We have less than two hours to go and we have five cars separated by 3.3 seconds going for the win. Kobayashi 1.3 seconds back while Jarvis is half a second behind Taylor. Kobayashi runs through the road course but doesn't have the straight line speed. Meantime in the International Horseshoe, Daniel Serra tears up the Rolex signage. Engel and Marciello are still rumbling in GTD. Now, we have a Full Course Yellow for the Rolex signage strewn about in the International Horseshoe. The #01 Ganassi Cadillac has lost speed to Dane Cameron. Mike Conway takes over the #31 Whelen Cadillac and Chase Elliott says that his progression as a sports car driver is getting better. We are under Full Course Yellow. Now, the green flag is on. Taylor, Jarvis, Kobayashi, Cameron. Kobayashi holds off Cameron afer we've seen about ten laps of yellow flag.
Dane Cameron poking his nose at Van der Zande. Kobayashi losing a tad of time on the straight. Battles too in GTLM. Farfus goes by Sims. Daniel Serra went off after being tagged by Andrea Caldarelli in the #1 Lamborghini. Now, Kobayashi is closing on Jarvis and Taylor. No one has ever won three overall titles in three straight years. #48 is struggling on the straights and now, Jarvis is pressing Taylor. The restart is being reviewed by Race Direction. Kobayashi needs a tow to catch Jarvis and Taylor. Less than an hour and 45 minutes to go.
Four cars, four men, going for victory in the greatest sports car race in North America. This is what we face at the conclusion of the 2021, the 59th Rolex 24 at Daytona. BMW is being monstered by Corvette in GTLM. At the front, it is the same four car battle. Acura, Mazda, Cadillac, Cadillac. Matthieu Vaxiviere in the LMP2 leading Tower Motorsports car jumped the restart. Oh dear. LMP2 is going to be a bear. The top five continues as a car goes straight on at the Bus Stop. Not sure who that driver is and what car it is. Now, racing the Rolex 24 in January is totally normal.
Lapped traffic for the leaders. Only eight cars have retired. 41 of the 49 cars still pounding around out there. Wayne Taylor Racing are going for their third straight and fourth overall Rolex 24 win. Action Express going for their fourth Rolex 24 win. Mazda going for their first. #48 in the lane for a quick stop. Kamui Kobayashi stays in the car. Kobayashi is going for the hat trick. In GTLM/GTD here's what's going on. SunEnergy1 in GTD are second. Raffaelle Marciello finishes. Maro Engel in Winward Racing's Mercedes. Now, pit stop time for the #10 and #55. Filipe Albuquerque and Harry Tincknell, both will finish the race for their respective teams.
Dane Cameron has now moved to the lead in the #60 Acura. It appears the remaining GT cars and LMP3s etc. are staying out of the way of the DPi scrap for the win. Meantime,. a battle is on in GTLM as well between BMW and Corvette. #24 vs. #3. An hour and a half now left on the board. Acura #60 in the pit lane. A splash and a dash it looks like. Jimmie Johnson has a passion to drive different cars, different tracks, and different championships. Kobayashi is 6.8 seconds down. Van der Zande is trying to catch Albuquerque. #48 needs pace. Filipe Albuquerque is now leading Renger van der Zande and Harry Tincknell. The #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 car was penalized and now, Ryan Dalziel leads with Era Motorsports and the design of course, has been designed by a six year old kid from Canada named Owen who drew a picture and the team put it on their car.
Ryan Dalziel has the lead in LMP2. 80 minutes left in the motor race now. The race for second is hot! It's Renger van der Zande opening the door and Harry Tincknell runs right through. Kobayashi drops to fourth place. Raffaele Marciello almost loses his footing and Andrea Caldarelli tries to take advantage and almost gets clag and grass in his radiator grill. There's a heavy tailwind right now. A great eclectic blend of cars and also drivers. Pros and gentleman drivers. 59 rookies are racing this event. We had a 75 year old gentleman driver as well. Filipe Albuquerque still leads the race.
Corvette #4 in the pit lane. Now the two Corvette's are battling each other once more. BMW and Corvette continue to scrap and claw for GTLM honors. Jordan Taylor vs. Augusto Farfus. 40 years ago Bobby Rahal won the Rolex 24, again with Bob Garretson and Brian Redman in a Porsche 935. Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, and company, are back in contention. The BMW is staying in range as best as possible. Corvette were penalized earlier on. Augusto Farfus is going for the hat trick in GTLM with BMW. Renger van der Zande brings the #01 Cadillac to their second to last pit stop. Damage again for the #21 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen. This car has been in the wars for a long time and still is. Seventh in GT Daytona for this team even though they've had a very productive race. Maro Engel, factory Mercedes driver driving for Winward Racing. Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje (named after the Indianapolis Motor Speedway), and Maro Engel.
BMW tried to short fuel their car. Not sure if that worked out too well. We shall find out.
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