The first 6 hours of the Rolex 24 are now complete with plenty of on track incidents that have swayed the fate of some drivers to defeat. Particularly of note the long SC63 Lamborghini had a terminal failure due to a water pressure issue which ended their race and noted the first retirement of the 63rd running of the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. The drama however didn’t end their for the GTP class.
The No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 had an uncharacteristic incident in the pit lane. The No. 24 led from the start on pole but after the first stint, received a drive through penalty for using dollies under the car during refueling. The incident occurred after Dries Vanthoor made contact with the pit wall barrier. As a result the car had to be repositioned and without backing the car on the pit lap the team had to utilize dollies. Despite this the No. 24 extended there medium tire stint and recovered after former Formula 1 driver Kevin Magnussen took the reigns as the driver headed into the night. At the 6 hour mark Magnussen changed seats with Raffaele Maricello, and because the No. 24 pitted before a late caution caused by a failure of the No. 44 GTD Car from Magnus Racing.
Notable Events
INDYCar champion Alex Palou had a catastrophic stent that saw the No. 93 Acura fall behind by over 40 laps due to a suspension failure on the back left axle. The car was still being worked on at the 6 hour mark and it’s not yet known if the car will return.
-No. 75 Express GTD Pro Mercedes AMG GTE suffered from a water pump issue and retired from the race.
-No 57 Winward Racing Mercedes suffered from a throttle spring malfunction that resulted in a stuck throttle but the team has since repaired the car and returned to the track. They were 4 laps behind the in class lead lap.
-The No. 11 TDS Racing LMP2 ORECA had an early off at the western horseshoe and crashed into the barrier.
-Racing legend Andy Lally sees a catastrophic failure which was confirmed to be a blown motor. The incident trigger a full course caution and the car was retired from the race.
The next update will occur at the 12 hour mark of the race.
Class Leaders at 6 Hours
GTP: No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06
LMP2: No. 74 Riley Racing ORECA
GTD Pro: No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo
GTD: No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3