The skies are clear. It is sunny. The race is going really well. Dane Cameron is bish bash boshing it at the moment. Tristan Nunez has gone by Felipe Nasr for third, demoting the first of the Cadillac's to fourth spot. We expect DPi pit stops coming up soon. In LMP2, PR1/Mathiasen wants another Petit Le Mans victory in class. Their car is being shared by American drivers Patrick Kelly and Scott Huffaker, along with Simon Trummer from Switzerland. No Penske Acura's next year. But we will have Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, next year. There will be just one Mazda next year. Olivier Pla will be back at MSR next year.
Connor De Philippi is running well. We see, after 29 laps, pit stop time for Acura Team Penske, in the #6 Team Penske Acura. Dane Cameron, out, and Juan Pablo Montoya is the next driver in the rotation. Fuel and tires, and cleaning the headlights and the windscreen as well. Full service pit stop time for Mazda #77 as Oliver Jarvis hands over to Tristan Nunez. Ricky Taylor is out of the car and Helio Castroneves into the #7 machine. Cadillac #31 is in the pit lane as well now. Pipo Derani will take over from Felipe Nasr and that's what has happened. Four new Michelin tires, and fuel. The #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac is in but Sebastien Bourdais stays in the car.
Ryan Briscoe has run 33 laps, in sixth spot, 84 miles. Wow! Mazda #77 goes buffalo boy around one of the other cars, as Oliver Jarvis has moved 'round Pipo Derani. Juan Montoya will cycle back to the lead of the motor race as we have seen the #10 Cadillac lead briefly. We've run 15 minutes of the second hour already. The gap at the front sees Juan Montoya leading Oliver Jarvis, Pipo Derani, and Helio Castroneves. Ferrari #63 spins, and the #55 Mazda does as well. That was an odd incident. Really odd. Right at the top of turn two. Ryan Hunter-Reay is actually driving the #55 Mazda. Antonio Garcia has the fastest lap in GT Le Mans right now, responding to Laurens Vanthoor.
We have some trouble, as a drive through penalty is issued for InterEuropol. They've just served their penalty. Done and dusted. They didn't take the wave around at the first yellow, using pace, but they also left pit equipment attached to that automobile and hence were pinged by the stewards. Scott Huffaker leads LMP2 by a full lap. That's the Huffaker/Kelly/Trummer car. Sebastien Bourdais is ahead of Ryan Briscoe at the moment, picking the bones out of a battle between a couple Porsche's in GTLM and GTD.
Nick Tandy in the lane for pit stops. Nick Tandy jumps out and Fred Makowiecki will be into the car, next. They want another Petit Le Mans win in GTLM. Juan Montoya now leads Oliver Jarvis by some 17 seconds but Jarvis is turning it on and he's set his quickest lap of the motor race so far, look. He's been on the road for 11 laps. Check that. For Jarvis, it is a personal best lap. Jarvis has moved ahead of Pipo Derani and Derani has the same length to Helio Castroneves. New fastest lap for the #8 Tower Motorsports by Starworks in the #8 car, with Mikkel Jensen chasing Scott Huffaker and also, matching Jakub Smiechowski.
We see Madison Snow, three seconds clear of Shinya Michimi. Lamborghini leads Acura in GT Daytona as Mikkel Jensen has caught Jakub Smiechowski. The #52 machine is slowing. The GTD contenders have run 40 laps, 102 miles. Madison Snow pits the #48 Lamborghini. They need nine points to lock up the GTD title in the Michelin Endurance Cup. Bryan Sellers is getting into the #48 Lamborghini. Don't drop the car off the air jacks until the fuel is filled in the tank. That was a clean stop for the boys at Paul Miller Racing. Pit stop time for Acura in GT Daytona. Matt McMurry takes the car over from Shinya Michimi. Lars Kern gets new tires and stays in the #9 Porsche. Four tires and fuel for Cooper MacNeil. John Potter has also made a stop in the #44 Magnus GRT Lamborghini with John Potter at the controls.
Frankie Montecalvo is getting good mileage for AVS in the #12 Lexus RC F GT3 that he shares with Kyle Kirkwood making his IWSC debut. Townsend Bell is the other driver in that specific Lexus. Kirkwood has been a hot shoe in open wheel racing as of late. We have wholesale driver changes in GTLM. Jesse Krohn and Colton Herta, and Matthieu Jaminet is now in the #912 Porsche as Jordan Taylor takes over the #3 Corvette and Oliver Gavin should take over the #4. Dillon Machavern stays in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW. Ah. Gar Robinson is in the #74 Mercedes. Jack Hawksworth in the #14 Lexus, and in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, Darren Turner at the wheel of it, sharing with Ian James and Roman De Angelis.
Eight hours and 23 minutes left on the board. A battle for position in GT Daytona, scrapping between Lars Kern and Kyle Kirkwood. The plaid Porsche is demoted by one spot. Gabriel Aubry is back on track in the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports car. One of their full season drivers, Stephen Simpson, is working as a race strategist for their team this weekend. Jordan Taylor, Tommy Milner, and Matthieu Jaminet, are the top three at the moment in GTLM. The #25 BMW has dropped like a stone. They had a very slow pit stop compared to their competition. We had a really long green flag run in the 6 hour race here at Road Atlanta, last month. It seems like that might also be happening here.
#31 Pipo Derani is just ahead of Helio Castroneves who has slid wide and has to regroup. Ryan Briscoe is setting up for his next pit stop. 80 laps, 203 miles, done and dusted. Oliver Jarvis is in the lane for fuel and tires before he's sent on his merry way to keep racing. Juan Pablo Montoya has the #6 Acura in the lane. Acura #7 in the lane for a nose change as well. The two Penske Acura's are the same team, but they are two different teams, pitting separately so both cars have clean entrances and exits. Pipo Derani also pitted for fuel and tires.
The #10 Cadillac is still running consistently as well as these pit cycles go through. Ah. Some shemozzle at turn seven, look, for prototypes and GT cars. Not sure what happened there. Ryan Briscoe will get back to the lead of the motor race. But it is still early doors yet. Scott Dixon has taken over the #10 Cadillac. The #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, has Loic Duval at the controls, and he is making his Petit Le Mans debut. Yikes! He's had a long and great career in sports car racing. Bryan Sellers gets lapped by one of the Acura's, and Matt McMurry is reeling Sellers in. #31 is gaining, less than ten seconds away, from the Acura's. The #7.
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