Angelelli Takes Lead with Four Hours to Go

The back-and-forth battle between the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP and No. 2 Tequila Patron ESM has shifted back in favor of the Taylor entry with four hours to go in the 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona.

On the 600th lap and in the 20th hour, Max Angelelli got around Johannes van Overbeek for the lead, with the gap still within a second.

Angelelli had taken over from Jordan Taylor, who returned to action after initially ruling himself out after his first stint due to an ongoing illness. Meanwhile van Overbeek took over from Derani.

One of the elements to watch the remainder of the race is how much Derani will be able to run from here. The maximum drive time is four hours in a six-hour period, and Derani had a couple hours of running prior to that.

The Nos. 90 and 5 Corvette DPs from Visit Florida Racing and Action Express Racing, respectively, also remain in podium contention and on the lead lap.

A mechanical issue has taken the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford behind the wall as well, and cost them several laps.

Corvette Racing still runs 1-2 in GT Le Mans, with Porsche hitting trouble this hour.

The No. 911 car has changed the driveshaft and fallen out of contention, leaving the No. 912 car as its only remaining challenger behind the two Corvette C7.Rs, the No. 25 BMW M6 GTLM and the No. 68 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GTE.

Shane van Gisbergen has brought the WeatherTech-backed Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R to the lead in GT Daytona, with Magnus Racing’s Audi R8 LMS, the No. 97 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 and a handful of others also in win contention heading into the final four hours.

JDC/Miller Motorsports continues to lead in PC by now six laps over PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports.

The race has hit the 20-caution mark, after the No. 67 Ford GT stopped on track once more in the oval complex.

On a lighter note, Patrick Lindsey pulled off course in the GTD polesitting No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche and then wound up weaving his way through the infield access road, dodging fans, motorhomes and trams along the way.

Lindsey said the team required a gearbox change, and he would still need to complete an extra hour and a half to complete his minimum drive time requirement of five hours.