Richard Dole / Motorsport Images
Rolex 24 Hour 7: Cadillacs lead after hectic restart, Porsche paces GTD
Caution midway through the seventh hour ended a 4h45m stretch of green-flag racing, bringing the classes back together and bunching up six of the seven DPis. Dixon paced the restart in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R, but both Loic Duval in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac and Kamui Kobayashi in the No. 48 Ally Cadillac managed to get past on the run into Turn 1 as Helio Castroneves (No. 10 Wayne Taylor Acura) overshot the apex, packing up those behind.
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Franck Perera had come to a stop at the exit of the Chicane in the No. 19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 to bring out the caution. The incident allowed the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of A.J. Allmendinger and the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac of Felipe Nasr to regain a lap and close in on the leaders.
Running seventh, one lap down, is Oliver Jarvis in the No. 55 Mazda DPi.
Following the restart, officials assessed a stop-and-go penalty to Duval for jumping the start. That gave the lead to Kobayashi, followed by Dixon and Helio Castroneves in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura.
Thomas Merrill took over the LMP2 lead in the No. 11 WIN Autosport ORECA, followed by Tim Buret in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA and Antonio Fuoco in the No. 47 Cetilar Dallara.
Dr. Lance Willsey led LMP3 in the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier, followed by Kenton Koch in the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports Duqueine and Gar Robinson in the No. 74 Riley Motorsport Kigier. Colin Braun fell to fourth, four laps down, in LMP3, after a brake change. However, the race rules call for each of the teams in the class make a mandatory eight-minute pit stop during the opening 22 hours of the race.
Tommy Milner (No. 4) led Antonio Garcia (No. 3) as Corvette Racing continues to run 1-2 in GTLM. Into the eighth hour, Timo Glock is third in the No. 25 RLL BMW, followed by James Calado in the No. 62 Risi Ferrari.
Patrick Long led the GTD pack in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche (photo at top), followed by Bryan Sellers in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini and Ian James in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin.
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J.J. O'Malley
J.J. O’Malley became news editor for Chris Economaki in 1977, launching him on a career covering all facets of motorsports in many capacities. He did public relations at Watkins Glen International for 14 years; followed by four seasons at Homestead-Miami Speedway; news editor at ISC Publications (now Edgeset Marketing); and communications manager for Grand-Am and IMSA. He’s currently completing his 13th book on racing – a history of the Daytona Prototype – in addition to covering events for RACER.com, Edgeset Marketing and Sunday Group Management. O’Malley is an honorary member of the prestigious Road Racing Drivers Club.
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