With 10 hours to go in the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona and the podium places all four classes are still up for grabs.
In GTP it’s the #31 Whelen Cadillac holding station up front, Tom Blomqvist leading the train of seven cars on the lead lap after the latest restart.
Second in the running order is Rene Rast, who in the #25 BMW lost the lead to Blomqvist in the closing minutes of the 14th hour. Blomqvist’s move came after he fought his way past Laurens Vanthoor a handful of laps earlier to secure second spot.
Both BMW and Cadillac are down to just single contenders. The #01 Ganassi V-Series.R has been officially retired after Renger Van Der Zande, stopped at the Turn 1 runoff in the most recent hour, not long after completing the fight back onto the lead lap and rising to second.
BMW’s second car also hit trouble during the past two hours. With Dries Vanthoor at the wheel, the #24 lost power and electronics at the exit of Turn 3, leading to a lengthy recovery.
The car lost seven laps while being towed back to the pits, in part because the tow rope snapped en route, delaying the recovery further. By the time Vanthoor rejoined, he was 13 laps down. The team was then dealt a further blow when it was handed a 60-second stop-hold penalty for team members working on the car in the pit lane while it was closed.
LMP2 is being led by the #99 AO ORECA, with Paul Loup Chatin at the wheel. The class is still so close, with the top seven all on the lead lap and changing positions through the pit cycles and cautions.
After the most recent round of stops, which took place at just before the top of the hour, the #8 Tower ORECA is up to second with the rapid Scott McLaughlin installed. The #18 Era example sits third.
The #62 Risi Ferrari leads GTD Pro, with Alessandro Pier Guidi holding a slim 6.6-second lead over the #77 AO Racing Porsche with Michael Christensen at the wheel.
The #4 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R holds third, the strong run for the brand-new GT3 machine continues. The sister car is fifth.
It’s a Mercedes-AMG 1-2-3 in GTD, with the #57 Winward example of Indy Dontje leading the #32 Korthoff Preston machine second and the #80 Lone Star AMG GT3 third.
Just outside the top three, the #47 Cetilar Ferrari, #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus and #70 Inception McLaren remain contenders.
Over the past two hours, there have been a handful of dramas in the lower classes.
The #64 Ford Mustang, which had run pretty much faultlessly since the torn rear deck issues that affected both Factory Fords, was in trouble on the pitlane with a broken rear floor/ diffuser mounting.
That took quite a time to be fixed, dropping the car off the leading group in the GTD Pro class.
As the Multimatic crew solved its rear diffuser issue the privateer #55 Proton Mustang went behind the wall with what appeared to be a very similar issue. The Mustang did indeed have rear diffuser damage – the result of significant contact from the rear (The car was retired sometime later.)
The #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin is set to be retired due to an electrical issue in the fuel system, Team Principal Ian James told DSC that the specific issue was proving tough to pin down. A withdrawal proved the sensible option on safety grounds.
The #19 Lamborghini, which has been in the top six of GTD Pro throughout the night, came back in after an outlap and went behind the wall. The Iron Lynx team is dealing with an overheating problem and has decided to change the front radiator.
Nearby, Gradient Racing is still working on the #66 Acura NSX, which is sporting significant right-front damage Stevan MacAleer hit a tyre carcass on track. The car is now well down the order.
Featured image courtesy of IMSA
