Jordan Taylor Leads at Halfway Mark in Daytona

Photo: John Dagys

Wayne Taylor Racing leads the 53rd Rolex 24 at Daytona as the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic reaches the halfway mark.

Jordan Taylor has remained out front in the No. 10 Konica Minolta-sponsored Corvette DP, narrowly ahead of the pair of Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford DPs, which have climbed back through the order after setbacks for both cars.

Two P2 cars remain in contention, with the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda of AJ Allmendinger on the tail end of the lead lap after a flawless run for the Onroak Automotive-built car thus far.

The No. 1 Tequila Patron ESM HPD ARX-04b runs fifth overall and in the Prototype class, in the car’s debut race, in the hands of David Heinemeier Hansson after an equally impressive and trouble-free run through the night.

A disconnected wire connector in the fuel pump has seen the defending race-winning No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP drop to sixth, but now only two laps behind the leaders, thanks to a number of subsequent cautions.

Arguably the biggest incident in the race so far came in the 12th hour, when the two GT Le Mans class contending Porsche North America entries collided with a GTD class Aston Martin, sending all three cars behind the wall for repairs.

It has reduced the GTLM fight to a four-horse race between the two Corvette C7.Rs, the No. 25 BMW Z4 GTE and the No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR.

Oliver Gavin leads Ryan Briscoe, with the Australian passing Patrick Long late in the 12th hour to make it a Corvette 1-2 at the halfway mark, which awards another round of points for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup.

The once GTLM class-leading No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia, meanwhile, has also dropped down the running order with electrical issues.

Prototype Challenge continues to see the No. 54 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 out front, although the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry has regained ground after its early race incident to run only one lap behind in second.

The remaining PC entries have all hit trouble over the course of the first half.

The No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 of Jeff Segal leads GT Daytona, which has seen one of the most competitive battles so far.

Segal holds a four-second advantage over the No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper GT3-R of Kuno Wittmer, with Christopher Haase a further 30 seconds back in third aboard his No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS.

Trouble struck the No. 81 GB Autosport Porsche 911 GT America in the 11th hour when it pulled off course with radiator damage. Michael Avenatti had been running inside the top-five.

The No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Porsche, meanwhile has been a retirement (engine).

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