There is a penalty to be paid for emergency service as Tom Blomqvist is preparing for his first stint at the controls of the #31 Cadillac. You will have to pit again for a full-service stop. The light was on for 12 seconds before the Whelen car hits the lane. This is the fourth Full Course Yellow at Sebring on this hot, sunny day in central Florida. Scott Dixon and company have moved to the top of the board in GTP and in the overall in the sister Cadillac, the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing car. As we have said, that program is going away at the end of 2024, and we do not yet know how Cadillac will orchestrate their plans in GTP in IMSA in the near future. So, we are looking at the #31 Cadillac and they have done emergency service and needed a splash and dash, but they must pay a penalty. The light the driver sees at pit out, is on the pit wall. Surprising to see the confusion at Action Express.
Pits are not open yet for service. Hats off to IMSA Race Control for cleaning the spent rubber, the clag, as our friend David Hobbs would call it. With the spent rubber, it is up on the wall, and it makes fresher tires really grungy. The pit lane is now officially open and Renger van der Zande will take over from Scott Dixon in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac. One eye on the fuel light and another eye on the points for the Michelin Endurance Cup. John Church and JDC-Miller Motorsports with their customer Porsche 963, the bright yellow "banana boat" Porsche. It is a customer program. Richard Westbrook has been as high as third. The 20-year-old Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm takes over the car.
Now, the #7 Penske Porsche 963 is in as well and beats the #01 off of pit lane. There was also a driver change for the #40 Acura. The #31 Whelen Cadillac has come through the pit lane twice and now, they make a driver change. Fresh off of his full-time IndyCar debut in the opening event at St. Petersburg, he is back with the #31 Whelen Cadillac team. Indeed, I tell you, in the time since Sebring, the race we are covering now, there was another IndyCar event. It was their million dollar dash for cash exhibition race at The Thermal Club in Thermal, California.
Blomqvist has had great success in IMSA. There is a new nose going onto the #31 Cadillac. Was the original nose damaged? Is there a downforce or venting change? Yes. There is damage there. Heave it over the wall. So, Tom Blomqvist is now at the controls of the #31 Whelen Cadillac. Tom Blomqvist is fired up and wants to go for it. "Put me in, coach!" If you are a rookie, you are nervous, but you are more relaxed if you have done it before. You cannot take a full load of fuel in a lesser amount of time. Now we see the GTD Pro cars pitting.
Paul Miller Racing are the defending champions in the GT Daytona class at Sebring and they have had a strong race thus far, now in the GT Daytona Pro category. They did fuel saving last time around. All of the GTD cars are in the lane. No tires for the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 and I think another short stop was for the #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, the Flex Box car. At the head of the pit lane is the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3. Who will be down and away first? An issue on the right front tire.
Paul Miller Racing and their BMW beats the #3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R out of the pit lane. Neil Verhagen climbed out and Bryan Sellers is now in the car. Be efficient, know your pit strategy. Paul Miller Racing, 2023 GT Daytona class champions. The belts are tightened up, and now, get ready for the restart. At the top of the tree, it is BMW in the lead with Nick Yelloly in the #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8. In second place, Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 WTR Andretti Global Acura ARX-06. The Dallara chassis has worked very well over the bumps. Keep in mind, the Dallara is the same carcass, the same chassis, for both the BMW and for the Cadillac in GTP.
The chassis has been very compliant over the bumps and as we approach the nighttime hours here at Sebring, having a compliant setup could put BMW in the pound seats. The sister #24 BMW M Hybrid V8 now runs at the back of the queue in GTP. We are working through the pass around procedure. All of the GTP cars are lining up in order and then, all of the GT Daytona cars, both the Pro class and regular class cars, are sliding towards the back. It is like snakes and ladders in that respect. Ordering the cars makes the restarts less chaotic.
People complain that Full Course Yellows in IMSA are too long and also how this procedure was done at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year. Well, it may take a long time, but it sets everyone in order, so everything isn't muddled together like when you put fruit into a blender. There were troubles for the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3, and they flew Plummet Airways from third way down to the back end of the GTD Pro class. They had to put the car back up on the air jacks, bring it down, and then hit the right front wheel with the rattle gun again. The nut would not stay in place. The car has damage to the dive plane in the left front. The lower dive plane has delaminated.
