The cold will continue chilling drivers, crews, and fans, to the bone, here at Daytona. Adapt and deal with it, that is all they can do. Spin there, again, for one of the LMP2 entries. That again, is the #18 Era Motorsports Oreca. Not sure who is at the wheel of it right now. Some contact there, between the Era LMP2 and the #28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes as the #7 LMP3 entry spins big style on the apron! Yikes! Oh. My bad. That is the #99 Porsche as well, right near the LMP3. #99 is the Team Hardpoint GTD Porsche 911 GT3R. Rob Ferriol sharing with Katherine Legge, Stefan Wilson, and Nick Boulle. Stefan Wilson, brother of the late, great Justin Wilson who raced IndyCar and who won the Rolex 24 in 2013 with Meyer Shank Racing, who was sadly killed in another massive IndyCar accident at Pocono Raceway. Rest In Peace, Justin Wilson.
Helio Castroneves is now a living legend, tied with Rick Mears, A.J. Foyt, and the late, great Al Unser Sr., as a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner. Indianapolis, the most famous speedway in the world, while Daytona is also extremely famous and well known. Close action, too in both GT Daytona classes, in GTD Pro, and GTD. With this big field of 61 cars, you catch clumps of traffic every so often and in the dark we are surely seeing that. Dixon, Conway, Westbrook, and Magnussen, we have a very close race at the front in DPi with four Cadillac DPi's. Russell Ward in the lane at Winward Motorsports. Russell Ward has had a shifting issue on the Mercedes AMG GT3 #57. They need fuel and tires, but are now changing the steering wheel, trying to figure out what is going on with the paddle shift units. The computer, the engine's and transmission's brain is malfunctioning.
Do a Control, Alt, Delete, just like your computer or your mobile device. They may have fixed the trouble. Russell Ward, sharing with Philip Ellis, Mikael Grenier, and Lucas Auer, just as we have talked about. Oliver Jarvis has now moved to fourth in the #60 MSR Acura. Again, the issues with the #57 Mercedes have been fixed. They are in good shape. Some lead changes in GTD Pro and GTD. Dennis Olsen leads GTD Pro for KCMG in the Porsche and Giacomo Altoe in the #19 TR3 Lamborghini Huracan GT3.
Olsen and Rigon are in a heated battle for the lead in GTD Pro. Remember that the Corvette's had a massive change. The aerodynamics were not changed too greatly. But the power is down and the weight is up. That is the GT3 spec, while Corvette have aired on the conservative side. But Ferrari were having a bird about it. From the lead, Scott Dixon pits and we have the second-place car in as well with Mike Conway in the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac. No driver changes planned on either car. The scrum continues.
Jimmie Johnson in the #48 Ally Cadillac is moving up and so is Scott Dixon in the sister #01 Ganassi Cadillac. Playing the long game. We still have 17+ hours to go. Whoever is on deck to drive, he is listening to his team mate on the radio, watching the video monitors, and checking the data over. The headlights are pointed so that the drivers can follow into the corners at top speed and on the banking here at Daytona. Cars in the past have had movable headlights that run with the steering wheel. David Rigon is continuing to be on Dennis Olsen's six. Matt Campbell and Jules Gounon are next in line. Whoa! There was a bit of a shemozzle there with Marco Sorensen in the #4 Corvette C8.R and one of the other cars, it looks like a GTD car.
Loic Duval is currently at the wheel of the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. He has just uncorked a 1:35.6 and the only faster man, Scott Dixon in the #01 Ganassi Cadillac. This is Loic Duval's first stint and he has to feel out the track and the traffic. Kevin Magnussen continues leading this race over Oliver Jarvis, Jimmie Johnson, and Scott Dixon. It is just another race. You have to drive. Do not treat it differently or you will make a mistake. Corvette Racing are not using spotters. The engineers are being the spotters, from checking the monitors in their pit bunker.
We have been racing for six and a half hours and now, the GTD Pro class is half a second apart. The infield here at Daytona is very dark. It is not lit as well as some may assume. The car is starting to get tired at this stage and the brakes are not working as well. The engine is likely still crisp. Boatloads of racing remain. What is my job? What do you need from me during my stint? Do I push? Do I catch a rival? Do I set goals for my teammates? Simon Pagenaud is now in the #60 MSR Acura and he was passed by the #10 Acura now in the hands of Ricky Taylor. The #48 is in the lane for Action Express and Hendrick Motorsports. Kamui Kobayashi will be back into the car after Jimmie Johnson's stint. Will Kobayashi get into a rhythm? Will he push like he did earlier?
Pato O'Ward is readying to relieve Eric Lux in the #81 DragonSpeed Oreca in LMP2. But they are now two laps in-arrears of others in their class. Lux is in the lane now. Pato O'Ward won two IndyCar races in 2021 for Arrow McLaren SP. Mike Conway barges his way past Kevin Magnussen. This is a mega sized scrap! Magnussen has a run, off turn six. Here he is, trying to slingshot. Magnussen divebombs past and also passes the LMP3 car of Joao Barbosa in the Sean Creech Motorsports entry, #33. That is a Ligier. Flat right front now on the #24 BMW M4 GT3 with Nick Yelloly at the controls. Yelloly looks to make it into the pit lane.
It has been a baptism by fire for the new BMW M4 GT3. They are also finding their way with Balance of Performance in GTD Pro. The frontal area on that motorcar is massive! That right front tire has been wrapped around the spindle and gotten into the brakes. He yells for another mechanic "get me some cutters to get this tire out of here!" Mike Conway has made his way past Loic Duval. Kamui Kobayasu is bedding his tires in. #48 has had a few hiccups but they are working their way back into contention indeed. Jimmie Johnson says that the #48 team questioned rear damage. They have been dealing with oversteer. They have also been fixing dive planes. Thankfully, the car is back in the sweet spot. Taking care of the car is easier said than done.
Out laps are really treacherous and they have to double stint tires during the nighttime hours. Quick spin for the #97 Mercedes, the WeatherTech entry. Stay off the curbs and the bumps. So, now we see Mortiz Kranz, in another spot of bother for the #6 Muehlner Motorsports America car. He is a rocket in an LMP3 entry though. So, we watch now as the #4 Corvette C8.R in the pit lane and it is a standard pit stop, but we wonder what is going on. The onboard camera has no power on the car. The tap is making the engine get warmer to stay in a temperature window.
Then they will take the tape off in the morning when it warms up. We have been under yellow, an electrical issue for the #36 Andretti Autosport LMP3 car, and the #4 Corvette C8.R has been in the garage for repairs. Yours truly has been eating a quick pizza for dinner. We are getting ready to go back to green to complete another racing hour. Miles and pounds of wires in these race cars. The worst thing to change is the wiring loom. Think of it as the arteries and veins in your body. There's a massive amount of wiring running through these cars. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura has gotten one of their laps back.
Kevin Magnussen leads the race over Simon Pagenaud, Pipo Derani, and Kamui Kobayashi. An LMP2 car in the pit lane and same for the #25 BMW M4 GT3. Belts have to be done up and on your HANS Device. Tightening the belts is a big deal. Some drivers like the belts cinched tight and others like them very loose and floppy. I don't know why. Watch out for cold tires and see if you can get heat in them. The #36 LMP3 has a power range and is back on the road. They are fine. It was an electrical gremlin. Do not feed the gremlins. Augusto Farfus has now taken over the #25 car he shares with Connor De Philippi, Jesse Krohn, and John Edwards.
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