Rolex 24, Hour 10: Palou survives a scare in the No. 93 Acura; No. 7 Porsche still leads

The 10th hour of the race is complete, and the halfway mark is closing in at the Daytona International Speedway.

The last 60 minutes were, as a whole, uneventful, aside from an incident early in the hour at the Le Mans Chicane. Newly minted McLaren Hypercar factory driver Mikkel Jensen in the heavily delayed No. 2 United Autosports ORECA came together with Chris Cumming in the Pratt Miller ORECA – which has also been in the wars – sending both cars spinning off track.

It was a moment in the race that could have been much worse, as the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura was first across the chicane as both cars collided, forcing Alex Palou to take evasive action. He emerged unscathed, but he did lose a second after the team had briefly heaved the car back into the top two.

The two ORECAs, meanwhile, rejoined, and Jensen was later handed a drive-through for causing the collision. 

It was, surprise surprise, a Porsche that benefited from the drama, with Matt Campbell steering the No. 6 through the smoke to take second back in the No. 6 Penske Porsche to restore the PPM team’s 1-2. 

As the 11th hour began, the No. 7 led the way by 8.5s. Palou held third and is 7 seconds clear of Earl Bamber in the highest placed Cadillac, the No. 31 from Action Express.

Christian Rasmussen held station for AO Racing through the last hour. The "Spike ORECA continues to hold on to the title of favorite as the team cycles through its drivers. Inter Europol’s No. 343 is second, with the No. 22 of United Autosports third. 

Corvette Racing’s No. 4 Z06 GT3.R continues to lead the GTD Pro class. The movement came behind when the No. 3 regained second from the No. 1 Paul Miller BMW.

AF Corse’s Ferrari headlines the GTD category with Antonio Fuoco running metronomically, pulling away lap by lap from the No. 36 DXDT Corvette, which is currently second with IndyCar ace Scott McLaughlin installed. 

Turner Motorsport’s BMW is quietly having a strong race so far; the split-liveried machine is up to third, with Jens Klingmann running just ahead of Zach Robichon in the Heart of Racing Aston.

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