The driver could feel something in the handling through the steering wheel. There will likely be a vibration there. The crew will just tell the driver to muddle through it and then they can change the dive plane or just tape it together. These sports cars are very modular in their design, so if they need a new part, they can slap it on there and fasten it. The 296 GT3 is a car that has been fast right out of the box. Risi Competizione won the GT Daytona Pro class at the Rolex 24. Now, we see Porsche just exiting the pit lane and the #63 Lamborghini SC63 is also in.
Lamborghini and BMW have also completed pit stops. It is wicked when you hear a GTP car accelerate under electric power. The world's fastest golf cart, which then turns into a fire breathing beast of a race car. This is the first time Lamborghini have built a single purpose prototype race car. We saw the debut for it at Qatar in the FIA WEC for the Qatar 1,812 Kilometers. Now, it is making it's North American debut here at Sebring. Everyone else in the GTP field has testing and development and competition. Lamborghini are way behind the eight ball on testing and development. So, cut them some slack. They will get there.
That being said, as I pointed out in an editorial, they will still have a long way to catch up to everyone else, from Acura, Porsche, Cadillac, and BMW. As I have said before, in design and development of a new race car, you go from A to Zed by going from A to B to C to D. If they make it to the end of the race it will say a ton about the program. Meanwhile, everyone up front in GTP is awaiting the green flag and yes, it is true! We are about to go back to racing. Nick Yelloly in the leading #25 BMW will choose when he buries his foot into the accelerator, and we will be back underway here at Sebring. Green flag! Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 is glued right to his tail!
Albuquerque is trying to block Yellloly and take the lead at the apex! Albuquerque has the lead and now Yelloly in second and falling into the clutches of Matt Campbell in the #7 Porsche 963. Renger van der Zande is now fourth aboard the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac. Matt Campbell is all over Nick Yelloly like a cheap suit! He gives him a nose into the hairpin. I am here, mate. I've got my eye on you. It's horses for courses. The powertrains are all different. All of them are V8 motors but the BMW is a four-liter twin turbo, the Porsche is a 4.6-liter twin turbo, and the Cadillac is a 5.5-liter atmospheric V8, with no boost from a turbo or supercharger. No replacement for displacement when it comes to the Cadillac.
Yelloly has control of the field or had it but Albuquerque, goodness, he just pulled the pin and went for it! Complete confidence from Albuquerque right then and there. Renger van der Zande tries to take a spot away from Campbell. No dice. He had the door slammed in his face and knew discretion was the better part of valor. Put that in your book and don't do it again. I am writing that down in my fan notebook and saying, "oh yes, let's do that one again!" The drivers look at you and say, "you've got to be out of your mind!"
Renger van der Zande taking his first laps behind the wheel of the #01 Cadillac during this race. In another couple of hours, we will reach the halfway mark in this event. Campbell has dropped back and Yelloly is now gapping the Porsche. Campbell's pace and willpower are impressive. Bring the heat when you have to. Now we move to have a Captain Cook at the lead scrap in GTD Pro. This is Ben Barnicoat in the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 leading "Rexy" the dinosaur, the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R in the hands of Laurin Heinrich.
We are seeing two totally different GT3 cars here. A front engine Lexus with a 5-liter V8 vs. a rear engine Porsche 911 GT3R with a 4.2 liter flat six motor. There's plenty more where this came from in GTD Pro and GTD. A huge battle is afoot. Devlin DeFrancesco, the Canadian racer, at the wheel of the #78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for Forte Racing being harried by several other cars. I saw a Mercedes, a Mustang, and a few others also in that scrap. Jordan Pepper in the #19 Lamborghini for Iron Lynx is beginning to close in on Laurin Heinrich.
Heinrich continues chasing Barnicoat and this is for the GTD Pro lead with Jordan Pepper in third followed by the Aston Martin of Ross Gunn and the BMW of Bryan Sellers. Third in the picture is the GT Daytona leader, the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Patrick Gallagher. Gallagher is sharing with Robby Foley and Jake Walker. Will Turner is a fun-loving guy as a team owner, but he is also serious. Turner Motorsports are closing in on the great record of starts by a BMW team, held by BMW Team Schnitzer who won here at Sebring and have won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the great BMW V12 LMR LMP prototype in the late 1990s.
