Josef Newgarden is a two-time IndyCar champion and an Indianapolis 500 winner. Newgarden is excited to live his dream and drive at Petit Le Mans with Porsche and Team Penske. They tested quite a bit here at Road Atlanta. Full Course Yellow out now. I wonder why. Off the road is the #36 Andretti Autosport LMP3 car with Jarett Andretti at the wheel of it, stuck in the gravel pit. Bourdais pitted under yellow. The #6 Porsche is back on track and we have just seen the #31 Whelen Cadillac pit cleanly. They are back on the lead lap. Meyer Shank Racing in the lane for fuel in the #60 Acura. Colin Braun has taken over the driving seat as the car has been signed to salute the end of the program. Helio Castroneves was in the car and now Colin Baun is back.
Meyer Shank Racing will go into IndyCar for next year full-time as the #17 LMP3 car of Wayne Boyd is having issues with the green AWA Duqueine D08 Nissan. Recycle the system. Boyd sharing with Anthony Mantella and Nico Varrone. The yellow is being extended to fetch the #17 car. We thought there was a driver change on the #60. Helio Castroneves remains in the car. They had to change a data stick to hand it off to IMSA and the stewards. Other drivers who are suited and booted might assist their teammates instead of getting into the car. The new HANS devices, the Head & Neck Supports, are much smaller than they used to be.
The #52 PR1/Mathiasen LMP2 car is in the pit lane. Alex Quinn out and into the car I think is either Ben Keating or Paul Loup Chatin. Quinn and Keating will move over to United Autosport and their LMP2 team coming to IMSA next year after many years in the FIA World Endurance Championship as we see more trouble for the #6 Porsche 963 continuing to be fixed and these cars are so sophisticated. All the energy has to go someplace into the car and the same deal was between the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 and the #31 Whelen Action Express Cadillac V Series R.
Green flag. We are back to racing. Matt Campbell heading Ricky Taylor, Tijmen van der Helm and Renger van der Zande at the top. Make sure your tires are clean. Helio Castroneves chasing the Whelen Cadillac. Six and 3/4 hours still to go as we see Tijmen van der Helm running third ahead of Renger van der Zande with Mikklel Jensen slicing and dicing through turn seven. Passes between LMP2 and LMP3 cars and Ben Hanley cannot shake Mikkel Jensen. Ed Jones now at the wheel of the #20 High Class Racing Oreca LMP2, nine laps down.
This is the lead battle in LMP2. Dakota Dickerson leading Felipe Fraga in LMP3. Riley Motorsports chasing JR III Motorsports. Dakota Dickerson looking for more opportunities and he has also driven GT3 cars but has been impressive in GT Daytona cars and has won titles in Prototype Challenge and in open wheel racing in Formula 3 and Formula 4. Fastest lap of the race for Sebastien Bourdais and now Renger van der Zande is chasing Ricky Taylor as Matt Campbell in the Porsche #7 leads the motor race. This is the best weather we have had all weekend in terms of temperatures.
Alexander Sims on the lead lap now, in seventh place, looking ahead to Harry Tincknell in the #59 Proton Competition Porsche 963. The track temperatures have really come up and there is more oversteer in the high-speed portions of the track for the factory Porsche's. Campbell has a massive gap over Taylor and van der Zande. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura have had a trouble free race thus far. Big damage to the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, and Kalus Bachler I think made contact and he did. He loses the left front fender after crunching into one of the Lamborghini's.
That fender is sitting on the side of the road. Pfaff Motorsports team boss Steve Bortolotti said they were divebombed on the restart. It has not been the season the defending GTD Pro champions have wanted, and they will be moving to a new brand next year with McLaren. That Porsche 911 GT3R is not going as fast as they'd like it to. In the rulebook, you need headlights for the night, and you need the fender for aerodynamics and straightline speed. That also affects the scoop for the engine.
In the GT Daytona class, we see the #78 US Racetronics Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 to the lead in class. Loris Spinelli sharing with Misha Goikhberg and Patrick Liddy. Right behind is the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, their rivals from the most recent race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tijmen van der Helm now at the wheel of the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 and he will hand off later on to 2009 Formula 1 champion Jenson Button. We saw Rockenfeller and Button team up with Jimmie Johnson at Le Mans this year in the NASCAR Garage 56 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Next Gen Cup car endurance racer last summer.
Mike Rockenfeller has been driving prototypes for a long, long time, with Audi, Cadillac, Porsche, and others. Some fighting again between the Meyer Shank Acura and the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW. Wow. Be proactive. Do not react to the faster car behind. Jenson Button had to study how the new GTP cars work even though he has come from Formula 1 which is also technologically advanced. Dealing with traffic at this density on a small course like this. 52 cars at 2 and a half miles here and of course, 60+ cars at Le Mans on an eight-and-a-half-mile circuit.
