Rolex 24, Hour 21: Sun shining on Porsche

The fog has finally lifted over Daytona International Speedway, and with three hours to go, everything is looking sunny and bright for Porsche Penske Motorsport.

The two factory Porsche 963s have moved back into first and second place following green flag pit stops. The No. 6 Penske Porsche, being driven by Kevin Estre, runs tail-to-nose with countryman Julien Andlauer in the No. 7 car.

Behind the two factory Porsches, BMW M Team WRT runs third and fourth, with Marco Wittmann in the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 ahead of Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 24.

Earl Bamber runs fifth in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R.

In LMP2, Malthe Jakobsen has put CrowdStrike Racing by APR in the window for a long-awaited Rolex 24 class win. The Dane, aboard the No. 04 ORECA 07-Gibson, recently overtook the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA of Antonio Felix da Costa for first place.

With the top of the hour coming just in time for pit stops, both the No. 04 and No. 43 cars have come in, as has the No. 343 Inter Europol Competition car.

GTD Pro is still led by Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 4 car, now driven by Nico Varrone, who’s maintained the lead and started to build on it.

Behind the No. 4 Corvette, Ayhancan Güven remains second in the No. 911 Manthey Porsche 911 GT3 R, and is holding off the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO (Max Hesse).

And in GTD, Turner Motorsport may be close to finally winning at Daytona as Robby Foley has a six-second lead over the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Eco (Tom Gamble). Riccardo Pera (No. 912 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche) currently runs third in the class.

The No. 69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO went behind the wall for over 15 minutes with a mechanical issue, taking the car out of GTD Pro podium contention. And the GTD leader from the last hour, the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette, went behind the wall for 40 minutes due to a suspected transmission fluid leak.

Both GTs have recently returned to the race but the No. 73 Pratt Miller Motorsports ORECA is still behind the wall.

HOUR 21 STANDINGS