Tag: daytona

Sanchez avoids Truck Series chaos to nab first career win at Daytona

With cars wrecking and flipping behind him in overtime, Nick Sanchez claimed the first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of his young NASCAR Cup Series career in Friday night’s Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway. The race …

With cars wrecking and flipping behind him in overtime, Nick Sanchez claimed the first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series victory of his young NASCAR Cup Series career in Friday night’s Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

The race ended under caution on the second lap of the overtime after Rajah Caruth, running fourth, moved up the track and turned the No. 91 Chevrolet of Jack Wood in front of the field.

Sanchez and runner-up Corey Heim were clear of the chaos, and Caruth escaped with minimal damage to run third. But behind them, the Chevy of Daniel Dye launched the Toyota of Taylor Gray, which flipped in mid-air and landed upright on its tires in a gaggle of mangled cars.

 

All told 12 trucks were involved in the wreck, which caused the record 12th caution of the evening.

Coincidentally, Sanchez rallied from a 13-truck crash on lap six to score the victory for his No. 2 Rev Racing Chevrolet team in his sophomore season.

“It’s huge,” Sanchez said. “We spent all of last year trying to get a win. I knew coming into this year I knew that I had to, right? What better race than to do it than Daytona? Honestly, out of every race, if I was going to do it, this would have been the last one (I expected), but happy to do it. It’s awesome.

“I just knew I had to lead at the white flag, because they were probably going to wreck. I’m glad they wrecked — if everyone is OK. I’m just happy.

“It’s huge. Obviously, we have a new technical partner in Spire (Motorsports)—our first race with them. What a better way to start a partnership. (Sponsor) Gainbridge has stuck with me. They were winless last year. They all deserve it, and they’re going to celebrate with me.”

Caruth was thankful for his third-place finish, but he rued the wreck that ended the race.

“I’m trying to play it back differently in the last laps, but thank you to everybody at Spire Motorsports, HendrickCars.com, the Hendrick Automotive Group, and Mr. H (Hendrick) for what they’ve done for me along with everybody at Spire and Chevy,” Carruth said.

“Man, I felt like I got a bad push there, and you’re already getting tight off of the corner, and everybody is going for all they have on the last lap. I feel terrible to see trucks like that torn up. I hope Taylor (Gray) is all right. But a good night to start the year.”

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Fifty-one of the 101 laps were run under caution, and it didn’t take long for the action to start. The first major incident KO’d a handful of drivers.

On the backstretch on Lap 6 of a scheduled 100 circuits, a shove from Christian Eckes’ Chevrolet turned the Ford of three-time series champion Matt Crafton into the Ford of Layne Riggs, igniting a 13-truck accident that eliminated Ty Dillon, Thad Moffitt and Jake Garcia.

With his team unable to effect repairs on his No. 38 Ford F-150, Riggs took his Truck to the garage under caution on lap 17.

“Chaos, a lot of craziness — everybody was just kind of all over the place,” Dillon said after a mandatory trip to the infield care center. “I’ve never seen anything look like that from behind the wheel four laps into a race.

“With my experience, I knew something like that was going to happen. That’s why I got myself to the bottom to hopefully have a spot to bail. And sure enough, it happened. I thought I got through… I hit the grass and it knocked the tires out of my hand, and I was trying to catch it with the throttle…

“Just hate to be taken out so early and not have a chance.”

The lap 6 incident was a harbinger of the chaos to come.

Defending series champion Ben Rhodes saw a good night turn bad when Tyler Ankrum door-slammed his Ford on lap 68. Rhodes pitted with a flat tire a lap later, but after leaving the pits, he spun and crashed as the lead packed tried to dodge the No. 99 Ford in the center of the track.

Rhodes exited the race, and soon after, Johhny Sauter was an innocent victim of a four-truck wreck off Turn 4—after leading 24 laps, second only to Sanchez’s 26.

Bret Holmes finished fourth, followed by Spencer Boyd. Stefan Parsons, Crafton, Timmy Hill, Bryan Dauzat and Eckes completed the top 10.

