Rolex 24 Hour 14: AXR in charge; Penske problems

Action Express Racing retained the lead as the 14th hour of racing at the Rolex 24 at Daytona was completed, with Eric Curran taking over from Mike Conway.

Curran held a six-second advantage over Felipe Albuquerque in the No.5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac as the lead two Cadillacs saw Acura Team Penske's challenge drop to one car. Conway was a comfortable 23.3 seconds ahead of Dane Cameron in the No.6 Penske before pitting at 3:48 a.m., and despite briefly inhering the lead, Cameron's stop at 4 a.m. was no cause for celebration.

• Standings at Hour 14

An extended stay on pit lane saw Cameron's crew spend more than one minute working inside the cockpit near the electronics. The Californian sat stationary for far too long and lost his place on the lead lap as the first hind of vehicular problems struck one of the front-running entries. Cameron would soon return to the pits as more investigative work was required; by 4:40 a.m., he was down 21 laps as a suspected alternator issue drained the Acura's battery.

The No. 78 Jackie Chan DC Racing ORECA 07, which suffered a right-rear tire failure at 2:55 a.m., had another right-rear blowout at 4:13 a.m. There was better news from for the sister No.37 as Lance Stroll moved up to fourth place – albeit three laps down – ahead of Bruno Senna in the No.32 United Autosports Ligier LMP2.

After earlier brake problems, Lando Norris completed another impressive stint in the second United car before handing over to Phil Hanson, who moved the No.23 up to 18th overall due to the retirement of the No.22 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan DPi.

The two Ford Chip Ganassi Fords remain in command of the GTLM class, with Sebastien Bourdais and Scott Dixon rising to 12th and 13th overall respectively as Prototypes hit trouble. In the GTDs, Lamborghini hit the front as Bryan Sellers in the Paul Miller Racing Huracan GT3 held a narrow advantage over Franck Perera in the No.11.