The GT Daytona Pro cars are on a customer tire, not a confidential tire like GT Le Mans cars were. Kyle Kirkwood in the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 is right in the thick of it with the Corvette's in GTD Pro. Tommy Milner, Jordan Taylor, and Kyle Kirkwood. Kirkwood is the meat in a Corvette sandwich. They are trying to make the car fast with less power and more weight. Corvette Racing also getting used to the antilock brakes that are part of the GT3 rules package. Good battle here, look. between the #4 sister Corvette C8.R GTD and the WeatherTech Mercedes I believe. One of the two WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3's in the field. The LMP2 scrap is also heating up. High Class Racing vs. Racing Team Nederland. Two teams that ran together in the FIA World Endurance Championship who have now very well changed their focus to racing in the states and in IMSA.
Ah. The Jumbo entry is in the pit lane. Frits van Eerd, Giedo van der Garde, and IndyCar star Rinus Veekay sharing with Dylan Murry. The #20 High Class Racing entry has a Danish and Swiss driver lineup. Dennis Andersen sharing with Anders Fjordbach, Fabio Scherer, and Nico Muller. Good battle in GTD Pro between the Porsche of Felipe Nasr and the Ferrari of James Calado. As long as the steering wheel is straight, brake as hard as you wish, but in the corner, take it easy on your braking so you don't spin. 1981 24 Hours of Daytona winner, Bobby Rahal is in the Peacock Pit Box. He was a Grand Marshal for this event and owns the GT3 BMW M4's for his team with David Letterman and Mike Lanigan. Watch out tonight because these drivers will be driving on ice with the cold tonight.
Oh boy. More trouble for the prototypes as the #10 has gone off the road with a flat right rear tire. The tire flailing around will beat up the back end of the car. You have to go three and a half miles around the track to get to the pit lane to change the tires. Do not get caught up in trivial battles. Get through the night, stay on the lead lap, and then start racing with four hours to go. Will Stevens had spun in the first corner on the road course. He did not hit the wall. But the flat tire will be a big deal for those boys. He overcooks it into turn one. This is the right rear tire. We saw the #60 Acura have a left rear tire go down.
Michelin tires do not come apart like some other tires do. We also have an issue there for the #59 Crucial Motorsports McLaren. He is right off the road at a corner station. Not sure who is at the wheel of the McLaren presently. Lance Bergstein was at the wheel of it, the American driver. So, this team will need to go to the garage. Alway turn to the left if you are needing to get the car back to the garage. Off to the right you are on an island and no one can get to you. Will Stevens is in the lane and the team will have to replace the rear wing. They did not change the wing. Lance Bergstein driving that McLaren has diabetes, and so, the team is sponsored by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Ben Keating has stepped out of Cadillac #5 as Renger van der Zande pits the #01 Cadillac from the lead of the motor race. As the ambient temperature goes down, the track temps change. Now, Mike Rockenfeller has just pitted aboard the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac. He and Tristan Nunez are now second and third for AXR as we are set here to go back to green flag racing very shortly. Wright Motorsports in the #16 Porsche 911 GT3R is in the pit lane. Mark Reuss, President of General Motors, is here, to represent Cadillac, with their race cars and their street going cars like the CTS-V and the Escalade.
Corvette have answered the bell, too, to get back in it with the new GTD Pro class and a GT3 spec car. Chevrolet is also on the path of trying to defend NASCAR championships as well. Good to see Mark Reuss and Jim Campbell from GM, here. James Calado and Ferrari are leading GTD Pro. Engineer Rick Mayer said that they were overboosting the turbocharger. Overboost is monitored by IMSA which can incur penalties. Ferrari have solved the overboosting issue by going to the NASA runway at Cape Canaveral. That is where the shuttles used to land. So, Ferrari have the GTD Pro lead presently.
Ben Keating has been floored by his first experience in a DPi car! So now, he has finished his drive time with the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, and now will swap over to the #52 PR1/Mathiasen LMP2 car. He has to run four hours in LMP2. So he will get some rest. Jimmie Johnson is next up into the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac, partnering with Hendrick Motorsports. He is chatting with his team on a private channel on the radio. You don't want to give away your secrets. So, he is hearing about how Mike Rockenfeller is feeling out the Cadillac.
Johnson's helmet is not strapped yet, and he will get it fixed. He has padding on the helmet for the headrest. He will have to be comfortable and not let his head goes over center to rest his neck on the oval and be set for the braking zones and the quick corners on the road course portion. Pit stop time for both GTD Pro Corvette C8.R's and we see a driver change on the #4. Not sure if that will be Nick Tandy, Marco Sorensen, or Tommy Milner getting in. Lexus #14 for Vasser Sullivan is also pitting. What a gorgeous sunset!
