Yahoo Autos Rolex 24, Hour 15: Disaster strikes for No.01 Cadillac
With nine hours remaining in the 2024 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Kevin Estre is scored as the leader following pit stops from the No. 7 Porsche of Josef Newgarden, and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani. Both the No.6 Porsche and No. 31 Cadillac are on different fuel strategies and have alternated in the overall lead.
Derani in the No. 31 Cadillac runs second, 6s behind Estre, while Colton Herta is third in the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06.
However, the significant update in GTP is that the Action Express Racing-run No. 31 is now Cadillac’s sole remaining challenger following the retirement of the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R. Renger van der Zande was trying to mount a comeback from the puncture the car suffered earlier, but with 10 hours and 40 minutes to go, the gold Cadillac broke down with a terminal issue that has yet to be diagnosed by the Chip Ganassi Racing team and Cadillac.
The No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 was running second but at its last pit stop, the engine cover had to come off the car, and the car has gone to the garage after Connor de Phillippi ran as high as second.
The lead fight in LMP2 has ignited, wherein reigning Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen has taken the lead of the class aboard the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA 07. Rasmussen overtook the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA of Matt Brabham at the Le Mans Chicane with an orthodox pass up the inside.
The No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA of Ferdinand Habsburg recently passed Brabham for second; Ben Hanley runs fourth in the No. 2 United Autosports USA ORECA.
As it was in the last hour, Risi Competizione’s No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 driven by Daniel Serra is scored as the leader at the top of the hour after the No. 3 Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R came in for service, about eight laps off sequence of the Ferrari.
Serra leads the No.4 Corvette of Tommy Milner by over 15s, followed closely by Sheldon van der Linde in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3; Juncadella in the No. 3 Corvette has slotted into fourth.
And in GTD, Indy Dontje in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 continues to hold a comfortable lead, some 30s up the road of the pack.
Ollie Millroy in the No.70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 EVO has taken second after the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes of Kenton Koch had to serve a mechanical black flag for tire operational requirements. Rui Andrade is third in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes.
Also in GTD, the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 is the latest official retirement. The team confirmed a terminal electrical issue, some time after Stevan McAleer struck a piece of tire debris on the road.
