Porsche in Command of Rolex 24 With Two Hours to Go

Porsche driver Matt Campbell led the way with with two hours remaining in the 62nd running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, while the German brand’s second car suffered a setback with Kevin Estre at the wheel.

The No. 7 Porsche 963, which grabbed the lead of the race earlier on Sunday morning, ran some eight seconds clear of the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R in the hands of Tom Blomqvist.

The gap between the two cars has stabilised ever since Campbell shot his way past Blomqvist’s co-driver Jack Aitken in the 19th hour.

However, the factory Penske squad lost one of the bullets in its proverbial gun when Kevin Estre tripped up on cold tires on his way out of the pits after a routine stop.

The Frenchman slid off the track at the International Horseshoe behind the wheel of the No. 6 Porsche 963 and took some time to return to the track, which cost him valuable positions.

Estre’s co-driver Nick Tandy ran sixth overall with two hours on the clock, behind the third-placed No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz and the pair of customer 963s of JDC-Miller Motorsports and Proton Competition.

In LMP2, the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 Gibson led with Connor Zilisch at the wheel, although the Rolex 24 debutant was being closed in by Colin Braun aboard the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR machine.

GTD Pro is set to be decided in a three-car showdown, with Risi Competizione currently leading with Alessandro Pier Guidi at the wheel of the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3.

The Italian ran 15.535 seconds ahead of the Bryan Sellers-driven No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, which is reportedly suffering with braking issues.

The Georgia-based squad escaped an earlier penalty when Neil Verhagen made contact with the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari at Turn 3, but was given a warning for the incident.

Third in class was held by No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Michael Christensen, while the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3 has retired from the race with an unspecified problem.

The contact between Verhagen and the Triarsi Ferrari has placed the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in command of the GTD class.

The No. 023 Ferrari ran second in class at the time, but has since further dropped back after also incurring a drive through penalty for having too many crew members over the wall during a pitstop.

Winward’s Philip Ellis held a lead of just under 30 seconds over the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, which had Aaron Telitz at the wheel.