RESULTS

Haley eager for first Ford drive at Daytona

Justin Haley is chomping at the bit to officially start the season with Rick Ware Racing at Daytona International Speedway in three weeks. Haley has a multiyear deal with Ware, driving the No. 51 Ford Mustang. It will be the first time Haley has …

Justin Haley is chomping at the bit to officially start the season with Rick Ware Racing at Daytona International Speedway in three weeks.

Haley has a multiyear deal with Ware, driving the No. 51 Ford Mustang. It will be the first time Haley has driven something other than a Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series. Of the 266 national series starts Haley has made in NASCAR, 265 of them have been with Chevrolet.

His praise of Ford comes from the manufacturer’s dominance on the superspeedways. Ford drivers draft well together, buying into the ‘One Ford’ mantra the group adopted a few years ago when manufacturer alliances became the most successful strategy.

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“I’ve told everyone all week that I’ve raced against the Fords for so long,” Haley said during the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) convention. “They have the best fuel mileage, the best strategy and the best teamwork, and it has pissed me off for so long racing them that I’m so excited to sit in a Ford.

“They didn’t even pay me extra to say that. It’s so true.”

Doug Yates also takes pride in the horsepower Roush Yates Engines takes to the superspeedways. Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski combined for 187 of 260 laps led en route to finishing 1-2 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the spring of 2023. Chris Buescher won the summer Daytona race after Chase Briscoe sat on the pole and led the most laps. While teammate Logano led the most laps, Ryan Blaney won the fall Talladega Superspeedway race.

“They qualify so fast,” Haley said of the Ford’s speed. “I just went through Roush Yates the other day, and what an impressive operation they have built. I’ve never seen an engine shop that looks like that before. It looked like rocket science. There were lab coats and face masks and big rubber gloves and microscopes and all sorts of stuff just to build horsepower.

“They have crushed us on fuel mileage and now we’ve got an awesome brand-new looking Dark Horse Mustang. So, I’m super excited to go down to Daytona and see what we’ve got.”

Haley is not to be overlooked on superspeedways, either. All four of his NASCAR Xfinity Series victories came on superspeedways: two at Daytona and two at Talladega. In the summer of 2019, Haley and Spire Motorsports had positioned themselves in the right place at the right time to be declared the winners of the weather-shortened Cup Series race at Daytona.

Rick Ware Racing will field two full-time entries with Haley the organization’s flagship driver. The No. 15 entry will have multiple drivers.

Ware has signed a driver to build around for years to come, while Haley gets a fresh start with a new team and manufacturer. Both sides are optimistic about what’s to come but are taking the journey one week at a time.

“It’s an ultra-competitive racing series, and it’s going to take some time,” Haley said. “Obviously, with everything we have going, I feel like all of our alliances with Ford and Roush Yates and RFK have grown a lot over the offseason, and I continue to see those grow. The first five to 10 races, we’ll kind of be what we are and then Chris [Lawson] and everyone at RWR will start to elevate and start to hit our stride. We’ll just have to see.

“It’s not going to be like we go and rip the first 10 wins off of the season. I feel like we’re realistic, but I also feel like we really want to be competitive, and there are all the right tools now to be competitive at Rick Ware. We have every single tool. We just have to take them out of the toolbox and figure out how to use them and apply that.”

Risi Competizione finally victorious once again at Daytona; Winward twice in four years

Risi Competizione outlasted the GTD PRO competition to claim its first win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona since 2002 in the SRP2 class, and the first for Ferrari since 2014. Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado wheeled the …

Risi Competizione outlasted the GTD PRO competition to claim its first win in the Rolex 24 at Daytona since 2002 in the SRP2 class, and the first for Ferrari since 2014. Daniel Serra, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado wheeled the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 with little drama as their competitors fell by the wayside, and claimed the second 24-hour race win for the 296 GT3 after Frikadelli Racing took the 2023 24 Hours of the Nürburgring.

