With the first quarter of the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona complete, Colin Braun has driven Acura Meyer Shank Racing to the lead after a Full Course Yellow restart.
197 laps have been completed, with three Full Course Yellows and two official retirements.
The 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 is the second official retirement of the race, joining the No.63 Lamborghini SC63.
A team source confirmed an apparent engine failure for the #75. A visibly upset Jules Gounon told DSC: “It’s tough to take after two weeks here to be out by 7:00. I had the same last year, out at 6:00. I’ll try again next week [at Bathurst!]”
But the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 is back in the race – though it is 40 laps down – after its left-rear wishbone mount sheared off. Mechanics needed to take out the gearbox to fix the problem and eventually put the car back together again after one hour of repairs.
TDS Racing’s ORECA is also back in the race after a gearbox change following its West Horseshoe incident earlier in the race.
But Andy Lally’s final IMSA race as a full-time driver – and Magnus Racing’s last IMSA race for the foreseeable future – has come to a disappointing end. Lally brought the #44 Aston Martin to a halt at turn two. With fluid pouring out from under the bonnet of the car, this engine failure incident brought out the third Full Course Yellow of the race.
As he walked out of his car, Lally waved to the fans at Daytona International Speedway. “Not the final lap around here I was hoping for. Right after I got onto the power, there was a huge explosion. I’m pleased the guys had given me really good ear pieces – I could feel the compression through the car! I’ve never had a failure like that in 25 years here!”
“It’s a massive shame for the whole team, and in particular for John Potter who did a fantastic triple-stint to start. Right on the pace. It’s not the way to finish this story anyone else would have wanted. So it’s the end of this chapter.
“I’ll take a few days to think about it, but I’m excited for the next chapter for me [as the new President of Trans Am]. I’m hugely grateful for everyone who’s played a part in my driving career. And in particular, of course, my family here at Magnus Racing.”
When action resumed, Braun overtook Earl Bamber in the #31 Cadillac and Felipe Nasr in the #7 Porsche 963 to grab the lead of the race.
Nasr is still second for Porsche Penske Motorsports, from Bamber and Kamui Kobayashi in their respective Cadillacs.
Mathias Beche has taken the lead in LMP2 for PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports, in the #52 ORECA he leads Riley’s Felipe Fraga and CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Colton Herta.
Deeper into their respective stints, Connor De Phillippi leads GTD PRO in the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, ahead of Nico Varrone in the #4 Corvette Racing Z06 GT3.R. Behind them, Jesse Krohn in the #48 BMW leads the #3 Corvette of Daniel Juncadella.
And in GTD, Frederik Schandorff keeps the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari ahead of the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Tom Sargent, and the #021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari of James Calado.
Featured image courtesy of IMSA
