Rolex 24 Hour 12 Update: Action Express Leads, Porsche Challenging

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Rolex 24 at Daytona’s second quarter has been mostly a two-team race between Porsche Penske Motorsport’s No. 7 and Action Express Racing. Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 01 was right up there in the hunt until they were forced into some debris that cut a tire. They are now a lap down in ninth.

The Acuras were not the most competitive cars in the class, but this segment saw any chances of victory diminished significantly. In the ninth hour, Filipe Albuquerque was running third overall when his car suddenly quit in the infield. The wiring harness failed, forcing the team to replace the whole harness. That put the team 75 laps down. A second stint in the garage put them down nearly 100 laps.

The No. 40 recovered from a Jenson Button spin when he ran into Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Alexander Sims, but an apparent electrical issue caused Louis Deletraz to stop on-track late in the 12th hour to bring out a yellow. After a brief period of time, Deletraz got the car restarted and continued, losing a lap in the process.

In the 12th hour, Action Express Racing’s Jack Aitken was able to run down Penske Porsche Motorsport’s Dane Cameron for the overall lead. He then proceeded to use the Turner Motorsport BMW as a pick and took the advantage away.

At the halfway point, Aitken led Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Laurens Vanthoor by 1.793 seconds. BMW M Team RLL’s Maxime Martin was third, then teammate Augusto Farfus. Cameron was fifth.

In LMP2, the problems continued for Sean Creech Motorsports as the No. 33 Ligier JS P217-Gibson stalled for the third time in the race to draw a yellow. After significant time in the garage, the team is back out there and making laps.

United Autosports’ No. 2 continued to dominate until the 12th hour when Inter Europol Competiton with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Tom Dillmann took the lead away on a restart from Ben Keating.

Dillmann led at halfway by by .765 seconds over Era Motorsport’s Connor Zilisch. CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Malthe Jakobsen, who led at the six-hour mark, was third, then Riley Motorsports’ Felipe Massa. Keating was fifth.

GTD Pro saw Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers start out in the class lead. Sellers and teammate Sheldon van der Linde managed to lead into the ninth hour before dropping back due to pit strategy.

In the 11th hour, Risi Competizione’s James Calado was able to take the lead away from Sims. Since then, the Texas-based Ferrari squad has held onto the advantage.

At halfway, Risi Competizione’s Alessandro Pier Guidi led by 1.252 seconds over Sims, Iron Lynx’s Franck Perera was third, then Paul Miller Racing’s Bryan Sellers. Earl Bamber was fifth in the second Corvette.

The GTD class has mainly been a three-horse fight in the second quarter of the race. The teams fighting at the front are Inception Racing, Team Korthoff Motorsports and Winward Racing, with Cetilar Racing throwing their hat in the ring every now and then. The four teams spent six hours swapping the lead multiple times and never straying too far from each other.

Frederic Schandorff had the class lead at halfway over Mike Skeen by 2.087 seconds. Cetilar Racing’s Giorgio Sernagiotto was third, then Winward Racing’s Russell Ward. Vasser Sullivan’s Ritomo Miyata was fifth.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Rolex 24 at Daytona Running Order Through 12 Hours