Pits are open under yellow. Dane Cameron has just made a stop to repair damage after the accident. GTLM pit stops are up now. Corvette, BMW, and Porsche all in the lane. The race is on pit lane. We have GT Daytona cars in as well. Marcel Fassler is getting into the #4. Jesse Krohn is getting into the #4. BMW #24 is into the lead of the GTLM class. Could they head for victory lane today? They did so at the Rolex 24 in January. We are coming to the end of another Full Course Yellow. Penske was way down earlier in the year, but then, they've gone on a tear and have three wins on the trot. Oliver Gavin seems to have a cramp in his back. So, Marcel Fassler and Tommy Milner will have to soldier on for the rest of this motor race.
We are back to green flag racing. Ricky Taylor being chased by Ryan Briscoe and Pipo Derani. Matthieu Jaminet is second in GTLM with John Edwards, look, in the BMW, bearing down on him. Ricky Taylor is eking out a second worth of a lead over the Ryan Briscoe and Pipo Derani. Keeping grinding it out in these endurance races. The final sprint race at Laguna Seca we will see in a couple weeks, will be very interesting. Dane Cameron and Ricky Taylor are both championship winners, but they've grown, according to NBC Sports' Leigh Diffey. Good battle between Tristan Vautier and Harry Tincknell, who is laps down in the #55 Mazda. Ricky Taylor found himself in a big organization, being able to deal with it, and Dane Cameron has adjusted as well.
Pipo Derani is chasing Ryan Briscoe. Track position is critical. All of these cars are so close in lap times. Harry Tincknell of course is laps down in Mazda #55. Meanwhile, Mazda Motorsports Director Nelson Cosgrove says that the #77 car has suffered suspension and bodywork damage, having the right rear corner and the bodywork changed. New nose, tail, and right side engine cover. The GT Daytona battle continues to be hot and hgeavy. That is what we are watching on screen at the moment with Heart of Racing, Pfaff Motorsports, and AIM Vasser Sullivan. Aston Martin vs. Porsche vs. Lexus. Now, the air temperature has not cooled off but the track temperature has dropped eight degrees Celsius.
The temperature difference between the 6 hour race we saw on Labor Day weekend, to this weekend at Petit Le Mans, is at least 25 degrees. Shinya Michimi in the #86 MSR Acura NSX GT3 is being monstered by Jan Heylen in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Heylen sharing with Ryan Hardwick and Patrick Long. Jan Heylen and Patrick Long were racing Formula Ford in the U.K. many years ago. Michimi mpoves past Frankie Montecalvo, and Jan Heylen also wants by Montecalvo, but, discretion of course, is the better part of valor.
Acura Team Penske leads this motor race. Good race too, in the LMP2 class lead for PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports with Scott Huffaker driving. The #24 BMW M8 GTE still leads GT Le Mans. Zach Robichon, is scything his way through GTD traffic. Pit stop time for the #31 Cadillac. Pipo Derani stays in the car. He is back on track with fresh tires and with a load of fuel in the tank. We have also seen a pit stop for the #7 Team Penske Acura. Acura, of course, will be affiliated, next year with Wayne Taylor Racing and also Meyer Shank Racing. We do not know about full driver announcements except that Olivier Pla will be a full-season driver at MSR and also, A.J. Allmendinger will be in the #60 car.
MSR is going to have to focus forward after the 12 Hours of Sebring into testing in December. The #912 Porsche of Matthieu Jaminet is serrving a penalty for contact with the #3 Corvette of Nicky Catsburg. It is a drive through penalty at 60 kilometers an hour. Sorry, folks. I've been sorting out the TV coverage, and so it took me a few minutes to do that. Now, Simon Trummer is getting into the #52 car. Three hours and 34 minutes on the board. We are under a Full Course Yellow. Are there any other takers? #63, #48, and #9 are coming into the lane in GTD. The #30 Hardpoint Audi is stopped on the road hence the reasoning for this yellow flag.
The #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari and the #9 are overlapping in the pit lane. They don't want to give it up on the drag race out of the pit lane. This happened between Action Express and Team Penske earlier on in the motor race. The #63 Ferrari pushed the lollipop too far. The distance he was from the wall was more of a concern than the lollipop man. All the GTLM and GTD teams came to pit lane. Jordan Taylor is in the lead in GTLM, and took fuel only. We are back to greenh. Castroneves is being hounded by Albuquerque and here comes Renger van der Zande. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche has to change a right front tire.
Anything is possible yet with just over three hours left on the board. Keep digging. We've got just two more races remaining. Mazda #55 is running third on the road, but is down the order. We are watching the #7 and the #31. Filipe Albuquerque chasing Helio Castroneves. Porsche of course, will be out of IMSA in 2021. Where will the drivers go? Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber, are always up on the wheel. We are definitely in the silly season at the moment. Now, Corey Lewis has been the go to endruance driver for the team. Andrea Caldarelli, the Italian, has also run with the team at the Rolex 24.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, a lapped car, chases Filipe Albuquerque. Helio Castroneves is doing what he needs to do on his current stint. They lead the #31 Cadillac by 2.3 seconds. Corvette #3 leads GTLM after taking fuel only and the Porsche and BMW took fuel and tires, both. Nick Tandy and Jesse Krohn, are pushing hard. We are closing up on the normal sprint race distance. Start back timing this motor race. We are nearly seven hours into this race.
No comments:
Post a Comment