Pierson and Vaxiviere are next up in the serial in LMP2 as we are now headed for the final quarter of this race, or at least the final four hours honestly. Cadillac leading the race for the #01 team as teammate Earl Bamber is now being interviewed. We have not seen many yellows all this time. Cadillac Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing have been really going for it for most of the race. The Sean Creech LMP3 car is pitting for extended service. Drivers eat, get their physio, and then take a short, quick nap. Drink lots of coffee and get a snack and watch your teammates. Sean Creech Motorsports have a shifting issue they thought was electrical but now it will not shift below third gear, working on the transmission and it is now stuck in first gear.
Wow. Parts being replaced at the rear of the LMP3 car. The Rolex 24 can be a cruel mistress and heartbreaking. It can be a good situation and then turn into a heartbreaking ordeal. Thomas Merrill is now leading LMP3 in the #17 AWA car sharing with Wayne Boyd, Nico Varrone, and Anthony Mantella, the Duqueine of theirs. Josef Newgarden and company are clawing their way back, six laps down. Newgarden sharing with his IndyCar teammate Scott McLaughlin, Kyffin Simpson, and John Farano. We have had more green flag racing than we thought. There nine official retirements of the 61 cars that started, so 52 are left. Cadillac, Acura, Cadillac, Acura, Porsche, BMW, Cadillac, Porsche.
Scott Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Alex Lynn, Ricky Taylor, Dane Cameron, Marco Wittmann, Pipo Derani, and Felipe Nasr. Running new cars is always tough. Bobby Rahal is right. Rahal won this race as a driver in 1981 in a Porsche 935 driving with Bob Garretson and Brian Redman. So much of this race is in the dark. The BMW M Hybrid V8 is, like other GTP cars, in the middle of a true learning experience. Four hours and 40 minutes left on the board. Scott Dixon has three overall wins at the Rolex 24 as we ride aboard the thundering V8 Cadillac. 5.5 liters, normally aspirated. The muscle car of the GTP class. The Cadillac sounds like an older generation NASCAR Cup car.
Dixon is a watch collector. His manager, Stefan Johansson, a former race driver, builds watches. Johansson is a Le Mans winner, an IndyCar driver, a Formula 1 winner. Colton Herta and company at BMW are still going for it driving the #24 entry, the M Hybrid V8 with Eng, Farfus, and Wittmann. Herta shall score points for this race in the #24. #25 is in the pit lane. BMW have not built a prototype in almost 25 years since their amazing V12 LMR open top sports car that won Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans way back in 1999.
Big brake lockup on the right front of the #25 BMW! Yikes! That was through turn six on the bump transitioning to the banking! Cold tires ahoy there, look. Crowdstrike/APR pit for scheduled service. As Winward Racing continues to do very well in GTD. They have been strong in spite of all they have been through. The Winward team was assisted by Iron Lynx and we wish Lucas Auer well. The Aston Martin's seem to be better on fresh Michelin tires. Morad has not driven in IMSA since Laguna Seca last spring.
Morad I think is nervous about the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin currently in the hands of three-time Le Mans winner and Formula 1 test driver, Darren Turner from England. Cadillac #01 hits the lane from the overall lead, Scott Dixon at the controls being chased by Simon Pagenaud who now is leading for Meyer Shank Acura. Pagenaud now leading Dixon by 21 seconds and Lynn by 41 seconds while Ricky Taylor in fourth is a lap down. Jordan Taylor is a veryn smooth racing driver in the Corvette although he is also a very funny chap and I guess has a comedy routine and an alter ego.
This is a 3.56 mile, 12 turn course. The first 24-hour race was won in 1966 by a Ford GT40 driven by Ken Miles and Lloyd Ruby. Ken Miles was the main character in the "Ford vs. Ferrari" movie if you saw that. Hurley Haywood and Scott Pruett are both five-time winners and Andy Lally has just broken Haywood's starts record. Ted Giovannis is 77 years old and driving a race car. He is still going for it. Good on you, Sir. Driving with Owen Trinkler, and Hugh and Matt Plumb with veteran racer Joe Varde calling strategy.
In the meantime. So,on Pagenaud leads by 56 seconds over Scott Dixon. We have been green for the last five and a quarter hours. There is a long, long way to go yet. Many cars are begging for the yellow to come out and we have two full IMSA sprint races left. Pagenaud eases off the throttle and coasts into the corner for energy save. The field has run 33,000 laps in total! 117,00 miles! Insane! In the pit lane, the overall leading #60 Acura topping up on oil again like clockwork. That is part of a 24-hour race and the MSR Acura team have done that multiple times as the #10 Acura is in and Louis Deletraz will get in.
Andy Lally says he and Magnus Racing have been trying to get their lap back and it is tough to do in one of these enduro events. The Aston Martin is a solid race car but they need to turn better and do better at getting the power to the pavement. Andy Lally sharing with John Potter, Nicki Thiim, and Spencer Pumpelly. Look at variables for how to combine teammates and learn from eachother with different cars but in the same car it requires compromise as the Magnus Racing Flex Box Aston is in the lane with Spencer Pumpelly at the wheel of it. Scott Dixon remains in the lead of the motor race with just about four hours left to run before the checkers.
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