In 1999 they won both Sebring and Le Mans. They have also won with the BMW M3 GTR V8 powered beast at the Nurburgring 24 Hours and in many other sports and touring car endurance and sprint races. Well, later in the season, Turner Motorsports will break their record for consecutive starts by a BMW team in sports car racing. Patrick Gallagher is driving superbly. We are under Full Course Yellow once again with debris on the road. There was just a restart after all. Where there's smoke, there's fire. We don't want to talk about fire.
In this replay, some argy bargy between Devlin DeFrancesco and Daniel Juncadella. This was the battle we were having a Captain Cook at a wee while ago. Juncadella in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette and the #65 Ford Mustang GT3 is also in this fight. That is the Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller, Fredric Vervisch driven car. A chunk of the diffuser came off, the part on the prototypes that we call the 'cheese wedge". That piece can damage radiators and could also puncture a tire. The pits are closed under this short yellow flag. The field can bunch up again and the course marshals can take care of the problem. Team Penske have been on a roll lately in all their endeavors.
The Indianapolis 500, the NASCAR championship, the pole for the Daytona 500, the recent IndyCar race at St. Petersburg, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the FIA WEC race at Qatar. They have had much success as of late. Roger Penske must be the most passionate man in the world about motor racing and he has been at it for six decades. So, before we go back to a restart, let's take a look at the top five in each of the classes.
GTP
1. #10 Albuquerque/Taylor/Hartley Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
2. #25 Yelloly/De Philippi/Martin BMW Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8
3/ #7 Campbell/Nasr/Cameron Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963
4. #01 van der Zande/Bourdais/Dixon Cadillac Racing Cadillac V Series.R
5. #40 Taylor/Deletraz/Herta Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
LMP2
1. #2 Keating/Pino/Hanley United Autosports USA Oreca 07
2. #52 Boulle/Smiechowski/Dillman Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07
3. #22 Goldburg/Di Resta/Garg United Autosports USA Oreca 07
4. #74 Burdon/Robinson/Fraga Riley Oreca 07
5. #99 Hyett/Chatin/Brabham AO Racing Oreca 07
GTD Pro
1. #14 Barnicoat/Hawksworth/Kirkwood Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3
2. #77 Heinrich/Priaulx/Christensen AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
3. #19 Pepper/Perera/Bortolotti Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2
4. #23 Gunn/Riberas/Farnbacher The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo
5. #1 Sellers/Snow/Verhagen Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3
GTD
1. #96 Gallagher/Foley/Walker Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
2. #12 Montecalvo/Thompson/Telitz Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3
3. #78 Defrancesco/Goikhberg/Spinelli Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2
4. #57 Dontje/Ward/Ellis Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
5. #34 Costa Balboa/Franco/Sbirrazzuoli Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3
That's the running order in each of the classes as we go back to green flag racing after the short yellow. Albuquerque has control of the field on this restart. The flag is up and away we go again! Albuqerque goes to the gas pedal earlier than expected followed by Yelloly, Campbell, van der Zande, and Jordan Taylor. The tires are up to temperature and pressure. Watch how fast the Porsche's are and Campbell is showing his aggressive driving style again. We had a very short yellow just now and this is the opening lap after the restart.
Campbell is the chap who develops the setups on the simulator for the Porsche 963. Check that. Maybe we should be referring to Nick Yelloly ahead in the BMW. Hello again, to Calvin Fish, rejoining us in the coverage this afternoon. There is a discrepancy in how quickly each GTP car gets it's tires heated up. Some get into their sweet spot immediately and for others, it takes time to get everything into the zone. Is it the chassis, the manufacturer, or the nut behind the wheel? We are surprised at how aggressive the drivers are after seeing Albquerque trying to make a move. The drivers are so aggressive and everyone is at full chat in the opening phases of a 12 hour race.
