#02 into the pit lane and they are giving up bucketloads of track position. They will be going ten tenths for the final hour. They need a yellow big time. This is off strategy. Tom Blomqvist continues to crush the gap to Filipe Albuquerque. Blomqvist is sending it all over the track but might be doing a wee bit of fuel save. One lap to the good from when they last stopped. #01 in the lane. van der Zande, Bourdais, and Dixon, on an identical strategy to Bamber, Lynn, and Hunter-Reay. #01 will have one more stop ggeting ahead of the #25 BMW M4 GT3. No, they did not. #10 to the lead but Briton Tom Blomqvist is applying the maximum heat on the blowtorch. Did Blomqvist pass? No. Albuquerque is ten some odd seconds ahead.
That could be an exaggerated gap. But both of the Acura's are now on the same fuel strategy and we have seen Blomqvist take seven seconds out of Albuquerque. What can the #01 and #02 do? Ganassi Racing can short pit. The championship is now up for grabs between the #10 and #60. Wayne Taylor can barely watch what is going on. Pit stop time for the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche in GTD Pro for tires and fuel in the Porsche camp with Matthieu Jaminet set to take it to the flag for his final stint in a GTD Pro car before going to GTP with the Porsche factory next year and the all-new 963 prototype. The margin is now 10.9 seconds Albuquerque to Blomqvist as the Acura's are leaving the Ganassi Cadillac's in the dust. DPI made their debut at the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona. They have oporovided us with amazing racing ESM won Sebring with Nissan in 218. Team Penske won with Acura at Mid Ohuo in 2018. Mazda won Watkins Glen in 2019. In 2020 they won agains as the battle was between Penske and Action Express and both cars went out of that one.
Sports car fans have been treated to a ton of memories in DPi and we are set for GTP in 2023 and the LMDh platform and we see a major wreck in turn one! Ganassi have crashed both their cars! #01 and #02 are out! Earl Bamber and Renger van der Zande out! A yellow for the #10 and #60 will be 1-2 stacked up under yellow. Bamber on the inside of van der Zande and they took each other out! This is not how Cadillac Racing and Chip Ganassi thought their DPi era would end! Here is how it happened. Bamber has the spot. van der Zande gets the spot, going around the outside and he got stuffed into the wall late in the game at night and late in the straight before turn one!
That is completely Renger van der Zande's fault I'm afraid. That was massive! Oh my God! He is not getting out of the car. Chip Ganassi will absolute ring his bell and he is not ready for that. Nor is bamber. This is shades of Mercedes F1 in Spain with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. You cannot take your teammate out. Chip Ganassi will have a heart attack! Oh my God! That's the damnedest thing I've ever seen. Bamber has high centered on the curb and the steering is broken. That car is crabbing. So, with all this mess, both Acura's take the opportunity to come into the lane for service.
It is a head-to-head fight with 45 minutes to go. #10 hits the board. #60 beats #10 off pit road! The #10 boys must be kicking themselves. Action Express up to third and fourth place. The points gap is 16 now between WTR and MSR. Renger van der Zande is a shot duck trundling to the pit lane. That's comprehensive damage on the #01. If #01 does not get moving again, whichever Acura finishes ahead of the other is champion. #02 is scraping and sparking into the pit lane with damage under the undertray of the car.
We have just seen the #10 of Filipe Albuquerque make another stop. The battle picks up steam. It is squeaky, squeaky time right now. We have only four cars left in play. 60,10, 31, and 48. The gap is still 16 points. It is a risk for the #10 to be fighting with the #60. In LMP2, Juan Pablo Montoya leads. Gabby Chaves leads LMP3. Jack Hawksworth in GTD Pro and Mario Farnbacher in GTD. Just over half an hour left on the board. It is the nighttime serpentine under the eighth Full Course Yellow of the motor race. Green flag, and would you believe, the #01 and #02 are fixed and back on the road after their little wee dust up we saw.
The championship is on the line between Wayne Taylor Racing and Meyer Shank Racing. Tom Blomqvist is running away from Filipe Albuquerque. 16 points is all that separates these two blokes. What can Filipe Albuquerque do the wrest the title from Meyer Shank Racing? It is hammer time. Blomqvist is not coasting through the corners. If you were going to be tight on fuel you would save. Full push though is the call from the team. Meyer Shank Racing could win the Indianapolis 500 2021, Rolex 24 2022, Motul Petit Le Mans 2022? They have two GTD titles in 2019 and 2020. Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Montoya, and Henrik Hedman are ahead of Louis Deletraz, Rui Andrade, and John Farano.
LMP3 has the battle between Gabby Chaves and Garrett Grist for the win. Jack Hawksworth is just barely ahead of Matty Jaminet, Connor De Philippi, and James Calado in GTD Pro. So that is a scrum between Lexus, Porsche, BMW, and Ferrari, and in GTD regular it is Mario Farnbacher just barely ahead of Jordan Pepper. No pit lane penalty for the #70. Blomqvist leads Albuquerque by one second. Identical cars, the final race for the Acura ARX-05. We hoped naively for a showdown and now we have it. Ricky Taylor and Oliver Jarvis looking on. It is on. This will be FiYah! It is the showdown of the century.
