Push without risk. That is the idea. We will be seeing daylight in oh, another two or three hours. Mike Rockenfeller has not driven a prototype car for a while. He has won in a prototype with Action Express. Lately he has been in the German DTM championship which is actually moving to GT3 cars this season. Three wide, splitting the #111 GRT Grasser Lamborghini, and here comes Mike Rockenfeller trying to move in, making inroads on Filipe Albuquerque. That was heads up driving from both of those chaps. We are just over halfway through this motor race. Kevin Magnussen is hanging on and now, Chase Elliott has dropped to 35 seconds behind and Juan Pablo Montoya is going to be moving in on the defending NASCAR Cup Series champion.
The battle continues through lapped traffic. There are only three or four cars out of the race. 49 starters and there are still 45 cars on track. The closest position battle is for the overall lead. Oh my. One of the GT Daytona Audi's is in strife on the apron of the race track. That's the #42 NTE Sport Audi R8, Alan Metni at the controls. The Win Autosport Oreca is continuing to suffer on track, and it may be in the pit lane and Alan Metni is taking the #42 Audi to the garage. The WIN Autosport car is back in the race but having trouble, still. There could be rake issues and now, we see Alan Metni making contact with an LMP2 car in turn six. That was the #11. Now, we saw a pit stop for the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari and new boots onto the #48 Ally Bank Cadillac. Mike Rockenfeller still in the pit lane.
Chase Elliott has moved around Juan Pablo Montoya for third spot. Alan Metni is responsible for the incident with the #11 car of Tristan Nunez. So whoever is driving that car when it is fixed, it will have to serve the penalty. Now, pit stop time for both the #31 Whelen Cadillac and the #60 MSR Acura. Chase Elliott overshoots the pit box just a shade. But the pit stop seemed to go well otherwise. So, now the order is shifting and Kevin Magnussen is now in the overall lead. The #10 Acura has pitted and for fuel only it seems. Maybe they are double stinting tires on that car. Hard to tell.
The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 is in the lane as well. Ricky Taylor replaces Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 car. Daniel Serra was also in the lane in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari. Kevin Magnussen just pitted the Ganassi Cadillac, the #01 car. Mike Rockenfeller is reeling in Ricky Taylor hand over fist at the moment while Juan Montoya is third and in fourth, Felipe Nasr, plugged back into the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac. Ian James and Heart of Racing has run well, and they raise money for Team Seattle and the Seattle Children's Hospital. Some members of the team are located in New Zealand while others are in North America right now.
Scott Dixon has served a stop + 20 seconds penalty for driving 25 kilometers an hour over the speed limit to get through the Michelin RFID scanners. In DPi, we see Ricky Taylor leading followed by Mike Rockenfeller, Felipe Nasr, and Juan Pablo Montoya. Timothe Buret leads Roberto Lacorte in LMP2. Chris Mies and Ryan Dalziel fourth. Scott Andrews leads Kenton Koch, Lancy Willsey and Dylan Murry in LMP3. Alexander Sims, Nicky Catsburg, Jesse Krohn, and Phillip Eng are the top four in GTLM. Then, in GT Daytona it is Indy Dontje, Daniel Serra, Luca Stolz, and Darren Turner.
You've not missed anything at the front. Filipe Albuquerque has moved to Acura and Wayne Taylor Racing, after driving for a few years for Cadillac and Action Express. Filipe Albuquerque knows the drivers for that particular team. We have eleven hours and 15 minutes to go. So, there's still a long, long way to go and drivers and teams need to haver a lot left in the locker. Into the pit lane, the #42 Audi R8, the beleaguered NTE Sport car. Lance Willsey spins and continues. He spun in turn one and gets back on in front of the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3. The #42 Alan Metni driven Audi had to have the toe links fixed on the sterring apparatus. Sadly, both of the GRT Grasser Lamborghini's have retired. #111 has finally called it a night due to ongoing electrical woes.
Now, Felipe Nasr is into the pit lane after a 20 lap stint, but he stays in the car. He took the car over from Chase Elliott a half an hour ago or so. Car #42 has a penalty for speeding in the lane and there is another car stopped at turn two while Mike Rockenfeller stays in the #48 Ally Cadillac. Car #7 is off the track in the Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine Nissan. Also, pit stop time for the #10 Konica Minolta Acura. Ricky Taylor continues to lead. Juan Pablo Montoya is now in the #60 Acura. Meantime, we had been remiss to check in on #7, but that car is being shared by Mark Kvamme, Ryan Norman, Gabby Chaves, and Trenton Estep. Scott Dixon pits the #01 Cadillac DPi-V.R. Fuel, tires, and a windscreen clean for #01. The maximum fuel drop is 30 seconds.
The #52 PR1 Wynn's LMP2 car is in the pit lane for service. Coming up to yet another racing hour.
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