The rain intensified once again but a drive-through penalty for Max Angelelli and the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta Cadillac meant that the #9 VisitFlorida Racing Riley of Rene Rast took over the lead of the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona as the race moved into its second half.
The #54 CORE Autosport brought out the ninth caution period of the race after ending the wall at the exit of the bus stop after appearing to be tapped from the rear by one of the Audi’s on the approach to the chicane. Nic Jonsson was in the car at the time but the car was already fifteenth in class.
A procedure error by his mechanics during Angelelli’s pit stop gave him a drive-through penalty, and with his advantage having been wiped out due to the caution period, the penalty ensured a change of the lead. The #5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac, which is now in the hands of Christian Fittipaldi, remains in third position, with the #2 Tequila Patron ESM machine of Luis Felipe Derani running in fourth.
The weather continues to play havoc with proceedings, and the tenth caution period of the race being called with the rain falling hard enough for officials to deem it better to run behind the safety car.
The #38 Performance Tech Motorsports remain firmly in control of the PC class, with Nicholas Boulle now behind the wheel of the Oreca FLM09 after taking over from Patricio O’Ward. Buddy Rice sits second in the #20 BAR1 Motorsport four laps down, with the sister #26 car of Trent Hindman third a further two laps behind.
The Porsche GT Team run first and second in the GTLM class, with the #912 of Kevin Estre ahead of the sister #911 car of Patrick Pilet, although they are out of sync with pit stops compared to their main rivals after not stopping during the Jonsson caution period.
Dirk Mueller sits third in the leading #66 Ford GT Chip Ganassi Racing machine, while the #62 Risi Competizione of Toni Vilander runs fourth ahead of the #68 and #69 Fords of Billy Johnson and Harry Tincknell respectively, with the #3 Corvette Racing machine of Antonio Garcia also still in contention.
The #33 Riley Motorsport Mercedes of Mario Farnbacher currently leads an equally tight GTD class ahead of the #86 Michael Shank Racing machine of Oswaldo Negri Jr, while the #29 Monteplast by Land-Motorsport Audi runs third, with eight machines for five different manufactures still on the same lap as the class leader.
Top 3 after 13 Hours
P
90 VisitFlorida Racing – Marc Goossens, Renger van der Zande, Rene Rast
10 Wayne Taylor Racing Konica Minolta – Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor ,Max Angelelli, Jeff Gordon
5 Mustang Sampling Racing – Joao Barbosa, Filipe Albuquerque, Christian Fittipaldi
PC
38 Performance Tech Motorsports – James French, Patricio O’Ward, Kyle Masson, Nicholas Boulle
20 BAR1 Motorsports – Don Yount, Buddy Rice, Mark Kvamme, Chapman Ducote,Gustavo Yacaman
26 BAR1 Motorsports – Tom Papadopoulos, Johnny Mowlem, Adam Merzon, Trent Hindman, David Cheng
GTLM
912 Porsche GT Team – Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Richard Lietz
911 Porsche GT Team – Patrick Pilet, Dirk Werner, Fredoric Makowiecki
66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing – Dirk Mueller, Joey Hand, Sebastien Bourdais
GTD
33 Riley Motorsports – Team AMG – Ben Keating, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Mario Fernbacher, Adam Christodoulou
86 Michael Shank Racing – Jeff Segal, Ozz Negri Jr., Tom Dyer, Ryan Hunter-Reay
29 Montaplast by Land-Motorsports – Connor De Phillippi, Jules Gounon, Jeffrey Schmidt, Christopher Mies