“It’s amazing,” said Pier Guidi. “First of all, I think we deserved this victory. We were also trying a lot of times to achieve this victory. We finished twice second, and it’s a long time partnership between Risi and Ferrari, and we’ve been with us and with the other drivers very close many times, but never been able to achieve this victory. Finally we get it. You see in the footage after the checkered flag…the picture is amazing. Everyone was crying, happy, and I went and I give a big hug to Giuseppe [Risi], because all the passion he put in here in this effort. He really deserved this.”

For two of the drivers, it was their second major 24-hour race win in a year. Pier Guidi and Calado were part of the 24 Hours of Le Mans squad, along with Antonio Giovinazzi, that took the overall victory in the Ferrari AF Corse 499P.

The No. 62 had shown impressive pace, especially in the heat of Saturday afternoon with Serra at the wheel. But in the end it was running trouble-free while most of their competitors had difficulties. Paul Miller Racing and the No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 with Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Neil Verhagen and Sheldon van der Linde were the last real threat until they ran into brake problems with two hours to go. The brake change was one thing, but the right front wheel didn’t get seated properly and came loose. On top of that, after van der Linde limped the car back to the pits, the wheel gun got stuck trying to fix the problem, dropping the No. 1 down three laps.

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Paul Miller Racing ended up third, behind the GTD PRO polesitting No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Seb Priaulx, Laurin Heinrich and Michael Christensen, which had been a lap down until the final caution.

One of the leading contenders, the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F, had its race effectively ended in the first hour when an LMP2 car spun right in front of Mike Conway, and he made heavy contact, wrecking the cooling system. The car was repaired and returned to the track, but was eventually retired.

It was an inauspicious debut for new GT3 cars. Both Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3s had difficulties, some of it induced by contact. The No. 65 was retired, and the No. 64 finished seven laps down. The new Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs run by Pratt Miller Motorsports seems on target to fare better, but had mechanical issues late in the race and finished seven (No. 3) and 18 (No. 4) laps down. The privateer efforts for both manufacturers had worse results, with both AWA Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs and the No. 55 Proton Competition Mustang retiring.

Winward Racing, once again GTD victors at the Rolex. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Winward Racing took its second Rolex 24 at Daytona GTD victory in four years, with Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje on both winning teams in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG, this time adding Daniel Morad, who drove the final stints to the checker. The Winward Mercedes AMG essentially controlled the latter half of the race, and had a 30s lead when the last caution came out.

“Obviously I wanted it to be an easy victory,” said Morad. “We all did an amazing job building the gaps throughout all the stints. It wasn’t just me. It was every single person on the team, engineering staff. The whole prep on the car was phenomenal. A lot easier this year than last year having a car that was designed for the race.”

For Ward, the second victory speaks to the quality of the team his family has built.

“It’s a constant evolution in racing,” he said. “If you’re not pushing the limits and trying to improve every year and someone else is, someone else is going to beat you. That’s kind of the passion that we have. We’ve had a pretty consistent crew over the past five years who have stayed with us and really helped us be successful. We try to keep the same drivers on board. We want to develop as a team and move forward as one.

“This one is pretty special to me. The first one wasn’t luck, of course. Everybody put their work in. But to come here and do it again, we’ve been pretty close the past two years, but just really haven’t had the luck to get it done. To come back and close it off for the second time in 2024 is a great feeling.”

Morad had to fend off a couple of strong Ferraris to claim the victory. The AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 of Simon Mann, Francois Heriau, Miguel Molina and Kei Cozzolino finished second. Impressive in the team’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship debut, Conquest Racing finished third with Manny Franco, Albert Costa Balboa, Alessandro Balzan and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli.

Several cars were in podium contention to the end, including the Triarsi Competizione Ferrari of Alessio Rovera, Onofrio Triarsi, Charlie Scardina and Riccardo Agostini that finished fourth; and Korthoff/Preston Motorsports’ No. 32 Mercedes AMG of Mike Skeen, Mikael Grenier, Kenton Koch and Maxi Goetz in fifth; along with the sixth place No. 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 of Michelle Gatting, Rahel Frey, Sarah Bovy and Doriane Pin.

