Scott Dixon is now chasing Alexander Sims for Cadillac's and now, we see the Acura scrap too between Colin Braun and Louis Deletraz. With the development, the teams have had to work together but the deal is that they still want to win for themselves. That is how things are going to work. Will it change the complexion of the racing on the track? Not when it comes down to crunch time when the money is on the line at the end of the motor race. GT Daytona traffic and now, Deletraz is pulling to the outside trying to pass Braun. Deletraz wants the lead of this motor race, look. Deletraz can be more aggressive compared to Braun. Maybe Colin Braun has more wear on his tires. Maybe the tires are knackered. Deletraz is motoring away.
Last year's DPi Acura was a totally different car. It looks very stiff and abrupt. The Acura is stiffer than the Cadillac but is a much more compliant car compared to the previous Oreca which was a very aerodynamically senstive race car. Look at the brake rotors glowing as Deletraz goes to the outside in the International Hroseshoe! He's got him. Braun had to give it up. Just accept what you have right now. You have to not make a mistake. You cannot afford to throw these motorcars into the weeds. No bashing and smashing over the curbs. Don't even think about it, mate. Don't even think about it.
Be easy on the car. The hybrid units are fragile, and they are unknown. Watch out for the under tray on the bottom of the car. You don't want shockwaves shuddering through the chassis. They are being smart and doing a good job of staying off the curbs. Colin's father, Jeff Braun, is a team engineer but is working with the Crowdstrike APR Racing team with George Kurtz and company. Kurtz sharing with Ben Hanley, Matt McMurry, and Esteban Guttierez as we see pit stops for Deletraz and for Scott Dixon in the #01 Cadillac. Energy replenishment means refueling the car with the new VP R80 fuel and of course it is petrol but it is also things like sugarcane and beetroot that are contained in the fuel blend for the sake of the environment and keep pollution to a minimum.
We are racers. But we are also stewards of what Mother Nature has given to us. A similar idea to the Tread Lightly program for off roading for example. Daniel Morad is chasing Kenton Koch in GT Daytona with both Mercedes AMG GT3's. To the lane, the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. We are watching Matt Campbell making a pass on Colin Braun who gave him racing room. The spotter is calling on the radio, "outside, outside, outside." The tire grip is probably gone before getting the new ones bolted on.
We are an hour out from using the soft low temperature tires as Simon Pagenaud has now taken over the #60 Meyer Shank Acura. It is diabolical on cold tires. Take it easy. Take it easy. Goodness gracious. The ambient and track surface temps are cooling. Make sure you've done up your belts and that your dashboard is in working order. Corvette C8.R #3 in the lane from the GTD Pro lead. Tires and fuel as Tommy Milner takes over from Jordan Taylor. They do not have speed into the center of the turn on throttle and off the brakes. We will see the GT3 based customer Corvette next year. We have plenty of GT3 machinery to have a Captain Cook at. Not just the new space age prototypes.
It is going to get cold, and dark tonight. It is going to be a long, long night. That is what we will be seeing. Traffic will really be an issue. The out lap on cold tires will be a massive deal. Watch out for cold tires. Yours truly has seen Daytona at night in person and it is an incredible atmosphere. We are going to see temps in the low 60s tonight and then, by the end it will be 78 degtees. No rain expected at all, thank goodness. You will lose depth perception in the darkness. It is so tricky but it is so special. Watch out in the pit lane exit. The best of the best have crashed in the lane here at Daytona Beach. Be careful. Tiptoe through there. It is diabolical.
One of the LMP2 cars bashes another on the banking. Austin Cindric had to move. Deletraz, Campbell, Sims, Pagenaud, the top four. The traffic is a game of inches and you have to send it but only on one side. The closing rates are astonishing! The #92 Porsche 911 GT3R is stopped on the road. This is David Brule in GT Daytona for Kelly Moss Racing and he is back in the motor race now. Brule overshoots the oval and evades the Bus Stop when an LMP2 car overcooks it in the Le Mans chicane. Brule sharing the Kelly Moss with Riley Porsche with Alec Udell, Andrew Davis, and Jeroen Bleekemolen.
