The No. 43 MRS-GT Racing with Danial Frost behind the wheel ended the 12th hour of the Rolex 24 At Daytona with fire emanating from under the engine cover, bringing out a full course yellow. The race had been green for the last two hours.
Night had truly settled in as the race reached halfway. Almost 400 laps have been completed with the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura continuing to hold firm at the top of the tower — an almost 20s gap to the next closest competitor, Alexander Sims in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac.
A mundane pit stop cycle came and went, when compared to the mad dashes to the pits we have seen so far. The No. 01 Cadillac came in for a system reset with Scott Dixon behind the wheel.
The sister No. 02 car spent the hour fighting to stay on the lead lap. A ferocious Colin Braun ate away at the gap between his MSR Acura and Earl Bamber in the No. 02 until Braun finally made the move stick and put the Cadillac a lap behind the leaders.
During the pit cycle, Braun handed over to Simon Pagenaud who continues to build and maintain the lead he inherited. Pagenaud went on to lap Dixon’s No. 02 at the end of the hour before the FCY.
A drive-through penalty befell the second place running No. 55 Proton Competition Oreca 07 Gibson for not meeting the minimum fuel fill time requirements. The team rebounded and now leads LMP2 at the halfway mark.
In the GT ranks, a tight fight for GTD P2 between Andy Lally in the No. 44 and Darren Turner in the No. 27 Heart of Racing machine took place before the pit stop cycle shuffled up the grid.
Class leaders at halfway:
GTP: Simon Pagenaud No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06
LMP2: James Allen No. 55 Proton Competition ORECA 07 Gibson
LMP3: Joao Barbosa No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier JS P320 VK
GTD PRO: Ross Gunn No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3
GTD: Maxi Goetz No. 32 Team Korthoff Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
Notes and quotes
• Daniel Morad and the No. 55 Winward Racing continues to stay near the top despite their car not seeing any laps before the race.
• Still no hood attached for the No. 93 Acura NSX
Comments