RESULTS BY CLASS

Penske Porsche, Era Motorsports share prototype spoils at Rolex 24

What a difference a year makes. After the two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s were nowhere near the podium in their 2023 debut, every Porsche in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including the privateer cars from JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition, …

What a difference a year makes. After the two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s were nowhere near the podium in their 2023 debut, every Porsche in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including the privateer cars from JDC-Miller MotorSports and Proton Competition, ran near flawlessly. It was the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 squad of Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden that was just a bit more perfect in claiming victory, the first for all of them and the first victory for Penske since 1969. It was the 19th overall victory at the Rolex 24 for Porsche and the first since 2010.

Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken and Tom Blomqvist finished second in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, coming short by 2.112s after nearly 24 hours of racing and despite running what Derani described as a flawless race.

Improbably, the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 finished third in the hands of Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta and Jenson Button, holding off the No. 6 PPM Porsche 963 at the end. The No. 40 had rolled to a stop in the middle of the night, but a reset got the car going and strategy put the car in a better position than might have been expected.

From the start, both of the PPM Porsche 963s as well as the two Cadillacs showed similar pace, and it seemed apparent that it would come down to a Porsche vs. Cadillac fight for the victory. In the cooler night, and early morning hours, the Porsches seems to have an edge. But as the day warmed up, the No. 31 Cadillac came on strong. Entering the race’s final two hours, Blomqvist turned up the wick and caught Nasr.

Blomqvist took the No. 31 to the pits earlier than necessary, but well within the window to make it to the end on one more stop. Nasr brought the Porsche in three laps later for full energy and fresh tires, emerging from the pits ahead of Blomqvist. However, with the Cadillac having warm tires and Nasr’s still coming up to temperature, he was able to squeeze by heading into Turn 1.

 

But after more than four hours of green flag running, a late caution set up a 30m sprint to the finish, and came perfectly timed for the GTPs to make their final stop for a quick fill. The Penske crew got Nasr out first, and that was the the race.

Blomqvist did all he could, including setting the fastest lap of race at 1m35.554s with 23m left, but he couldn’t make a move on Nasr while the Porsche got better breaks in traffic. When the checker fell right after 1:40 p.m., Nasr was the first under it to claim the victory.

“The race only finishes at the checkered flag. There’s no decision until then,” said Nasr. “The race really came down to the wire at the very final stop. You know, it was it pretty much all about the fuel numbers. Each one was the energy numbers we were reaching. And I just have to say that was a great call from the team, from Porsche Penske Motorsport. Just to give me the opportunity to be the in the lead again in that final part of the race and then it was down to me to hit the numbers and keep the No. 31 behind.”

Blomqvist came close a few times as he attacked, but could never put together a move to pass.

“At the end of the race, we had the pace advantage,” Blomqvist said. “It was just so difficult to pass. The Porsche was really strong on the straight, we were really good in the infield, so it was just hard to make anything count. There weren’t many cars there at the end of the race in terms of traffic to to kind of find an opportunity and then Felipe at the end … I needed like one small mistake. He went wide by like a few meters, but other than that there was no opportunity.”

In contrast to the 2023 debut of the LMDh cars in GTP when both Acuras and both Cadillacs ran without major trouble, two key competitors from each fell victim to problems in the race. The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley and Marcus Ericsson pulled to a stop after a little more than eight hours with Albuquerque at the wheel, right after he detected a funny smell. The problem was diagnosed as a wiring loom issue, and while it was replaced and the car returned to the track after a long repair, it was eventually retired.

The No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R from Chip Ganassi Racing looked to have the pace for victory with Sebastien Bourdais, Renger van der Zande, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, but went to the garage in the middle of the night withe an undiagnosed mechanical issue and never re-emerged.

Both BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8s had difficulties during the night. Both were repaired and returned to the track, but finished 13 (No. 25) and 15 (No. 24) laps down.

