Keating drove from last in LMP2 up to second spot. The track feels really good currently. Keating is the reigning champion in LMP2 in Michelin Endurance Cup. Nick Tandy and Porsche in the #6 Porsche 963 has taken over the overall lead. We are working hour three and will have half the race done at the end of this hour. We are still keeping an eye on the weather as Jordan Taylor moves past Sebastien Bourdais for second place. Now we are watching the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Jake Walker sharing with Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher. If and when the rain gets here, that will put the cat among the pigeons. Turner Motorsports strategist Don Salama is making things work for their team with sponsorship this weekend from Belle Haven.
Patrick Gallagher says the BMW is running well and there has been an accident with one of the LMP2 cars! The Sean Creech Motorsports #33 Ligier of Joao Barbosa is absolutely destroyed! The front end is anyhow. Full Course Yellow. We are under Full Course Yellow. My heavens! Let's see what is going to happen, as the teams are bringing out the rain tires. Here comes a storm. It has been to the southwest and we have some lightning strikes which might necessitate a red flag. In this replay, atthe top of the screen, Barbosa spins off the runoff and spears into the opposite guardrail. Barbosa had that Ligier spin off, a man who has started 27 races here at Watkins Glen.
That #33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier JS P217 is being shared by Barbosa, the Portuguese driver, alongside American Dr. Lance Willsey, and British driver Jonny Edgar. We are working the third Full Course caution of the day here at Watkins Glen as teams are making decisions about what tires to use and keeping an eye on the radar. Yours truly just took a lunch break, and we will be going back to green soon but with an eye on the skies. The wind has picked up and there could be rain, and a storm, coming. If there is lightning in the storm, we will have to put the race under the red flag and wait things out.
Maybe the rain shower won't be as long as we think. Let's see what is going to happen. Mother Nature is very fickle. Putting the wets on if it stays dry it is going to be a bear because they need to be cool. Three and a half hours to go. Watch out for the tires beginning to chunk because it wll be like driving on grease. Dane Cameron leads Jordan Taylor and Nick Tandy followed by Nick Yelloly in the #25 BMW and the rest. Why couldn't we have had a little rain earlier? Filipe Albuquerque fourth in the #10 Acura.
Joao Barbosa is fine after his crash. Away we go! We are back to green! Dane Cameron wants to show his driving skill. A pit lane incident between the #31 Cadillac, #10 Acura, and #25 BMW! Under review from the steeards as Bourdais is trying to pass van der Helm. Maybe we have rain coming into this equation. Matteo Cairoli heaping the pressure on Sebastien Bourdais. What a wild and crazy race we have going on right now coming to the end of the first half. Pit lane protocol drive through penalties for the #10 and #25 cars. The pit marshals know what is going on. The all-seeing eyes. No arguing the call because you just waste time.
#10 and #25 get caught in the esses behind the GTD Pro and GTD traffic. Decisions and reactions must be made quickly. Two words. Closing rate. The #44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin of Spencer Pumpelly has spun and is back underway through The Boot. Big damage to the left rear corner of the car. Pumpelly sharing with Andy Lally and John Potter. He was on the inside of the Ferrari and the MDK Porsche just squeaked by! That was close1 We are watching the battle for ninth between Yelloly and Albuquerque.
Anders Fjordbach was at the wheel of the #86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. It seems this whole situation with the BMW #25, Acura #10, and Cadillac #31 will not incur any penalties. It was just crowding in the pit lane. As a racing driver you need a memory that is short term like Dory in "Finding Nemo" or "Finding Dory" and just go past it. #40 exited as the #31 checked up entering ad there were a couple other GTP cars. Watch the fast lane, the transition lane, and into the box. Raindrops on the windscreen. Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr are leading this race right now.
Jordan Taylor is chasing the Porsche #6 of Dane Cameron I believe. It is now beginning to rain here at Watkins Glen all around the track. Be very, very careful as "Rexy" the dinosaur, the #77 Porsche 911 GT3R in the pit lane. Sebastian Priaulx sharing with Laurin Heinrich. The weather is coming from the south and it will move up from The Toe of The Boot. Turns 1-4, the climbing esses are flat out and rain tires won't like it. "Spike" the LMP2 AO Racing car is down and away and here comes the #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 is in for rain tires. Will the rain pick up?
Lots of penalties have just come in for the #52 Inter Europol Oreca and the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus for not maintaining proper gaps on the restart. Don't overheat the rain tires. Heavier rain is beginning to fall. Be very, very careful. It is beginning to stick to the track. Is the track light or dark gray? If there is a sheen, it will be slick as we watching Michelle Gatting having moved up eight places in GT Daytona. We don't see spray yet. A hot Michelin slick will be better than a rain tire in sprinkles like this. We don't see the spray, the rooster tails of water.
A wiggle from Nick Tandy in the #6 Porsche 963 out of the Inner Loop. This is a tedious, intense time right now. The rain has stayed to the south and maybe we will get some but it won't be for a bit. Some people rolled the dice and maybe overcompensated. Maybe they rolled the dice too soon. Dane Camerin now leads Nick Tandy by 2.6 seconds saying, "see you later, alligators." More raindrops coming and many times it is a win or lose proposition with the 8-10 tear off sheets on the windscreen for dirt, oil, and debris. Don't smudge the windscreen.
Clear skies to the north and east but to the south and west it is very dark. What will the strategy be to get through to the second half. If you are on USA Network now, either check out NASCAR, or switch over to Peacock and check out the rest of this race. The wet weather tires have those tread blocks and dry conditions will overheat the darn things. For those who stopped early, you will be in a world of pain because the rain tires will be busted. BMW have not hit the podium yet in 2024. The car squirms on the tread blocks if it gets greasy with a wet tire on a dry road.
Consistency is the key. When you have mixed conditions, you can't get into a rhythm, and it is a real ice cream headache. Keep the tire in it's sweet spot with the load and the energy. It is rush hour down the frontstretch with the GT Daytona and LMP2 cars into turn one. Feel the grip and know where it is if it is damp. Be careful of the painted curbs because of the puddling o the curbs. A late call for Penske pitting the #6 Porsche and he could gain a penalty for that. Nick Tandy in the lane now as the rain is bucketing down! Teams pulling the wet weather Michelin tires as the rain is picking up.
This is not ideal for the Porsche factory camp. A huge accident! The #55 Ford Mustang GT3 of Giammarco Levorato, the Italian, absolutely destroyed, and so is the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin of Zacharie Robichon. Daniel Mancinelli rolled the Aston at Le Mans last weekend in the Porsche Curves. Major damage to both of those automobiles. Vasser Sullivan and the #14 of Hawksworth and Barnicoat in the pit lane. The safety ceews checking on the drivers as the front end of the Mustang GT3 is totally destroyed.
Full Course Yellow. We are under Full Course Yellow. The driver is fine, out of the car under his own steam. Major damage to the chassis at high speed. no margin for error. #27 was just trying to miss the debris and spinning off. Sneak through and be very, very careful. It is like jumping out of the shower on a wet floor and you slide and fall. Same deal. Robichon has drive to get the Aston Martin back to the pit lane. The GT3 cars are not quite as modular save for the new Ferrari 296 GT3. Nicklas Nielsen says it is a lot like Le Mans. Sector one is wet and it is dry after the Bus Stop chicane. Sometimes you are lucky with tires and sometimes you're not.
The LMP2 car is very different from a Hypercar or a GTP. Nielsen is comfortable in a number of cars. Lilou Wadoux now in the #88 and Nielsen and Wadoux are both sharing with Luis Perez Companc. The yellow has followed the rain with Dane Cameron still leading.
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