All four classes are in the picture at the same time as a battle is brewing. Again, Harry Tincknell continues to close up on Sebastien Bourdais. Helio Castroneves is still recovering from two penalties, the drive through and the stop and hold. He is off the lead lap sitting eighth overall just ahead of all the GTLM cars. One hour of motor racing is in the bag. Renger van der Zande has opened his lead up to 3.1 seconds. Cadillac was never happy with the Balance of Performance this week, but they are leading now. Cadillac has won three of the races this year so far and also won Petit Le Mans last year. One win for Konica Minolta, and two wins for Action Express, coming into this event.
Tristan Nunez's woes are not of the mechanical variety. No worries about the new motor. They didn't take fresh Michelin tires. So their tires are knackered as Ian James goes off and on through the esses. He is sharing the #23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, with Roman De Angelis and Darren Turner. Damage now, look, for the #77 and rear damage to one of the Corvette's as well, look. There's a left rear puncture on Corvette #4! The car is down on the left rear, trailing the undertray! Aye yaye yaye. Poor old Tommy Milner is in a pickle here. Half of the GTLM cars took new tires but not for the Corvette's. They stayed on old tires to start the race. Into the lane, too, Renger van der Zande from the lead of the motor race. It's scheduled service.
The tire stint length is normal for the Corvette. New tires, fuel, and a driver change to Oliver Gavin. Oliver Jarvis brings the #77 Mazda back on track as it had left rear damage. Ryan Briscoe is now into the #10 Cadillac. They lead both the championship overall and the Michelin Endurance Cup after winning the Rolex 24 back in January. Full Course Yellow, and we have pit stops going on now. Get the stop now and leapfrog to the front of the queue while everyone else is in the lane as we see debris in turn ten. We've not had an explanation whether there was contact between the Mazda and the Corvette.
Ryan Briscoe, again, is in the #10 car. They cycle back to the lead of this motor race as we are under our third Full Course Yellow. Dane Cameron leads DPi for the moment with Felipe Nasr second and Sebastien Bourdais third. Then comes Harry Tincknell. Patrick Kelly leads LMP2, Nick Tandy in GTLM, and Madison Snow in GTD. Porsche and Lamborghini lead the production car classes. Oliver Jarvis of course, has taken over the wheel from Tristan Nunez in Mazda #77 and is a lap behind as is Helio Castroneves in Acura #7. Is Helio Castroneves going to stay out and get a lap back? No. He needs a pit stop soon.
Pits are open for service. Don't lose a lap to your own class leader. Get back into the crocodile after stopping. The prototypes are in the lane for pit work. Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, Sebastien Bourdais, and others. Juan Montoya has made his stop and a few other cars are getting back onto the same lap now that pit work has been completed. This time around we are seeing the GT cars pit. It is like Grand Central Station. Poor old Helio Castroneves is embroiled in the GT traffic. He wants to scoot up the road and get to the back of the prototype half of the crocodile. #48 is in, Madison Snow out and either Bryan Sellers or Corey Lewis. Bruno Spengler will get into the #25. Jordan Taylor did not get into the #3 Corvette. Porsche's #911 and #912 have Fred Makowiecki and Earl Bamber. Shinya Michimi and Frankie Montecalvo stay in their respective cars in GT Daytona while Ryan Hardwick is in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
#63 has come in and the #11 GRT Grasser Lamborghini had a long stop and went a lap down but will now get a lap back. They needed a boatload of fuel. Seat belt troubles for Richard Heistand sharing with Steijn Schothorst and Richard Westbrook. Ryan Briscoe leads Juan Montoya, Felipe Nasr, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Joao Barbosa, and Oliver Jarvis. Acura #7 got back on the lead lap at the back of the queue and has caught up to the field and they should be able to stay on the lead lap in this motor race. We are back to green flag racing now.
Oliver Gavin has no damage on the #4 Corvette and the tire punctured but with no existing contact with another car. In the front of the field, Ryan Briscoe leads by 8/10ths of a second over Juan Montoya as Ricky Taylor has taken over from Helio Castroneves in Acura #7 which is catching up to the back of the pack at the moment. Oliver Gavin is now back on the lead lap having passed the sister car, the #3, Antonio Garcia at the controls. At three hours, we have Michelin Endurance Cup points. Porsche #911 of Fred Makowiecki is presurized by John Edwards in BMW M8 GTE #24 who makes the pass as Makowiecki gets stymied in traffic.
Oliver Gavin is in the pound seats to get back on the lead lap should we have another Full Course Yellow. Now, Dillon Machavern is in the pit lane having taken over from Robby Foley aboard the #96 Liqui Moly Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3. That car took a big thud from the #85 "Banana Boat" JDC-Miller Cadillac, the car of Mattheus Leist, and Stephen Simpson. Losing some places, it appears is Fred Makowiecki in the Porsche. 1:10.24 for Ryan Briscoe. He is leading overall, passing the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 car. Briscoe leads Montoya as the DPi cars are in an orderly line sans the #7 Acura that is a couple laps down.