LMP2 winners, Era Motorsports. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images

Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel, Connor Zilisch and Christian Rasmussen took the LMP2 victory after emerging as a contender overnight. The team recovered from an early incident in which Merriman was caught up in other cars having contact and soldiered on, moving steadily up the order to claim the second win for Era and for Dalziel and Merriman together after they won in 2021. It was Dalziel’s third Rolex 24 victory, and the first for Rasmussen and 17-year-old Zilisch.

The No. 18 was hanging with the leaders heading into Saturday evening, but didn’t make a move for the front until the middle of the night.

“In my mind, it’s a 24 hour race … first half of race, a lot of [it] is about risk management, right?” said Merriman. “So you don’t need to be in the lead after eight hours. But the last three hours is a knife fight. And you need to be up. You need to be in the first couple of positions at that point and we were, so I think that’s kind of part of the strategy.”

Fortunately Era had some sharp blades when it came time for the knife fight.

“We kind of gambled … we were probably the most high downforce of the P2s,” said Dalziel. “We were a little bit of sitting ducks when somebody’s drafting us, but when we can kind of break that 1.5-2s – the draft in the P2 car is almost 10 kilometers an hour. So I think, for us, once we were at the front, we can kind of manage a little bit of pace and the field. But it’s just a good day. I think each one I’ve won is more special.

“These two guys … Christian, last year, was a stud for us. Connor, the same. I feel like today Dwight and I just kind of did our job and I actually…gave up my last stint because I felt like these two guys were the strongest guys on the day and wanted to make sure that we put our best feet forward for the last stint.”

Rasmussen had a solid lead erased by the final yellow, but not only managed to stay out front, he stretched it to a 6.8s margin of victory. George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery finished second in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA. Riley Motorsports was third with Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, Josh Burdon and Felipe Massa in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA.

RESULTS BY CLASS

Rolex 24, Hour 24: After 55 years, Penske triumphs at Daytona again

The first caution in four hours set up a 30m sprint to the finish of the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona, rapidly changing the fortunes of several competitors. Vasser Sullivan Racing’s hopes for a GTD victory went up in flames, literally, in the final …

The first caution in four hours set up a 30m sprint to the finish of the 62nd Rolex 24 at Daytona, rapidly changing the fortunes of several competitors.

Vasser Sullivan Racing’s hopes for a GTD victory went up in flames, literally, in the final hour. Leaving the pits, Parker Thompson pulled the No. 12 Lexus RC F over with flames spitting out of the engine compartment. Team principal Jimmy Vasser expected the cause was a plenum fire.

 

The ensuing caution, though, erased big leads in LMP2 and GTD, and set up a four-way battle to the finish in GTP. Tom Blomqvist had held the lead in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, but Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 beat him out of the pits as both took short fills. The top four GTP competitors were nose to tail for the restart, Louis Deletraz holding third in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.

Blomqvist did all he could, including setting the fastest lap of race at 1m35.554s with 23m left, but he couldn’t make a move on Nasr while the Porsche got better breaks in traffic. When the checker fell right after 1:40 p.m. with 1m35s left on the race clock, Nasr took the victory for he, Dane Cameron, Matt Campbell and Josef Newgarden. It was the first Rolex 24 at Daytona victory for each driver, and the first for Penske since 1969 when he won the race with a Lola T70.

Blomqvist took the Cadillac across the line to score second for Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken. Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta and Jenson Button finished third in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.

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Christian Rasmussen held his lead in the No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA O7 Gibson to take victory for he, Dwight Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch. The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA of George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery, ahead of Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, Josh Burdon and Felipe Massa in the No, 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA.

Daniel Serra had a lap on second place Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche that was erased with the caution, but the Porsche had nothing for Serra’s No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrrari 296 GT3. Serra held on for Risi’s first victory in its Ferrari era, and second victory after an SRP2 win in 2002. Serra, Davide Rigon, Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado’s win was also the second 24-hour race victory for the 296 GT3, the first coming in the 2023 24 Hours of the Nürburgring with Frikadelli Racing.

