We have just spent about an hour and a half under green. This is the 13th Full Course Yellow of the race. 393 laps under green. Pipo Derani has completed 465 laps, 1,655 miles. We still do not know who was on fire. It will be pit stop time again very soon. The turn one line is fairly traditional. The LMP3 car is far off the road. What happened to this said automobile? It could be the #7 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine of Antoine Doquin, the Frenchman. This car has had issues as we see Felipe Fraga still leading LMP3 aboard the #74 Riley Motorsports entry. Doquin is safe and sound, Thank God. IMSA Radio pit reporter Shea Adam has just tweeted that. Let's hope Doquin has not inhaled noxious black smoke. Cadillac #02 and Acura #60 have been into the pit lane. The #48 Ally Cadillac has also pitted.
Colton Herta and James Allen, for DragonSpeed and G-Drive have pitted, plus the #29 Racing Team Nederland entry. James Allen in the #69. Rui Andrade for Tower Motorsports in the #8 has also pitted and the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports entry of Malthe Jakobsen is in the lane too, from fifth in class in LMP3. Doquin is out of the car and the car is now being back on the flatbed truck drenched in fire extinguishant. Game over. Did not see the incident. All we saw was the smoke cloud in the darkness. What a quality field this has been this year. The #99 Team Hardpoint Porsche is in the pit lane in GT Daytona.
Stefan Wilson is in the car at the moment and the car looks like it is in great shape. Also in the pit lane, the #15 WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3. Patrick Assenheimer at the controls of the #15 entry. This is the Proton USA entry in GTD Pro. Matthieu Jaminet in the Pfaff Porsche leads the Vasser Sullivan dayglow yellow Vasser Sullivan Lexus followed by Davide Rigon in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3. The #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac is in the pit lane now. Eight and 3/4 hours left. 61 cars started this race. We have to see how many are left. Matteo Cairoli is currently in the #79 WeatherTech GTD Pro Porsche 911 GT3R. Malthe Jakobsen was supposed to get into the car but his co-driver Dr. Lance Willsey needs more time before handing over to Jakobsen.
We await the green flag. Pipo Derani leads Loic Duval, Will Stevens, and Simon Pagenaud, currently. What will happen on this restart? Kyle Kirkwood has now gone past Davide Rigon and is behind Matthieu Jaminet. We will restart at the end of this lap. Conor Daly has tweeted about Wayne Taylor being a cool dude and a professional in motorsports. Down the backstretch they come, approaching the Le Mans chicane. The safety car has disappeared and gone up the road. Pipo Derani leads the pack of Dpi's to turn one. Here comes Simon Pagenaud on Will Stevens. Stevens is a rolling roadblock for Alex Lynn and Kamui Kobayashi is back out in the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac with Hendrick Motorsports. The #01 Scott Dixon driven Ganassi Racing Cadillac is laps down but still out there.
Pipo Derani kicks up dust in the chicane! Yikes! Loic Duval has passed Pipo Derani for the lead. Will Stevens is now chasing down Simon Pagenaud. The Acura's are faster on the speedway than the Cadillac's are or so it seems. This is English weather we have in Florida this weekend. Dylan Murry leads LMP2 over Colton Herta, James Allen, and Rui Andrade. We are a few hours away from sunrise. Loic Duval uncorks the fastest lap of the race at 1:33.834. Pipo Derani, 3.3 seconds behind. Porsche's lead in both GTD classes right now. The #69 G-Drive LMP2 has severe tire damage and is sparking while the sister car is serving a drive through penalty.
We wonder why Kevin Magnusen lost the lead an hour or so ago. Right rear tire is down on the #69 G-Drive car in LMP2. Hopefully the wheel arch and the rear deck are not damaged. They will have to replace the tail on that car. Nose to tail now between Duval and Derani. A few seasons ago, these cars were run by the same stable but not anymore. Derani is now reeling in Duval. Derani is now 1.6 seconds behind. Traffic giveth and traffic taketh away. G-Drive #69 going behind the wall for suspension repairs. They need to cut the tire away from the suspension, and it has spiraled out of control from G-Drive and Algarve Pro Racing, a team or two from the European Le Mans Series.
The GTD Pro and GTD cars are pouring their way pnto the straightaway. Kyle Kirkwood vs. Davide Rigon. Brad Goldburg and company at the Performance Tech #38 LMP3 car said that there was a fuel pressure issue on that car about an hour or so ago. Cadillac #02 has pitted 33 times while the race leading DPi entries have only done 24 pit stops. Rigon has passed Kirkwood in GTD Pro. Matthieu Jaminet for Pfaff Motorsports leads Dennis Olsen for KCMG. Daniel Juncadella is now at the controls of the #97 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes, and we have a spin for the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin who is rejoining at the Le Mans chicane, Spencer Pumpelly at the wheel of it. Quick spin and he is back on his way.
He slid across the grass and he hit the wing on the... boom. Ah. Maybe the rear window fell out of that car. Pipo Derani pits froms econd spot in the #31 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express. Fuel only, and no tires. Tristan Nunez is now back in the car, in the #31. #5 is now in the lane as well, look. This was predicted. Loic Duval in from the lead of the motor race. There was some confusion about changing tires and they did change the tires. Tristan Vautier now at the controls. Tristan Nunez is back in the #31 Whelen Cadillac indeed. Nunez is now fifth. The Tristan and Tristan show is underway. Simon Pagenaud, Alex Lynn, and Will Stevens will pit. Stevens is in now aboard the #10 WTR Acura. Will Stevens almost hits Will Owen in the #22 United Autosport LMP2 car! Where there are two Will's, there's a way! OK. That was bad.
Jan Heylen and Lucas Auer have been switching back and forth. The #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche and the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes. Ollie Milroy is in the sole remaining McLaren for Inception Racing sharing with Brendon Iribe, Fredric Schandorff, and Jordan Pepper. Brendon Iribe is a McLaren specialist and Inception Racing ran a Ferrari at Le Mans last year in the GTE-Am class of the FIA World Endurance Championship. Pagenaud and Lynn should both pit soon. More stops for LMP2. It is very nippy out there for Florida. Grab coffee or tea and stay warm. So, Colton Herta hits the lane for DragonSpeed and he is down and away. Rui Andrade and Nicolas Lapierre have pitted. Lapierre is in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsport entry sharing with Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen, and Scott Huffaker.
Lapierre has been the gold standard in LMP2 particularly at Le Mans. Daniel Juncadella is catching Davide Rigon hand over fist for third in class in GTD Pro. Ollie Milroy is trying to catch Lucas Auer while Jan Heylen leads GTD in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Seven brands in the top eight of GTD. Porsche, Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Lexus, BMW. We are an hour and a half or so away from sunrise. Tristan Nunez has moved back to the lead of the motor race. 6.6 seconds the margin.
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