The sun is beginning to set over Daytona International Speedway to the benefit of Porsche Penske Motorsport.
With four hours gone, WEC Hypercar Co-champions Laurens Vanthoor and Kevin Estre are running 1-2 overall and in GTP. Vanthoor in the #7 Porsche 963 has a seven-second advantage over Estre in the #6, which has fully recovered from its sluggish start as the track temperatures begin to sink.
But it’s two German brands vying for the lead with BMW M Team RLL’s two cars third and fourth. Robin Frijns in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 leads Rene Rast in the #24, while Felipe Drugovich has taken the #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series R up to fifth at the top of the hour.
LMP2 has been mostly dominated by AO Racing and ‘Spike the LMP2 Dragon,’ with Dane Cameron aboard for his first stint in the #99 ORECA 07, leading the class by over 45 seconds.
Nick Boulle is back in the #2 United Autosports USA machine in second, followed by Luis Perez Companc for AF Corse, and Daniel Goldburg in the #22 United Autosports car.
TDS Racing’s #11 ORECA is now behind the wall for repairs, joining the now-retired #63 Lamborghini SC63 as the only cars not circulating right now.
The Blue Oval is still in front of GTD PRO, but Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ cars have changed placed – it’s now the #64 Mustang GT3 of Seb Priaulx ahead of the #65 of Dennis Olsen.
And there’s great news for Pfaff Motorsports fans – after the stuck wheel nut problem in the first hour, the #9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 is back in contention with Marco Mapelli in third ahead of the #3 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia. Nicky Catsburg is fifth in the #4 works Corvette.
Heart of Racing Team leads GTD with Casper Stevenson up front by over 15 seconds in the #27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. He took the lead after a broken wing mirror for Forte Racing’s Lamborghini.
The entire right side door needed to be changed in the pit stop. NASCAR driver/commentator Parker Kligerman is currently second in the #78 Lamborghini, with Ayhancan Guven back up to third in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, and Marvin Kirchhofer moving up the field in the #13 AWA Corvette.
Feature image © Andrew Lofthouse