Polesitters AO Racing with Seb Priaulx, Laurin Heinrich and Michael Christensen ended up second. The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing, which had looked to have a chance at victory going into the final hours, fell victim to a brake problem and the team scored a third-place finish for Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow, Neil Verhagen and Sheldon van der Linde.

Winward Racing took its second Rolex 24 victory in four years after Daniel Morad held off a pair of charging Ferraris. The No. 57 Mercedes AMG was third overall for a 2.731s margin of victory for Morad, Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje. It was Ferrari 296 GT3 in second and third, Miguel Molina, Simon Mann, Francois Heriau and Alessio Rovera taking second for AF Corse and Conquest Racing’s Manny Franco, Alberto Costa Balboa, Alessandro Balzan and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli taking third.

Full reports to follow.

RESULTS

Rolex 24, Hour 23: Blomqvist retakes lead, eyeing final hour

In the penultimate hour, Tom Blomqvist chased down Felipe Nasr, getting the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R within a second of Matt Campbell’s No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 before pitting earlier than necessary, but well within the …

In the penultimate hour, Tom Blomqvist chased down Felipe Nasr, getting the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R within a second of Matt Campbell’s No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 before pitting earlier than necessary, but well within the window to make it to the end on one more stop. Nasr brought the Porsche in three laps later for full energy and fresh tires, emerging from the pits ahead of Blomqvist. However, with the Cadillac having warm tires and Nasr’s still coming up to temperature, he was able to squeeze by heading into Turn 1.

 

Nasr had a big lockup heading into the International Horseshoe immediately after, possibly flatspotting a tire. He had reported a vibration to the team before the lockup.

Blomqvist has put a bit of space between the Cadillac and Porsche. Speculation had Derani finishing the race, but team may opt to leave Blomqvist in for a third stint given his pace.

Mathieu Jaminet put the second PPM Porsche into fourth behind Louis Deletraz’s No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura, but he’s 24s off Deletraz, who in turn is a more than a minute behind Nasr. Jaminet was under threat of going a lap down with Blomqvist on his tail, although there’s also the danger of Jaminet backing Blomqvist up to Nasr.

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Era Motorsports is asserting itself at the front of LMP2, Christian Rasmussen enjoying a 14s lead in the No. 18 ORECA over Malthe Jakobsen in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA. Tom Dillman was another 50s back in the No. 52 Euro Interpol with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA.

Mikael Grenier had moved the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports into second in GTD, but the Ferraris were on a tear. The 296 GT3s from several teams had proven effective in the heat, and Grenier was soon dispatched first Alberto Costa Blaboa in the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari and then Miguel Molina in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari. All three were running nose to tail, but Daniel Morad in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG was 30s down the road, and the 2021 GTD-winning team looks firmly in control.

Risi Competizione remains firmly in control of GTD PRO with a Daniel Serra holding a lap over the second-place AO Racing in the hands of Laurin Heinrich.

Class leaders after 23 hours

GTP: Tom Blomqvist, No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R

LMP2: Christian Rasmussen, No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA 07

GTD PRO: Daniel Serra, No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3

GTD: Daniel Morad, No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG GT3

HOUR 23 STANDINGS

Rolex 24, Hour 15: Disaster strikes for No.01 Cadillac

With nine hours remaining in the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Kevin Estre is scored as the leader following pit stops from the No. 7 Porsche of Josef Newgarden, and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac …

With nine hours remaining in the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Kevin Estre is scored as the leader following pit stops from the No. 7 Porsche of Josef Newgarden, and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani. Both the No.6 Porsche and No. 31 Cadillac are on different fuel strategies and have alternated in the overall lead.

Derani in the No. 31 Cadillac runs second, 6s behind Estre, while Colton Herta is third in the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06.

However, the significant update in GTP is that the Action Express Racing-run No. 31 is now Cadillac’s sole remaining challenger following the retirement of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. Renger van der Zande was trying to mount a comeback from the puncture the car suffered earlier, but with 10 hours and 40 minutes to go, the gold Cadillac broke down with a terminal issue that has yet to be diagnosed by the Chip Ganassi Racing team and Cadillac.
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The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 was running second but at its last pit stop, the engine cover had to come off the car, and the car has gone to the garage after Connor de Phillippi ran as high as second.

