Bourdais Takes Lead Into Final Two Hours

Sebastien Bourdais recaptured the overall lead at the end of the 22nd hour in the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP, as the Rolex 24 at Daytona heads into the final two hours.

Bourdais and teammate John Martin in the sister No. 9 Corvette emerged ahead of Jordan Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP on the most recent round of pit stops.

Other class leaders include the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 RSR (GT Le Mans), No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09 (PC) and No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 (GT Daytona).

The latter of those leaders is a new one. Spencer Pumpelly engaged in a tooth-and-nail fight for the GTD class lead with Townsend Bell in the No. 555 Level 5 Motorsports Ferrari 458 Italia GT3.

Pumpelly’s Audi appeared to have the edge through the infield, and the Atlanta driver powered past heading back onto the banking, NASCAR 1 and 2, at the beginning of the 22nd hour.

Just afterwards, Pumpelly needed an emergency stop for a splash of fuel just before the start of the 23rd hour.

The story changed in GTLM as the second-placed No. 4 Corvette C7.R went to the garage to replace its gearbox. That dropped it off the podium, promoting the No. 55 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE to second and the No. 91 SRT Viper GTS-R up to third.

With less than two hours to go, Nick Tandy’s No. 911 Porsche leads Bill Auberlen’s No. 55 BMW by one lap.

The latest caution occurred when Kyle Marcelli, driving the No. 7 Starworks Motorsport ORECA FLM09, lost an engine on the backstraight and pulled off track.

The young Canadian emerged under his own power while safety crews extinguished the fire at the back of the car. He was also evaluated and released from the infield care center.