Yours truly has been eating dinner and while I was away, a lot happened. Watching on Trackpass, we saw the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Filipe Albuquerque get around the #31 Whelen Engineering Action Express Cadillac. Championship on the line in DPi. We also have seen a massive GT Daytona battle between Wright Motorsports and Pfaff Motorsports. Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner will race in World Endurance Championship competition. One car in IMSA and one car in FIA World Endurance Championship. The two WeatherTech Porsche's of Kevin Estre in #97 and Matthieu Jaminet back in the #79. The gnarly nature of the night and the cold, drivers who love that are what you want in the car.
In GT Daytona, the #23 The Heart of Racing Aston Martin, has gone to second past the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Wright Motorsports in the lane for service. Roman De Angelis wishes he had more drive time. It is 43 degrees ambient temperature. 37 degrees in the pit lane now. The fresh tires are only ten degrees warmer, at 47 degrees. Cold tires at 180 miles an hour. Wrestling between Nick Tandy and Kevin Estre in GTLM! Oh man! Tandy best hope that Estre doesn't get back to his door and Matty Jaminet is moving in! Tandy is going to get mugged by two WeatherTech Porsche's! Corvette are going for their fourth straight win and they haven't won Petit Le Mans in a decade. Plus, the final win in GTLM. Tandy is using NASCAR mentality to stay ahead of the Porsche.
Race Director Beaux Barfield says drive sensibly. We are watching your driving styles. Estre ducks for the lane. An hour and 44 minutes to go in the season. Tandy wants to put you away and doesn't want t give you a second crack at it. One or two stops to get to the end. Zach Veach dives for the lane. Albuquerque catching Juan Pablo Montoya. Action Express in the lane. Pipo Derani out. Felipe Nasr will finish. The #31 has a fade in handling while the #10 has gone up on the handling level. They needed more balance on the #31.
Slice the cake differently. Meyer Shank and Wayne Taylor Racing also in the lane. Who will win this one? Montoya vs. Albuquerque. Simon Pagenaud is the interim leader in the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac. Now then, no changes on the #10. The cold weather has helped them. The #60 was a tad quicker on the stop. Montoya is wriggling and he's off the road. Ricky Taylor is catching it on cold tires. One hour and 40 minutes to go. #10 runs wide. Jarvis and Nasr have more tire temp. Nasr is now split by Montoya from Taylor. But now, Nasr is ahead of Taylor. Nasr on the attack. He is coming in a hurry trying to catch Montoya.
Nasr reeling in Montoya hand over fist. The #48 Action Express, Hendrick Motorsports, Ally Cadillac is in the lane now. Full Service. Looks like a driver changer as well. Just over an hour and a half to go. The #10 is now fourth. Felipe Nasr leads over Juan Montoya now. Filipe Albuquerque says that the conditions are like driving on ice. 12 and a half seconds is the deficit between Nasr and Taylor. Headlights, piercing the gloom of a chilly November evening, in the Georgia pine forests. The fall foliage shrouded in the veil of the night.
Gar Robinson will likely be LMP3 champion. He might have that in his back pocket already. If Ricky Taylor is not feeling it, what do you do? Do you put Filipe Albuquerque or Ricky Taylor in the car? Wayne Taylor said there was no one more honest than his son. He may have the honesty but he has the courage in this situation. He has to force himself to get the job done. Nasr is leading, although Taylor is closing up. Ricky Taylor will stay in the #10 car. The #5 JDC Miller Cadillac is pitting now. Nasr leads Montoya by 3.7 seconds. Taylor is 12.5 seconds behind, closing. Montoya has Oliver Jarvis behind really psuhing him. Trouble at the rear of the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac.
Taylor has lost time. The DPi cars will have to pit twice more and one can be a short stint. Could double stinting hot tires be a decent gamble? How about right side only? Cold tires on one side of the car would be evil, though. It would be a diabolical disaster. Hot fronts and cold rears, maybe. That would be a hell of a lot wiser. So, in LMP2, Thomas Merrill is being monstered by Scott Huffaker for the win in the class in this race. LMP2 is really gaining momentum and we could see as many as ten cars in the Rolex 24 come January for the 60th anniversary running in 2022. Won't be long and we'll be in Daytona again.
Thomas Merrill is now in the lane. Felipe Fraga leads LMP3 in the #74. Nick Tandy has the #4 Corvette in the lane, smoking the tires. No sign yet of the #97 WeatherTech Porsche of Kevin Estre. Nasr leads by 7.1 seconds. #79 is now in the lane. #23, the GT Daytona leading Aston Martin is now in the pit lane. With the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, Sebastien Bourdais has been driving, but they have taken that automobile to the paddock. They have a gearbox issue on that car. Game over for The French Connection. An hour and a quarter remains. Who will spray the champagne and hoist the trophies tonight?
Porsche #9 for Pfaff Motorsports hits the pit lane for full service save for a driver change. Mazda #55 is in the lane too. Driver change in that automobile. The #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Wynn's lubricants entry in LMP2 is in the lane. Tires, fuel, and a driver change as we close in on the final hour of this motor race. The temperature is so darn cold. The tire temperatures have been a challenge all day and night. Felipe Nasr leads the motor race, still. If he finishes where he is or ahead of the Acura #10, they win, while if something happens and #10 gets lucky, they win.
Nasr has been sensational. He is going for his second championship in three years, leaving Action Express for other opportunities. Nasr said that the team at Action Express is like a family. Manage the gap and the decision making with over an hour left. Montoya 3.6 seconds behind. Wow. Mazda wide as Nasr goes by. Cold tires for Tincknell in the Mazda. Track conditions are treacherous as Harry Tincknell winds the Mazda up, the high revving four cylinder turbo in it's farewell drive. We fondly remember two trailbazing women, Simone Simone Janek, photographer and race control chief of IMSA. We also miss Linda Burns who worked here and ran Road Atlanta.
Two ladies who set a great example for women in motorsports. We also miss Bob Bondurant who passed away last night. Racing instructor and racing driver extraordinaire who ran Formula 1, sports cars, and more. All of you, will be missed in the motor racing community. Now then, pit stop time for Action Express. #31 is in. We have also seen a pit stop for the #60 Acura as we get closer and closer to the final hour. Helio Castroneves is now in #60 and the #10, is now in the pits. One stop left for all DPi cars. Scrubbed tires can come up to temperature better.
That is whatn they used on both teams for the #31 and #10. The mold release is off the tire. Cold tires through turn three for Taylor and he makes it. Kamui Kobayashi the erstwhile leader in the #48 Ally Cadillac. Mikkel Jensen balking Ricky Taylor. Jensen will be a Hypercar driver for Peugeot in the FIA World Endurance Championship in 2022. Time is bleeding away between the #10 and the #31. The #9 Motul Pfaff Motorsports Porsche leads the championship and they are 151 points ahead of their closest opposition. Vanthoor now ahead of Ross Gunn. Play it safe and come early to avoid being caught out by a yellow.
If there is a yellow in the last 30 minutes, pit lane is closed. The domino effect will be a big deal. Pfaff team manager Steve Bortolotti wants to win the Rolex 24. That is their Achilles heel and they want to win the new GTD Pro class. Pfaff Motors has just sold their dealer to a big automotive sales business in Canada. Ross Gunn is now pressing Laurens Vanthoor. Gunn had sponsorship from an ice cream company and that is how he got his break, with Beechdean ice cream. Ricky Taylor is now 17 seconds behind Felipe Nasr.
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