The lead fight in LMP2 has ignited, wherein reigning Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen has taken the lead of the class aboard the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA 07. Rasmussen overtook the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA of Matt Brabham at the Le Mans Chicane with an orthodox pass up the inside.

The No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA of Ferdinand Habsburg recently passed Brabham for second; Ben Hanley runs fourth in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA.

As it was in the last hour, Risi Competizione’s No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Daniel Serra is scored as the leader at the top of the hour after the No. 3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R came in for service, about eight laps off sequence of the Ferrari.

Serra leads the No.4 Corvette of Tommy Milner by over 15s, followed closely by Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3; Juncadella in the No. 3 Corvette has slotted into fourth.

And in GTD, Indy Dontje in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 continues to hold a comfortable lead, some 30s up the road of the pack.

Ollie Millroy in the No.70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO has taken second after the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes of Kenton Koch had to serve a mechanical black flag for tire operational requirements. Rui Andrade is third in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes.

Also in GTD, the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 is the latest official retirement. The team confirmed a terminal electrical issue, some time after Stevan McAleer struck a piece of tire debris on the road.

HOUR 15 STANDINGS

Rolex 24, Hour 14: Class by class, still anyone’s game

With more than half the 24 hours now gone in the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, regular full course yellows have played into the hands of nearly every team in every class. At the close of hour 14, the overall battle for the lead in GTP sees the top …

With more than half the 24 hours now gone in the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, regular full course yellows have played into the hands of nearly every team in every class. At the close of hour 14, the overall battle for the lead in GTP sees the top four together on the lead lap, led by Tom Blomqvist yet again in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac.

Perhaps the most miraculous standout is P4 — the No. 40 WTR Acura, having rebounded solidly from electrical gremlins not long ago. Colton Herta currently sits just 2.9s behind Blomqvist, still solidly in contention so long as the car stays solid.

In LMP2, the top five has gone through a major shakeup through the hour, with Colin Braun leading in the No. 04 as the hour closes in the midst of another pit cycle. The No. 52, having previously held a commanding class lead in the double digits of seconds, has slipped completely out of the top five — now down to P7 in class at the hands of Jakub Smiechowski.

Risi Competizione is back at the head of GTD PRO with Alessandro Pier Guidi still behind the wheel of the Ferrari 296. The No. 3 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella had powered into the class lead prior to this pit cycle, and based on the math should be battling once again with the No. 62 Risi car once the cycle is complete.

The GTD top five are separated by only 12s as the hour draws to a close, still led by the No. 57 Winward Mercedes. For hours now, the class has been remarkably trouble-free, even as the prototype leaders fly past in near-constant wheel-to-wheel infighting.

HOUR 14 STANDINGS

Rolex 24, Hour 13: Porsche, Cadillac trading overall lead in heated nighttime strategy battle

As the second half of the Rolex 24 at Daytona met its cool, dark genesis, Porsche Penske Motorsports found itself back in the overall lead at the hands of Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 963. With the race having gone green once again after Wayne …

As the second half of the Rolex 24 at Daytona met its cool, dark genesis, Porsche Penske Motorsports found itself back in the overall lead at the hands of Laurens Vanthoor in the No. 6 963.

With the race having gone green once again after Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s electrical hiccup, Vanthoor used the clean air to great effect to pull out a 15s lead over Maxime Martin’s No. 25 RLL BMW in just 30 minutes.

Previous leader Jack Aitken handed the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac over to teammate Tom Blomqvist during the FCY in the previous hour, the car falling to P4 after pitting.

“I was working a bit harder than usual,” Aitken told IMSA Radio after he exited the car. “There were a few nice on-track battles with the other guys. There’s a lot of traffic out there, so it’s keeping you on your toes.

