Rolex 24 Hour 18: Legge has wild ride, leader visits garage

Katherine Legge had a wild ride through the grass in the No.86 Acura. She went through the grass after contact with the No.38 ORECA of Kyle Masson in the dogleg. Legge went through a Continental Tire sign and several Styrofoam blocks and crossed back across the track in the West Horseshoe – barely avoiding the oncoming Prototype of Masson.

Legge continued, although debris for the incident eventually brought out the fourth full-course caution that caused the hour to end under the yellow.

• Hour 18 results

Action Express Racing ran 1-2 throughout the hour. Christian Fittipaldi took over for Joao Barbosa in the lead No.5 Mustang Sampling Cadillac, followed by Mike Conway in the No.31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.

Fittipaldi went directly to the garage during the caution, with the team adding water to the car among routine service. The incident allowed Conway to regain the lead lap.

"We've still got a long way to go, but we're sitting in a pretty good place at this moment," Barbosa said following his stint. "It's a real fast pace, and I'm surprised by the lack of yellows so far. But there's a long way to go and a lot can happen."

Ford Chip Ganassi had another 1-2 hour leading GTLM, with Dirk Muller in the No.66 leading Ryan Briscoe in the No.67.

Five cars are on the lead lap in GTD. Adam Christoulou in the No.33 Mercedes leads Martin Snow in the No.48 Lamborghini and Trent Hindman, who took over for Legge in the No.86 Acura.

The defending race-winning No.10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R was retired early in the 18th hour after a series of right-rear tire problems. It was soon joined on the wayside by the No.55 Mazda Team Joest RT-24P of Jonathan Bomarito, who pulled off in the West Horseshoe just before the car was involved in a brief fire. Tristan Nunez took the sister No.77 Mazda to the garage when the team had concerns with the data, but the car returned following repairs.