Hour 6
Into the second half of the race and with the repeated Full Course yellows the Mazda was back onto the lead lap and making progress, Harry Tincknell getting back into the top four with a sparkling stint, though still some distance back from the leading #60 MSR Acura of Juan Pablo Montoya.
Felipe Nasr was back at the wheel of the #31 Cadillac in second with late super-sub Earl Bamber third despite a pit stop to replace the rear clip of the #01 Cadillac after being hit by the #5 as Bamber left the pits.
All other classes also benefited from the compression factor of the Full Course Yellows to keep battles close.
LMP2 saw Thomas Merrill leading the class in the #11 WIN Autosport Oreca but under pressure from Scott Huffaker in the #52
There were small gaps too in both GT classes with Corvette back to the lead in GTLM, Alexander Sims pedalling the surviving #4 C8.R.
Laurens Vanthoor meanwhile was pushing on in the lead of GTD in the #9 Pfaff Porsche.
LMP3 still saw their class leaders ahead of the GTLM frontrunners but their class headline of the hour was a bizarre moment that brought out – guess what? A Full Course Yellow as both the #2 United Autosports Ligier and the #38 Performance Tech JSP320 ground to a halt, at the same time, not far apart on track but in entirely unrelated incidents!
Hour 7
The #31, now with Pipo Derani at the wheel retained the lead with Dane Cameron in the #60 Acura going by Jonathan Bomarito’s #55 Mazda for second before closing in on, and passing Derani for the lead
LMP2 still saw all four surviving cars running in close formation. And the LMP3 leading pair were close too, Scott Andrews’ #74 Riley Motorsport Ligier feeding off the #30 Jr III Racing Ligier of Spencer Pigot.
The GT classes were still very closely contended too, The #25 BMW led GTLM, with the #97 WeatherTech Porsche and #4 Corvette still close.
GTD was once again led by the very strong-looking #23 Aston Martin but under real pressure from the #9 Pfaff Porsche and the surviving #12 Lexus.
The hour ended once again under FCY with the #83 WIN Autosports Duqueine stopped on track.
Hour 8
The lead battle was hotting up nicely at the end of the eighth hour, Juan Pablo Montoya’s #60 MSR Acura fending off a charging Filipe Albuquerque in the #10 Wayne Taylor Acura and Pipo Derani in the #3 Cadillac.
Albuquerque pulled a blinding pass into Turn 10 to grab second spot and managed to pull away in pursuit of Montoya.
That was MASTERFUL.
What a pass by Filipe Albuquerque! #IMSA x #MotulPetitLeMans pic.twitter.com/QJCNgIH8SC
— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) November 14, 2021
There was trouble though for the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac at the end of the hour, the car using a lap under a FCY as the crew worked to secure a loose right-rear brake rotor.
Mikkel Jensen was edging away from the LMP2 competition in the #52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson. Jensen led the #11 WIN Autosport and #8 Tower Motorsport Oreca at the end of the hour.
BMW’s best placed M8 GTE retired after an off-track moment for Connor de Phillippi which saw his #25 M8 GTE collecting several trackside advertising hoardings, the BMW pitting next time around the race went FCY for the debris caused by the repositioning and deconstruction of the ad hoardings, going behind the wall and retiring with reported overheating.
RIP, @Michelin sign.
2021-2021#IMSA x #MotulPetitLeMans pic.twitter.com/CeZ24Pqgfc
— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) November 14, 2021
That saw Nick Tandy in the lead of the class in the #4 Corvette with the pair of WeatherTech Racing Porsches hunting the C8.R down, Mathieu Jaminet and Kevin Estre, closing in.
The pitstop cycle saw the previously GTD-leading Aston Martin drop behind the #16 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Trent Hindman and Championship leader Laurens Vanthoor in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports 911 GT3.R – But Ross Gunn was pushing hard.
Hour 9
The demise of the #5 Mustang Sapling Cadillac DPi came, after leading the race earlier on, with a cracked engine header.
In GTLM Tandy was caught by the Porsches, the team having reversed positions tp allow Estre to mount the first attack, the on-form Frenchman closing in quickly on the Corvette – but catching and passing are very different challenges, Estre trying around the outside into and through Turn 10, a challenge met with a significant defence from Tandy, the Porsche forced off track in a move determined by Race Control as being entirely fair.
Some pushing and shoving going on at @RoadAtlanta!
Who else is loving this?#IMSA x #MotulPetitLeMans pic.twitter.com/r17lueEB9C
— Motorsports on NBC (@MotorsportsNBC) November 14, 2021
Ross Gunn meanwhile caught and passed both of the Porsches to regain the lead in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin
