We have crossed the three hour threshold. They will not win but Ashton Harrison will. Matt McMurry has anchored the team. Many co-drivers have run with McMurry. Into the lane comes the #6 K-PAX Lamborghini. All of this is now done and dusted. Corey Lewis, on his birthday, is very happy. It is a homecoming for him where he raced his first pro race at Indianapolis back in 2014. So, K-PAX car #6 is in the lane. Jordan Pepper says that the #3 Lambo got very lucky with a couple of punctures and they have not made any mistakes in the race so far. The Ferrari's are unbelievably strong. Amdrea Caldarelli says that he is not sure Lamborghini will be able to fight the Ferrari's on outright speed. But the strategy is what K-PAX is focusing on and they are officially champions.
So, we focus on finishing this motor race as we get closer and closer to halfway. Alessio Rovera continues to hold the lead by just under nine seconds over the sister car of Nicklas Nielsen, followed by Mirko Bortolotti, Markus Winkelhock, and Raffaele Marciello. So, Ferrari, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, Mercedes. Stay in the game. We've seen a lot of attrition especially from the Audi camp. We have settled into a rhythm for a frantic first two hours and now, the race has settled into a pattern, perhaps. Nicklas Nielsen, the Dane, runs second. This is fun. A great race so far at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 39 cars took the start earlier as we have just under five hours left to race.
Alessio Rovera's lead has grown to ten seconds. Robin Frijns in the #37 WRT Audi, he is four laps down to the overall leader. He is two or three seconds off the leader's pace. Akward here, look as Tim Pappas gets chopped by a GT3 car. This is the Black Swan Racing Porsche Cayman. Pappas, along with the Bleekemolen brothers, Jeroen and Sebastian. Tim Pappas had a massive wreck at Bathurst a few years ago and broke his leg and his hip! Ouch! But he is back now. Smooge Racing and the Toyota Supra, they have had a good race today, climbing their way through the field from the back. Kevin Conway driving, sharing with John Geesbreght and Jack Hawksworth. The sole Toyota Supra in the field compared to Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, teams that have fleets of cars.
Brands that have fleets of cars I ought to say. Steve Hallam, who engineered McLaren's in Formula 1, he is now working with Toyota. John Geesbreght almost had his hands full with Tim Pappas. Pappas dives for the pit lane. Tony Ave and Bill Riley are assisting. Ave helps in team ownership. John Geesbreght is a teenager at 18-19 years old. They will surely step up next year. Geesbreght had done no racing at all in anything prior to last year racing in Mazda MX5 Cup. Kevin Conway has helped the team out greatly.
Toyota leads GT4. Staying with GT4, Jason Hart has the #47 Nolasport Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport in third. Meanwhile, Nicolas Baert, the Belgian, leads the Silver division in eighth overall just ahead of Luca Stolz in the Mercedes in the Pro class. The Audi's are balanced and don't stress out their tires. Ashton Harrsion, she is running extremely well so far, as part of the HPD Driver Academy and team boss John Mirachi. Ashtyn Harrison, she is being eyed by several manufacturers as she is also running in Lamborghini Super Trofeo. Those Lamborghini Super Trofeo cars are powerful beasts.
Alessio Rovera leads the motor race for Ferrari. It is a Ferrari 1-2. Not a lot of Ferrari history on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. Juan Manuel Fangio for instance. Michael Schumacher really dominated the Grand Prix races here. Five times, Michael Schumacher has won five races here. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon have won stock car races aplenty here at The Brickyard as well. Alessio Rovera now leads by 13.1 seconds. Rosso Corsa and yellow, of Ecurie Francorchamps, Francorchamps Motors, from Belgium, who used to run all yellow Ferrari's in sports car races.
Mirko Bortolottois slicing and dicing past a GT4 Porsche and we saw Mikael Grenier in the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes as well. Markus Winkelhock is overcoming a drive through penalty now. Raffaele Marciello and AKKA ASP are now fifth. He drops a wheel off the road somehow. Felipe Fraga had visa issues getting into the country, so he could not be here. But Dani Juncadella, Raffaele Marciello, and Timur Boguslavskiy of course. This great race track at Indianapolis, was once paved all in bricks.
Luca Stolz is keeping the Mooneyes Mercedes in the fight. A real mix between the GT3 and GT4 cars. We have only nine cars on the lead lap and are nearing four and a half hours to go. Luca Stolz, ninth overall, he is the final car on the lead lap I believe. We shall see. Ferrari, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, Mercedes the top five. It should be true by now that sadly, Winward Racing are out of the race. Game over. What will Mario Farnbacher's pace be in the #77 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3? Ashton Harrison sharing with Mario Farnbacher and Matt McMurry.
Stay on the lead lap so you can catch the leaders should there be a Full Course Yellow. Rovera continues in the lead of the race. You've missed nothing unless you are a diehard Ferrari fan, part of the Tifosi. Luca Stolz, again, final car on the lead lap, the #99 Craft Bamboo Mercedes. 1:36 is his quickest lap. He has to stay in the game and keep it on the lead lap. But the Ferrari team know they can pass and go for it. Side by side stuff into turn one. Nicolas Baert and Luca Stolz, and Stolz almost gets bombarded! He almost ran into that Audi!
