was going on and being explained, poor old Scott Dixon was majorly balked by a load of GT cars, a varied assortment of them in GTLM and GTD, just as you'd find assorted candies in a dish on your coffee table. The #4 Corvette is trying hard to stay with the #62 Ferrari. Everything is under control for Scott Dixon, for sure. Being close to road furniture doesn't phase these blokes, to paraphrase Mr. Palmer. Traffic giveth and taketh away, I guess. Oliver Jarvis hit the traffic and the gap has ballooned to 12 seconds. Oliver Jarvis is now feeling the pressure. Mike Conway in the #31 AXR Cadillac, the Whelen car, he is applying the blowtorch and is all over Jarvis, or soon to be all over the Mazda man, like the proverbial el cheapo suito (cheap suit), here.
Juan Pablo Montoya for Acura Team Penske in the #6 car, holds down fourth place. Trent Hindman says he's learned humility and gratefulness are some of the biggest things race car drivers can have, in a pit lane interview, and we look back towards the GTD lead battle and the two Lamborghini's that we've followed here for some time now. Spencer Pumpelly and Andrea Caldarelli battle each other as we are not even at 1/3rd distance yet. The two normally aspirated Lamborghini Huracan's are very evenly matched with their 5.2 liter normally aspirated V10 rear mounted engines. Pit stop time, for the #31 Whelen Cadillac, for fuel and tires and Mike Conway is back into the race.
He runs a 23 lap stint and is right on schedule. The #10 Cadillac may be into the lane on the next lap and Scott Dixon might just stretch his fuel mileage. Nope. He comes in after a 22 lap stint. Fluids are being added to the car with a pressurized bottle. Some of the Cadillac drivers and teams believe that eight sets of Michelin tires will have to be double stinted during the night and grip, adhesion between the tires and the track, is becoming a major deal. Juan Pablo Montoya pits for Team Penske, for fuel and tires. Tape is put on the front of the car, to adjust it.
The Porsche vs. BMW scrap in GTLM continues. It's still Earl Bamber vs. Augusto Farfus. Acura ran a 22 lap fuel stint, and the Cadillac's now do about 23-24 laps. That will add up as this race continues. The #10 car had that drive through penalty for speeding in the pit lane with Kamui Kobayashi driving, during the daylight hours. We expect the next team to dive for the lane, will be Mazda, and the #77 car with Oliver Jarvis at the keyboard right now. Jarvis is now back into the lead of the motor race, completing 259 laps (922 miles). Fred Makowiecki in Porsche #911 is dropping back, and is ten and a half seconds adrift.
Then comes Oliver Gavin followed by Daniel Serra. But, we'll get back to GTLM in a bit, because now there has been a lead change in GTD. Andrea Caldarelli goes around Spencer Pumpelly. Klaus Bachler is next up in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche. The #57 Acura NSX GT3, A.J. Allmendinger at the wheel of it, is ahead of the #86 MSR Acura in the hands of Mario Farnbacher. Allmendinger is actually closer to Bill Auberlen who is driving the #96 Turner Motorsports Liqui Moly BMW M6 GT3. Townsend Bell and Patrick Pilet are also on Auberlen's shopping list. Now, Spencer Pumpelly is in the lane in the GRT Magnus Lamborghini. Pumpelly stays in the car and gets fuel and new Michelin tires, but there was a delay with an air gun.
They are changing the drink bottle and adding a tad of fluid to the car. The #55 Mazda is also in the lane, Harry Tincknell will take over from Ryan Hunter-Reay. New tires, fuel, and a clean windscreen. The car is pretty clean but maybe has missing dive plane on the right front corner. It is indeed missing. The team did not change to a spare nose. Mazda #77 is also in the lane for scheduled service, and the #5 Cadillac is also in the lane, with Sebastien Bourdais at the controls right now, a rapid driver indeed. Fuel, and possibly tires for the #77 car. It was both. No driver change.
