Sunday, January 31, 2021

Rolex 24: Hour 21

Christina Nielsen, Katherine Legge, Rob Ferriol, and Earl Bamber have been running really well.  Filipe Albuquerque continues to lead.  Simon Pagenaud says it was fun to drive and race against the Acura and their drivers.  He's amazed at how high the level is in sports car racing currently.  Pagenaud realizes we still have two IndyCar races left to go as far as distance.  #48 has spun a few times.  The turbo in the Acura behaves differently.  The turbo gives a lot of power but not instantaneously.  Normally aspirated V8 = instant power.  Pagenaud is having lots of fun.  Mike Rockenfeller and Kamui Kobayashi will finish the motor race.  An issue on the tire change for the #01 CGR Cadillac.  Trouble with the rattle gun.  The nut was recalcitrant and didn't go on.  It was also maybe a recalcitrant rattle gun.  Is the balance good in the #48?  Will they have handling woes?  Will the balance of the car become a concern?

Take advantage of every single thing that you can.  Find a way to make opportunities work.  Chase Elliott is back on track in the #31 Whelen Cadillac.  Chase Elliott is 22 laps down, but he will run and gain more experience in the #31 car for future appearances in IMSA races that could indeed be in the cards.  Salih Yoluc has the wheel of the #51 RWR-Eurasia Ligier.  Austin Dillon, Salih Yoluc, Cody Ware, and Sven Muller.  Mike Rockenfeller has been struggling with handling in the #48 Cadillac.  Keep adjusting the car with the tools you have in the cockpit.  In GT Daytona, Mercedes run 1-2.  Philip Ellis leads the motor race for Winward Racing and in second, Luca Stolz for SunEnergy1.  Ellis once again, sharing with Russell Ward, Indy Dontje, and Maro Engel.  Mercedes, I don't know if they've won GTD at the Rolex.

How close can the #48 car come to winning at Daytona?  Currently, the Rockenfeller/Johnson/Pagenaud/Kobayashi machine is fourth while there is more trouble for the #31.  #48 pits again but they need a yellow maybe to see if the car is running well in terms of balance.  Kamui Kobayashi watches and wonders.  In LMP2, the "Crayon Car" painted by Owen from Ottawa in Canada, is leading LMP2.  Paul Loup Chatin is driving and he is being followed by Gabriel Aubry, Fabian Schiller, and Salih Yoluc.  Marco Wittman was flashing the lights to a GTD car saying "get out of my way!" and then along comes a DPi doing the very same thing to him!  Poor old chap was getting mixed signals there.

The sole surviving #82 DragonSpeed Flexi Box Oreca 07 continues on track.  There is some smoke or dust emanating from the rear of it.  That's smoke and it looks faint and wispy.  Is that oil coming from the Gibson 4.2 liter V8?  Or maybe me old eyes are just plauing tricks again.  There is smoke emanating from the #82.  The #81 is out of the race.  Now, there's smoke out the right bank of cylinders.  These issues don't fix themselves and when they are out of oil, that usually means the engine is cooked.  The LMP3 cars are racing as they were, not heavily modified for endurance except for brake changes.  Now, the #74 Riley Motorsports Riley.  Robinson Racing, and George Robinson, Gar's father, were legendary at the Rolex 24 and in other U.S. sports car racing.

George Robinson has won at Daytona but not at the Rolex 24.  Spencer Pigot and Oliver Askew share that car.  Oliver Askew didn't come from a racing family but his family did give him a go kart and he was hooked.  The #82 is in the lane.  Fabian Schiller out of the car and Eric Lux into the car.  The car is still smoking.  They have to diagnose the trouble and the bonnet is coming off the car.  Is this engine oil or gearbox oil leaking?  The majority of the smoke was coming fro the CV joint on the rear wheel, although the engine may be smoking as well, the English built Gibson 4.2 liter V8 which by the way has a great engine note.

The #79 WeatherTech GTLM Porsche 911 RSR-19 is still out there pounding around.  Pretty amazing as those boys have had a fraught race.  MSR Acura and Ganassi Cadillac are also in a scrap of their own through the Internatonal Horseshoe and through the sixth corner coming up onto the high banks.  This is the third place battle between A.J. Allmendinger and Scott Dixon.  Dixon has tried everything and Allmendinger slams the door in his face.  So "The Dinger" is on the gas, and poor old Dixon is throwing the kitchen sink at the Acura DPi driver.  Allmendinger tries a side draft, but no dice.  Albuquerque still leads the motor race.    

No comments:

Post a Comment