Fred Makowiecki had a slow lap after the restart. Dillon Machavern still is in pit lane and there might be serious troubles for Turner Motorsports in the BMW M6 GT3. They've had good form, and won in GTD last time out at Virginia International Raceway. Leaders working traffic. Juan Montoya leads Felipe Nasr as they work through GT Daytona traffic towards turn six. Ryan Hunter-Reay is next in the #55 Mazda and Oliver Jarvis in the sister Mazda #77. Mazda #77 by the way, is running a second and a half quicker than our overall leader. Braking issues for the #96 BMW M6 GT3. Dillon Machavern brought the car in and they need to fix the car.
Hello to Christina Nielsen, listening to this race from home, and she says this track is her favorite. She did race recently in the Scandinavian Porsche Carrera Cup series. Also well wishes for Katherine Legge, recovering from a broken leg in testing at Paul Ricard in France. We hope to see both of these fine ladies back in a race at some point in time. Briscoe has only a second and a half lead over Montoya and then Felipe Nasr remains third in the #31 Whelen Cadillac, slicing and dicing through GTLM traffic which is Corvette vs. BMW right now. Bryan Sellers in the Lamborghini leads Shinya Michimi in the #86 MSR Acura in GTD as Oliver Jarvis passes Ryan Hunter-Reay and he is gaining, trying to pass on Felipe Nasr.
Simon Trummer is on a lap of his own in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen LMP2 car which pitted off sequence. He is running very quick lap times right now at 1:11.2. The overall leader runs a 1:11.9. Trummer sharing the #52 machine with Patrick Kelly and Scott Huffaker. Misha Goikhberg is losing the front bumper off the #57 MSR Acura NSX GT3. He's brought the car into the pit lane. So, the pit crew goes to work. He's probably done a little agricultural racing and biffed the front end. John Potter has probably done all his time for driving in the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini. Trent Hindman will get into the #57 Acura NSX GT3, endurance driver for the #57 which is headed for the garage. The bonnet is in pieces as poor old Misha Goikhberg, as mentioned, has gone off the road.
Ah. Never mind. They've gone onto the track. That hood is in pieces, mate. That's going to be ugly. Let's hope that car runs without the marshals and race control penalizing them. The marshals will be upset. That's a moveable aerodynamic device like Jim Hall and the Chapparal back in the Can Am days. IMSA is going to pin that car to the board for a meatball flag. The front cover of that car was bent into place and now it is loosening up. If that comes off, that's a massive piece of carbon fiber and its a safety worry. In the lane now, the #10 Konica Minolta Cadillac, leading the motor race but is now in fourth spot.
He's only been out for 23 laps. What's the answer? He is leading the Michelin Endurance Cup, and they are trying to maintain their place in the Michelin Endurance Cup right now. There are two championships, the overall championship, and interim points for the Michelin Endurance Cup. That's the Rolex 24, the 12 Hours of Sebring, the Motul Petit Le Mans, and this race, which should have been the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, but is here as the TireRack.com Michelin Grand Prix of Road Atlanta, the 6 Hours of Road Atlanta. Acura #6 has gone back to the lead for our fourth lead change in the motor race to this point. Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel of it, has a three second lead.
Ricky Taylor is 28 seconds out of the lead. Acura #7 made a pit stop before the restart and was well behind. Felipe Nasr has a close shave with the #24 BMW M8 GTE which was moving around the #14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 with Michael de Quesada at the wheel of it. Montoya and Nasr are now 3.3 seconds apart. The gap between #5 and #7 is closing. Taylor is catching Joao Barbosa hand over fist! That's Joao Barbosa, who is not at all driving like a grandma. He's pushing it, and hard. Oliver Jarvis has done a 32 lap stint so far and most everyone else has run 27-28 laps. Ryan Briscoe will get track position back.
Oliver Jarvis pits after a 33 lap stint. Fuel, tires, and a drink bottle change for Oliver Jarvis. Sticker Michelin tires, and a double stint for the Englishman. Oliver Jarvis is back on the road for another 42-43 minutes. The leaders are pitting. Juan Pablo Montoya, Felipe Nasr, and more. Filipe Albuquerque is getting into the car. Ryan Hunter-Reay continues aboard the #55 Mazda and now, Ricky Taylor has moved the #7 Penske Acura back to second spot overall. Nasr set the lap record here at Road Atlanta last year in 2019 at 1:08.869.
Joao Barbosa pits for fuel and tires. Good stop for JDC-Miller Motorsports and Mustang Sampling as the #7 Acura of Ricky Taylor leads the motor race at present. Taylor is in the lane, now. Fuel, tires, and a new drink bottle. He's halfway through this stint. Waiting on fuel, and now he's down and away. The #10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac is out of sequence having come into the pits seven or eight laps earlier than everyone else. Some teams have been forced to go off strategy. Some teams are just looking to the end of the race. Do not pass go and do not collect points for the Michelin Endurance Cup.
However, other teams will be eyeing the three hour mark for said points. The gap between first and second is 7.5 seconds between the two Acura's and the gap between second to third has ballooned to six seconds from four seconds earlier. Cadillac #10 even before the shorter stint by Briscoe was shorter on a fuel stint than Acura #6 and Cadillac #31, coming in before a yellow flag appeared, I think. Ryan Briscoe has been on the road for 15 laps since he pitted.
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