We are set for the run to the flag. Two hours to go. There are multiple lead lap cars in four of the five classes. The reliability of the GTP cars has been great and they have delivered on the wow factor and the entertainment factor. Simon Pagenaud vs. Sebastien Bourdais. Porsche's side by side and banging doors. Kevin Estre in the #77 Volt Racing car squeezing by teammate Jan Heylen. That bright highlighter yellow Porsche has been driving (with Volt Lighting on the side), by Estre, Alan Brynjolfsson, Max Root, and Trent Hindman. Taylor Kyle is on strategy, Mike Hull's stepson, who was running the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar team with engineer Chris Simons.
Trouble for Matt Plumb and company in the #64 TGM Aston Martin with a loose wheel and a broken upright or half shaft. Oh my goodness. The pressure is on for the race lead in LMP2 between Vaxiviere and Chatin but we have our 11th Full Course Yellow. Good grief! Filipe Albuquerque in fourth place in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing/Andretti Autosport Acura is only a lap down but the Ganassi team is going to be doing something with their strategy for dead sure. Do you sacrifice another bullet? You need two bullets in the gun before the end of the motor race. Full Course Yellow on the speedway.
This is setting up for drama in the final hours of the 61st annual Rolex 24 as the WeatherTech Championship continues to be unbelievably competitive. Sad for my pals at Action Express but our time for a GTP win shall come. 30 GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona cars are still fighting in this race. Half of the field really. Yellows could very well indeed breed yellows. Penultimate GTP stops and there was drama with the rattle guns or the air jacks at Ganassi dropping the car for the #01 too soon. But the deal is that either #01, #02, or #60 any of them could top up on the final stop or the final lap before we go green.
The Rolex 24 has been the breakout event for many drivers. Blomqvist and Castroneves as well as Pagenaud could win again. Now, the #25 BMW M GTP, 132 laps down spun perhaps on cold tires. What the heck?! Ah. Looped it on acceleration with Connor De Philippi in the car. van der Zande a former Rolex 24 winner and six Indianapolis 500 wins and 11 IndyCar titles between Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon. We can see the overall trophy and the Rolex watch shown on the TV cameras before celebrations begin. Everyone is totally exhausted but you have to dig deep and go for it.
Blomqvist vs. Bamber as the race restarts. Blomqvist takes off and gets the jump. He will uncork that bonkers pace. Energy save may be a factor if it stays green for the last hour and a half. The Mercedes gets hipchecked through The Kink. His tires will be trashed! Oh my! #27 Marco Sorensen vs. #79 Maro Engel. Engel is chasing the Corvette of Garcia. Montecalvo, no, Telitz ahead in #12. #52 spins in the International Horseshoe. Nicolas Lapierre at the controls! Deary me! He is mad. He cannot believe what just happened. No fire in the hole. Alarm on the dash! Oh my goodness!
Clutch disengaged? Hit neutral. He is going to go down one lap. Full Course Yellow! Good grief! 12th Full Course Yellow! Drama madness again here at the Rolex 24! Act three coming to it's dramatic conclusion, just like a Shakespearean drama but on wheels. The field stacks up, The #02 is doing one race at Daytona. This is his only chance as they are racing in World Endurance later. Filipe Albuquerque is going for it now and he goes getting by van der Zande and by Bamber! Man, oh man! Strategy all over the shop. Planning, yes. But now, all out racing. Chuck the paper and the pencil out the window.
The #10 Acura ARX-06 is flying! They have four of the last six Rolex 24's. One big Acura effort? Really? Collaboration? Collaboration, my foot. Every man for himself. Bamber is reeling in Tom Blomqvist hand over fist! These GTP cars with the hybrid boost, they are going for it. England, New Zealand, Portugal, Holland. International superstar drivers. These cars sound amazing! Real race cars. The sound great and look great. The Acura's sound like an IndyCar. The Cadillac's sound like an old style NASCAR Cup machine.
An hour and 20 minutes on the board. This is now a sword fight. Noble knights, strike quick and true. Who has enough left in the locker to go for the Rolex watches? In GTD Pro, it's a fight too. Break out the swords! Mercedes, Corvette, Mercedes, Lexus. Hawksworth, Engel, Garcia, and here comes Sorensen and Ellis as well in GTD! Jack Hawksworth is moving ahead. Squeeze play, Corvette ahead, and Hawksworth says "oh no you don't, mate." Down the inside into the International Horseshoe. Hawksworth wants that Rolex watch.
GTD Pro and GTD are the same, all GT3 cars, but the driver lineups are different. Profession vs. amateur. Hawksworth belnds into the natural speed off the chicane. Last year GTD came down to the final lap between Laurens Vanthoor and Matthieu Jaminet. These are drivers now in the 963 GTP program for Porsche. In GTP, four cars on the lead lap. 60, 02, 10, and 01. MSR, WTR, and two CGR cars. Other teams like Penske and Action Express as well as BMW RLL will be back and will be in the fight too, especially my buddies at AXR. We will be in the fight. Count on it.
One hour and ten minutes to go. The difficult part with a GTP is diagnosing troubles with the systems on the steering wheel with individual systems. It is hard to find all the functions to make the car work. These cars are spaceships. On three hours of sleep, strategize that other drivers are going to get some sleep. It is tight with three drivers but it is even harder with four drivers. Get rest when you can. The air conditioning helps. Jeepers creepers. This racing is madness! Albuquerque to second, right behind Blomqvist. He gets a massive draft down the backstretch! Egad!
We see the massive battle in GTD Pro in replay. That was nuts! We have been racing for nearly 23 hours. The drivers are tired and right on the edge, but they know what is at stake. This is going to come down to the wire. Blomqvist leads by three seconds over Albuquerque. Blomqvist is the closer for MSR and Albuquerque likewise for WTR. WTR is trying to win for the fifth time in seven years. Crosswinds blowing across the straightaways as we watch Engel and Hawksworth scrapping for the win in GTD Pro and here comes Engel. Engel sold Hawksworth the dummy! Hawksworth is going to come back and has to tuck in into the International Horseshoe! Two V8 powered grand touring coupes fighting each other. Lexus vs. AMG Mercedes.
Keep your emotions in check with desire. You are a volcano ready to erupt with emotion. Rein it in. Engel moves down the inside. Textbook stuff there.
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