It is indeed nearly time for the witching hour. The #48 Ally Bank Action Express Racing Cadillac is back on the pit lane. Watch out for the dive planes. There's all kinds of rubber, rocks, and sand pitting the front of the car. Chunks taken out of the undertray will make the aerodynamics unworkable. Simon Pagenaud is in the car. The pit exit here at Daytona is 16 and a half feet wide, and the interstate is 12 feet wide. Leaving that narrow pit lane on cold tires in the middle of the night, there's no room for error. If you slide over to another lane on the interstate you are OK, but some of the best drivers in the world have slammed into the pit wall on the exit of the lane here at Daytona in the 24 hours. It's bitten several drivers of all experience levels.
Filipe Albuquerque is now in the pit lane from what was the lead, and now, the #01 is back in and the #31 is as well. Chase Elliott getting into the car and Pipo Derani out. There's not much damage to the underbody on the #01 Cadillac. Ganassi beats Action Express out of the pit lane. Simon Pagenaud has moved up to second and Chase Elliott is now driving the #31 Whelen Cadillac, in fourth place. The two Corvette boys are scrapping for the GTLM lead. Nick Tandy is first in class and Jordan Taylor in second place. It is 55 degrees in Daytona Beach, Florida, right now. GT Le Mans is the only division in IMSA where there are different compounds for the tires. Maro Engel leads GT Daytona in the #57 Winward Mercedes, and seven seconds in-arrears is the SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3 with Mikael Grenier at the wheel of it.
The real stories are going to start happening once the sun comes up. We have more to talk about, more stories to tell. Giorgio Sernagiotto is leading the LMP2 class for the #47 Cetilar Racing Dallara. Scott Andrews in the Ligier for Riley Motorsports leads LMP3. The top four in DPi are still fighting for it. Filipe Albuquerque leading over Simon Pagenaud, and Chase Elliott. The weather is very cold at Daytona sometimes. Generally it is very nice during the daytime, but there have been frosts and also fog in the past in the middle of the night. Again, when yours truly was at Daytona last year, it seemed very nippy during the overnight.
There's more variation here at Daytona in the wintertime than their would be in the summertime at Le Mans or Spa Francorchamps. We are 40 minutes out from half distance and so far, the front of the field has ebbed and flowed between the top six. The race is wide open for the time being or so it seems. The early cautions broke the rhythm, but there have been some good, long green flag periods as well. Filipe Albuquerque is now being monstered by Simon Pagenaud. The turbo 3.5 liter V6 Acura vs. the normally aspirated 5.5 liter V8 Cadillac. Albuquerque closes the door in Pagenaud's face. Albuquerque and Pagenaud are into their third stints of driving in their respective cars at this point in time. TThis is down to the drivers with a long, long, long way to go yet.
Fuel stints have ranged between 21-22 laps. Simon Pagenaud is right in the slipstream of Filipe Albuquerque and therefore he is able to save fuel and could leapfrog their rival on the pit stop exchanges. The DPi cars are based on the current LMP2 chassis' of course. There are new chassis' that will be made for the new LMP2 homologated cars, and then, we will see the new LMDh cars in January 2023. Porsche and Audi will be in IMSA for sure. Acura has also confirmed something. We have yet to hear about what Mazda and General Motors would like to do as we see the camera work from "Rooftop Ray", Ray Wentzel Jr.
Nick Tandy and Jordan Taylor have made stops and so have Jesse Krohn and Jules Gounon. Gounon ran 30 laps while the Corvette's ran 33. BMW's have run 25 or so laps. Bruno Spengler has replaced Phillip Eng in the BMW. That has to be the #25 while the #24 car has Jesse Krohn at the keyboard. In GT Daytona, we can see Maro Engel leading the class still over Daniel Serra in the AF Corse Ferrari, Mikael Grenier in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes, and the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R has now been passed by the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 of Darren Turner. We are a shade under a half hour away from the halfway mark of the race.
Now, Kevin Magnussen seems to be nibbling away at the leaders. Chase Elliott still runs fourth. Simon Pagenaud is closing on Filipe Albuquerque. This battle is getting spicy. Now, Chase Elliott is losing some time, but he is still right in it, just ahead of Olivier Pla, the French sports car racing veteran. Elliott had not driven the car until the Roar Before the Rolex 24 last weekend. Chase Elliott is very consistent for being a first-time endurance driver. Pit stop time for the #48 Ally Cadillac. This was a 20 lap stint for Simon Pagenaud and another new set of boots on the car. Pagenaud is on cold tires and on full tanks, a full 100 liters of petrol.
Mike Rockenfeller has actually taken over aboard the #48 car. He was on of the drivers on the team when Action Express won their first Rolex 24, over a decade ago in 2010. Acura #60 is in the lane now too as well and it appears Olivier Pla is staying in the car. The teams have been scrubbing in tires all week. The edge can be taken off the tire once they have come out of their release agent chemicals. In the lane as well, the #10 Konica Minolta Acura and now, Juan Pablo Montoya is in that automobile. Now the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac has just made a pit stop and Chase Elliott is still in the car. I was wrong. Filipe Albuquerque stays in the Acura.
#01 is in the lane now as well and they are getting good gas mileage in that automobile. Now, the #47 Cetilar Racing LMP2 Dallara is pitting and this is going to be a longer stop for this team but they are back on track. Giorgio Sernagiotto is at the wheel of it. Earl Bamber moves around the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Trent Hindman. Now, that is the Wright Motorsports car, and also the #88 Earl Bamber Motorsports Porsche. Patrick Long says he has just driven a three hour stint. They were collected by the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche as well which we saw earlier on. Some damage in front of the left rear wheel of the car with the tow in knocked out and the rocker panel is also busted. Plus there is no left hand mirror.
Maybe the solution for the future of sports car racing will be fewer classes and more opportunities for young drivers. It's the "kiss" philosophy. Keep it simple, stupid. A spot of bother for the Win Autosport LMP2 car in the hands of Tristan Nunez. It has gone straight back into the garage with a brake rotor issue. nging the rotors all the way around. They are doing a brake change on that LMP2 machine.
No comments:
Post a Comment