Proactive driving is fine. Reactive driving is not. If you are the slower car, stay low and let the faster cars race on the high side of the banking. This is going to be a long night. Get a bite to eat, and a massage, as well as a rest. That is for the drivers but not for the pit crews. They will be up all night. Three strikes, you are out, just like baseball, with your driving if you are too aggressive. We have just spoken about this but it is worth reiterating. The #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 has spun and there is damage to the right rear of the #01 Cadillac. In replay, Farano had the door slammed in his face by Braun.
Big hit for the #01 Ganassi car. The #13 AWA LMP3 car was also in that shemozzle. There is rear damage on the #01 Cadillac and they have to wait for a yellow to change the bodywork or pull it away. There should not be any suspension damage. But they might get a meatball flag which is the mechanical black flag with the red dot. Dixon will have to go to the pit lane and see where he is. The BMW M Hybrid is the first prototype they have built and raced in two decades as we see a V8 powered electrified BMW XM as one of the safety cars. What a great time to be a car fan.
Frank Van Meel is the CEO of BMW Motorsports. BMW M started in 1972, 51 years ago. They needed a number plate to homologate their cars and BMW has seen something in the new GTP class cars. The BMW's are down the GTP order. With electric power, there is a transition period and we will see it on the street and in racing. I still wonder about full electric endurance cars. I don't think it will work. We still need combustion racing engines with alternative fuels. Going to check and see who are driving the BMW M Hybrid's at the moment.
The BMW styling is wild. It is very distinctive with the wide grille on the car. Jordan Taylor and company at Corvette are running in the class lead by 5.4 seconds over the Aston Martin with Alex Riberas in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Jules Gounon is next up in the #79 WeatherTech Mercedes AMG GT3 followed by the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with Romain Grosjean at the wheel of it, former Formula 1 driver. #79 has Gounon, Cooper MacNeil, Daniel Juncadella, and Maro Engel.
Next year will be the debut of the Corvette Z-06 GT3R for full GT3 spec with a worldwide entry in GT3 for customer teams. In regular GT Daytona we have Maximilian Goetz leading in the Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes AMG GT3 followed by Roman De Angelis in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage, Russell Ward in the Winward Mercedes AMG GT3 and the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes with Luca Stolz at the wheel. Alexander Sims being reeled in by Simon Pagenaud bit by bit. The sun has set and it is nighttime at Daytona watching Job van Uitert in the #35 TDS Racing Oreca LMP2.
We welcome Georgia Henneberry to the pit lane. Josh Pierson says he had a good first triple stint with an alternator issue in there. Life and coast for fuel saving. Pierson is racing in Indy Next for Ed Carpenter Racing. He did well with sports cars and is planning to continue coming up into open wheel racing. The #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac of course, got clouted by an LMP2 and an LMP3 car. He got crunched in there and the car has toe damage and bodywork damage. They have changed the rear tail on the car. They are missing the whole right side of the diffuser on the car.
Simon Pagenaud has passed Alexander Sims. For Ganassi, they are not fixing the damage yet. They have spares but the diffuser is crucial to the car. The downforce will also be compromised. Tire angle will be a big deal on that #01 entry. Scott Dixon soldiering on as Louis Deletraz leads the motor race at the wheel of the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06. Deletraz, Jensen, Lindh, Milner, and Goetz are the class leaders as we are checking out the gorgeous Rolex watch that will go to the winner.
Hurley Haywood now a spokesman for Porsche. The Porsche 962 was introduced in 1984. Now we have fast forwarded with the 963 which is a new and revolutionary car for the Porsche folks. Engineering and driver responsibility has grown. It is amazing what the drivers must do. In the old days you were concentrating on driving only, but now all these calculations on the steering wheel and having your crew chief telling you what to do. Unless I am on fire or ask you a question, do not talk to me on the radio. This is the biggest crowd the Rolex 24 has ever seen. Absolutely astonishing.
This new generation of cars has really peaked the interest of the public with the electrification and so on. All the development on the track is going to be forwarded to passenger and production cars in the future. So many car clubs are also here. The centenary of Le Mans is coming up and many of these drivers will be there. It is the 100th anniversary of Le Mans. We have a pit stop at Action Express for the Cadillac with the door open for something. When Le Mans rolls around the bugs will be out of the cars.
This looks like a routine pit stop for Action Express. It is indeed. Alexander Sims is doing a double stint. The #7 was ahead but now, Alexander Sims is now ahead of Dane Cameron and it is now Pipo Derani in the #31. "The Dynamo" is driving again.
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