We have to see but there might be rain coming. Rain is OK. We do not want lightning. Ollie Milroy being chased by Bryan Sellers. Sellers in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 with a patriotic paint scheme approaching Independence Day. Ben Keating, now, finally is a Le Mans winner. It is tougher sledding for him and his team in LMP2 at The Glen today. Keating says his team needs more traffic opportunities to make passes. They want to be in it in LMP2. Action Express, fifth and sixth. 31 and then 48. Ricky Taylor says their window is smaller than the #60 and the #01. They want to see green flag running.
Mike Conway in the #31 and Mike Rockenfeller now in the #48. Truthfully, you have missed nothing at the top of the shop. #60, working their way through the lapped traffic being harried by the #10. Albuquerque making a move on Jarvis, or, he wants to. Albuquerque balked by traffic. We are going to see raindrops before this one is done and dusted. BMW Team RLL #25 in the lane. Auguto Farfus out, and John Edwards, he will take the car to the end. In DTM, the BMW M4 GT3 has run in the rain. Not yet in IMSA though. In replay, Filipe Albuquerque gets a massive run on Oliver Jarvids and Albuquerque very nearly runs into the back of Jarvis negotiating lapped traffic!
Albuquerque wants it. If it begins to sprinkle, forget it. Everything is reset and we shall be going back to the drawing board. It will put the cat among the pigeons. This motor race isn't over. Watkins Glen is so long it can be rainy on one side and dry on the other. Clouds shading the track and the ambient temperature is falling. The handling, the balance of the cars will change if the track cools. Rain is 10-15 minutes away. Keep it close. We had five yellows in the first half but in the last couple hours it has been clean and green. Hard to say why the #10 team went off strategy in hour two. They were looking for the Michelin Endurance Cup bonus points but no dice.
Into the Outer Loop. In GTD Pro, the leading car is the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3 of Daniel Serra sharing with Davide Rigon. The #23 The Heart of acing Aston Martin of Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn has also pitted. It will be a full Pro lineup in both GT Daytona classes to the end of the race. It will be a full-on slugfest. Dark clouds are looming, and the air is cooling. Mother Nature is fickle, and she might have her way with this race in the final third of it. More drama on the way? We'll find out.
Pit stop time for the star-spangled Paul Miller Racing BMW. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, traffic everywhere. Acura #10 in the lane too. One of the LMP3's has a problem. The #30 car ignited in flames. Garett Grist in the JR III. Ligier sharing with Ari Balogh and Nolan Siegel. Game over. Garett Grist was told to bail out. Another big fire for an LMP3 car. Surprisingly the pit crew did not take the engine cover off to try and extinguish the fire. Game over for the #30. The skies are darkening. What will happen as we ride along with Maro Engel in the #79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3 being shared with Mikael Grenier and Cooper MacNeil. Serra leading Kirkwood and Jaminet by 18 seconds and Philip Ellis is leading GT Daytona by 14 some odd seconds.
This is the first race for Risi Competizione at The Glen in six years. Jaminet wants to make a move on Kirkwood through The Carousel. The Porsche is lighter and might have more speed out of The Boot. Mike Rockenfeller is pushing trying to get through lapped traffic. The #02 Ganassi Racing Cadillac as well, with Earl Bamber at the wheel. Jaminet passes Kirkwood and Maro Engel also makes his move. MacNeil says that he is enjoying having different Mercedes GT3 factory drivers assisting him. Maro Engel wants by Matty Jaminet. The skies darken more and the racing is intensifying.
The #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW fell off the air jack and onto Bryan Sellers' foot! He has a very sore foot, on his right foot. We run at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park next weekend. So let's hope Bryan Sellers is OK. Madison Snow is now at the wheel of #1 and they have Sweden's Erik Johnasson as the third driver. But, will Sellers be OK to finish, or is his foot of any concern? Pit stop time now for the #48 Ally Cadillac at Action Express/Hendrick Motorsports. Porsche, Lexus, Mercedes, the battle in GTD Pro. Kirkwood all over Jaminet like a cheap suit here. Jaminet holding his ground up through The Boot.
Just over an hour and a half to go. Daniel Serra's advantage had ballooned and we see that Jaminet went wide in turn ten and there's a massive traffic jam with the Mercedes of Maro Engel going full send and losing a place to the Lexus! Mama Mia! Jaminet does not have a pace advantage. Just a track position advantage. Leader in DPi to the lane, the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Oliver Jarvis. One more pit stop to the end if you are on fuel save strategy. Driver change back to Tom Blomqvist. Bryan Sellers is on the pit box in a ton of pain. He says he is OK. It is hard to tell as the foot is swollen and it hurts like crazy.
Massive accident! Jeff Westphal has plowed into the wall in turn seven. In replay, he got tagged by an LMP2 car and he got plowed into the Armco in the toe of The Boot! Oh my God! He was an innocent bystander, moving around, and that door might fall off. Somebody panicked there. Full Course Yellow. Full Course Yellow. Westphal out of the car under his own steam. There looks like a spring out of the car. In replay, the top three in LMP2, #20 hits Dylan Murry and it is like a pinball machine. Juan Pablo Montoya. Red flag as we have lightning. Red flag. We have to stop and wait for the weather to clear up.
The clock will continue to run. This is the final race for DPi cars at Watkins Glen before we get the new GTP machines next year. An hour and 12 minutes left as we are still waiting to see what the weather does. We have lightning in the area and have to stop for safety for half an hour. In ten minutes, we can get the all clear and race in the rain. The lightning is dissipating, but there's more rain over Corning, New York, and the museum of glass. Secure your coverings. The wind is picking up at Watkins Glen. We are going to reset and see if we can finish out the 6 Hours of the Glen here, ladies and gentlemen.
We are waiting to make sure there is no lightning. Rain to the end, this will be wild, perhaps. Look at the tire marbles, the clag, on the road. So, just over an hour to go as we remain under red flag. Leaders are #60, #81, #74, #62, and #57. The gaps have been erased and there will be a total reset. What will we see about tire strategy going back to green? How about fuel strategy? We are into the second half of the season. We are in the seventh of ten DPi races this year in the final year of DPi before we see GTP next year. Rain still falling. Not much else to report as we are entering the final hour of the race. Rain falling and the breeze picking up as you can hear on the trackside microphones.
Sounds like ping pong balls falling into a basket.
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