Oliver Jarvis will relinquish the lead to Scott Dixon who takes it back. Mike Conway in third, Juan Pablo Montoya in fourth. Cadillac, Mazda, Cadillac, Acura, Mazda. David Heinemeier Hanson leads LMP2 in the #8 car as Nick Boulle is in the lane in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen entry. No driver change. Just a fresh drink bottle for Nick Boulle, cleaning debris out of the front of the car, as Daniel Serra pits the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari. Earl Bamber has gone around the Augusto Farfus driven BMW and he's whistling off into the distance. Fred Makowiecki is ten or so seconds off the leading GTLM duo as the gap is closer between Oliver Gavin and Antonio Garcia in the two Chevrolet Corvette C8.R's. This will come down to pit work. Can the Corvette's and/or the Ferrari's leapfrog each other?
Klaus Bachler has taken over second spot in GT Daytona in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Bachler has been catching the Lamborghini's and Patrick Pilet, now has the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche up to third spot in GTD. Lamborghini, Porsche, Porsche, Lexus, BMW. That's the top five in GT Daytona. Scott Dixon is driving very efficiently and he is catching Sebastien Bourdais looking to put Bourdais a lap down. Chris Miller is at the wheel of the sister JDC-Miller Cadillac, the #85, which is of course known as the "banana boat". Bourdais is doing his best top stay on the lead lap, seventh in DPi. Scott Dixon is in the wheel tracks of Seb Bourdais, and Bourdais has the line into the Bus Stop, and he moved over to the left, farther than he needed to. Bourdais is a lap down now, but he did some heads up driving there.
Bourdais knows Scott Dixon is driving the #10. These two have run together as competitors in IndyCar, for years. Pit stop time for the #912 Porsche as Earl Bamber stays in the car, the 2019 IMSA GTLM co-champion. Bamber is also a two-time overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Corvette #3 is also in the lane. Where will the Corvette's slot back in in relation to the #62 Ferrari? That is the question, and speaking of the #62, there is a new driver, as Alessandro Pier Guidi has taken over the wheel for another stint. You have BMW vs. two Porsche's, and then, the two Corvette's and the Ferrari. Cameron Cassels also pits the #38 Performance Tech LMP2 car.
Augusto Farfus is in the lane for service, and so Earl Bamber cycles back to the GTLM lead. Pit stop time, too, for the #74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes as Gar Robinson will do a double stint. He is getting sticker Michelin tires. It's getting to the point in the evening insofar as temperature, being cool enough that taking fresh, sticker tires, could be a risk, and you are better off as a driver, being on scrubbed tires that have already run a cycle or two earlier on in the motor race. Fred Makowiecki has pitted the #911 Porsche and he'll stay in the car. He is also on slightly scrubbed Michelin tires. Pit stops have been efficient, which is just excellent. Bill Auberlen dives for the pit lane in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW. Rolf Ineichen is at the wheel of the #88 WRT Speedstar Audi R8 as well. No rush in switching tires, and the time determining action is the fuel. Get rid of a used up windscreen tear off as well.
Augusto Farfus stays in the #24 BMW. Earl Bamber does likewise in the #912 Porsche. Fred Makowiecki stays put in the #911 Porsche as well. In the Corvette vs. Ferrari scrum, the Ferrari is losing time and could be behind the Corvette now by nearly a minute. Both of the Corvette C8.R's are separated now by just 6/10ths of a second. Bill Auberlen will be tiptoeing on cold tires through the first corners of the road course. Scott Dixon has to realign himself to move past the BMW. The Risi Ferrari is also in turn six with Alessandro Pier Guidi driving. Pier Guidi gains a tad of ground and we know that Ferrari are grumbling about a lack of power in GTLM compared to their competitors.
The DPi cars are so aerodynamically efficient. Scott Dixon dives through the chicane off the tri oval's 18 degree banking, and Dixon has clear road ahead of him and is the only driver to have that advantage at this stage. MSR Heinricher Racing is in the lane with the #57 Acura NSX GT3. A.J. Allmendinger climbs out after his stint, and starting another stint in that car will be Misha Goikhberg. Misha Goikhberg has driven prototypes with JDC-Miller Motorsports, and now, he is a first time driver of a GT car. He's ready to roll. Scott Dixon leads Oliver Jarvis by 13 or so seconds, as we have drama on the circuit.