An orange tinted sky, as we head towards evening. We saw Robert Wickens' return to racing in Michelin Pilot Challenge yesterday. He says he tried not to be emotional and had to rein in his joy while still being happy. He is relieved to be back to racing. He wants to win for sure like any driver. Wickens is going for a championship. He wants to win, with Bryan Herta Autosport and Hyundai. What an amazing story! Well, well, well. Darkness has fallen at Daytona International Speedway. Renger van der Zande in the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac leads the motor race ahead of the #31 Action Express Cadillac of Tristan Nunez. Marcus Ericsson third in the #02 Chip Ganassi Cadillac. Mike Rockenfeller is fourth in the second Action Express Cadillac.
Other class leaders right now include Anders Fjordbach, Josh Burdon, Davide Rigon, and Russell Ward. Once again, what a lovely sunset we have in Daytona Beach. But now, the hours of darkness will be long and grueling before the sun rises again tomorrow morning. We have at least a dozen hours of darkness. Night racing is really tricky. All your reference points change. The night throws stuff at you. Weather, driver mistakes. No room for error. Concentrate everywhere, and rest nowhere. The fireworks will light up the sky very soon, in a few more hours.
We have ourselves a full moon. The illumination on these race cars, all of it is functional. The yellow or amber lights are on the GTD cars while everyone else has white headlights for DPi, LMP2, LMP3, and GTD Pro. The bright lights on the sides of the cars in different colors, are for the spotters to identify their cars in the darkness. There are LED strips on the roof and on the sides as well as the windscreen and the grille. It is extremely functional. We will talk more about the lights in a moment. Cadillac #02 is in. Kevin Magnussen replacing Marcus Ericsson. Richard Westbrook will stay at the wheel of the #5 JDC-Miller Mustang Sampling Cadillac.
The #31 Cadillac is in the lane and so, next into the car, after Tristan Nunez's stint, Mike Conway will be in the car next. This is his first stint and he will do a triple. Jimmie Johnson will get into the sister AXR Cadillac, the #48 entry. You can stay updated with the action by using the Peacock app if you have it and watching the whole thing, and following the blog here on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog. If you are outside of the states, or at the speedway, tune in to IMSA Radio. We have also seen the #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 car pit. We have not called their number for a bit. Mike Rockenfeller, meanwhile, has made his way up to second aboard the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac, with Hendrick Motorsports.
AXR are running second and third. As many people know, yours truly is pals with the team and particularly, team owner and principal, Bob Johnson. #48 to the pit lane. Jimmie Johnson will now get behind the wheel. He does have his helmet buckled and that is just fine. Plug in the radio and get ready for a triple stint. This is Jimmie Johnson's first stint. A 31 second pit stop for the #48 Cadillac. An assistant is allowed to help buckle the safety belts and reconnect the radio wire. Release the mold release off the new tire. It is a very shiny new set of tires. Scuffed or scrubbed tires are also available. Now, the #01 Ganassi Cadillac is in the lane and Renger van der Zande has handed over to Scott Dixon.
The depth of the field this year is amazing with the new convergence with American and European sports car racing, getting ready for next year in the GTP/LMDh/LMH convergence between the states and Europe, IMSA and the ACO, the French governing body of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and worldwide sports car racing. So, get your data to your teammate, then, get back, shower, have a bite to eat, and try to get a little bit of sleep before your next stint. It is easier to do in the wee, wee hours of the morning, in the deep darkness. So, Jimmie Johnson takes it around and is getting settled in for his first stint.
We go aboard the #97 WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3 as well. This is the car with Cooper MacNeil, Daniel Juncadella of Spain, a longtime Mercedes GT3 driver, Maro Engel, another longstanding factory Mercedes ace, and Frenchman Jules Gounon. Now, we have just seen a quick spin again for the #38 LMP3 entry for Performance Tech Motorsports, but the car seems to be righted. Yes. He is back on track now. Check that. I am wrong. That is the #7 Forty7 Motorsports entry in LMP3 with Mark Kvamme at the controls. My apologies to the #38 team for misidentifying that race car. That wasn't you all. I apologize once more.
Acura #10 may be on a recovery drive. WTR have had many successes winning the last three Rolex 24's on the trot. Wayne Taylor has been in this business a long time as a driver and a team owner alike.
No comments:
Post a Comment