We have a good battle for fourth place brewing in LMP2 as Josh Burdon is looking to find a way around Dan Goldburg and there, look, is also Laurents Horr in the #20 car, the MDK by High Class Racing entry. #2, Ben Keating wriggles, and not for the first time. Now the traffic is stacked up. Dropping back, you find the piranhas all around you ready for a chomp and you can't escape. Blimey! In replay, he was already off the road in turn ten, the Collier Curves, and it is a tricky braking zone there. The tires are dirty having run through the sand. Now, his tires will be cleaned up. Keating charging on Laurents Horr.
Keating will be mad at himself, but he has plenty of time. Don't dwell on mistakes. Trouble, contact between BMW #1 and Lamborghini #19. Jordan Pepper moves Bryan Sellers all the way below the white line. Pepper just tosses it back up the inside into Sunset Bend, getting his own back. That was a spicy move! Pepper? Spicy? Wait. Say what? That was funny! Bryan Sellers' next target is surely Ross Gunn in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin. That's a different state of mind. Jordan Pepper still wants to mud wrestle. It is full attack mode for 12 hours straight and tonight at sunset when the track cools off it is going to get even wilder.
It is 84 degrees ambient. It is toasty. It is greasy when you are double stinting tires. Devlin Defrancesco is third in the #78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 for Forte Racing. His co-driver Loris Spinelli tells us that consistency is what they want. They are trying to find the best pace. It is crucial for them to keep it together. They won the Petit Le Mans at the end of last year. They are doing well. Currently, Defrancsco is scrapping with the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Indy Dontje.
Frankie Montecalvo makes a slight mistake in turn ten, but he is back on the button and continues. Right behind him is the GTD Pro #62 Ferrari 296 GT3 with the loose dive plane. Montecalvo hsi dropped to sixth place in class. Daytona stays pretty clean during the Rolex 24 but at Sebring, it is high intensity through the rhythm of this track. Albuquerque in the #10 WTR Andretti Acura is leading the motor race but has Nick Yelloly in second in the #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 keeping him honest. The Englishman is eight tenths of a second down. The only one really missing the party here is the #31 Action Express Whelen Engineering Cadillac. My boys are playng catch up at the present time.
Tom Blomqvist is currently running seventh and the car is not comfortable. The left front tire is all sticky and the car is not handling correctly. You get into the heat of the day and the handling is going away on the car. It is hot. Don't have a meltdown. The driver will be flustered and upset, getting on the radio to the team and saying, "ugh! The car is not working!" Your crew chief will come back on the radio and say, "hey, mate. You were just the fastest driver on track. Keep going." Stay calm and have a car that is quick at the end of the race.
Action Express changed the nose and they have more downforce on the car. He just needs to survive this stint for the time being and there are lots of tools in the car to adjust the migration on the hybrid system and the differential settings. Work through the changes you can make to get the car into it's sweet spot. We have seen the #5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 make a move. Now, poor old Josh Burdon has gotten on the whirligig. The car slid out from under him over the bumps through Sunset Bend and he had no choice but to spin. He surely was afraid he'd make contact with the #52 Inter Europol/PR1 Mathiasen Oreca of Nick Boulle also in LMP2.
A prototype is a gigantic wing and when you lift off the throttle, the car becomes a giant wing and the front-end washes away. If you have to stay on the brake a little longer, you have to be careful. You never hit the bumps in turn 17 the same way, twice. Burdon is now back on his way. Aston Martin are running well and Mario Farnbacher did a wonderful job in qualifying and in the race so far. It is new for Mario Farnbacher with a new team and car and it is a complete opposite of the car he has been used to driving, now in a front engine car. Farnbacher is fast in everything he drives.
Take what you know from a different car and apply it to a new car. Mario Farnbacher won with Alex Riberas in a Porsche here at Sebring in the GT class many years ago. Farnbacher's manager is Ian James, the manager of The Heart of Racing team. Mario Farnbacher did some testing with Meyer Shank Racing in his previous employment with Honda. But now, we wonder, because Aston Martin might be getting back into the prototype game before too long. He is a great racer and might have a chance to drive a hybrid GTP car. We'll see. Speaking of GTP, Albuquerque leads Yelloly still. Albuqerque was feeling it earlier and had the confidence to go for it.