Albuquerque negotiating lapped traffic. This is tense stuff. 25 minutes to go and now Popo Derani is closing on Filipe Albuquerque! Derani balked in traffic. The #02 may have had contact someplace. That car still has pace. #02 and #01 look like they are in "Mad Max". Unbelievable! 1:11.8, 1:11.7, 1:11.1. #01 has the run on the #02. Track position and bragging rights. Blomqvist is good on fuel. Blomqvist coasting on fuel. Jack Hawksworth narrowly ahead of Matthieu Jaminet in GTD Pro looking for the firdt endurance event win for Lexus. #10 goes inside and nearly makes contact with the Lexus! Hawksworth has damage. Pipo Derani and Earl Bamber fly through and #02 has a penalty. Stop and hold + 60 for service in a closed pit lane!
Adding insult to injury for the #02. The battle was going to be a slugfest. 4.7 seconds to the good is Blomqvist on Albuquerque. Deletraz goes ahead of Montoya in LMP2 and that will seal the crown for John Farano in the LMP2 title fight for Tower Motorsports. GTD Pro lead up for grabs in the braking zone. Hawksworth vs. "Jam Jam". In GTD points, Roman De Angelis is 33 points clear of Heylen and Hardwick and 38 to the good over McAleer. Jaminet is bulldozing Hawksworth, and Connor De Philippi in the BMW sees an opening and says, "thank you for fighting, because you have just let me whistle right through, chaps."
De Philippi is going for the lead and here comes Daniel Serra in the Ferrari! De Philippi is dirt tracking it! Hawksworth kept it together through turn ten! I thought he was going to hit the beach! Man oh man! The BMW does not want to play anymore and gets run off the road and Daniel Serra says, hello, boys. Risi Competizione won the inaugural Petit Le Mans in 1998. 20 minutes to go. Albuquerque has pulled back on Tom Blomqvist. In GT Daytona, Mario Farnbacher is being harried by Jordan Pepper. Acura vs. McLaren. Philip Ellis in third for the Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. Be aware of everything happening and watch for the prototypes.
Vasser Sullivan on the radio saying "tell IMSA that the Pfaff Porsche is trying to crash us on purpose!" It is not time to bring the action. The action is here! Pfaff still chasing Vasser Sullivan in GTD Pro. 14 minutes on the board and Albuquerque is right with Blomqvist. Blomqvist has to nabvigate the GRD traffic and he goes to the outside and decides to back out of it. Blomqvist and Albuquerque is through but hit Mercedes and now he is slowing and may have a puncture! Albuquerque is screaming in the car. Oh no! Oh no! Ricky Taylor and Brendan Hartley cannot believe what they are seeing. Pipo Derani moves ahead. Third year in a row Wayne Taylor Racing sees the championship evaporate.
Mike Shank must tell Blomqvist to turn it down a tick. Derani will be going for everything! He wants a win! The #10 is in. Filipe Albuquerque apologizing to his team. The suspension is broken. The rear wishbone is bent. The dream for Konica Minolta Acura is over for 2022. They might be able to fix a toe link, but the dream is over for another year. Blomqvist leads Pipo Derani by six and a half seconds. #02 Ganassi Racing Cadillac in the penalty box. Dejection for WTR and elations for MSR. Blomqvist leads the motor race by six and a half seconds.
We are in the closing stages of the silver anniversary Petit Le Mans. Wayne Taylor Racing, it is over. Stop the car. It is not worth it. Wayne Taylor won the first Petit Le Mans in 1998 but now he is totally dejected. Three years in a row and they have not won the title after three years of trying. Oh no. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes of Philip Ellis is off the road and smashed into the wall at turn one! Well, he did not smaksh it I don't think. Maybe a short yellow. You know Pipo Derani will be in full send mode at Action Express. At Meyer Shank Racing, the team is very relieved.
Pipo Derani is 4.1 seconds down on Tom Blomqvist. Mike Shank is now moments away from winning an IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship. Five minutes to go. Yellow flag. Oh no! Wow! It is indeed the #57. Pipo Derani and Action Express could win! This will be a Full Course Yellow. #60 and their team are pretty relaxed. They know how Pipo Derani is an amazing driver. But we are on the last lap and will not go back to green. Oh boy. Meyer Shank Racing is going to win the Rolex 24 and the Petit Le Mans. Giuseppe Risi won this race overall in 1998 with a Ferrari 333 SP and he is going to win in GT Daytona Pro in the 25th edition. Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, and James Calado do it.
Mario Farnbacher and Gradient Racing will bookend the Acura dominance with a win in GT Daytona alongside Kyffin Simpson and Till Bechtolsheimer. Andretti Autosport win LMP3 with Josh Burdon, Gabby Chaves, and Jarett Andretti. LMP2 honors go to Tower Motorsports and car #8 for Rui Pinto de Andrade, Louis Deletraz, and John Farano.
Overall/DPi: #60 Jarvis/Blomqvist/Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05
LMP2: #8 Farano/Deletraz/de Andrade Tower Motorsport Oreca 07
LMP3: #36 Andretti/Chaves/Burdon Andretti Autosport Ligier JS P320 Nissan
GT Daytona Pro: #62 Serra/Rigon/Calado Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 GT3
GT Daytona: #66 Farnbacher/Simpson/Bechtolsheimer Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3
That is a wrap from Petit Le Mans. Yours truly is beat. I need to get some sleep. We'll talk more about this motor race in the morning. For now, it's good night ladies and gentleman from Road Atlanta. So long, everybody. Bye bye.
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