Derani Leads Intense DPi Fight With Four Hours Remaining

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Pipo Derani leads the way in the Rolex 24 at Daytona heading into the final four hours of the race.

The Brazilian in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R charged back into the lead of the race, getting around the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Richard Westbrook, who now runs a close second.

Alexander Rossi is third in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05, followed by Simon Pagenaud’s No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura DPi.

All four cars have exchanged the lead through pit stop sequences, in what’s been a hard-fought battle.

The No. 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson of Pato O’Ward is out front in LMP2 while the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan continues to lead LMP3 despite an unscheduled stop for a slow puncture for Michael Cooper with six hours to go.

GTD Pro sees a Porsche 1-2, led by the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports entry of Matt Campbell, who holds a narrow lead over Dennis Olsen’s KCMG Porsche 911 GT3 R.

Jan Heylen and Frederic Schandorff have been locked into a fierce battle for the lead of GTD, with the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche.

The No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 has been battling gearbox issues. 

Trouble stuck the defending class-winning No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with 5 hours and 40 minutes to go when Philip Ellis went to the garage with a damaged hood.

It has promoted the No. 32 Gilbert Korthoff entry as the highest-placed Mercedes in class.

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