Daniel Morad aboard the #28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 is now leading in class ahead of Erik Johansson. Morad sharing the #28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes with Michael de Quesada, the American, and German Mercedes ace, Maximilian Goetz. Earlier on, John Farano hipchecked both Don Yount's Lamborghini and the #31 Whelen Cadillac when Pipo Derani was driving I believe. Drive through penalty for Farano. Farano has won titles in Michelin Pilot Challenge in Grand Sport and in LMP3 in the European Le Mans Series. Juan Pablo Montoya is proud of his son Sebastian but he is also feeling the pressure. He says it is amazing how quick he is. Montoya leads Scott Huffaker and Dylan Murry. Sebastian Montoya has raced Italian Formula 4 and won races in go karts as well.
You have missed little up front. Jose Maria Lopez in the #48 Ally AXR Cadillac leads over Ricky Taylor in the #10 Konica Minolta Acura and the #31 Whelen AXR Cadillac. Oh boy. Ben Barnicoat is having issues with the graphics wrap on the bonnet of the car. That will block his vision. It is adding a wee bit of drag to the car too. Vasser Sullivan will need to get a utility knife to carve off the loose graphic. Yikes. This is a hard thing for the driver to deal with, but Barnicoat is still going for it. He has to drive about 40 minutes before the next pit stop and they might have to pit off sequence.
This is the Vasser Sullivan GTD Pro entry. Jordan Taylor now at the wheel of the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R ahead of the TR3 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 #63, now in the hands of Andrea Caldarelli. Marco Wittman is now at the wheel of the #24 BMW M4 GT3 for BMW Team RLL. Trouble for the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 of Eddie Cheever III. Engine woes for the Ferrari. The WeatherTech and Pfaff Porsche's of Alessio Picariello and Felipe Nasr come next. We watch the #22 United Autosport LMP2 car of Duncan Tappy. Tappy sharing with Jim McGuire and former 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner Guy Smith, who won in 2003 at La Sarthe for Bentley.
Pit stop time for the #5 Mustang Sampling JDC-Miller Cadillac of Richard Westbrook. Tires and fuel. No driver change. Lopez's lead over Stevens has ballooned to nearly 11 seconds. Whoa! There's an accordion effect. That is the #32 Gilbert Korthoff Mercedes AMG GT3 of Stevan McAleer who sees a LMP3 car spin in front of him in turn one and Ben Barnicoat too has to take evasive action! Yikes! So glad to see a massive crowd here at Sebring, everyone making the pilgrimage. Great to see crowds back in spite of lingering effects of the pandemic, which hopefully has run it's course by now. Daniel Morad is still your leader in GTD in the #28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3.
Erik Johansson is second in GT Daytona in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. He is behind class leader Daniel Morad we just spoke about. Bryan Sellers says that the PMR BMW is not going fast enough just yet. BMW, Lexus, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Acura, McLaren. So many great brands in the two GT Daytona classes. Erik Johansson was on a simulator race program and he was a Formula Renault driver and has been launched via sim racing into the BMW program. Morad is pciking up time but having to scythe through traffic as Sebastian Montoya is now 20 seconds ahead in LMP2 over Scott Huffaker.
We are midway through the third hour so almost 1/4 distance here at Sebring. You want as much info from your team to protect the car in the first 2/3rds and 3/4 of this motor race. Sebastian Montoya is cutting blinding laps through traffic! He is picking them up and setting them down. The gap between Jose Maria Lopez and Will Stevens is now up to 15 seconds for the race lead. In GTD Pro, Jordan Taylor has Andrea Caldarelli monstering him, still. Pit stop time for the #10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Acura. Tristan Nunez inherits second as Will Stevens is going to stay in the #10 Acura, taking fuel and tires. Felipe Nasr at Pfaff Motorsports is being told to use the tires more. He is at the wheel of the #9 Porsche sharing with Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet.
Caldarelli wants by Taylor. He wants a bite of the cherry but will he get the pit? The Lambo is bang on the money, chasing the Corvette down. These boys are level pegging on straightline speed but the Lamborghini has the edge in the braking zone. The #48 Ally Cadillac in the lane from the lead. Jose Maria Lopez climbs out but the rear wheels spinning on the air jacks will be a penalty. Stevens passes Lopez. Tristan Nunez and Oliver Jarvis still need to pit. The Jordan Taylor and Andrea Caldarelli story still has a chapter being written. Caldarelli losing a bit of ground to the Corvette. Drive through penalty for the #48 for spinning the wheels on the air jacks.
Jose Maria Lopez will lose time with this penalty. A second penalty for speeding in the lane too! Ugh! Marco Wittman is reeling in both the Lamborghini and the Corvette. There is a second drive through penalty for the #48 Cadillac as well for speeding in the pit lane on exit. So the #48 will go behind the eight ball at least briefly and have to play catch up; The #31 Whelen AXR Cadillac in the lane while we have two prototypes crashing as well as the Paul Miller BMW. Juan Pablo Montoya has taken over the #81 DragonSpeed car and right after his pit stop he has crashed along with an LMP3 car that has spun, the #6 Muehlner Motorsports entry of Alec Udell.
Full Course Yellow. Debris everywhere. #6 spun. Montoya was boxed in by a GTD car and Juan Pablo Montoya had nowhere to go! Man oh man! The fenders are gone off that car. We saw problems for the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Erik Johansson and company and pit stops for DPi including both AXR Cadillac's, both Wayne Taylor and Meyer Shank Acura's, and others. GTD Pro and GTD cars in the lane. Corvette, Lamborghini, and more. Both Lexus cars into the lane as well. 28 GTD cars started this motor race. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari had a power steering issue earlier on. Under yellow we are coming close to another racing hour.
Mike Conway now in the #31 Whelen Cadillac ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne now in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, along with Will Stevens, Richard Westbrook, Earl Bamber, and now, Kamui Kobayashi in the #48 Cadillac. Mike Conway stayed on the road. Let's hope he has tires that did not get damaged by the debris on the road. GTD cars will get the wave by and pit to get their lap back. A good look down the back straight, the Ulmann straight.
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