So, the battle is definitely turning on in both of the GTD classes in GTD Pro and GTD regular. Jan Heylen chasing down Parker Thompson. Jack Aitken now in the overall lead of the motor race for Action Express. Can the team keep the Cadillac out front searching for their second win of 2023 and their second win in an endurance race? We'll find out. The Risi Competizione Ferrari, Heart of Racing Aston Martin, and WeatherTech Mercedes all scrapping. In replay, look, into the Inner Loop, elbows are out, and some argy bargy there, look, in the inner loop! Well, well, well. That was a bit of a shemozzle indeed. Win at any and all costs for Risi Competizione. Daniel Serra and Davide Rigon sharing the car of course.
Jordan Pepper, the South African, was a contender with Iron Lynx. Pepper says that Andrea Caldarelli is OK and so is Rob Ferriol. The LMP3 car thought he could drive over the top of the GTD Pro cars. Lexus Marketing Vice President Venay Shehani is extremely proud and happy to see the brand in contention and leading the points championship currently in GTD Pro. Colin Braun is perhaps closing in on Jack Aitken little by little. This will be quite the battle if it comes to that between AXR and MSR. Aitken is indeed pushing but so is Colin Braun. Ben Hanley leads LMP2. Nico Varronen in LMP3 and Lexus in both GTD class with Barnicoat leading Pro and Thompson leads GTD, Ben Barnicoat, and Parker Thompson.
Nick Yelloly has now passed the #6 Porsche 963 and now the #7 sister car is back on track after getting the hybrid unit fixed. Cold tires for Nick Tandy. Jan Heylen, second in class in the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. Jack Aitken still leads the motor race by two and a half seconds. Pipo Derani tells us that things have gone well for the Endurance Championship points. They refueled during the yellow. Fingers crossed with an hour and 40 minutes to go. Traffic ahead. Things are getting really busy. Nick Yelloly is going after Colin Braun, working through GTD traffic.
Aitken is doing well managing the traffic. The GTP cars are hustling at almost 200 miles an hour. It is tougher for the traffic to stay outside getting into the marbles. Track density here at Watkins Glen is like a car an inch. This is the biggest field at Watkins Glen since the mid 1980s. Road Atlanta in the Michelin Endurance Cup finale is even smaller. The BMW team finally did a two day test. Meanwhile, Colin Braun has caught Jack Aitken. Pipo Derani seems quietly confident about the chances of Action Express.
The 5.5-liter V8 finds the sweet spot in its torque curve. Normally aspirated V8 in that car compared to the other GTP cars being turbocharged. At Meyer Shank Racing, Tom Blomqvist will get back in the car for the final stint. Blomqvist says he has been dealing with some shoulder pain, maybe a pinched nerve or something. An hour and a half of racing still to go. Dylan Murry has had a great race and Ari Balogh the regular driver for JR III will be recovered shortly. Garrett Grist leading in the LMP3 class. Dylan Murry usually finishes the race. He started today before Dakota Dickerson and Garrett Grist went through their stints.
Jack Aitken leads Colin Braun by 1.3 seconds. Same margin in LMP2 between Christian Rasmussen and Ben Hanley as Felipe Fraga makes a move for the LMP3 lead. Jack Aitken has run a fabulous stint so far. Action Express continuing to hold off Meyer Shank and BMW Rahal Letterman Lanigan for the time being. There is a softer compound Michelin tire that was thought to be used in mixed conditions. Is it too warm now to go to those tires? It is hard to tell what compound it is. That is the Michelin Soft High Temperature tire. They had seven sets to work with for qualifying and the race and you don't have to do too many double stints except for temperature.
Do you roll the dice? Good question. Ben Hanley in the lane in the #04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR car. Ben Hanley, George Kurtz, and Nolan Siegel. Christian Rasmussen running well with Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman in the #18 Era Motorsports car. LMP2 will grow larger and larger next year. Christian Rasmussen and Nolan Siegel may head for IndyCar in the near future. The same could be true with Josh Pierson and Alex Quinn. Sim racing can really help the real world of motorsport these days especially multi class endurance sports car racing.
Kyffin Simpson has done very well and he too coming through the Indy Next championship. United Autosports who compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship will have a two-car team in IMSA and Riley Motorsports too will move up to LMP2 with Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson. They have an unbeaten run in LMP3 here at The Glen with an hour and 20 minutes of racing left. OK. The #60 Meyer Shank Acura is in the pit lane doing the overcut compared to the outlap of the #31 Whelen Cadillac. Pipo Derani is now at the wheel of the #31 Whelen Cadillac.
Nick Tandy now right on Pipo Derani's six. Tandy is turning up the heat! Tandy passes for the lead. Connor De Phillippi is the erstwhile leader in the BMW but on a different strategy compared to the Porsche and the Cadillac. De Philippi is now leading. BMW are the only brand who have not won in GTP yet. Jack Aitken tells us that in his first race at Watkins Glen, everything went well experiencing the track fully for the first time and finding some scary corners, but the weather is great. Action Express rally around Jack Aitken. Everyone is so kind to him and he has great teammates.
They have gotten straight back in it after Le Mans. Don't do everything differently. Jack Aitken, job well done. Action Express currently third behind the two German cars, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW M Hybrid V8 and the sole remaining Penske Porsche 963. The Garage 56 effort took NASCAR back to Le Mans they returned and had great success as the roar of the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Cup car thrilled everyone, driven by Jenson Button, Mike Rockenfeller, and Jimmie Johnson. It was an amazing story as they finished the race and won the pit stop competition as well.
So many iconic moments and images of Garage 56. It has been a great experience for NASCAR with Garage 56. Connor De Philippi leads by 5.3 second but Nick Tandy is coming in a hurry and Pipo Derani is a further 2 seconds behind. Lexus #14 pitting from the GTD Pro lead with Ben Barnicoat leading in class by 20 seconds over Parker Thompson and Aaron Telitz. Actually, Telitz is in the GTD lead. Parker Thompson ahead of Sellers, Legge, and Frey. Barnicoat over Garcia, Juncadella, and Serra.
Madison Snow will take the #1 BMW M4 GT3 to the finish. The Iron Dames Lamborghini has also made a scheduled pit stop. Ditto for Heart of Racing. Rahel Frey in the Lambo to the end.
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