At two minutes past the start of the ninth hour, Nick Tandy drove the #7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 to the lead of the 63rd Rolex 24 At Daytona.
He’s still there and pulling away in GTP, with an eight-second lead at the moment. Dries Vanthoor is second in the #24 BMW M Hybrid V8, continuing to maintain strong pace well into the night and after a rear brake change earlier in the race.
The #6 Penske Porsche has had a slow start, a pit lane miscue, a spin and a drive-through penalty for pit work outside of its stall – yet Mathieu Jaminet has driven it back to third overall, up to second before being passed by Vanthoor. Jack Aitken in the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R is fourth.
IMSA confirmed that all five drivers involved in last hour’s big wreck – Louis Deletraz, Nick Boulle, Chris Cumming, Jordan Pepper, and Max Hesse – were released from the infield care center with no injuries.
The #40 WTR Cadillac, #2 United ORECA, and #9 Pfaff Lamborghini have officially retired – no big shock given the start of the respective machines – while repairs are ongoing to the #73 Pratt Miller ORECA and #48 Paul Miller BMW (which is now back on track).
AO Racing is building a big lead in LMP2 as Jonny Edgar has an eight-second lead over ERA Motorsport’s Paul-Loup Chatin in second. Dylan Murry is still hanging onto third for AF Corse.
Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Frederic Vervisch continues to run up front in GTD PRO, and the #65 Ford Mustang GT3 is starting to inch ahead of the pack.
The #69 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG GT3 has been a pleasant surprise in second – and after Rexy survived a near-miss in the big crash, Laurin Heinrich is back up to third in the #77 AO Racing Porsche – with Mike Rockenfeller in the #64 Ford in fourth.
Heart of Racing Team’s Mattia Drudi remains at the front in GTD, about ten seconds ahead of the #78 Forte Racing Lamborghini of Misha Goikhberg. Ollie Millroy and the #70 Inception Racing Ferrari run third in class.
Image courtesy of Porsche
