We have seen numerous teams and all competitors, to let them know the tire pressures are being monitored. The #70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 has retaken the lead in GT Daytona. IMSA President John Doonan is very excited as the LMP2 and GTD Pro and GTD teams from Europe coming in. There are scouts here for the race. The driving quality has been great in IMSA these last few years. Sports car racing has a bright future. The GTD cars seem to be cooperating. If you are being overtaken by a DPi or other prototype, stay low. Richard Westbrook continues to lead this motor race and he is now pitting. In IMSA, with GTP on the horizon, the IndyCar drivers are having a big advantage to race these cars as they are very similar to the open wheel entries.
Use strategy and take care of current pit stops. IMSA also has to keep looking ahead. The #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac has pitted. Mike Conway has moved up to fourth in the #31 Whelen Cadillac. Bourdais and Albuquerque are inbetween in second and third. As IMSA is executing this season, we are about to see a legacy moment for the world of endurance sports car racing. GTD and GTD Pro racing together, this is fantastic to equate these GT3 cars. No waiting for Europe. He is leading GT3 racing to the feature. Doug Fehan, who used to be with Corvette, he has good things to say about this GT3 convergence plan.
Jim France, Ed Bennett, and John Doonan, they believe "the market will speak" as far as cars and teams that can race. Consumer identifiable and available to customers. The business model works a treat. The GTE/GTLM homologation was ending. So, now, GT3 is definitely to the fore. They race worldwide. With GTP, manufacturers can showcase for overall victories. Not all brands can get their becuase of their brand strategy, powertrain strategy or cycle in nameplates. 13 GTD Pro cars and 22 GTD cars, 35 GT3 cars out there.
Maro Engel leading GTD Pro right now as we see the #47 Cetilar Ferrari backing it into the fence, and we have a pit stopmfor the #01 Chip Ganassi Cadillac. Ford will be coming with a Mustang GT3 in 2024. That is a mere two years away. Still bitterly cold in Daytona. The forecast will be warming up next week but not for today with an expected daytime high of 55 degrees by the time this race ends. Acura running 1-2. Jimmie Johnson is now in the #48 Ally Cadillac. All seven DPi cars in contention. Richard Westbrook has worked his way back to the top level of sports car racing after being with the Ford factory team, the Ford GT, and also in the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R in the beginning of 2020 before the pandemic.
Now, young blokes are going to sports cars instead of open wheel racing. Richard Westbrook, at 46 years old, still has the vitality to be racing sports cars. Being an IndyCar driver, it is a very small universe. But sports car racing, it sounds like we will have a bigger tent with manufacturer involvement as well, and do not forget the GTP ranks coming in. Maro Engel is now in the #97 WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3. Drive anything you can. That is the best advice for a youngster getting into this sport to be totally honest.
Pit stop time now for the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Fuel, tires, and a clean windscreen at the very least for Helio Castroneves who I believe is still in the car. Nope. Oliver Jarvis is now back into the car for MSR. DPi has been wide open while other cars have been able to get back in the fight. The #60 MSR Acura comes to a stop in turn six! Jarvis is off the road! Cold tires, almost getting to the wall. So, Jarvis is back on track but he has to get back in it, but discretion can be the better part of valor. The record low at the Rolex 24 was 28 degrees in 1966. The #60 has to have a flat spotted tire.
Sebastien Bourdais has taken over the lead in the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac. Pato O'Ward is now leading LMP2. So, Sebastien Bourdais has taken the overall lead. Devlin DeFrancesco and Colton Herta are in this car as well in the #81 DragonSpeed LMP2 entry. Elton Julian who runs DragonSpeed was a promising racing driver poised for Formula 1 and could not get there. He has become a team boss and they've won this race before in LMP2. Eric Lux has been a longtime driver with Elton Julian. Louis Deletraz is next in line ahead of Giedo van der Garde and Luca Ghiotto. The Acura teams know they are being harried by the Cadillac's. It is a three horse race among the Cadillac's between Ganassi Racing, JDC-Miller, and Action Express.
The cold makes for horrid track conditions. We are all trying to stay warm and awake tonight at Daytona and for yours truly, writing about the race from Minnesota, staying warm, wishing he were at Daytona. I would like to come back next year for the GTP debut. But, hopefully it will be warmer in a year's time. An off track excursion for the #48 Ally Cadillac for Action Express, Sparks emanating from the right rear corner of the car. He spun in the Le Mans chicane. Jimmie Johnson at the controls. He made contact with the #15 WeatherTech Mercedes in GTD. Suspension damage for the #48.
The #48 makes the hard left to the garage and the pit crew is taking the bodywork off the car. Dirk Mueller in the #15 WeatherTech Mercedes tagged the #48. The rear fender of the Mercedes tore through the #48. Contact happened on the narrowing turn at some point on the road. The #48 is in dire straits as Sebastien Bourdais leads overall in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac. Richard Westbrook second in the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac and Mike Conway is third in the #31 Action Express Whelen entry. At the exit of the Le Mans chicane, the #71 T3 Motorsport North America Lamborghini is off the road and is still stranded.
Misha Goikhberg is at the wheel of it, the Canadian, sharing with Franck Perera of France, Matteo Llarena of Guatemala, and Maximilian Paul of Germany. So, lots of damage for the #48 Cadillac. They are still diagnosing the issue. The driveshaft has probably been bashed into the side of the transmission. The pickup points of the transmission and the frame have been damaged. Not good for that team. Out of fuel for the #71. Goikhberg is still stranded out there and the marshals will have to find some way to get him back to the paddock and the garage. DPi pitstops will be happening soon. Richard Westbrook and JDC-Miller Motorsports stopped right before the Full Course Yellow.
Sebastien Bourdais, Mike Conway and others, will maybe need fuel shortly. Bourdais is 20 laps into a stint. 20, 21, 22 laps for a DPi stint. Pits are open for prototypes. We will be at the end of another racing hour in about a minute. Bourdais did not decide to pit. #60, #10, and #31 are all in. Routine service for the DPi entries. The #01 is headed for the garage as well! Oh my! Sebastien Bourdais to the garage! Holy smokes!
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