The Audi is nothing more than a mobile chicane even though he is leading in Solver. Rovera moves past. Stolz is going to go a lap down. Big move and a GT4 car in the way! Oh my heart! Aurelien Panis ahead, son of Olivier Panis, Formula 1 driver and 1996 Monaco Grand Prix winner. Rovera will put Panis a lap down. Now there are eight cars left on the lead lap. Max Root and Kyle Washington for Wright Motorsports and GMG, both in Porsche's are blocking Stolz's way. You are eating up that lead. Have the discipline, and don't make an uncalculated move. Rovera leads Nielsen. Rovera needs to move past Kyle Washington. Oh my! Sideways over the curbs and Rovera gets balked.
He will be on fire with this lapped car in the way! Washington needs to give it up. Get on the horn and say, "give it up as the overall leader is behind you." Now, Rovera is in clear air. He will be extremely upset. Dang back markers. Rovera leads Nielsen and Nicklas Nielsen is closing in. 7.6 seconds is gthe gap. Nielsen will have to cotnend with the same traffic that balked Rovera. This format of the Indianapolis road course is a hybrid of courses used by IndyCar, Formula 1, and MotoGP. Some series limit the ability to flash the lights at your competitors.
Stolz has Rovera right on his six. Luca Stolz is still at risk of going a lap down and needs a Full Course Yellow. Craft Bamboo Racing, led by former sports car racer, Darryl O'Young. Craft Bamboo are racing for the first time in a long while. They were supposed to race at Suzuka in the 10 hour race. Contact between Rovera and Stolz around the lapped GT4 BMW's! Stolz fights being lapped and no dice. Rovera makes the move and puts the #99 a lap down. Holy guacamole! More lapped traffic fromt he GT4 machines but the GT4 lads cannot just hit a disappear button or a smokescreen. Speaking of GT4, it is pit stop time.
One of the class leading car, the class leading car, is in the lane. Nicklas Nielsen, second place, working his way through traffic, both GT3 and GT4 cars. Nielsen had been closing up hand over fist. But when you hit traffic, you are in a pickle. Ashton Harrison has made a pit stop in the #77 Acura NSX GT3. Mario Farnbacher should be taking over that automobile. The net loss on a pit stop will be about 28 seconds if there is a drive through penalty instead of a conventional pit stop. John Geesbreght is trying to challenge Andy Lally in one of the Porsche Cayman's. That is the TRG entry. Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, and Derek DeBoer.
Nicklas Nielsen spins! Oh my gosh! Did not see that coming. He is now delayed. Nielsen carves the apex too tight in turn 13. He has squared/cubed his tires. So he will have to pit. John Geesbreght, the GT4 leader also had a heart in mouth moment! Wowzers! Nielsen is now 19 seconds behind his team mate. Alessio Rovera is sliding the Ferrari, but his lead grows to 20 seconds. Mirko Bortolotti and K-PAX Racing are coming closer to taking over the second spot.
Nicklas Nielsen would know if there is damage. Replay again. Geesbeght was down to the inside. Geesbreght could have slowed down and given a tad more room. The stewards are reviewing the situation. The K-PAX Lamborghini has come through to the front after early tire woes. A big field. 2/3rd of the field GT3 cars and 1/3rd, GT4. John Geesbreght, after clipping the Ferrari, might have right front suspension trouble. It looks cambered in on the tire. He must be feeling something. What on earth could have happened to John Geesbreght? He is clearly running off the pace making way for Andy Lally and Chandler Hull.
Geesbreght has to head for the pit lane. Geesbreght goes hard right to Gasoline Alley to the garages. There must be fluid spewing out of the car. Something ight be wrong on the telemetry. Sebastian Bleekemolen now inherits the lead in class in GT4. Race Control says there is an investigation between the #51 Ferrari and the #68 Toyota Supra. But it was indeed a racing incident. Pit stop time for the Crucial Motorsports McLaren. Rob Bell gets out and we'll see who drives it next. Luca Stolz is in the lane and so are K-PAX Racing with Mirko Bortolotti. Rovera pits the #51 Ferrari from the lead of the motor race.
A driver change underway. Antonio Fuoco returns to the seat. Closing in on halfway. Ferrari have dominated up to this point. Fuel, done. Driver change, done. Tires going on now. New, fresh Pirelli P Zero's. Nicklas Nielsen is now in the race lead. Nielsen in the lead. Driver change for this car as well. They are analyzing the car and they have to wait to change tires. The sister car is exiting the lane and Antonio Fuoco ought to regain the lead. Third place for Jordan Pepper in the #3 K-PAX Racing Lamborghini.
Giacomo Altoe has the fastest top speed at 168 miles an hour. Closer and closer to halfway. How much ground did the undercut gain? 14.7 seconds the gap.
No comments:
Post a Comment