The #04 CrowdStrike LMP2 car is in the pit lane for service. Four hours to go. Less than four, truly. So far in GTD, the #57 Winward Mercedes has gained 16 places while others have made 13, 13, and 11 moves for position. Neil Verhagen tips the #023 Ferrari into a spin! Sheldon van der Linde will finish. I think Verhagen might be penalized but there seems to be a lot of blocking by the #023 Ferrari. What will the stewards say? The pedal went numb and the #88 AF Corse LMP2 was in the way, the #81 DragonSpeed car of James Allen was also there. Onofrio Triarsi's efforts went pear shaped. Action Express second, with Aitken at the controls, the meat in a Porsche sandwich. Pato O'Ward wpnders why he and his team are a lap down at United Autosport in LMP2. They are praying for a yellow. They are sixth in class in LMP2, a lap down.
Estre is catching Jack Aitken little by little. Jakobsen and Hanley are still pushing hard. A warning for incident responsibility to Neil Verhagen. Meanwhile, Nasr leads as Aitken has his hands full with Kevin Estre. Felipe Massa of Formula 1 fame is enjoying his first Rolex 24. The #74 car he shares with Felipe Fraga, Gar Robinson, and Josh Burdon, there is a very strong contingent of Brazilain drivers. The #40 Wayne Taylor Racing Andretti Acura is in for Colton Herta, with new tires. The Acura's feel they have pace deficit. But the Porsche's and the Cadillac are still scrapping hard.
The Acura's have been on the back foot, taking a weight penalty compared to the Porsche and Cadillac. The Acura has ten kilowatts more power by 42 kilograms of added weight. Penske Porsche changing the nose on the #6 Porsche. New tires and fuel as well as the car comes down off the air jacks. Porsche have won 18 times, with class wins in 1966 and many overall victories. We will welcome back Dave Burns, Steve Letarte, and Brian Till, next, as the Porsche goes off the road! Kevin Estre just went off the road being aggressive sliding the tires to get temperature and he went off the road in the International Horseshoe!
Wow. No tire temperature, straight into the grass. Jack Aitken just over three seconds down on Matt Campbell now in #7. Less than four hours to go. It is overcast in Daytona Beach on this Sunday as we join Dsve Brns, Brian Till Steve Letarte, Parker Kligerman, and Hannah Newhouse. Manage your emnotions and don't be a hero right now. How do you turn the spigot back on? Jack Aitken only 7/10ths behind. Take time though to get temperature in the tires on the out lap. Felipe Nasr says that the #7 has had zero issues compared to the sister #6.
The ambient temperature has cooled off. The track is cooler. The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 of James Calado, pits and so, Neil Verhagen reassumes the GTD Pro lead. Christian Rasmussen, the Danish racer who will run in IndyCar this year including at the Indianapolis 500. Rasmussen leads LMP2 by 12 seconds. Three and a half hours left. The countdown is on and the race is just beginning now. We still have a full sprint race distance to go. Ryan Dalziel says Era Motorsports have had the hammer down since the green flag.
James Calado says, in an up and down race at Risi Competizione, this race has been up and down and mentions the fire during a pit stop due to spilled fuel. This happens at Daytona all the time. The pace is there and they are pushing as hard as possible. The rear brake change happened a short time ago and they had to because they were getting spongy on the rear, under yellow. They know the BMW is a quick car. Who will fin9sh at Risi Competizione? They are not sure yet. GTD has had quite the field represented in both classes, Pro and regular just the same. Risi Competizione has won the Rolex 24 but not in a Ferrari.
Matt Campbell in the Porsche still leads being chased hard by Jack Aitken in the Cadillac. Wayne Taylor Racing with Colton Herta in the #40 is third. They have had issues on that automobile. The recovery window has shrunken in a major way. The Proton Competition #5 Porsche 963 is keeping the factory cars honest. Alessio Picariello in the car currently. Christian Ried, the team principal. The cooler temperatures help them. Three Le Mans winners in the #5 customer Porsche. No one seems to know who the finishing driver will be.
There are plans but the plans are subject to change. Experienced team bosses are going to keep their cards close to their chest. In GT Daytona you might just use your Pro driver. On both sides of that class coin between Pro and regular. Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr, or Josef Newgarden could get into the #7. I don't think Matt Campbell, will be able to get in, because of the fact that there is minimum drive time to look at. Three and a quarter hours to go now. 15 minutes away from completing hour 21. Simon Mann chasing Ricky Agostini. Scott McLaughlin is now in the #8 Tower Motorsports car in LMP2. McLaughlin is a three-time champion in Australian Supercars.
In the cool conditions, can the final driver do a triple stint? Mann and Agostini still battle for fourth in GT Daytona while Mike Skeen passed but Skeen cannot pull away from the Ferrari's. Agostini has worn the goody, the go fast, out of his Michelin tires. He could have a turn of speed to catch Skeen. We are definitely getting to the end and of course there is a lot sleep deprivation, even for me as always on these races. It is insane! Bryan Sellers is very impressed with what his co-drivers are doing. Some teams and drivers could use a yellow before the end. All the three other drivers hanging out on the P-Paul Miller Racing pit box currently.
You can drive for four hours in a six hour window. Get out of the car, and then come back and do a double stint to the end. No rain yet despite some threats in the forecast. Kyffin Simpson has been running well before he starts racing in IndyCar later, in a handful of weeks. Simpson will debut at the IndyCar opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Colton Herta continues in third place as we are seeing fast laps being uncorked 21 hours into a 24 hour race. Herta in the pit lane for a scheduled stop. #40 has not had the speed they've wanted all race. Connor Zilisch now at the wheel again of the #18 Era Motorsports LMP2 car.
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