Remember that the slower GTD cars are just as on the limit as you are in a prototype, in a GTP car. Ferrari and Porsche have brought their GT drivers into prototype racing and to a certain extent GM with Cadillac has too. A bumpy surface to the inside in the Inner Loop. James Hinchcliffe has driven sports cars before, one of our colleagues here on Peacock and he ran well in the Mazda MX-5 races earlier this weekend. Another close call for BMW #25 with LMP3 and GTD both! Yikes! We should now see a battle between Lamborghini and Lexus. Pin chasing Montecalvo down. Excuse me. Michelle Gatting now at the wheel of the #83 car. Doriane Pin has impressed completely in all phases of GT racing. Catching is one thing, passing is another.
Montecalvo is the villain of the peace here. This is going to be sketchy with the LMP3 cars! Tijmen van der Helm in the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 goes by. He is sharing that car with Mike Rockenfeller of course. Gatting and Montecalvo will be flat out up through the esses. The GT3 cars produce a ton of downforce just as much as the prototypes do. The Lamborghini has good straight line speed from the top of the esses to the inner loop. Montecalvo now being chased by the #78 US Racetronics Lamborghini with Misha Goikhberg at the wheel of it. Goikhberg quicker than Montecalvo. Robby Foley in the #96 Taurner Motorsports BMW is also joining the party or looking for an invitation.
They are having a little party, and they didn't invite me! Josh Burdon also going for it in the #74 Riley Motorsports LMP3. Jaminet gets squeezed by the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3. Michelle Gatting is crushing it, currently, and Frankie Montecalvo is having to play catch up. Matthieu Jaminet will now have to slice and dice his way through GTD traffic and Felipe Nasr in the sister Porsche is going to get stymied. Michelle Gatting continues leading GT Daytona. Doriane Pin says she had a great start and followed the GTD Pro cars before the first Full Course Yellow and safety car scramble.
She was able to overtake and manage her tires as well. So, this race is over 1/3rd complete. They will keep pushing. They are racing drivers. In racing, gender does not matter. If you are able to prove yourself as a driver, go for it. Boys and girls, if you want to go racing, go for it. Vasser Sullivan Lexus has been improving their chemistry and energy as a team constantly. Eight podiums on the bounce going back to 2022. The same is true for Iron Dames. Iron Dames have won a race at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium and she won in Ferrari Challenge in Europe as well. Matthieu Jaminet in the #6 Porsche opening a 6.3 second gap on teammate Felipe Nasr in the #7 sister Penske Porsche 963.
Alex Quinn leads LMP2. Dakota Dickerson leads LMP3. Felipe Nasr to the lane in the #7 Porsche 963. Trouble for Nasr! He has to go behind the wall! Oh boy! Nasr in trouble. They are troubleshooting or parking the car for the day. Think about the hybrid systems. There is a light at the bottom of the windscreen to tell if the system is safe to touch. Is it charged? Is it discharged? Only touch it if it is green, if it is discharged. If it is red or flashing, don't touch it. You'll get zapped into oblivion. The car is safe.
Well, well, well. Trouble too, look, for Jarett Andretti as he has damaged and has gone off the road someplace. Driver change to Gabby Chaves. So, Andretti did spin coming off turn ten and into turn 11. The AMR safety team members are in conference with the Porsche mechanics. Did the light change colors? Everyone keeping their distance from the car. Maybe it went into an unsafe mode. You need a mat and a pair of special gloves to make sure the car is discharged. Stand on the side of the tub and jump. That is how you escape.
Be careful. It is extreme voltage. Bail out! It is like getting struck by lightning otherwise. The #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche in the lane, Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm at the wheel of it. Nolan Siegel takes over the LMP2 lead from Alex Quinn and Ryan Dalziel. Some teams will have an opportunity to look for outliers like Indy Next drivers Christian Rasmussen and Nolan Siegel. Paul Loup Chatin now at the controls of the #52 PR1/Mathiasen LMP2 entry. The #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 has made up places. Robby Foley driving right now along with Dinan and with Patrick Gallagher.
