In LMP3, we watch the leading car #91. This is the Riley Motorsports Wynn's liveried #91 Ligier Nissan of Jim Cox, Dylan Murry, Austin McCusker, and Jeroen Bleekemolen. Pit stop time and engine checks for one of the Lexus cars. Aaron Telitz in #14 is shown as the leader in class. Cannot tell which of the cars is in pit lane as right now we are following the battle for second in DPi between Loic Duval and Renger van der Zande. Trouble in paradise for the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 with the IMSA issued transponder. Townsend Bell is sharing with Frankie Montecalvo, Zach Veach, and Robert Megennis.
You won't make up laps on speed alone. Be patient. Focus forward. Look at the big picture. Things will work out in the hours to come. In GT Daytona, again, Lexus are leading. Paul Miller Racing continues to lead this race. Miller ran nine Rolex 24's as a driver and they won the motor race in GTD last year. With IMSA's permission, Paul Miller gave the opportunity to Action Express and Hendrick Motorsports for Jimmie Johnson in their second Cadillac. Paul Miller Racing won the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2020. GTD is stacked with great driver lineups. We also pay attention to the #64 Team TGM Porsche 911 GT3R. Owen Trinkler, sharing with Ted Giovanis (at age 75), Hugh Plumb, and Matt Plumb. Giovanis is in the medical industry assisting with research for vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic we are going through in these strange times. Meanwhile, Simon Pagenaud is ready to climb into the #48 Ally Bank Action Express Cadillac. Kamui Kobayashi and Mike Rockenfeller who has won Le Mans and Daytona.
A great lineup for #48 and #31 as well. More issues for DragonSpeed and the Flex Box liveried car. Rob Hodes in the #81 was just off the road. He gets into turn one too hot, hung up on the throttle and the brake and drove the car straight off the road. The brakes weren't working and there's damage on the front nose section and the suspension. LMP2 entries are double what they were for the Rolex 24 in 2021 compared to 2020 when yours truly attended this motor race in person. Pit stop time again for Action Express. Four tires and fuel and it appesrs Felipe Nasr is staying in for a double stint. DragonSpeed are still in a spot of bother, look.
That car is stopping in the cutout with the tire barriers up on the banking just before the exit of the Bus Stop chicane. Rob Hodes is limping around and the #48 team is in the lane. Simon Pagenaud takes over the car from Jimmie Johnson. We are under Full Course Yellow now, with the spot of bother for #81. A.J. Allmendinger has done a lot of sports car racing, but, he has also run IndyCar and NASCAR. Dale Earnhardt Jr., too, has run GT and prototype cars. The temperature drops between day and night with tire temperatures are huge.
Acura #60 meanwhile, is in the pit lane for scheduled service. They are running second overall. It is a very quick stop. This is the car being shared by Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla, Juan Pablo Montoya, and A.J. Allmendinger. The darkness is approaching. 13 hours worth of darkness coming up. Scott Dixon is happy to be back at the Rolex 24 with Chip Ganassi Racing. Pit stop time for #01. Renger van der Zande is in the car, sharing with Kevin Magnussen and Scott Dixon. Only a three driver squad. It was thought that team would have four drivers, but that isn't the case. Pit stop time now for the GTLM and GTD cars.
With the pit stops, the order is shuffling in all classes of course. We watch the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, being serviced and the same is true for the #25 BMW M8 GTE. Connor De Philippi sharing with Phillip Eng, Timo Glock, and Bruno Spengler. In the #9 Pfaff Porsche, that lineup is also stacked with talent. Zacharie Robichon, the Canadian, sharing with Lars Kern, Porsche's Nürburgring test driver, Matt Campbell, and Laurens Vanthoor. Daytona is lit up well, and it never used to be. Back in the glory days of IMSA, the track was very, very dark. But not so much anymore.
We are almost done with another racing hour in another 15 minutes or so. A traffic jam in the pit lane for GTD. The marshals have to double check the order. Overlap into the fast lane means a car has to be allowed in. We watch Ian James leading GTD right now in the #23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage. James, the Brit, is sharing with British Aston Martin factory drivers Ross Gunn and Darren Turner, and Canadian Roman De Angelis.
With sports cars, their designs are made for the banking, almost. We are back to racing as Felipe Nasr leads Renger van der Zande as we are coming to the end of another racing hour as Renger van der Zande moves around Simon Pagenaud. We are back to green flag racing. #01 needs heat in the tires van der Zande is in a rhythm. Tommy Milner leads James Calado and Antonio Garcia in GTLM. A year ago, the Corvette C8.R debuted here at the Rolex 24. There will be no more GT Le Mans racing after 2021. GT Daytona will have a Pro and Pro Am class with all GT3 cars. GTLM is a bespoke car for IMSA and Le Mans. But with GT3 there will be more makes and more cars.
The #3 Corvette has Antonio Garcia, "The King of Spain", Jordan Taylor, and Nicky Catsburg. The #4 sister car has a few new drivers. Nick Tandy and Alexander Sims, moving over from Porsche and BMW respectively, alongside Tommy Milner. Renger van der Zande has sliced his way around Felipe Nasr side drafting him as we are getting closer to the third hour. Bruno Spengler says he and his BMW team are fine after the weird incident with the #79 Porsche. Austin Dillon, 2018 Daytona 500 champion, is hoping for more seat time, and so, he is sharing with a number of drivers. Hold the phone ladies and gentlemen. We have trouble for the #29 Racing Team Nederland LMP2 car as well. Frits van Eerd, head of Jumbo grocery stores in Holland, has crunched the wall. This is our third Full Course Yellow of the 2021 Rolex 24.
Back to Rick Ware Racing. They hope to run several types of racing including sports cars, IndyCar, and NASCAR. Their lineup for RWR Eurasia in LMP2 includes the aforementioned 2018 Daytona 500 winner, Austin Dillon, Cody Ware, Turkish Aston Martin World Endurance driver Salih Yoluc, and Sven Mueller from Germany.
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