Jules Gounon, on the pit cycle, is the new GTD Pro leader. At the end of this hour, we will be halfway home. Don't make errors, set yourself up for the evening and the later stages of the motor race. Watch out for tire degradation as the race goes on. Through the heat of the day, knock out the hours with the best lap time you can achieve. With the BMW M8 GTE, the BMW drivers said if you pushed hard, you'd pay a massive price on lap times and the GT teams learn tire management really quick. The #5 JDC-Miller Cadillac is in the lane as Loic Duval replaces Tristan Vautier at the wheel. The #63 TR3 Lamborghini is serving a drive through penalty for blocking the BMW. Andrea Caldarelli serves the penalty. The penalty goes to the car and not to the driver. Pipo Derani leads the motor race over Alex Lynn by a margin of 3.1 seconds. Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper won Sebring with K-PAX in SRO.
TR3 Racing burst onto the scene in a race in St. Petersburg, Florida, with driver Daniel Mancinelli. Now they are in IMSA competition. Mercedes lead GTD Pro and run first, second, and third in GTD, so they are in the pound seats right now. All the different bumps around this track can really catch you out if you aren't careful. The open space around Sebring is a total illusion, especially in the first turn. It is completely a game of chicken. The BMW M4 GT3 seems to be a very compliant car and they are dialing out understeer and working the balance out for both Paul Miller Racing and Turner Motorsports in GTD and RLL in GTD Pro. Turner Motorsports did a 24 hour test at Sebring for research and development purposes. Turner Motorsports wants to get through to the evening and nighttime hours.
Pipo Derani leads and is in the pit lane now. They are getting excellent fuel mileage in the #31 camp. Tristan Nunez is boosted by joining Action Express after his LMP2 drive last year with WIN Autosport. Alex Lynn in the #02 Ganassi Cadillac pits. AXR have pitted seven times and the #02 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac have pitted nine times. Lynn stays in the car. Mike Rockenfeller has cycled to the lead in the #48 Ally Action Express Cadillac. Mike Rockenfeller now in the lane for Action Express in the #48 Ally Cadillac. Rockenfeller was with the factory Audi team, but, he wanted a change of scenery and has an opportunity now, with Action Express.
As the lead has been chopping and changing in DPi, we now see Filipe Albuquerque and Tom Blomqvist ahead for Acura followed by Tristan Vautier and Alex Lynn. Mikkel Jensen leads LMP2 in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry. LMP3, we will check that in a while. Rasmus Lindh leads LMP3. Trying to see in the serial where the GTD Pro and GTD leaders are. Jules Gounon leads GTD Pro while Maxi Goetz leads GTD. Pit stop time for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing, Konica Minolta Acura. Fuel at the very least. Could not tell if there was a driver change or not.
Good scrap in GTD Pro here, look, between the BMW M4 GT3 and the Chevrolet Corvette C8.R. Tom Blomqvist and Ricky Taylor, meanwhile, have cycled the Acura's to the front in the overall. Keep an eye on the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes. We have talked about them and the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari has brought out another Full Course Yellow with a blown tire. Giorgio Srernagiotto spins off in turn one and slams the tire barrier from the rear! Maybe he had a flat tire. Full Course Yellow. Six and a half hours to go. Tristan Vautier now leads over Alex Lynn, Pipo Derani, and Mike Rockenfeller. So, it is an all Cadillac show in front. JDC-Miller, Ganassi, Action Express, Action Express.
Pit stop time for the prototypes under Full Course Yellow. No tires, and no driver change. Just a short fill on fuel. The #5 Cadillac gets leapfrogged by Derani, Lynn, and Rockenfeller. Tom Blomqvist is checking systems on the car for the Meyer Shank Racing Acura. We are readying for yet another restart here at Sebring International Raceway before long. GTD Pro and GTD cars now into the lane. We see the #3 Corvette going for fuel, tires, and an adjustment for the driver but no driver change right now. Everyone in the combined GTD Pro and GTD classes, is into the pit lane. Both Action Express Cadillac's are now up front ahead of the two Acura's if I am right.
A gorgeous yet hot day here at Sebring. It is 90 degrees and we could see a sprinkle in the early evening. It is steaming hot here in Sebring, 90 degrees compared to 45-50 degrees at Daytona International Speedway back in January. Minimize the body punches to the race car. Fourth quarter comeback. The heat does not feel good. Hang in there for three hours or so. Find your night owl for your closing driver. Someone will be charged up and confident. But then you have to pass the baton to your teammate to take the car to the end of the motor race. We saw rain at the end of the World Endurance race last night. What will we see tonight?
Nighttime here is totally different than Daytona because of the stadium lights. Sebring, this is an airport, and so, there are temporary lights, but you rely on your headlights, and it is a greasy track, but it is pitch dark and then the headlights pierce the gloom right through your windows of the car. Kyle Marcelli is running well for the #93 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 team which is being assisted by Wayne Taylor Racing, and their team manager, Travis Hogue. Anders Fjordbach is slow and stopped for a reset with the #20 entry. Green flag now. Pipo Derani leads as Ricky Taylor gets a massive run on Mike Rockenfeller.
Rockenfeller comes back at Taylor through Kristensen corner. So, Ricky Taylor splits the two Action Express Cadillac's for the time being. Rockenfeller wants by Taylor, look. Now, Alex Lynn is coming into the picture. Local yellow. 180 miles an hour down the back straight into Sunset Bend. Tom Blomqvist was in the pit lane twice due to an air jack release issue. The handle to release the air jack, broke. We have Harry Gottsacker spun off the road with a flat left rear tire and a broken weheel and a a broken suspension. This car has been through the wringer already. Broken suspension and bodywork damage. Trouble too, for Dan Goldburg aboard the #38 Performance Tech LMP3 entry. Did these two cars come together somehow?
Gottsacker has won in Michelin Pilot Challenge over the years. He has replaced Moritz Kranz for this weekend. Gottsacker, 22 years old, from New Braunfels, Texas. We stay green. We look at the order in LMP3 and it is Felipe Fraga leading Dakota Dickerson, Lance Willsey, and Jon Bennett. George Kurtz says the car is physically demanding to drive with no air conditioning and the bumps are a bear in these cars. CORE Autosport is going for another win in LMP3 here at Sebring. He is the CEO of the Crowdstrike company which is a tech company. Jon Bennett, his co-driver is CEO of CORE Composites. Colin Braun is the professional driver on the team.
Pro/Am combinations have been the backbone of sports car racing for decades and decades now. It is part of the fabric of sports car racing. Phillip Eng has gone to the lead in GTD Pro in the #24 BMW Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 owned by racing legend Bobby Rahal. We have a fair gaggle of GTD cars all in a row here, scrapping and dicing for position starting another lap. Mercedes, Lamborghini, BMW, Acura, Lexus, Ferrari, Corvette, Porsche. You name it, we've got it. Wow. Another spin for the #20 High Class Racing LMP2 car. Philip Eng, Jules Gounon, and Nicky Catsburg, top three in GT Daytona Pro.
Not a scratch on any of the GTD Pro leaders. Protect the equipment until you need to push in the hours of darkness as Pipo Derani is slicing his way through this unbelievable traffic as we see Ricky Taylor in second spot also carving through the traffic. The prototypes hit 165 miles an hour down the straightaways here at Sebring. This is more than rush hour traffic. Trust me.
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