A big scrum has been going on in GTLM and GTD. We are now just under three hours to go in the Petit Le Mans. Helio Castroneves leads over Filipe Albuquerque by 6.1 seconds. We have been talking about a lot of young drivers in Formula Ford in the United Kingdom, scouted by Jeremy Shaw from IMSA Radio, on the Team USA scholarship. Jeremy of course, is commentator for IMSA Radio who we've heard some of today, going between IMSA Radio and the blokes at NBC Sports. Meantime, it's a scrum in GTD in the dark, between Jeff Westphal and Aaron Telitz. Telitz in the lane and he will change over to one of his co-drivers, two hours and 50 minutes left on the board. No driver change. Hawksworth will come into the car in about 50 minutes, at the two hour mark. We have to watch the fueler. It was slow on the rwear tire on the right side, but a solid stop.
Jordan Taylor is bish bash boshing it recently in IMSA and he is leading GTLM right now over Nick Tandy and Jesse Krohn for Porsche and BMW. Seven wins for Corvette in 2020 after the return to racing from the pandemic. Now, the #14 Lexus is ahead of a number of other cars that have given up to the #48 Lamborghini. Pat Long, though, is holding off Jeff Westphal. Contact between Aston Martin and the Acura. The #86 nearly loses it and Matt McMurry hangs on! Just barely! But the #86 has tons of contact! He's going to try doing a lap with a flat tire. He has a set of square wheels. That's Mazda #77 down several laps that got snookered at the same time as the Acura.
The #86 is still trundling 'round with a broken rear tow link. Contact being reviewed by the stewards between the #86 MSR Acura and the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. #86 straight to the garage for repairs. Mike Shank will be very upset about this one. The #23 Aston Martin is in the lane. No action for the incident. This is a lot of cars in very little space. We can see, throughy turn ten, the #23 ran into the back of the #48 car. #23 is being repaired. Roman De Angelis, Darren Turner, and Ian James are in a spot of bother as well, look. Jesse Krohn and Nick Tandy battle each other for position in the darkness.
Two hours and 40 minutes on the board, so, a sprint race distance still to go. Juan Pablo Montoya is trying to pass Loic Duval. Wright Motorsports have just made a pit stop, and it could be Jan Heylen in the car. Now,Aaron Telitz has moved around Jan Heylen, on cold tires. We still have a puzzle to put togethere here, ladies and gentlemen. Spencer Pumpelly is now in the #44 GRT Magnus Lamborghini. Now, Jeff Westphal has moved around the #16 and has put that casr a lap down as we watch the #4 Corvette pit. Tommy Milner, replaces Marcel Fassler. Oliver Gavin could still be having back pain. Townsend Bell will replace Kyle Kirkwood in the #12 AVS Lexus. A.J. Allmendinger, back in the booth, he has been running with the #57 MSR Acura today.
Earl Bamber slices through GTD traffic. Renger van der Zande is catching Filipe Albuquerque. Jeff Westphal has brought the #63 WeatherTech Ferrari into the lane with plenty of scuffs and dfamage from a hard day's racing so far. #14 maintains his place ahead of the #63 Ferrari and the #48 Lamborghini. Jordan Taylor to the lane from the GTLM lead. The #3 Corvette C8.R is showroom clean. Absolutely spotless. Jesse Krohn as well in the BMW M8 is bish bash boshing it as well. It is a bigger, heavier automobile than that Corvette C8.R for the lead of GT Le Mans.
Antonio Garcia is now in the #3 Corvette replacing Jordan Taylor. Kyle Kirkwood has pitted and Zach Robichon also needs to hit the lane in GHT Daytona, 17 seconds behind the #12 Lexus. The #9 is in the lane. Helio Castroneves brings the #7 Acura to pit lane for service and Alexander Rossi will take over the wheel in his first race at Road Atlanta. Cadillac #31 pits as well for service. Cadillac #10 is also in the lane. Scott Dixon is now in the #10 Cadillac, and he is also going for what could be his sixth IndyCar championship. Now, the #31 has Felipe Nasr in the car, and he has been fighting as well. Felipe Nasr leads.
Nasr was quickest in night practice. We have some great drivers in these races, especially in the Rolex 24. Nasr's lead is growing again to 7.1 seconds. It has nbow shrunk to 5.9 seconds over Rossi. Helio Castroneves, amazingly, has not won the IndyCar championship. Nasr now leads Rossi by 6.7 seconds. James Hinchcliffe, reporting for NBCSN, Helio Castroneves, and Sebastien Bourdais, they all ran the Harvest Grand Prix for IndyCar, a couple weekends ago at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Meantime, Jan Heylen, fifth in GT Daytona is chasing Madison Snow. Aaron Telitz, Jack Hawksworth, and Michael de Quesada, they lead GT Daytona right now.
In GTD, Aaron Telitz is a sneaky Silver driver. He has won in Indy Lights and was considered for IndyCar. Trimming out a car, you have less corner grip, but more straightaway speed. Felipe Nasr nstill leads this race, now leading by just 4.4 seconds. Now it is downh to 3.1 seconds as we await the opportunity for scoring points for the Michelin Endurance Cup. Rossi is coming, but he is hung up in traffic at the moment. It gets really dark around here at Road Atlanta and the driver's are relying a ton on their headlights.
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