Scott Pruett edged out a lead of over 20 seconds in the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates car as the 2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona moved into its final two hours.
With Pruett having re-taken the overall race lead 10 minutes prior to the hour, the experienced Grand-Am champion pulled out a 12-second lead over Ryan Hunter-Reay, leaving the VelocityWW driver under attack in a three-car battle for second.
The #9 Action Express Racing car with Mike Rockenfeller behind the wheel ramped up the pressure on the Indycar champion, but he himself was wrong-footed lapping a GT Porsche, allowing Marcos Ambrose a run to sneak by into third for the gutsy Michael Shank Racing #60 squad.
While the #9 car slipped back, Ambrose chased after Hunter-Reay for second, the Aussie not quite able to take advantage of a #10 car that was quick around the banking.
The pit stops allowed Ambrose to pounce however, and he passed Max Angelelli for that second spot, the pair still circulating nose-to-tail and swapping places twice in a great scrap that Ambrose came out on top of on the hour’s climax with a slipstream move on the banking.
Behind them Allan McNish swapped places twice with Mike Rockenfeller for fourth, the German maintaining that position as McNish had an excursion that dropped his Starworks Motorsport #2 machine vital ground due to a sticking throttle.
Magnus Racing held the lead in the GT class with Andy Lally keeping the #69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari at bay, an advantage which Lally continued to hold after their latest stops.
Anthony Lazzaro quickly recovered that second spot over fellow Ferrari team Scuderia Corsa’s #63 car following their stops, while NASCAR ace Clint Bowyer finished his final stint in the #56 Ferrari eighth in class, Rui Aguas now behind the wheel.
GX is still in the hands of Napleton Racing, leading the only other remaining cars of Bullet Racing and BGB Motorsport.
2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona Daytona Prototype standings after 22 hours
1 – #01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW-Riley
2 – #60 Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley
3 – #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP
4 – #9 Action Express Racing Corvette DP
5 – #90 Spirit Of Daytona Racing Corvette DP
2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona GT standings after 22 hours
1 – #44 Magnus Racing Porsche
2 – #69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD with Ferrari Ferrari
3 – #52 Audi Sport Customer Racing/APR Motorsport Audi
4 – #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari
5 – #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche
2013 Rolex 24 at Daytona GX standings after 22 hours
1 – #16 Napleton Racing Porsche
2 – #22 Bullet Racing Porsche
3 – #38 BGB Motorsports Porsche
