The cold has meant no grip in the pit lane. As the night wears on, the cold will continue settling in. Earl Bamber raced a NASCAR Xfinity Series car and said the car was unbearably hot. The next generation NASCAR car is very hot, and they are working on trying to get cooling for those cars from the road racing and sports car side of things. Technology transfer is a big deal. Not like the old days. There are spotters in the cold on the roof and down in the suites. We are getting close to the fireworks display. In the cold, in a front engine car, usually it a massively hot thundering V8, braking is like putting your foot in a fire. The cockpits are all different. In the cold though, it cannot be that bad. It is 30 degrees ambient with a massive windchill. The fans are bundled up. That's for dead sure.
Ryan Hardwick has now taken over the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R in GTD Pro. Alex Lynn, to this point, won his only DPi race in 2017 at the 12 Hours of Sebring. This is only his second sports car endurance event in the states. The #48 Ally Cadillac attacks it into the pit lane and the sister #31 Whelen Cadillac is in the lane, too. He was staying on the rev limiter all the way down! Holy cow! Meyer Shank and JDC-Miller also in the lane. Lic Duval has taken over the lead in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac. Kobayashi screamed into the lane. Jose Maria Lopez is now in the car, I think. Simon Pagenaud or Tom Blomqvist are in the #60 as Pipo Derani flies past the #60. The #10 Konica Minolta Acura is in the pit lane now, still a lap down to the leaders.
Jose Maria Lopez is now in the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac. This could very well be the first or maybe the second stint for Jose Maria Lopez. Tristan Vautier is struggling with tire temp. The brake rotors glow cherry red as they hit the brakes and flames shoot from the exhaust. Tom Blomqvist is running the high line trying to pass Jose Maria Lopez. The Cadillac has the downforce but not quite the straightaway speed. Tom Blomqvist's dad Stig Blomqvist is a World Rally Champion for Audi in the 1980s. Blomqvist is managed by Mark Blundell who raced in Formula 1, IndyCar, and sports cars. Lopez can't quite get to the apex but he is going to keep going.
Ricky Taylor continues aboard the #10 Acura as Alexander Rossi should be the next driver into the car on the next stint, whenever that will come. The #54 CORE Autosport LMP3 entry is stranded on the side of the road and we have a Full Course Yellow. He is back on the button now. Wow. This is the sixth Full Course Yellow, even though Jon Bennett is back up to speed. Well, well. The fireworks are in the sky! Gorgeous! We continue under yellow. Both the #3 and #4 Corvette C8.R's in GTD Pro are continuing to have issues and we are still under yellow. Yours truly was trying to find the next portion of the coverage and has done so.
The Corvette team has had to reduce the performance of their car to run with a GT3 car which they will develop over time. Again, we have been under yellow. One factory Corvette C8.R will be in IMSA. 21 years ago, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his father, the late Dale Earnhardt, seven-time NASCAR champion, raced here. Pit stop time again for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura which is in recovery mode after earlier dramas in the race today. Both of the GTD Pro WeatherTech cars are in the lane, too, with the Porsche and the Mercedes. We are getting close to going back to racing after our sixth Full Course Yellow.
The #96 Liqui Moly Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3, they are still going for it even being down on straightaway speed. Robby Foley says they are being patient and have had no mistakes. Foley, sharing with Bill Auberlen, Michael Dinan, and Jens Klingman. Foley will be back in the car in the wee hours of the morning when it is at freezing temperature, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, zero Celsius. Alex Palou is at the wheel of the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, the 2021 IndyCar champion. Palou is the first Spaniard to win the IndyCar championship. The yellow headlights are for the GTD cars. They are pointed outward so the driver can see the corner apex.
They are incredibly bright. Green flag. Green flag. Alex Lynn leads Tom Blomqvist, Tristan Vautier, and Alex Palou. The two Action Express cars have dropped down the order as Ricky Taylor seems to be back in contention aboard the #10 Konica Minolta Acura. Jon Bennett, after his troubles, has now taken the lead in LMP3. In years past, we did not have the split for the DPi cars. Bennett has now been penalized and has to serve a drive through for speeding in the lane. He and Colin Braun have raced together for a decade and scored 17 wins and championships. Colin Braun has also run stock cars and ran the NASCAR truck series years ago.
Trouble for Lucas Auer and Winward Racing as well as Ryan Hardwick for Wright Motorsports, a stop + 60 second penalty for speeding past the red light at the end of the pit lane. We can see the #10 Acura clawing it's way through the field especially working it's way by the GTD Pro and GTD entries. The GT classes have been incredible today as the #2 KCMG Porsche of Laurens Vanthoor, has taken the lead in GTD Pro. Vanthoor sharing with Alexandre Imperatori, Patrick Pilet, and Dennis Olsen. Porsche's run first and third in GTD Pro while Matthieu Jaminet, Matty Campbell, and Felipe "Matt" Nasr as well. Felipe Nasr was DPi champion last year but he is now in GT Daytona Pro, in a GT3 car. Nasr is beginning to understand how a GT3 car works.
He will be in the car next, for another stint, in the #9 entry. The speed is slower and you have to look in the mirrors all the time. Antilock brakes are another big change in a GT3/GTD car. Oh dear. The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 has just spun in the trioval. Wow. The tearoffs are wrapped around the wiper blade. The car is still running but now we have a Full Course Yellow once more and the whole left front corner of that BMW M4 GT3 is gone. We are coming to the end of yet another racing hour in just a few more minutes. For Pfaff Motorsports, Porsche, and Felipe Nasr, he is pressing hard. He won the Sunoco Driver Challenge in British Formula 3. He ran Formula 1, and he is now a Porsche factory driver and will be racing with Porsche and Team Penske next year in GTP.
Nasr will be back in the #9 Porsche momentarily as we are going to go for a restart in short order coming to the end of hour nine.
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