Michael Dinan was in the race at Le Mans and able to finish second in LM GTE Am getting on the podium. Three wheels on me wagon for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Filipe Albuquerque! John Edwards, too, in the #95 sister Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in a spot of bother. Alexander Sims now back up to fourth in GTP. #95 is John Edwards sharing with Chandler Hull and Bill Auberlen. Cars have to go wide as Albuquerque is crawling back to the pit lane. Yup. The left rear wheel is gone from the Acura #10 even with the exle still turning. How did the wheel come off? Je ne sais pas. I don't know.
A new rear wheel on the car. Fuel going in the tank. The wheel nut went on. I wonder though. If that tire departs again in a fast part of the course you could be in for Mr. Toad's wild ride. In replay, we can see he knows he has trouble in the esses up the hill. The camber is out of whack. John Edwards went three wide with a couple LMP3 cars and went off in the grass. More penalties handed down for tire requirements for tire pressure. #62, #78, #83. Risi Competizione, US Racetronics, and Iron Dames. Is that a tire pressure sensor registering zero? Or is it below minimum required pressure.
If the marshals, see zero, it is erroneous. 54 of the 57 cars that started are still running. Pit stop time for the #01 Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande. #10 now down a lap and will have a second lap put on by leader Matthieu Jaminet. Albuquerque defendings from Jaminet. Jaminet followed by Blomqvist, Sims, and Yelloly. All four makes. Porsche, Acura, Cadillac, BMW. These cars have torque sensors for the hybrid and consistent mass. Matthieu Jaminet to the pit lane within the window. No driver change. Fresh Michelin tires and fuel. Jaminet does a double stint.
The GTP cars sound like the world's fastest golf cart until the internal combustion engine fires up. Alexander Sims now up to second in the #31 Cadillac 8.9 seconds behind leader Tom Blomqvist. Tom Blomqvist is one of the fastest drivers in the IMSA paddock right now. Felipe Nasr says that he had alarms related to the hybrid systems on the dash. The power loss and hybrid drive got worse. All power lost on the hybrid system. Trouble in paradise for the #6, penalty, failure to adhere to powertrain parameters. Oh boy. Maybe the hybrid kilowatt output has been exceeded. These systems are incredibly complex.
It is only a warning, currently, for the #6 car. Everything is monitored by the torque sensors. #60 to the pit lane from the lead with Blomqvist at the wheel of it. One car from each brand still in the fight. Meyer Shank, Action Express, Team Penske, and BMW RLL. Meyer Shank Racing might just have confidence to put Colin Braun in the car for the final stint. #60 ahead of #6, the Penske Porsche and now, Jaminet dusts Blomqvist! Alexander Sims leads the motor race in the #31 Action Express Cadillac. The GTD lead battle now heating up between Lexus and BMW. Robby Foley wants to double up after winning Michelin Pilot Challenge yesterday.
The #9 Pfaff Motorsports GTD Pro Porsche is in the fight as well with Klaus Bachler at the controls. Bachler chasing the Lamborghini #63 with Andrea Caldarelli at the wheel of it. That is the Jordan Pepper, Andrea Caldarelli car. Trouble on the right front fender for the #80 AO Racing Porsche. That's "Rexy" needing bandages for the good old dinosaur. The #14 Lexus RC F GT3 in the lane. Nico Varrone who is one of the GTE Am Le Mans winners at Corvette currently in the #17 AWA LMP3 car. So, we are coming close again to the end of another racing hour. Corvette Racing have had a fraught race today.
Taylor says that it is a long race and they don't have the pace they want. They had a penalty earlier on as well. They are hoping for a yellow. We have a new GT3 spec Corvette coming for next year which will be in private hands with a purpose built GT3 car.
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