It will ramp up as the temperature is heating up on track before tonight when it cools off. Nick Yelloly is told to go for it against Albuquerque, but if he can't match the pace, hit the fuel number so they are in the ballpark on the energy levels they need to hit. But the gap is shrinking even as we see it on the screen. Yelloly is going for it. The sister #24 BMW is at the back of the field. Augusto Farfus, the Brazilian, at the wheel of the #24 has radioed the team saying, "the car has so much understeer that I cannot drive it." Two cars in the same team handling totally differently.
van der Zande in the #01 Cadillac is chasing Campbell in Porsche #7. Understeer is frustrating, but oversteer, where the rear end wants to swap ends with the front, is flat out scary. Farfus cannot hit the lap time that his teammate Nick Yelloly can. Grip at a minimum as Jordan Taylor wriggles the #40 WTR Andretti Acura in turn ten. He is feeling it. The handling of the car changes with the tires and the fuel load, and the sweet spot gets smaller and smaller. Jordan Taylor has succeeded both in prototypes and GT cars but is now back in prototypes with his dad's team.
Jordan Taylor has a knack for coasting into the braking zones to save energy. Renger van der Zande is up ahead. Under braking, we hear that strange fluttering sound from the Acura that no one will be specific about where it comes from. That fluttering happens at mid throttle. HRC head David Salters says, "oh yeah. It's a cool deal." To some people, it sounds like accidentally dropping a spoon down the garbage disposal. A very expensive spoon. It is off throttle in the middle of the turn, a crunching, fluttering noise. Don't rush into traffic. Time the run off the corner. Be patient and look at the big picture.
Renger van der Zande has gapped Jordan Taylor just a little bit. Tom Blomqvit now back on the button passing the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 of Dutchman Tijmen van der Helm. He has grown impressively but is not at the same level as Phil Hanson or Richard Westbrook. The Taylor family has won races here at Sebring. In 1996, Wayne Taylor drove with Scott Sharp and Jim Pace to victory in an open cockpit World Sports Car, a Riley & Scott Mk. III with Oldsmobile V8 power. In 2017, Jordan and Ricky Taylor, after winning the Rolex 24, also won the 12 Hours of Sebring, when WTR was still affiliated with General Motors and with Cadillac.
Last year, Jordan Taylor won in a Corvette GT Daytona car. For Dane Cameron, he is a Rolex 24 winner this year. His father, Ricky Cameron is the engineer on the #85 Porsche 963 for JDC-Miller. Dane Cameron won here at Sebring on his first try in 2011. Our mate, Calvin Fish, he won both Daytona and Sebring in the GTO class for Roush Racing back in the days of their Ford Mustang and Mercury Cougar programs. This was around 1989, 1990 I believe. You just needed to be in the right car number.
At Daytona, Calvin recalls a story. He was racing and heard a voice on the radio. "Calvin, this is Jack. Slow the hell down, and maybe, we can win this thing!" He had no idea who the Jack was on the other end, until realizing later, "oh my! Jack Roush was trying to tell me something!" That's funny! He had not said a word to Jack all weekend before that happened. Renger van der Zande leads this train of prototype race cars with Jordan Taylor followed by Tom Blomqvist, Tijmen van der Helm, and Nick Tandy. Now, it looks like Blomqvist is actually ahead of van der Helm. That is true. #31 Cadillac ahead of #85 Porsche.
Focus forward now that you have cleared the GTD Pro and GTD cars. Nick Boulle leading LMP2, not racing for a full season, but he still has the speed. It is too hard to be out of the seat for a long time. Calvin makes another great point about the end of his career in the early 1990s. He was racing for Ford and Jack Roush in the Mercury Cougar XR-7, and then went on to race briefly with the Mazda RX-7 program, the Mazda factory team, and ending his sports car racing career at General Motors in 1993 with the Rocketsports Oldsmobile team in the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. So, in those days, some drivers would only race the Rolex 24 and the 12 Hours of Sebring and then, you'd be out of the car for ten months and had no chance to make sure your race driving skills were up to snuff.