“Now that it’s night and a bit cooler, we’ll try and extend the stints a little bit so we have a bit more time out of the car as well. I think we’ve got three capable guys, so it’s not too bad. …We all feel pretty comfortable in the car.”

Blomqvist went on a tear from 80s behind leader Vanthoor, clawing time back under green — just 0.5s off the tail of the Porsche with 17 minutes remaining in the hour. A powerful slipstream and Cadillac V8 torque allowed the No. 31 to sail past the Porsche on the outside along the backstretch heading into the Le Mans Chicane. Within two laps, Blomqvist had already pulled out a 1.5s lead.

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Deadstick drama came again, though, this time for the No. 24 RLL BMW of Dries Vanthoor. With 10 minutes left in the hour, the car — just like both WTR Acuras — went dark and rolled to a stop, bringing out another FCY. As the AMR Safety Team arrived on scene, Vanthoor’s lights were seen alight once again, but the car unmoved and later towed away from the infield.

Leading GTP crews pitted, most taking fuel only save for the No. 31 which dropped down the order to P4 after changing rubber. This left both Penske Porsches cycling through back to first and second overall, the No. 7 of Matt Campbell ahead of Vanthoor. Rene Rast’s RLL BMW moved to third, with Renger van der Zande following everyone else in the No. 01 Cadillac in P5.

LMP2 remained steady and drama-free, with the only significant change coming in the form of Formula 1 veteran Felipe Massa taking over the third-place No. 74 ORECA. Tom Dillman still leads in the No. 52.

The No. 3 Corvette of Alexander Sims pitted and handed the car over to Daniel Juncadella after moving into the GTD PRO lead over the Risi Ferrari just prior to the FCY, traffic having facilitated an immensely close fight.

Winward Mercedes’ No. 57 led GTD on the hour.

HOUR 13 STANDINGS

Rolex 24, Halfway: More electrical oddities for WTR Acura

Halfway at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The eery stillness of full course yellow reared its ugly head once again for the bulk of the twelfth hour, this time at the hands of yet more drama for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport. Just over 20 …

Halfway at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The eery stillness of full course yellow reared its ugly head once again for the bulk of the twelfth hour, this time at the hands of yet more drama for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport.

Just over 20 minutes into the hour, the circuit drew quiet for heaps of debris on track near Turn 5, potentially from the No. 40 Acura of Louis Deletraz, ceasing Jack Aitken’s deft use of traffic to keep Dane Cameron’s Porsche 963 1.2s behind the Whelen Cadillac not long after Aitken executed a masterful pass for the overall lead.

Come time for the pits to open for leaders, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW team made good use of the unseasonably warm weather, taking no tires are firing both cars away ahead of the two Penske Porsches, relegating Cameron and teammate Laurens Vanthoor to P4 and P5 respectively. WTR swapped a new nose onto the No. 40 before a spot of drama as the No. 78 GTD Lamborghini attempted to leave pitlane with the fuel hose still attached, causing a small fire which was mercifully brief but would eventually yield a penalty for leaving the box with equipment still attached.

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Green returned with just 15 minutes remaining before half distance, the threatening rain having still not arrived. Almost instantly, Vanthoor muscled back past both RLL BMWs to move back to second overall.

The action lasted only briefly, though. Only minutes later WTR’s woes returned once again in almost the same manner suffered earlier by the No. 10 Acura. As Deletraz approached the infield exit, the No. 40 went dark and coasted to a stop, bringing a full course yellow out once again. Oddly, Deletraz managed to restart the car minutes later while the AMR Safety Team attended and made his way, at speed, back around the field readying to claw time back.

Post pit cycle, Tom Dillman now leads LMP2 in the No. 52 ORECA ahead of Connor Zilisch (No. 18) and Malthe Jakobsen (No. 04) with previous leader Ben Keating having slid to fifth in class.

Alessandro Pier Guidi remains in the GTD PRO lead in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari with Alexander Sims still stalking just 1.5s behind.

GTD is led by Frederik Schandorff in the No. 70 McLaren 720S Evo.

HOUR 12 STANDINGS