The Porsche 963 has had clear fluid put in it and Shea Adam from IMSA Radio explains it is heat transfer fluid to cool the MGU, the Motor Generator Unit. The engine, the MGU, the battery, and the transmission all have cooling systems on the GTP cars. Points have just been awarded for the Michelin Endurance Cup as we get close to 8AM Eastern Time for the low temp tire but we did not have low temperatures. It is warmer and so the high temperature tire from Michelin will go back into use in a wee while. There is an award, the Trueman/Akin Award. Rick Ware Racing won the Asian Le Mans Series and were going to go to Le Mans before the cursed pandemic happened. Austin Cindric, his maternal grandfather is the late, great Jim Trueman. Renger van der Zande can take it easy in the lead of the motor race.
His co-driver Scott Dixon is now having the same experience. 600 laps completed at the Rolex 24. 2,136 miles. Gradient Racing team boss Marc Miller is in the #66 Acura NSX GT3 and of course he shares with Mario Farnbacher, Katherine Legge, and Sheena Monk. Miller and company are three laps down and we have just under the duration of the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen which is round three of the Michelin Endurance Cup in June. The Aston Martin Vantage GT3 has been a very solid package in GTD Pro and GTD. Jules Gounon continues leading GTD Pro over Antonio Garcia in the Corvette. Lexus #14 in the lane. Ben Barnicoat taking over from Mike Conway. This is a team sport, and if someone is tired and makes a mistake, that could be an issue.
We are set to have Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, and Townsend Bell back to the broadcast booth. Daybreak at Daytona is always uplifting. Dixon, Pierson, Barbosa, Gounon, and Morad are the class leaders. Cadillac Racing with Chip Ganassi Racing continue leading this motor race. The #01 car has just changed over to the harder compound daytime Michelin tire. The Acura's have had better energy usage. The #01 currently is a clean race car. Five hours and 40 minutes remaining. Another spin for the #32 Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 that came out of the garridge.
Now, that was a spin into turn one. The #3 Corvette C8.R is in the pit lane and Jordan Taylor takes over from Antonio Garcia. The #7 Penske Porsche 963 to the garage with Michael Christensen at the wheel of it. More technical issues after their battery change when we were with you yesterday. At the next race at the 12 Hours of Sebring in March, things will get to be better with age and with time. These cars are so new now. Funny at Penske because the #7 has seen all the issues and the #6 has not. The #33 LMP3 car for Sean Creech Motorsports, has Nolan Siegel in the class lead.
Joao Barbosa has been a great teacher for the new drivers in the car and he is happy about how the LMP3 entry is running, their Ligier chassis. Barbosa's children draw all over his racing shoes and started the tradition when they were very young. Barbosa has won four Rolex 24's overall and in class. Good morning, everybody. Yours truly is tired and bleary eyed but still going for it. What can I say? That is why this is endurance racing. We are heading to the finish but we have five or so hours to go as we welcome back the boys on the Peacock Pit Box. Marty Snider, Steve Letarte, and Jeff Burton. Trouble for the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
We are 18 and a half hours into the race. It will be time to push soon. But we have five some odd hours to go. Learn and make the car reliable. Find a way to find the extra wee bit of something. The Rolex watch is the reward. The story we are writing on paper, you will read it. But in the end, it won't matter as the winners will celebrate. We will move on to the next event, the next race. Scott Dixon and company want to put it in the bag. But so does Meyer Shank Racing. They want to go for two in a row. Ganassi have raced well and then, the sprint will come. On the primary Michelin tires, the #60 Acura might be a guided missile.
Chip Ganassi Racing came into sports car racing almost 20 years ago and turned sports car racing on it's ear. Team boss Mike O'Gara is prepping both the GTP program and the Hypercar program in World Endurance to race against Porsche who will also have a dual program in IMSA and WEC and others like Toyota and Peugeot in the WEC series. Marco Sorensen is second in GTD at the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, but they have just had trouble. An electrical niggle with the car losing power and having to do a reset.
Dixon to the pit lane in #01. They remain in the GTP and overall lead. Tire change, energy replenishment, taping a hose down in the cockpit, a fresh air hose. #01 has had settings and electrical gremlins and now he is down and away. Some team bosses are open books and others keep their cards very, very close to their chests. All teams are run differently, and motor racing is a rewarding but a stressful business. The sister #02 Ganassi Cadillac into the lane with Earl Bamber at the wheel of it nit there is a driver change to Alex Lynn. Tires changed; fuel added for energy replenishment. Two tires onto the car. Not four. Pardon me. It has been a long day, night, and morning so far. You now have to race the harder compound Michelin tires.
Four fresh tires for the #31 Action Express Cadillac. Alexander Sims driving, seventh in the overall. Colin Braun is at the top of the shop and in the limelight now leading Scott Dixon. Getting close to five hours to go. Happy Sunday at 7:30 A.M. Winward Racing have moved up 21 places from where they started after bringing in a new car. The Mercedes AMG GT3 in the production ranks can cut and carve the corners extremely well. The motor is front-mounted but the engine is very far back in the chassis. You know it has the power. 6.2 liters, naturally aspirated, V8 power. V8 power too in 5 liter naturally aspirated form for Lexus and the RC F model.
The heat soak in a GT3 car is unreal. Braking is like sticking your foot in a red-hot fire. Now then, the #60 MSR Acura is in pit lane for tires, fuel, and a driver change from Colin Braun to Simon Pagenaud. The Acura's, I think, have an energy advantage on everybody else. Each driver will have preference based on height for steering wheel position. Ben Hanley, Esteban Guttierez, Matt McMurry, and George Kurtz, they lead LMP2. George Kurtz and Colin Braun drove together a lot. Kurtz is holding his own.
This APR deal came together very late, Algarve Pro Racing from WEC and other series' with Stuart Cox, team boss.
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