IMSA | Daytona, 18th Hour: Cadillac pressed by Porsche-Penske

We are approaching the first light of dawn, but the 24h of Daytona, the first round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, is still far from being decided.

During the 16th Hour, among the GT3s, problems were recorded for Porsche #92, McLaren #70 and Ferrari #47 (which also ended up in the wall), all resolved after rather long stops in the pits, while the BMW #25 returned to the GTP, dealing with gearbox problems.

A new neutralization instead arrived at the 17th hour due to a long run in turn 3 by Matt Brabham with the Oreca-'Spike' #99: the AO Racing driver touched the wall and stopped for a while in the grass , then he managed to restart, but in the meantime the Full Course Yellow was decreed by the judges to avoid running any risks.

Even in these circumstances there were pit stops and unfortunately the incorrect positioning of the fire extinguisher cost the Ferrari #62 which was giving a show in GTD PRO a Drive Through, and subsequently the Mercedes #32 for acceleration with the car raised. Stop & Go 10″ issued to Mustang #65 for an infraction.

In this way the ranking underwent new changes and in the GTP Class the restart saw six cars fighting for the lead at full speed.

The #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac was followed like a shadow by the #6 Team Penske Porsche in a beautiful battle between Pipo Derani and Mathieu Jaminet, while the #7 Matt Campbell's 963 was coming on fast.

At the stop made just before the hour mark, Campbell managed to get in front of Jack Aitken, who however regained the lead after a couple of laps. Among other things, the #6 was given a 10″ Stop&Go shortly afterwards due to the usual problem of the powertrain parameters not being communicated correctly which are starting to have a negative impact on the 963s.

At a safe distance remain the private cars of Proton Competition #5 and JDC-Miller Motorsports #85, fourth and sixth respectively, and divided by the Acura #40 of WTR Andretti, mathematically back in the running for success, which is now out of reach for the BMW #25 and #24, which accumulated 8 and 14 laps respectively after the problems they had previously.

The #10 Acura of WTR Andretti stopped in the pits again to accommodate more of us, then left again completing the list of cars still in the race.

In the LMP2 Class, the error of the Oreca-'Spike' #99 of AO Racing causes it to slip to 8th place, leaving the #18 of Era Motorsport and the APR #04 free to fight for the lead. After a long pressure, at the last stop it was the #04 that jumped to the front with the excellent Malthe Jakobsen, followed by Ryan Dalziel in the #18.

The #52 of Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen puts its wheels on the visual podium, shaking off the United Autosports #2 and the #74 of Riley, last with full revs together with the Tower #8 as the DragonSpeed ​​#81 climbed seventh with 2 laps late from the summit.

Behind 'Spike' #99 (+3 laps) the Ligier #33 of Sean Creech Motorsport remains at a sidereal distance.

In the GTD PRO Class, the shuffling of positions with the latest neutralization favored the BMW #1 of Paul Miller Racing, which took the lead with an 18″ margin over the #4 Corvette, which in turn was ahead by about ten seconds over the #3 which It has a broken right rear light, revealing some flames inside the rear, with evident smoke which, however, does not seem to worry the men from Pratt Miller Motorsports.

After the penalty, the Ferrari #62 of Risi Competizione dropped to fourth, but Davide Rigon is getting back within range of the Z06 in front of him, boasting 1 lap on the Porsche-'Rexy' #77 of AO Racing and three against the Ford Mustang # 65 by Multimatic Motorsports.

The Aston Martin #23 of Heart of Racing and the Mustang #64 remain further away, in ninth position is the Lamborghini #19 of Iron Lynx which returned by changing the front radiator having suffered overheating problems.

VasserSullivan's Lexus #14 having definitively retired, Pfaff Motorsports' McLaren #9 completes the Top10.

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

#023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3: Onofrio Triarsi, Charles Scardina, Riccardo Agostini, Alessio Rovera

The battle in the GTD Class also heats up because the Mercedes #57 of Winward Racing is always first, good at taking advantage of the FCY situation to overtake rivals during the stops together with the BMW #96 of Turner Motorsport.

The M4 driven by Robby Foley, however, had a problem and returned to the pits at the end of the 18th hour while trying to resist the very comeback of the Ferrari #023 of Triarsi Competizione, which with the usual Alessio Rovera missile now took first place honor trying to recover the 10″ that separate him from the leader.

The Mercedes #80 of Lone Star Racing and the #32 of Korthoff/Preston Motorsports are in the Top5 together with the Lexus #12 of VasserSullivan, the Ferrari #21 of AF Corse slips to sixth, with the #34 of Conquest Racing behind.

The Lamborghini #83 of the Iron Dames and the Porsche #120 of Wright Motorsports close the top 10 with the Porsche #43 of Andretti Motorsport, the furthest away is the Ferrari #47 of Cetilar Racing in virtual eleventh.