We're into the last third of this motor race. At the front of GT Daytona, Corey Lewis has caught up to Ben Keating who is scrapping to stay on the lead lap in class. We are watching timing, dancing ants, and more. Side by side stuff, look, as Dane Cameron has the place and he's gotten passed by Pipo Derani! Wow! Derani had the run and is up to second. Meanwhile, the #44 GRT Magnus Racing Lamborghini has whacked the wall. Spencer Pumpelly was on the left hand side of the road, and he just had a bit of contact with the #31 car? Wait a minute. What was that all about? We are under our fourth Full Course Yellow. Spencer Pumpelly is OK as he careered through the tire barriers. He'll be OK. Pit stop time for all the prototypes.
Ryan Briscoe is into the #10 Cadillac, taking over for Renger van der Zande. Mazda's take fuel. For the #31 Cadillac, just fuel. Substantial service for Dane Cameron. Ricky Taylor is back out and Ryan Hunter-Reay is back into the #55 Mazda and Sebastien Bourdais gets fuel and tires for the #5 Cadillac. Nunez and Bomarito were the last two cars in. van der Zande was closest to his pit stop window. #7 and #5 will catch up. At the green flag, we will have all seven of the DPi contenders. It was a nasty crash for Spencer Pumpelly. The GTD field is in the lane. Madison Snow is back into the #48 Lamborghini. Acura #86 is in the lane and Mario "Super Mario" Farnbacher is back into the car. Daniel Morad brings in #14 and Aarton Telitz #12, and so, Jack Hawksworth and Townsend Bell will get back in.
#63 Ferrari, and it's Toni Vilander into the car I believe. Fuel and tires for all cars except for Porsche and no driver changes in GTLM. We have some GTD cars that are coming into the pits as they are out of sequence but will get back on the lead lap, back on sequence. #48 is third, Mario Farnbacher leads in #86 and Townsend Bell is second aboard Lexus #12. Jack Hawksworth has gone ahead of Jeff Westphal, #14 ahead of #63. They were pointed by, and so, #16, #23, and #74 will be back on the lead lap. Corvette #3 passes BMW #24 in GTLM on pit stops for third and fourth while the sister BMW and the other contending #911 Porsche leads. In DPi, the #31 moves ahead of #6 and #55 loses out to #7 and #10.
Pipo Derani ahs taken another incident responsibility penalty for contact with the Lamborghini. He is seventh in class and he is caught between the GTLM field and the GTD field. He's gotten through the GTD battle at the sharp end. He will have to go past the GTD field. He is losing time to the leaders. He has to fight through the traffic, and then, claim back time on the leaders. Now, the GT Daytona battle is heating up again as we have an hour and a half left. One more pit stop to make, easily. One more stop for the GTD leaders.
The DPi cars will need a splash and a dash beyond the two other remaining stops unless there is a yellow flag. Pipo Derani of course, had his drive through penalty that he's taken. BMW vs. Corvette into the braking zone at turn ten. John Edwards moves past Jordan Taylor. That was forceful driving 'round the outside. Mario Farnbacher is holding off Townsend Bell and Madison Snow has been passed Jack Hawksworth as Jan Heylen has gone around Jeff Westphal. Madison Snow has actually passed Hawksworth. Farnbacher, Bell, Snow, Heylen, Hawksworth. Hawksworth down from third to fifth in one fell swoop.
Sebastien Bourdais has passed Ryan Hunter-Reay for fifth, the two IndyCar veterans. Hawksworth has lost the right front tire and he has damage. The car is down on the deck on the right hand side. He's got a tricycle. The right rear fender is scraping. This is not good for the #14 AVS Lexus. This is a huge moment. He was tied with Matt McMurry and Mario Farnbacher and has maintained a three point lead over Aaron Telitz who was his co-driver. Telitz is going to take the GT Daytona points lead after this race more than likely. He lost the tire going up to turn five and turned in, the car won't turn and he went off.
Richard Heistand has gone off the road, spinning like a top at turn five and Pipo Derani almost gets collected but he could be unscathed. It is game over, maybe, for the Lamborghini. Boiling power steering fluid and something engine related for the water radiator for the #77 Mazda. Pipo Derani has just uncorked the fastest first sector of the race. He's half a minute behind. Six DPi cars still running. Game over. AXR needs another yellow. An hour and 20 minutes on the board and we have a 1-2 for Acura Team Penske with Dane Cameron leading over Ricky Taylor as Ryan Briscoe is being harried by Sebastien Bourdais.
This is a sprint to the finish for the final hour and a half of this motor race. Fred Makowiecki leads by 7/10ths of a second over Bruno Spengler in GTLM. It's game on there. This is cracking stuff. Simon Trummer bish bash boshes the fastest lap time in LMP2 for PR1/'Mathiasen Motorsport at 1:10.8. That's massive! Well done, Simon Trummer. Trummer has no one to race against in LMP2 but he's still pushing very hard. The two Acura's are pressing hard. They might be in with a shout of winning this race. A bad few minutes for AVS Lexus. Hawksworth still has damage being fixed and Townsend Bell has dropped three seconds to Madison Snow and Jan Heylen.
Mario Farnbacher is still being harried. Now, pit stop time for AXR and Felipe Nasr is now back into the #31 car. They could be splitting their strategy into two parts to get home. They are seventh. Now, Ricky Taylor is moving ahead of Dane Cameron and has a handy margin over the sister car. Bruno Spengler has also halved the gap between he and Fred Makowiecki in GTLM. Dane Cameron runs a 1:15.9 and loses five seconds or more. We've got clumping of cars all over the place and everyone will be magnetized in the same spot. The GTLM scrap is simmering and about to be boiling. Ricky Taylor has turned on the afterburners and he is eating up his team mate.
Ryan Hunter-Reay into the lane for service aboard Mazda #55. They want to square up their next stint and need one more pit stop to be home and hosed. But the #31 car will need at least two more pit stops to get home. Brake trouble it appears for the #55 Mazda and there was smoke backing up out of the brake ducting. Both Acura's in the lane for service, simultaneously. They've done essentially a full stint despite earlier safety car. We have an hour and eight minutes left now before this race ends.
Again, the #31 Cadillac will need two more pit stops. The Penske Acura's are consolidating their lead, although now we see Ryan Briscoe back in the lead. 221 laps on the board. 221 laps, 561 miles. Briscoe will do a 34 lap stint and Sebastien Bourdais is in the lane for service. They won't pressure the Acura's yet, but they will keep them honest. Acura has pulled out a gap with 66 minutes left on the board. Harry Tincknell has pitted and now, he is moving in on the Acura's. Leader in the lane, look, and Ryan Briscoe will stay in the car. Fuel and new tires onto the car and Ryan Briscoe will have one more stint to try and go after the Acura's.
Ricky Taylor has been opening a gap on the Mazda, I believe. Drive times for Pro Am classes, looks good. The #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin has not met the drive time. Darren Turner has run a lot and so has Ian James, but Roman De Angelis needs another half hour stint. So, we are coming to the last hour of this motor race.
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