Several firsts could be possible at the end of this race. Now, the #48 Ally Cadillac is still pushing extremely hard. Less than an hour to go. Kamui Kobayashi is now fourth. Simon Pagenaud says he has really enjoyed being around Action Express and knowing how to work together with other teams. Pagenaud is a sports car racing veteran. His greatest achievement was winning the 2019 Indianapolis 500. Acura #10 is in the lane. Filipe Albuquerque is running well in the handling department. The DPi cars will all have to do a splash and dash with 20 minutes to go. Harry Tincknell, too, pitted. Five lead lap cars for the overall would be a record for the Rolex 24.
#01 and #48 pass. Renger van der Zande moves to the lead. It is amazing that pit strategy could work into the factors of a 24 hour race. Now, Kamui Kobayashi is pushing for the lead. Kobayashi is going to use all he has left in the tank, but he is perhaps losing distance to Van der Zande but he is not giving up. It may come down to a mano e mano battle. Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Konica Minolta Acura DPi is still in contention as well. Final pit stops for GTLM between Corvette and BMW. Jordan Taylor revving the motor and the Corvette passes the BMW for GTLM. That's going to be a slugfest for the final 48 minutes. #3 locks the brakes on cold tires in the International Horseshoe! Wow!
He almost overcooks it. A lucky break there, look, for Jordan Taylor! Egad! Tommy Milner in the sister car now in the pit lane. 45 minutes to go. Kamui Kobayashi is reeling in Renger van der Zande. Kobayashi dives into the braking zone. Kobayashi is pressing Van der Zande. How will Van der Zande play the traffic. The two team mates the last two years who won this motor race together are now rivals. 40 minutes on the board. #01 and #48 nearly came together during the night. Match fuel to the tires. The #10 has spent six less minutes on pit road than the #01 and the #48 is still in the fight.
Albuquerque is 4.4 seconds down on the top two. Jordan Taylor has just gone by Tommy Milner. Milner did the overcut. Engel leads Marciello and Caldarelli in GTD. The two Mercedes' are in contention. DPi cars headed for the pit. #01 and #48 pit together. #01 has a faster stop! The shorter fill for ther #10 Acura are in. Now, the #55 Mazda pits as well. The fight is on now to the end with 32 minutes left. Filipe Albuquerque leads. Albuquerque vs. Van der Zande and then Tincknell and Kobayashi. Again, Albuquerque leads Van der Zane. BMW #25 off the road in turn one.
BMW #25 makes it to pit lane for a splash and dash as we see the #10 Acura in the lead. Filipe Albuquerque has led 320 of 790 laps. Alessandro Pier Guidi and Ferrari leads GTLM. Gabriel Aubry leads LMP2 and Spencer Pigot in LMP3. Maro Engel leads GTD. A team that came from Michelin Pilot Challenge up to the WeatherTech Championship and they could win in class. They didn't dominate the MPC series. This is their first effort in the WeatherTech Championship. Risi Competizione #62 Ferrari is in the lane. Meanwhile, about the two horse race at the front, that is what it is becoming. WTR Acura vs. CGR Cadillac. The Mazda, and the Action Express Cadillac may not have enough steam to catch up as the clock dwindles.
#01 is reeling in #10. Renger van der Zande pushing Filipe Albuquerque. He is on the attack. He has older right side tires. Side by side. Van der Zande has to back out of the gas. The aero wash is an effect of this. Van der Zande is hyped. He wants this. How bad do you want it? Filipe Albuquerque is making a move to try and escape Renger van der Zande. Watch for traffic. Van der Zande deep on the brakes. Jordan Taylor leads GTLM in the #3 Corvette. Van der Zande is closing up in the headwind. Van der Zande is trying to move past Albuquerque. Here he comes.
Twelve minutes to go. Now nine minutes. No change for the last wee while. It seems as if the Acura could have this motor race signed, sealed, and very nearly, delivered. Renger van der Zande's tire blows! Kamui Kobayashi is now second trying to hold off the Mazda of Harry Tincknell and company. Three minutes. Never has the top class had five cars on the lead lap in the 58 previous editions of the Rolex 24. Maro Engel moves out of the way. Acura won in the early 1990s in Camel Lights, the predecessor of LMP2. Acura are a lap away from their first overall win in the Rolex 24. Honda won with another team in 2016.
But now, Acura will officially win. WTR will equal Chip Ganassi at three straight, and then, four out of the last five Rolex 24 wins. They shook the car down at Sebring last Tuesday and came here confident. Alexander Rossi, Helio Castroneves, Filipe Albuquerque, and Ricky Taylor win the Rolex 24 at Daytona in hat trick style! Four of the last five years. In GTD, the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes will get the three pointed star winning. Era Motorsports wins LMP2 with their special livery. Riley Motorsports 74 Ranch win LMP3. GT Le Mans honors go to Corvette Racing, Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, and Nicky Catsburg.
That's all for now. Yours truly is mentally drained. What a dramatic motor race this was. We'll see you in 2022.
Overall/DPi: #10 Taylor/Castroneves/Albuquerque/Rossi Acura ARX05
LMP2: #18 Merriman/Tilley/Dalziel/Chatin Oreca 07 Gibson
LMP3: #74 Robinson/Pigot/Andrews/Askew Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT Le Mans: #3 Garcia/Taylor/Catsburg Chevrolet Corvette C8.R
GT Daytona: #57 Ward/Ellis/Dontje/Engel Mercedes AMG GT3'
That's it from the Rolex 24 for 2021. We will discuss how things went for Action Express and also post-race, tomorrow. Yours truly is spent. Endurance racing diehards, get some rest. The 12 Hours of Sebring isn't far away as the next race in the odyssey that is the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. So long, from the legendary Daytona Beach and the mighty Atlantic Ocean. See you soon. Bye bye.
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