Back in the old days, you only needed three drivers. But to promote manufacturer's, usually, you need four drivers, you need star power from other championships to boost a lineup for this race. We have seen that from many of the top teams in IMSA for the Rolex 24 for many, many years. The Wayne Taylor team has had many fourth drivers and this year, they have Will Stevens. Two years ago, there were no seats. This time around, there is a bigger opportunity window, but because of LMDh the drivers will need to be younger, sharper, and far more experienced. Scott Dixon in the #01 Cadillac and Mike Conway in the #31 Whelen Cadillac for Action Express, are now the only two cars on the lead lap. Mike Conway is 13.5 seconds behind the leader at this moment. Richard Westbrook in the #5 JDC Miller Motorsports Cadillac, and Jimmie Johnson in the second #48 Action Express Cadillac are now a wee bit behind the top two. Timing and scoring will recycle constantly.
Giedo van der Garde in the #29 Racing Team Nederland Jumbo Supermarkets entry, is now leading in LMP2. That is the car he shares with Rinus VeeKay, Frits van Eerd, and Dylan Murry. In the picture, we can see the newly renamed Le Mans chicane and it looks like it also has had extra curbing added. Over 18 hours left here at the Rolex 24. We are just 1/4 of the way through. This is an endurance event but has indeed also turned into a sprint race. Short sprints, 24 times. This is a very dangerous section of the race as darkness is on the track. Be consistent. Don't worry about being fast. Clear your mind. You will be tired, hungry, and cold. Keep your wits about you so you don't make a mistake.
Take care of the equipment too. The cars are robust. But those sharp curbs we saw in the Le Mans chicane, will tear up the underbody, the chassis and skid plate as well as the front splitter. Calculate your ideal lap times. Have a target to aim for. Be smart. Take care of the equipment. The pit crews are getting rest in-between stops, huddled up in sleeping bags and blankets to stay warm, and man oh man, do they need it. Now, just maybe, there has been some order shuffling in the last couple laps. We will update you in a bit to see where things stand.
We welcome to the Peacock Pit Box, Vanessa Richardson, and Steve Letarte, who has been to the Rolex 24 five times. He has energy drinks and coffee to be prepped for it. Great action on the track will also help. By 6AM tomorrow morning, people will start becoming exhausted. The fans make the race. Yours truly has been to this race in person, and that was two years ago. Everyone is pretty darn calm right now. Do not panic. Just keep making rounds. When you wake up in the morning and make breakfast, the cars will still be racing. We have seen it here at Daytona, Le Mans, Nurburgring, Spa Francorchamps, Dubai. There are many, many 24 hour races around the world these days.
A great look too at the midway, the carnival in the infield with the Ferris wheel and other assorted carnival rides. The famous Ferris wheel is a fixture here at Daytona and also at Le Mans in France. They too, have one. This great motor race is a spectacle. The brakes glow cherry red, the fire spits out of the exhausts, and you can see into the cars with dull LED's to find the controls to use inside the race car on the dashboard or the steering wheel. We will continue to keep going. Yours truly is going to do everything he can to stay up all night to bring you all the action here at Daytona.
Night here is a videogame of lights but even with the lights on the speedway, you still must run headlights all the time and the same is true at any other 24-hour enduro. We have covered this race, Le Mans, Spa, Nurburgring, Dubai. All of them present their own unique challenges. Ferrari now leads GTD Pro with Davide Rigon in the #62 Risi Competizione entry. Dennis Olsen for Porsche and KCMG second followed by Maro Engel in the #97 WeatherTech Mercedes, Matty Campbell in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche, Nicky Catsburg in the first of the Corvette's, the #3. Jack Hawksworth in the Lexus #14, Patrick Assenheimer in the second WeatherTech Mercedes #15.
Marco Sorensen is next in the #4 Corvette C8.R. Jesse Krohn in the #24 BMW Team RLL BMW M4 GT4 and Marco Mapelli in the #63 TR3 Lamborghini as we saw the #5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac in the pit lane. GTD has Russell Ward leading in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes. Nicklas Nielsen second in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari. Third is James Davison in the #32 Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes. Tom Gamble in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. Jeff Westphal has the #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini. Kyffin Simpson in the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3, and more.
The #02 Ganassi Racing Cadillac is pitting with Kevin Magnussen staying in the car. Now, the #10 Acura could be trapped two laps down. Oliver Jarvis in the other Acura is now a lap down for MSR. Pit stop time too for the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac. Mike Conway said "I am out of petrol" and the team said "go to reserve fuel". Conway stays in the car. Fuel and tires and a clean windscreen as he will chase down the #01 Ganassi Cadillac, Scott Dixon at the wheel of it. Jimmie Johnson now leapfrogs his teammate in the #48 AXR Ally Cadillac. We need to see where the rest of the GTD order is and we will update that when possible.
The #97 WeatherTech Mercedes, ooh, close shave with the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari in GTD Pro! Wowzers! The #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac is in with Jimmie Johnson, and he will do a double stint, a triple stint, actually. He is comfortable in the car and does not need the helmet blower as he is trying to stay warm driving because of the cold ambient temperature. At night, the drivers will use a clear visor so they can see compared to a dark visor in the sunlight. Wriggling the car around in pit lane is frowned upon but the deal is, you just have to see about getting heat into the tires. There is 100 yards at the end of the lane where you can wriggle around a bit.
