Tight Battles Abound In Three Classes After 18 Hours
Corvette Racing 1-2 in GTLM, Lally Audi Paces
Christian Fittipaldi held off challenges from Pipo Derani and Jordan Taylor at the 18-hour mark of the 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona, with close battles for the lead in three of the four classes with six hours remaining in the opening race of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
With points for the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup on the line, Fittipaldi’s No. 5 Action Express Racing Mustang Sampling Corvette DP held off Derani’s No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Honda Ligier JS P2 by one-tenth of a second to earn the five-point bonus for leading the race’s third six-hour segment. Jordan Taylor was two seconds back in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Corvette DP, with Jonny Adam in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP, Ryan Dalziel in the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP and Andy Priaulx in the No. 01 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford EcoBoost Riley also on the lead lap.
Competition was just as close in the production-based classes, with seven cars on the lead lap in GT Le Mans (GTLM) and nine cars on the same circuit in GT Daytona (GTD).
Corvette Racing drivers Antonio Garcia (No. 3 Corvette C7.R) and Tommy Milner (No. 4) slingshot past Frederic Makowiecki’s No. 912 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR coming to the finish line as a five-car GTLM pack raced for the lead at the end of the segment.
It was almost as tight in GTD, with Andy Lally in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3 holding off challengers including Jesse Krohn in the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 and Wolf Henzler in the No. 23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle Porsche 911 GT3 R.
The Prototype Challenge (PC)-leading 85 Miller Motorsports team survived a scare at the 15-hour-mark when Kenton Koch spun the No. 85 Hi-Tide Boat Lifts/Red Line Oil ORECA FLM09 spun in Turn 6 on cold tires and impacted a barrier while leading the class by 19 laps. The team lost 10 laps making repairs. At the 18-hour mark, team driver Chris Miller held a nine-lap lead over John Falb in the No. 26 BAR1 Motorsports Case-It/Southwest Funding/edvisors.com entry.
After three segments of the Patrón Endurance Cup, the No. 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Honda and the No. 5 Action Express Racing Honda were tied in Prototype with 11 points each; Porsche North America’s team cars were 1-2 in GTLM with the No. 911 Porsche leading the No. 912 Porsche by one point, 11-10; the No. 23 Alex Job Racing/Team Seattle Porsche scored 10 points to lead GTD by one point; and the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports team led the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports entry in PC, 12-11.
The Patrón Endurance Cup will continue with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen and Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda at Road Atlanta.
NOTEBOOK
Shortly before the 14-hour mark, GTD competitors Emanuele Busnelli in the No. 21 Konrad Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3 and Antonio Perez in the No. 007 TRG-AMR Aston Martin Vantage got together entering the chicane. Both cars retired due to crash damage. This was the earliest exit from the event for TRG in more than a decade. Kevin Buckler’s team won the event overall in 2003 and has three additional class victories.
Lucas Luhr, on the retirement of the No. 100 BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM following an incident at 3 a.m.: “Something failed, but I don’t know what exactly. There was some kind of explosion at the front right that made the bonnet go up, so I couldn’t see where I was going. I had two or three good hits. My best guess is the right brake disc exploded. It’s a shame because we were running well and we were right there in the hunt. It is just a shame for all the guys with a new car that had such a good performance for the first time running and they don’t get rewarded.”
The two Ford GTs showed promise in the early going, but gearbox issues spoiled the two-car Ford Ganassi Racing’s chance at a debut victory. Despite the issues, both Ford GTs showed strong performance capabilities, with Ryan Briscoe in No. 67 Ford GT holding the fastest lap of the race in GTLM at the 18-hour mark (1:44.391). “It’s just really unfortunate that we had the major gearbox issue this morning,” Briscoe said. “We were starting to get back into a groove and make up some time and then with this we lost that momentum. We were getting ready to make that driver change for me to get in the car and then they found the issue that would require a gearbox change. It hasn’t been an easy race, but we want to make sure we’re out there at the checkered flag and finish this race strong.”
The No. 31 Action Express Racing Whelen Engineering/Team Fox Corvette DP had a flash fire on pit road at 5:30 a.m. Dane Cameron exited the car, the team quickly extinguished the blaze and Cameron got back behind the wheel, losing only one lap during the green-flag incident. The team worked its way back to fourth on the lead lap at the 18-hour mark, only to go back behind the wall with another issue shortly after 9 a.m.
FS1 is televising the Rolex 24 live through 10:30 a.m. ET, when coverage shifts to FS2. FS1 resumes coverage at 1 p.m., continuing through the checkered flag and victory celebration until 3 p.m.
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