10.2 seconds separate Kevin Magnussen in the lead of DPi from Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura. Jimme Johnson is now back on the track after a pit stop. We see Pipo Derani still third and Loic Duval fourth. Well, it is great to see the #48 Ally Cadillac back on the road. At halfway, there were seven cars on the lead lap before the #48 and the #01 entries hit trouble. The #01 is still having issues with the wiring loom. Johnson and company are now back on track and trying their hardest to make up time. 45 minutes in the garage to get the crash damage fixed. Jimmie Johnson and company are now 25 laps down. Mike Rockenfeller, Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez. This is Lopez's first Rolex 24.
Close call there for Tijman van der Helm in the #69 G-Drive LMP2 car. He ran once in Michelin Le Mans Cup but is a single seater racer in Formula 3. So, he is learning the sports car racing ropes. The #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche has been off the road in the west horseshoe as Mikael Grenier has passed for the class lead in GT Daytona. Jan Heylen is 2.9 seconds behind. Loic Duval is seven seconds adrift from Pipo Derani and Oliver Jarvis is doing what he can to be in striking distance of the Frenchman. Filipe Albuquerque is now 17 seconds in-arrears of the #02 Ganassi Cadillac of Kevin Magnussen. 437 laps onj the board for the top three, 1,556 miles. Rui Andrade is trying to catch Patricio O'Ward. 15 and a half seconds between them. Third is Giedo van der Garde and then Tijmann van der Helm. Pato O'Ward is in the pit lane for service.
A driver change, in the #81. Jimmie Johnson is in recovery mode in the #48 Ally Cadillac. Colton Herta now in the #81. Acura #10, Filipe Albuquerque in the lane and Loic Duval in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. Simon Pagenaud is now up to second in front of Pipo Derani. 4:00 A.M. Eastern Time. So, we are in that "zombie land" stage by now. 442 laps, 1,573 and a half miles. Magnussen now leads Derani by 29 seconds. Trouble for the TR3 Lamborghini, the #63 entry. Andrea Caldarelli at the controls. In GTD Pro, it remains Jules Gounon in the lead of the class.
Dennis Olsen is trying to move in on Ben Barnicoat. We wonder now where the #59 Crucial Motorsports McLaren which has had a fraught race. They were having gearbox troubles earlier on/. The #59 may have received the marker of doom. We have a car stopped or moving slowly between turns three and four on the tri oval. We are staying green. Pipo Derani is now in the lead for the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac, 8/10ths of a second over Will Stevens who is catching up. Let's not count our chickens. Loic Duval is third and is in striking range as well. Simon Pagenaud and Kevin Magnussen are also right in the fight as well.
Kevin Magnussen is now moving in to get back towards the front of the field as Pipo Derani now leads by four seconds. We have seen some woes for the #63 TR3 Lamborghini I believe, as we follow the lead battle in DPi. The alternator issues we have seen, may be a byproduct of cold weather. Six seconds covering the top three places. Rain and cold have affected the Free Practice sessions for this race as well. Free Practice was pointless for accumulating the data. Kevin Magnussen is balked again by one of the GTD cars, there is an Aston Martin there, the Magnus Racing #44. Is that the Masked Racer? Racer X, from Speed Racer?
That is actually Tom Gamble in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin apparently. Pit stop time for the much delayed #48 Ally Cadillac. Jimmie Johnson out and into the car, it looks like Kamui Kobayashi. Will Stevens is now second and reeling in Pipo Derani, trimming his advantage by a second and a half, down to 2.6 seconds. The lead gap is now growing and going back to 3.3 seconds. We are down to 30 degrees Fahrenheit in Florida. Holy moly Martha! Loic Duval is trying to pass Will Stevens and they split the #9 Pfaff Porsche! Yikes! Matthieu Jaminet must have almost had a heart attack there! Loic Duval wants by Will Stevens, and he wants it now.
Stevens is still fending off the challenge of Loic Duval. Duval has more grip and then makes it stick passing Stevens again. Through the Le Mans chicane they go. Will Stevens has tried and made the pass on Loic Duval, and those two are five seconds behind as the #32 Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes wriggles off the road with James Davison, the Aussie at the wheel of it. So he got the rough end of the pineapple there, at least briefly. Cadillac #01 is in the pit lane another time for regular service it appears. Duval is in the lane and now the order shuffles.
Tire temps and pressures are a problem, and they are a reverse cumulative issue. Don't fall off the edge of a cliff on that. GT3 cars run 26 lap stints. Acura #10 to the pit lane for service. We also see the #02 in. Frost on a racetrack is a scary proposition. Simon Pagenaud, on the pit exchange, he has taken the lead and Pipo Derani is now trying to pass Alex Lynn. The #60 MSR Acura is in for tires and fuel with Pagenaud at the controls. Pipo Derani has moved back up to second. Frost issues would be in the pit lane more than on the track, thanks to an astute observer and IMSA Radio fan Dave Alcock. Jules Gounon has already run the 12 Hours of Abu Dhabi, the 24 Hours of Dubai, the 24 Hours of Daytona, and he will also do the Kyalami 9 Hours next weekend, and, the four races in Asian Le Mans Series which yours truly really hopes to cover again.
Full Course Yellow again, for the 13th time. There is a car on fire behind the scorign tiower. A fire has broken out in a car. Pipo Derani is still listed in the lead. Now, who is on fire? We need to know. Coming to the end of yet another racing hour. Now we need to figure out about this car that is on fire. It is very chilly up on the roof. There is a car on fire behind the scoring tower. Maybe there was some type of collision. We have completed 15 hours. One of the LMP3 entries may be on fire. We need to check the car and the number.
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