Oliver Askew is working on a deal for the Indianapolis 500 after his vicious crash last year. He is of course competing here in the Rolex 24 as well. It is so tough to maintain the intensity in this motor race and Helio Castroneves explains how stressful it is. The car evolves in several ways, and there are tools to adjust the car so it feels right. But at night, that's a whole different deal. Loads of downforce and slippery conditions. Drivers are being respectful, thankfully. Helio Castroneves slides his seat insert in the back of his firesuit instead of having an insert that molds directly to the racing seat. Pit stop for Action Express and #31. A quick pit stop. Pit work going on for BMW Team RLL in the #24 camp as well. Alexander Rossi of course is now in the #10 Acura and he is in the lead of this motor race.
Kevin Magnussen is second, followed by Olivier Pla, and Simon Pagenaud. Helio Castroneves will race the Indianapolis 500 with Meyer Shank Racing, trying to join A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears, and Al Unser Sr. Unser Sr. and Foyt were on the same winning team for Preston Henn in a Porsche 962 in this race, at the Rolex 24, back in 1985. Acura #60 in the pit lane. Same for #10 and the #01 Cadillac. Simon Pagenaud spins the #48 Cadillac briefly in turn six. That is on his out lap on cold tires. All he lost was time. Thank heavens he did not flat spot the Michelin tires. Dragging the left front into the braking zone is a tough one. Maxi Buhk was nearby him in the Mercedes AMG GT3 for Alegra Motorsports in car #28. Into the lane, the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.
The Mercedes/Ferrari GTD battle resumes. Philip Ellis chasing Nicklas Nielsen as Colton Herta has a right rear tire flat on the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3. They were running inside the top ten in GT Daytona. He did a splash and a dash. He changed one tire so that there were no delays. A real shame for Vasser Sullivan Lexus. They have had a litany of trouble, a fraught race. It's been rough for both of the Lexus cars for Vasser Sullivan. The #31 Cadillac is in the garage, stuck in third gear. This does not look good. As far as the weather, teams are checking the track temps. It will get to 75 degrees Fahrenheit towards the end of the race.
The battle is on for the lead. Rossi vs. Magnussen, WTR vs. CGR, and Acura vs. Cadillac. Magnussen has to give up the fight for now. It's still a little early. Alexander Rossi in the lead of the motor race. Simon Pagenaud still holds fourth in the #48 car. Magnussen locks the brakes just a bit. Felipe Nasr, meanwhile is still back in the garage. Reportedly, the car is stuck in third gear. The Whelen Engineering Cadillac has been having issues through this race. Now, with the Aston Martin as a pick, Kevin Magnuseen tries to take Alexander Rossi, brakes late, gets in the dirt in the Bus Stop chicane, and it looks like Rossi sold him the dummy there.
Full Course Yellow once again, look. What is it for this time, pray tell? This is the tenth Full Course Yellow of the motor race. We have hit double digits. Only six in 2020. Meanwhile, in the Whelen Engineering garage, there's still trouble with the Cadillac. Felipe Nasr was going well and then the transmission got stuck in third gear. He can't downshift or upshift. The exhaust manifold is broken. It has a hole in it. We are stuck in a hole in this championship at Action Express. Yours truly cannot believe it. There was a software issue in the engine, and then, the transmission went out with a bang when fourth gear ate itself and the transmission tore itself to pieces.
We have to go back to the drawing board at AXR. I shall write a post after this race is over summing up my emotions. Unbelievable. We will have to see where we can finish with the #48. Corvette in the pit lane with both cars and there's more stops for GT cars. The #57 Winward Mercedes has leapfrogged the #21 AF Corse Ferrari again. This scrum is not over. More pit stops for LMP3 and GTD cars as we remain again under Full Course Yellow with a long way still to go this year at the Rolex 24. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche is in the pit lane.
We are ready to resume this motor race under green. #10 is in the lane for regular service. Magnussen fades to the inside but it does not work and Rossi still leads. Alexander Rossi is still trying to escape from Magnussen. Magnussen is pressing Rossi and he is going to try taking the lead and he does. He is pulling away now. Rossi wants a tow through NASCAR turns three and four. Rossi wants a bite of the cherry indeed. Magnussen is moving away. So Rossi will have to be the shark chasing the minnow. The GTD battle continues between Ellis and Nielsen. Kevin Magnussen is penalized! He will have to do a drive through penalty for wheel spin while the car is still on the air jacks!
Magnussen is used to two second F1 pit stops instead of a 30 second pit stop. He did it last night and got away with it, but not now. It is fair comment to say that he made a mistake but the penalty is going to be brutal for CGR. The overall lead and the GTD lead are what we are looking at. Five hours still to go. There are fair fights in every one of the classes. We still have two sprint races to go. Quite the battle simmering in GTLM. We'll talk about it soon. Stay tuned, everyone.
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