Nick Boulle has been in the same situation. He could have more time at the wheel. Can he put together a full season campaign? Boulle has his hands full with Josh Burdon who is recovering from his spin. In GTP, the #85 car has one or two Silver or Bronze level drivers and in LMP2 there are more Bronze and Silver drivers, or Gold drivers. So there are different levels. You have minimum amateur drive times for LMP2. In the GTP or GTD Pro cars, they have all professional driver lineups so that a pro driver can guess what his competitors will be doing.
In the meantime, Laurin Heinrich is chasing Ben Barnicoat. Lexus vs. Porsche. Both of these cars running at the top of their classes. P.J. Hyett is at the wheel of "Spike" the dragon, the AO Racing LMP2 car. Gunnar Jeanette recognizes he can do well with team management and driving after his dad Kevin Jeanette taught him. You need resources and commitment from a bloke like P.J. Hyett who is the bankroll and then, he is also one of the drivers, steeping up big into the LMP2 car. So the driving talent and the ownership talent is there.
Ross Gunn in third has made a name for himself as an Aston Martin driver and has won championships. He is a full-time driver with Alex Riberas and Mario Farnbacher is part of their endurance team. They are involved in many championships including the FIA WEC and they have the new Aston Martin Valkyrie Hypercar. Plus, they are racing in SRO competition as well. If a race car driver is leading your program, you will be in good shape because engineers who have driven before can also relate understanding the emotion and the dynamic.
The engineer who has driven before will know if the driver has made a mistake, he may need a hand on the shoulder to say, "you did not do anything wrong", or conversely, they need a kick in the butt to say, "dude! You are slowing down! I need you to go faster!" If you have been a driver and then move into a team manager or engineer role after your driving career, well, consider that as a real feather in your hat. Vasser Sullivan are the same way with the Lexus RC F GT3 program. They had a great season last year especially with the #14 car. They ended up winning two races last year at Long Beach and Watkins Glen, a sprint, and an enduro, plus the championship.
Winning races is one thing while winning championships is something teams must learn how to do. But there are a number of teams throughout the IMSA paddock that are proven IMSA championship winners in addition to being race winners. Hawksworth and Barnicoat are really going for it and the team focus was set on winning the title. That is what they got. In racing, never rest on your laurels. Hawksworth and Barnicoat have very similar, thick British accents, thick Yorkshire accents, so they can understand each other for dead sure. A few weeks ago Barnicoat was at the McLaren Autosport Driver Awards with people like Alex Albon, George Russell, and Lando Norris, Formula 1 drivers for McLaren, who he was racing with early in his career.
Moments ago, there was pushing and shoving between James Calado and Earl Bamber, Ferrari vs. Corvette. Calado and Bamber could be having fun. But keep in mind, they are racing against each other in the Hypercar class too, in the World Endurance Championship. Bamber for Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing and Calado for AF Corse and Ferrari. Of course, James Calado was on the driver's strength of the winning team for Ferrari at the centenary 24 Hours of Le Mans last year with the 499P. I don't think Calado appreciated that nudge.
That is a great gold Mobil 1 livery. The two Corvette's and the #01 Cadillac as well as the Lexus. Well, well. Albuquerque's gap over Yelloly has ballooned to four and a half seconds. Lapped traffic definitely playing a part. Smoking front brakes on the #85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963. 1,000 degrees Centigrade. That's hot! That works for your barbecue if you are cooking a hot dog, a bratwurst, a chicken, or a hamburger. Ugh. I mention food during an endurance race! I must be hungry! Hmmm. If we have a caution, break out the picnic!
The leaders have 15-20% energy still in the tank. The #10 Acura, the #5 Porsche, and the #25 BMW all pitted just before the last Full Course Yellow that we saw. The GTP car, a full stint is 27-30 laps which equates to around 49-57 minutes. 20% of that is five minutes. We have seven hours of the motor race left. Not quite to halfway yet. A long way to go and we know there is tire debris all over the track. A bit of autocross for one of the factory Ford Mustang GT3's a wee while ago. Let's check the replay before we begin the next racing hour. He ran wide, clattered the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari, and he is forced to make a major correction. That is the #65 Ford Mustang GT3, the Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller, Fred Vervisch machine. Dirk Mueller at the controls presently.
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