Bourdais Leads as Acuras Hit Setbacks With 9 Hours to Go

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Chip Ganassi Racing ran 1-2 with nine hours remaining in the Rolex 24 at Daytona following delays for the pair of Acura ARX-06s and a trip to the garage for the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-LMDh.

Sebastien Bourdais put the No. 01 Cadillac V-LMDh out front, passing the No. 6 Porsche 963 of Nick Tandy just prior to the end of the 14th hour.

Bourdais held a 0.794-second lead over the sister No. 02 CGR entry of Alex Lynn, with Tandy having dropped to third although was due a pit stop.

Drama for the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac saw Pipo Derani slow on track prior to having limped his way to the garage with left-rear suspension damage after contact with a GTD car. Derani had been running fourth at the time.

It came after both Acura GTP class entries have faced lengthened pit stops for oil flushes, due to fuel seeping into the oil systems according to an Acura spokesperson.

The pole-sitting No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing entry, which has been the fastest car on track, made at least three oil flushes since the start of the race, including twice in the last three hours.

Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Acura, meanwhile, made a brief trip to the garage in Hour 13 to fix an oil filler bracket, then performed an oil flush in pit lane with Louis Deletraz at the wheel.

The WTR Andretti entry dropped two laps behind the leading GTP entries as a result of the extra service as well as a pit lane penalty for working on the car while under a closed pit.

The Heart of Racing’s Roman De Angelis took over the GTD class lead following a hard-fought battle with the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Philip Ellis.

The two GTD entries, which ran ahead of the GTD Pro pace-setting No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes of Dani Juncadella, benefitted from a drive-through penalty to the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes of Maxi Goetz for jumping the restart following the race’s seventh full course caution.

Magnus Racing’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3 also dropped down the running order due to a stop-and-hold plus 60-second penalty for running the red light at pit exit.

An accident by Hugh Plumb in the No. 64 Team TGM/TF Sport Aston Martin brought out the most recent yellow in the 14th hour, resulting in a lengthy period to retrieve the GTD Pro class entry.

The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR Oreca 07 Gibson of Ben Hanley led LMP2, while LMP3 was topped by the No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08 Nissan of Nico Varrone.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John