Off the road, look, the #13 AWA Duqueine LMP3 car. That is Lars Kern, the German, at the wheel. He is sharing with Orey Fidani from Canada, England's Matt Bell, and another Canadian, Kuno Wittmer. No tire warmers allowed because the rules say no. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R is in the pit lane. Matty Campbell, Matty Jaminet, and Felipe Nasr. Set the tires in the pit box or outside the trailer. You cannot find an artificial way to heat your Michelin tires. That is a no, no. Tiptoe on cold tires on the traction control. We almost see the #4 Corvette C8.R spinning off with cold tires, too. I got it, I got it, I got it. I don't got it.
That's the #38 LMP3 going straight through the chicane and having to come to a stop or maybe just skittering across the grass. Giedo van der Garde leads in LMP2 for Racing Team Nederland sharing with Frits van Eerd, Rinus Veekay, and Dylan Murry. The #79 WeatherTech Porsche is in the lane in GTD Pro, with the passenger side door open. The car will not start. It is cranking but the motor won't fire up because of the cold. They are working on the ECU and Cooper MacNeil is in the car. They have to push the car to the garage. They have been in contention, but are now needing to see what is wrong with the automobile.
Alessio Picariello, Matteo Cairoli, and Julien Andlauer are his co-drivers. MacNeil has a double chance also racing the Mercedes #97 for the same team. Davide Rigon is now chasing down Dennis OLsen in GTD Pro while the #64 Porsche is off the road and crunched into the wall at turn five. Owen Trinkler and Team TGM. He probably just locked up and went off the road. Trinkler sharing with Ted Giovannis the team owner, as well as Hugh and Matt Plumb. These drivers also raced Michelin Pilot Challenge yesterday.
The Balance of Performance is what is able to make all these different types of cars work together. It is a hugely complex formula. There is a sure algorithm. So, we have yet another Full Course Yellow. So, we have had two hours or so of green flag running and now, another FCY. This is the fourth we have had so far. Cooper MacNeil says that the Porsche #79 has had electrical woes but the team is fixing it. He will also be in the Mercedes for the same team at WeatherTech Racing. His father, David MacNeil owns the company and the team, the company that sponsors the IMSA championship. We have not seen a Rolex 24 this cold since 1966 when the legendary Ford GT40s won which you saw if you ever saw the "Ford vs. Ferrari" movie.
Ford will come back to GTD Pro here in IMSA in 2024 with a Mustang GT3. The cold is definitely playing a big factor. You can turn the wheel and the cars are going straight, not turning. Be very, very careful out there. Goodness gracious! Silly issues can get to you. Do not let them get to you. The DPi cars are back in the pit lane for fuel. This is the #02 Ganassi Cadillac of Kevin Magnussen quickly refueling and so is the #48 Ally Cadillac, coming in to change the tail section of the car. The bonnet will be changed and the same is true for the #60 MSR Acura. These Daytona Prototype International cars and other prototypes are very modular.
You will have an issue over the 24 hours. Have a plan to fix them. The #74 Riley Motorsports car is making it's brake change, a four-minute technical stop. This is for LMP3 and their endurance. In the lane now, too, is the #57 Winward Mercedes. Sam Posey, racing legend, raced here in 1966 and was dead last. Ford did better and won the race with Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby, in their first race, with a 1-2-3 effort. Ford's utter dominance in 1966 made their 1967 defeat to Ferrari sweeping, bitter. Ferrari finished side by side. Ford and Ferrari went on to multiple Daytona wins. Porsche has the record at 22. Racing is a team sport and the members play individual roles. A designer outwits the rules and the competition.
A crew chief is a great mechanic and a natural leader. 3-4 drivers, and a huge dose of luck. You need luck to win the Rolex watches here at Daytona. Reputations are won and lost in this great motor race. Keep going. Great to hear from Sam Posey, who I am paraphrasing. Meantime, the #48 AXR Cadillac is checking the dive plane. Change the nose. They have to hurry. Go. You can hear the crewman yelling to his teammates, get the nose tightened down and get back on the track! The underside of the DPi cars are much like an IndyCar or a Formula 1 car. The underbody affects the downforce. A wing of an airplane is about both sides. The air has to flow over the car to provide downforce whichnis the opposite of lift for an airplane to make it fly, to stick the race car to the pavement on the track.
We are back to green, Scott Dixon leading the motor race over Mike Conway, Richard Westbrook, and Kevin Magnussen, on a cold track with cold tires. The #48 Ally Cadillac was not in with the rest of the Prototypes, and Jimmie Johnson has to scythe his way through the GTD Pro and GTD traffic. Jeepers creepers! Play it smart, but do it well. Johnson got a wee bit off the road losing grip in the dirt and he is fine and back into it. Oh dear. He got biffed by the #3 Corvette C8.R in GTD Pro and there was an LMP3 car also off the road. Some smoke off the front right tire of the #39 CarBahn with Peregrine Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
Jeff Westphal is at the wheel of it. He has to head for the pit lane.
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