The championships, the race victories, all will be on the line when we get to the darkness in traffic tonight. Matt Campbell, Ben Hanley, Dakota Dickerson, Jordan Taylor, and Loris Spinelli are the current class leaders. The #78 car will incur a drive through penalty for jumping the restart. That is Loris Spinelli. You must be patient on the racetrack. Stay in your columns before the green flag waves. A penalty too for the #63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini in GTD Pro. Mirko Bortolotti, Jordan Pepper, and Franck Perera. That is the trio. Damage on the right rear of the #92 Kellymoss Racing Porsche that has spun off the road.
Right rear tire cut down. David Brule at the wheel of it. Hopefully the suspnesion is OK. The amount of damage and destruction a cut down tire does is enormous and he got tipped by the #88 AF Corse LMP2 car. The dive planes on the prototypes are like razor blades. Three drivers in each car this weekend and of course each driver does something very different with their driving style. You are constantly on your toes. Francois Perrodo is driving the Petit Le Mans for the first time and 45 rookie drivers are in this field.
Helio Castroneves will assist Tom Blomqvist in the transition to IndyCar for next year. We wish Simon Pagenaud well after his massive IndyCar accident at Mid-Ohio back in July. Castroneves balked by Alexander Sims in the Whelen Cadillac and of course the prototypes are working through the GT Daytona Pro/GT Daytona traffic. Make the right decisions in traffic especially in an endurance event. This is a full-length race and more and more into this and there are still nine possible winners. The #31 and #25 are still in contention. Let's take a look again at GTP points.
1. #10 2,792 points
2. #7 2,761 points -31
3. #31 2,723 points -69
4. #6 2,691 points -101
5. #01 2,673 points -119
6. #25 2,667 points -125
Castroneves now pushing Sims. A piece of debris just went flying down the straightaway. That was weird. The #6 Porsche can be a guinea pig now for the #7 at Porsche Penske Motorsports. A cheese wedge has gone missing from the #60 Acura I think. The dive planes look fine but I think the cheese wedge is loose. The diffuser is under the back of the car where the center of pressure is, the fulcrum the car pivots around. Well, well, well. Something does not feel right to Helio Castroneves in the handling department. All these widgets are there for a reason.
Tires are going away on the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura. Think of where the car is in the nighttime, and you want optimum handling then. It has been cloudy and damp all weekend until today. The track surface will be much warmer than it was during night practice on Thursday night. A racetrack is a living, breathing thing. Be comfortable with the uncomfortable. We have seen so many pro drivers in the GTP cars get caught out on cold tires all year so far. At least it won't be so cold tonight as we saw in years past.
Robert Wickens, we saw a wonderful race from him in Michelin Pilot Challege yesterday and he has come back incredibly strong with a wonderful season. What a special moment to see him win a championship. Robert Wickens wants to be a part of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in the very near future. Getting closer to the end of yet another racing order as Harry Tincknell has passed Ricky Taylor, the #59 Porsche 963 passing the #10 Acura ARX-06. The #04 APR/Crowdstrike LMP2 car has made a pit stop. Ben Hanley, leading in LMP2. We are closing in on pit stop time for the GTP cars. Mikkel Jensen will not assume the LMP2 lead yet.
The closing rates in sports car racing are bonkers. The #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 has been in the wars with Antonio Fuoco, the Ferrari factory driver in the FIA World Endurance Championship with the 499P. The Ferrari 296 GT3 needs more compliance on the sway bar, and we have now seen a flip of the leaders in LMP3 as Felipe Fraga passes Dakota Dickerson. Gar Robinson will win the championship alone. This is the car of Felipe Fraga, Gar Robinson, and Josh Burdon.
We will have a slice of the endurance points pie awarded at the end of this racing hour. Four hours, eight hours, and ten hours at the checkers. The BMW and the Acura GTP cars slice past the LMP3 car. The #10 Wayne Taylor Racing/Andretti Autosport Acura has lost a place. Maybe they are doing double stints and losing pace. This is the longest green flag run we have had. There are bonus points in Michelin Endurance Cup if you are in the top three. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport are still in the championship fight.
It will be squeaky, squeaky time, at the end of the motor race for dead sure, with all the championships on the line and the Petit Le Mans win. The circuit infield at Road Atlanta is loaded with fans. At Team Penske, they are focusing on trying to get the manufacturers' cup for GTP. The #10 Acura is in the pit lane for service. Fuel, tires, and a driver change from Ricky Taylor to Filipe Albuquerque.
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