Russell Ward has had handling woes all day. Ward and his dad did the 24 Hours of Lemons and put a flux capacitor on their car. This team at Winward Racing has wn the Rolex 24 before. 28 GT3 cars started this race. Over half the field between GTD Pro and GTD. Michelin Endurance Cup points coming up. Big crash as Rober Mau smashes the #38 Performance Tech LMP3 right into the back of the #6 Porsche 963 with Dane Cameron at the wheel of it! Mama Mia! Mau was taking a pass around at the wrong time and hit one of the major GTP contenders. Well, well, well. Pits open for the GTP leaders. Filipe Albuquerque is in from the lead of the motor racing, the #10 Konica Minolta Acura followed by the Ganassi #01 Cadillac and the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac. Ricky Taylor into the #10 and Renger van der Zande in the #01.
Good pit stop from the #31 team not completely out of fuel. Did they take tires? Track position important. Pit lane will open for the GTD Pro and GTD cars. We'll try to get the race back underway. Filipe Albuquerque only had to do single stints on his tires and will do that to the end, in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing/Andretti Autosport Konica Minolta Acura camp. Soctt McLaughlin is back in the #8 Tower Motorsports Oreca in LMP2. Kyffin Simpson, his co-driver, says he did get off the road but the car is fixed and it feels good now. They will contend in LMP2. Cosmetic damage only.
We are readt to refire and get the 12 Hours of Sebring back underway here in a wee while. We will have one more lap behind the safety car before turning them loose again. The nighttime hours still to come here at Sebring. Pipo Derani will lead the field to green. Back to racing! Derani vs. icky Taylor again. Sebastien Bourdais is coming back into the picture it appears. He is going for a move around Matt Campbell. No driver change for the #31 looking at track position. Derani put the car on pole yesterday. The track temperatures are now falling. More debris all over the shop at Gurney Bend right after turn five. Who could that be from?
Ricky Taylor second. Under yellow again for a boatload of debris. Ricky Taylor drive through penalty for pit speed violation under yellow! Well, well, well. The front end of the Racer's Edge with Wayne Taylor Racing Acura Nsx GT3 has the bodywork off with damage already done to the car of Ashton Harrison, Danny Formal, and Kyle Marcelli. Short yellow. Renger van der Zande was on old tires and he was wriggling all over the place out there after flatspotting the tires. He was having a hard time and now, Sebastien Bourdais can fly on new tires.
Tire degradation will be far less with cooler temperatures this evening and into the darkness. Jan Heylen and his co-drivers at Wright Motorsports are at the top of the shop in GT Daytona it sounds like. Zach Robichon driving before Heylen gets in the car. Racer's Edge with Wayne Taylor Racing, the Acura NSX GT3 has massive damage to the grill and the radiator. Game over for Ashton Harrison, Danny Formal, and Kyle Marcelli. The bonnet on the Acura was completely damaged and the #32 Mercedes AMG GT3 had to take avoiding action. The #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Frankie Montecalvo has bumper and diffuser damage.
We have seen lots of yellows and are backtiming the race and we are within half an hour of another slice of the Michelin Endurance Cup points pie. This is a short yellow and so the pits are closed. We are ready to race. Go! Pipo Derani has clear track ahead and now we are going to see Sebastien Bourdais chasing Matt Campbell. Matt Campbell moves to second and Sebastien Bourdais to third. Well, this is going to be a massive fight! All GTP prototypes active bar one. Bourdais is coming in a hurry. The #01 Cadillac has come alive on fresh Michelin tires. He goes wide in the Tower Turn. Oh dear. Crunching the floor on the exit curb. Easy to slice the inside shoulder of the tire over a rut. Porsche and BMW side by side as Connor De Philippi drops wheels alongisde the #6 Porsche 963.
Ricky Taylor serving his drive through penalty for violating pit road speed. Huge skid! The #85 JDC Miller Motorsports LMP3 car with Till Bechtolsheimer at the wheel of it. Tires chirping, bouncing over the concrete and spins off the road. In replay, on turn one exit, he was backwards way early and did not hit anything. I think he just lost control of the car. Nico Pino in the #33 Sean Creech Motorsports LMP3 car had a spin right at the start of the race. Tommy Milner being harried by Maro Engel. Corvette vs. Mercedes in GTD Pro. Engel is close t the Corvette washing out wide through Sunset Bend.
Eight manufacturers in GFTD Pro. Meanwhile, Pipo Derani leads Matt Campbell and Sebastien Bourdais. Cadillac, Porsche, Cadillac. We started 53 cars here at Sebring, the biggest field since 2014. Klaus Bachler battling with Davide Rigon, and Bill Auberlen. #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche vs. #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, and #95 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. Ppo Derani leads Matt Campbell by nearly two seconds. Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais, and Scott Dixon, the three drivers at Chip Ganassi Racing.
Traffic in the hairpin at turn seven. Total commitment will be needed in the final couple of hours. Derani leads, three seconds up the road from the other Cadillac. 5.5 liter naturally aspirated V8 in the Cadillac. 4.6 liter twin turbo V8 in the Porsche, 4 liter twin turbo V8 in the BMW, and 2.4 liter turbo V6 in the Acura. Bourdais looking to the inside of Matt Campbell. He wants to get by and try to chase down Derani. Bourdais an experienced IndyCar driver as well as in sports cars. Bourdais is on the chase into the hairpin passing Sebastian Priaulx in GT Daytona. Matt Campbell scooting away and Pipo Derani leads by five and a half seconds.
Bourdais locks it up and runs wide through turns 14 and 15 and Helio Castroneves in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, he is going to make a move. Bourdais overcooks it into the turn and Castroneves is doing what he can to tuck Bourdais up like a kipper for sure. Philip Ellis is closing up on Zacharie Robichon in GT Daytona. Mercedes vs. Porsche. V8 vs. flat six. Zach Robichon has spun at turn one and into the wall and the #57 has spun as well! Huge damage for the #57 car! Deary me! Magnus Racing Aston Martin #44 in the pound seats. Robichon gets driven in, no dice, gets clipped, goes for a spin and the #57 was all the way to the wall and a broken steering rack!
TDS Racing in trouble with their sister #11 car with Scott Huffaker at thr wheel of it. He has hit a billboard and it got skewered on the dive planes on the nose and the Mercedes #57 is crabbing all over the place. We anticipate a Full Course Yellow and get it. Well, well, well. Another one. Not enough respect going into the first corner and there was some brain fade or over eagerness. Tom Kirstensen debuted with Audi in 2000 and had his Sebring debut which he won with BMW in the BMW V12 LMR. They said they needed to go to Sebring and prove their worth, and they won, and also won the Le Mans 24 Hours that same year. BMW V12 with Tom Kristensen vs. James Weaver in the Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Ford.
In 2000, Kristensen drove for Audi in the brilliant Audi R8 LMP900 open cockpit prototype. The car still won and set fastest lap of the motor race, 23 years ago. Good to see you, Tom Kristensen. We'll talk soon.
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