We have a stopped car on track, and it's the #38 Performance Tech LMP2 car. It looks as if Cameron Cassels is driving, currently. Before we get back to this incident, the #10 car has a gap now of 13.8 seconds. Now, we did not see the original incident with #38 so hopefully, Mr. Director, you will have a replay for us? Cameron Cassels is stuffed into the tires down in the International Horseshoe by the look of it. If he's not out of there in a hurry, we'll have a Full Course Yellow. He ran off the road, skittered across the crashed, and pinged the wall. GT Daytona cars in the lane. Zacharie Robichon is now at the wheel of the #9 Pfaff Porsche as we also have one of the Lexus cars in the lane, one of the AVS RC F GT3's. Not sure which number just yet.
Ryan Hardwick is the new driver in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche and also, the #11 GRT Grasser Lamborghini is in the lane after spending time in the garage. We will see the #48 Paul Miller Lamborghini pit with Madison Snow ready to take another stint. Scott Dixon in the lane from the lead, for fuel and tires. We've got a Full Course Yellow on the speedway, again due to the stricken #38 LMP2 car, but all the chaps in the lane now, are good to carry out their pit stops. Four new sticker Michelin tires go on the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3R. We've not called their number for a bit. Tim Pappas, Sven Muller, Jeroen Bleekemolen, and Trenton Estep are the four drivers in that car.
Paul Miller Racing is making a driver changed, and we still see the #38 car having to be rescued. Remember, yesterday, in Free Practice 4, this same car, with Don Yount at the controls, was planted on top of the tire wall after Yount turned turtle in turn six coming back onto the NASCAR banking. A.J. Allmendinger says the Rolex 24 is everything you want, with all sorts of great cars and the manufacturers' car clubs, and a party atmosphere. Allmendinger is having a lot of fun, as a driver, and as a broadcaster for NBC Sports Network. He says the Acura NSX GT3 lacks straightaway speed.
Allmendinger had been battling some understeer as well. Meanwhile, the #38 car is back on the road. Allmendinger is a veteran of not just sports car racing, but also IndyCar and NASCAR. Allmendinger has run with Michael Shank Racing for 14 out of the last 15 years. The pit crew for Performance Tech is analyzing the damage and beginning to work on fixing the damage. They are putting a new nose, a new bare carbon nose onto the car. We welcome back John Hindhaugh to the IMSA Radio broadcast here at the Rolex 24, as another round of pit action begins and we see the #55 Mazda, the red one into the pit lane for service.
The #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2 car is in the lane for tires, and for a driver change, Nick Boulle out, and Simon Trummer, in. Pit stop time as well for the #31 Action Express Whelen Cadillac. Sebastien Bourdais is in the pit lane as well for tires and fuel in the #5 Cadillac. The #74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes is in for a splash and a dash. Now, there's trouble it appears, for the #55 Mazda RT24P. Could this be an issue in the starter or the clutch? It appears something is going on in the right side of the car. Now, the car screams away out of the pit lane, revving the car to the sky which is a worrisome thing.
#77 and #10 have stayed on track. But, never second guess Joest team strategist, Lena Gade. She's got a bunch of experience. The Mazda has two starter motors on it. The primary motor, failed, and so the crew reached inside the cockpit of the car to engage the backup starter motor. The car did fire up. We have a busy pit lane for the GTLM and GTD cars. All of these cars are actually from the GTD field. The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW and #86 MSR Acura NSX GT3 have both pitted. There's a driver change in the #96 BMW. Bill Auberlen is out of the car, but it is hard to tell who stepped into the automobile. Either it is Robby Foley, Jens Klingmann, or Dillon Machavern. The Mercedes, the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari, a couple of the Lamborghini's (actually three), have all pitted, and the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE was also in the lane.
The #16 and #9 Porsche's have also pitted. No GTLM cars except for the #3 Corvette and the #62 Ferrari, came in, and those two needed a top off. Aston Martin has indeed confirmed both of their cars as the only two official race retirements right now. What a shame to see a driver like Ross Gunn, a promising star, out of the motor race. Every racing driver has done it, understeering into the pit wall. The final wave by is going on right now. Andy Blackmore is doing the official spotter's guide for IMSA and also some liveries on the cars. Yours truly, got an Andy Blackmore spotters guide at the race and is using it for reference to find out which car is where and it'll be dog eared and need to have the folds and wrinkles pressed out of it by the time this race is done and dusted.
The much delayed #7 Team Penske Acura ARX-05 is in the pit lane. You never give up and never quit. Ricky Taylor is now at the wheel, and they are here to earn points and finish the race here at Daytona.
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