Rasmus Lindh has copped a penalty for a spin. The top seven are all GTP cars as Pipo Derani is leading the motor race over Nick Tandy, Alex Lynn, Brendon Hartley, and Sebastien Bourdais. Castroneves is the last car on the lead lap in GTP pulling out a wee bit on leader Pipo Derani. Pipo Derani, 4.6 seconds to the good over Nick Tandy. In GTD Pro, Daniel Juncadella is catching David Pittard. Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 vs. WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG GT3. The GTD Pro and GTD cars have antilock brakes of course. Mikael Grenier is leading in GT Daytona over Marco Sorensen. Anyone in GTD can qualify the car now. It is a confusing but exciting new rule. Mikael Grenier, the Canadian, is just a handful of seconds ahead of GTD Pro leader David Pittard, the British driver in the Aston Martin. Two Brits and a Spaniard on one of those teams.
Ben Barnicoat now at the wheel of the #14 GTD Pro Lexus RC F GT3. Co-owner of the team James "Sully" Sullivan said that they ticked many, many boxes to improve the team. It is continuity on the team. The #14 Lexus RC F GT3 is a newly built car. We shall soon welcome back our pals Leigh Diffey and Calvin Fish to the broadcast booth. Now, yours truly wants to do a class order rundown. However, we shall see if there is time in this race's eighth hour. Opinion and editorial. That is, while Peacock is doing an excellent job with the coverage, I am sorry, but there are just too dang many commercials on the stream. That is a bear.
Derani, Lynn, Tandy, Hartley, the top four. Whelen Engineering have lost telemetry. Rats. Where is the energy? We need to see what is going on with the energy limit. Energy can come from the internal combustion engine or the battery. If you use 920 megajoules of energy you have to hit the lane. 4.4 seconds between Pipo Derani and Alex Lynn. The engineers at Action Express need to see the information so they do not go over the limit. Action Express will have to pit early if the telemtry is not working.
Plug in the car to get the data and the telemetry back. Tim Keane asking Pipo Derani what the numbers are. 920 megajoules to work with burning 30 a lap as Pipo Derani hits the lane. Derani to hand the car over to Jack Aitken. Aitken is used to hybrid powered cars from being in Formula 1. The #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3 is slow on the apron with Fabian Schiller at the wheel of it. Schiller has power but is driving at reduced speed. Kenny Habul was telling the team and drivers to baby the race car, avoiding the curbs trying to get to the end of the race. Avoid the curbs if you can.
Well, it depends if you listen or not. They have gone straight through the lane to serve a penalty. Interesting. He was slow through NASCAR turns three and four. No penalty for the #75 entry. Something is wrong with the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes Benz AMG GT3. This is bizarre. Porsche have their new 992 generation 911 GT3R and have been down on lap time compared to the other cars. In GTP, Alex Lynn in the #02 Ganassi Racing Cadillac is now leading Brendon Hartley in the #10 Acura ARX-06 by 4.2 seconds.
When the telemetry goes down, the team cannot see energy consumption nor can IMSA. Action Express now has telemetry back. Jack Aitken is now fifth. He needs to gain 20 seconds on Nick Tandy and now, we have the #20 LMP2 car off the road with the Swiss driver Raffaele Marciello. That is the High Class Racing entry and he spun all by his lonesome into turn one under braking. Marciello, the Swiss driver is sharing with Dennis Andersen, Ed Jones, and Anders Fjordbach.
Scott McLaughlin has taken over the #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 car from Josef Newgarden. Finally, the two of them can drive together in this race with Tower Motorsports and team boss John Farano. Helio Castroneves is now chasing Jack Aitken. Wow. This could be a fair old dust up. 16 and a half hours to go. Gradient Racing is running well in their #66 Acura NSX GT3. Sheena Monk now driving alongside Katherine Legge, Mario Farnbacher, and Marc Miller. Brendon Hartley has moved to second followed by Nick Tandy and Alex Lynn. Sheena Monk is doing her first GT3 race although she has run Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona International Speedway.
Seven and a half hours on the board as we welcome Leigh Diffey, Calvin Fish, and Townsend Bell back to the broadcast booth. Jack Aitken, Ben Keating, Lance Willsey, David Pittard, and Mikael Grenier are the class leaders. It is warm ambient temperature, but we have seen a lot of mistakes on cold tires. Alex Lynn all over Brendon Hartley like the proverbial cheap suit but it is now hypnotic. The nighttime tough hours are coming. Helio Castroneves had a wild ride locking the brakes up earlier and spinning of course. Hartley still being hotly pursued by Lynn.
With the softer tire, the SLT (Soft Low Temperature) with a higher ambient temperature, the SLT tire is wearing down quicker than expected. Can you not go on a full 40 second energy stint? Maximize the performance of te tire and stay in the lane for less time. How much double stinting have you done? What tire compounds are needed for projected temperatures? Aitken now leads Hartley by seven and a half seconds or close to it. Don't run afoul on the rules for the tires. Be very cautious. That is what you have to do. Alex Lynn is chasing down Brendon Hartley, the three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, and three-time FIA World Endurance Champion. Hartley has his hands full locking up and now, Alex Lynn is giving him fits!
There was a lockup through turn six, look. Don't do anything silly. This race has a long, long way to go yet. Put in the laps, knock down the hours. Eat up the clock. Hartley went off the road and now back on through The Kink. The braking is tough with the brake by wire on the rear brake and pedal braking on the fronts. From GTP to LMP3 for a moment with Lance Willsey leading in class sharing with Joao Barbosa, Nico Pino, and Nolan Siegel. Nico Pino and Nolan Siegel are both 18 years old. They have 17 seconds over Gabby Chaves and 45 seconds over MRS GT Racing and Guillherme De Oliviera of Portugal.
De Oliviera sharing with James French, Sebastian Alvarez, and Daniel Frost. Hartley is closing steadily on Jack Aitken. The margin is 7.1 seconds. Jack Hawksworth is really going for it chasing down David Pittard. Aston Martin vs. Lexus. Both these cars are front engine and have V8 power. Alex Riberas being interviewed has had a stint and he says things are trouble free for their team thus far. A long way to go and the Aston Martin is feeling good right now. Coming soon to the end of another racing hour and we will see this event 1/3rd over.
With LMP3 on the track it is similar speed between them and GTD. GTD Pro and GTD have the same equipment with the GT3 cars. There are no higher-powered GT Le Mans cars. However, GT3 is really the future of production-based sports car racing. The Heart of Racing finished on the podium in class in the 24 Hours of Dubai with a Mercedes AMG GT3 of course. The gap is 5.8 seconds between Aitken and Hartley for the overall lead of the motor race. Cadillac vs. Acura. Jack Hawksworth forces the issue and now, Mario Farnbacher is a pick and he was in no man's land there, look.
John Potter is in the #44 Magnus Racing Flex Box Aston Martin Vantage GT3. John Potter sharing with Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, and Nicki Thiim. Magnus Racing will be doing the Michelin Endurance Cup races only. Andy Lally is in his 21st consecutive year racing the Rolex 24 breaking Hurley Haywood's record. Andy Lally has kept his first Rolex watch he won and gave many away to family and friends and significant people who helped in his career. Mike Conway is now in a GT3 car, a world champion, a Le Mans winner, and a prototype driver.
The lights are in the car, so the driver can see the dashboard and so on during the night, but they do look like a disco ball or like the lights of the ferris wheel in the amusement park here at Daytona. Alex Lynn now leads over Jack Aitken, Brendon Hartley, and Nick Tandy.
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