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The 2018 Rolex 24 Gt Daytona class winning No. 11
GRT Grasser Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 at speed. (Image source: motorsport.com)
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Not to mention how as Seattle was beginning
Day 22 of 23 in-a-row of it Raining, along with the Wind-chill knocking temps
into the 30's, it seemed like a good day to stay inside; but I digress...
As I only bring up
the number 22 since it belongs to one of my past favourite IndyCar Drivers
named "Sumone." Perhaps Y'all have heard of this 2016 IndyCar Series
Champion Simon Pagenaud, Eh?
Although I wasn't
impressed with Pagenaud's "Drifting" tactics upon the High banks for
which John Hindhaugh noted was a Bit Naughty! Whilst Juan Pablo Montoya's
reputation for knocking fellow competitors about finally caught up with him
when the Columbian was issued a Drive-thru penalty towards the end of the race
for Nerfing a "Slower" GT Daytona car, the #29 perhaps?
Yet what better way to start the day off then
by listening to the Speed Freaks interview with the Pole Winner Renger van der Zande,
when Ah-waitin' the Pre-race blather to begin upon FOX, where I caught the
first three hours of coverage, before switching over to Zed Internetz' for the
duration.
As I especially enjoyed the portion of "Ringer"
asking Statmann' what's this Chrome Horn? Witch we all know 'Ol PT, nee Paul
Tracy immortalized during his racing career; Hya!
The most Bizzaro occurrence of the race for
Mwah was the unheard of penalty issued to the then GTD (Daytona) Class leading No.
29 Montaplast by
Land-Motorsport's Audi R8 LMS GT3 being slapped with an
unprecedented 5min Stop 'N Hold penalty for refueling too quickly!
As the Montaplast team was deemed to have been
accomplishing their Pit stops too fast, as IMSA's BoP (Balance of Performance)
rules also encompasses teams refueling rigs fitted with flow restrictors, a la
engine induction air restrictors.
IMSA rules are reportedly Intended to ensure
equal flow rates between all competitors, since the various chassis have
varying fuel tank capacity, and drink Thar Petrol at different rates, hoping to
keep the competitors bunched-up on thou racing tarmac.
Hence the Montaplast Audi was judged to be too far
underneath the established class's 40-seconds pit times. After sitting
stationary an excruciating five minutes serving their penalty, they emerged P7 (in
class) and one lap behind, and truly never recovered...
As Kudos to the IMSA Radio Boyz' for not only
unearthing what the penalty was live, but explaining it in easy to understand English,
albeit still being a Head Scratcher to Mwah...
At 10.5hr completed, only Top-4 DPi's were on
lead lap with the 2 Team Penske Acura's leading the 2 Action Express Racing
(AXR) Cadillac's: Nos. 7-6 ahead of the 5-31 respectively.
And this Fred Chap, the media darling, nee
Fernando Alonso had a long brake pedal. Seeing the Spaniard fly straight thru
Turn-1 without stopping!
As the United Autosports Ligier's long brake
pedal required a master brake cylinder replacement, ultimately taking 40mins to
repair.
Meanwhile, the action was Hotting Up between
the leaders, as JB' (João
Barbosa) passes 2nd place Pagenaud, Felipe Nasr in the
Seester' AXR Cadillac passed both to go from P4 to second, as the Acura's &
Caddys' were going Hammer 'N Tongs.
With 13hrs remaining
and Driver swaps occurring, Graham Rahal in Team Penske's #7 drops from P1 to
3rd with both AXR cars passing him.
At 10:42PM Saturday - Pacific, (when I tried
typing this) I thought I heard the following leader board for the three classes.
(Prototypes) #5-31-7-6. (GTLM) #66-67-3-4, and (GTD) #33-48-86-64.
although GT Daytona saw Nos. 48-11 Lambo's
running 1-2 briefly, then as the Pit stops continued, the category's leader
board continued schuffling before I signed off for the evening...
and Don't wanna say it was a Dull race but,
the various IMSA (RS2) Radio Pundits just prattled on 'N on about Lap No. 776's
breaking the mileage record held since 1982 by the JLP Racing Porsche 935 that
some Chap named Zachery Brown owns.
As both the previous distance and laps
completed records fell due to the race's abnormally low amount of caution
flags, with only a total of four Full course cautions being thrown.
This enabled the speedy Prototypes,
specifically the winning No. 5 Mustang Sally'; Err Sampling Cadd-Oh-lacc' to
complete a staggering 808-laps, shattering the previous record of 762 set in
1992! Being the first time ever to eclipse 800-laps.
As Filipe Albuquerque gained a measure of
redemption when taking the chequered flag ahead of the team's #31 after having
lost the race with six minutes remaining last year! Whilst João Barbosa and
Christian Fittipaldi each claimed their third Rolex watches.
This new lap record also saw a new distance
record of 2,876.85 miles being completed in 24hrs, also shattering the previous
record's 2,760.960 miles set in '82 by the aforementioned Porsche 935 JLP3 driven
by "the Paul's," the
father-son John Paul duo along with Rolf Stommelen.
Yet when tuning back in with some four and a
half plus hours remaining, I was disappointed that the typically Crack radio Le
Mans crew, Der Heindenmeier's company which also does the IMSA Radio
broadcasts, never explained what happened during the night-early morning hours
which ultimately saw the #5 leading the race by 3-laps over its Seester' #31.
Whilst the new to the B-I-G BOYZ' Prototypes
class Cor Autosport #54 gave valiant chase to unwind itself from six laps down
to finish a minute and a-half behind the two Action Express Racing (AXR)
Cadillac's on the same lap, third overall.
But I did thoroughly enjoy John Hindhaugh's
portion of the show when he was teamed with ex-racer Johnny Mowlen and booth analyst
Jeremy Shaw. who Mowlen took great delight teasing relentlessly 'bout Shaw
having been Thar when the distance record was set Wayback in '82...
Hurrah! Was rootin' primarily for Ryan
Briscoe to be victorious in the GT Le Mans class, as I'll forever recall him
being the consummate Gentleman to Mwah at Mother Speedway, when he turned
round, jumped down and casually chatted me up for nearly 10mins at Mother
Speedway during the Pit-stop contest.
While the Chip Ganassi Ford GT's indeed
finished 1-2, with the No. 67 leading the No. 66, another bit of history was
made, as it was Cheeps' 200th Overall
victory, along with him being present as the race's Grand Marshall.
Continuing the history theme, as I kept my
fingers crossed during the last 34mins for the #11 to win. As the #33 Riley
Merc' AMG GT3 saw Jeroen
Bleekemolen hunting mercilessly for a way past the GRT
Grasser Racing's Mirko
Bortolotti, literally atop the Lamborghini Huracan GT3's gearbox!
While Bortolotti led by one scant solitary second of
the race's waning laps! Jeroen
was finally called in for the Splash 'N Go he needed to
finish the race. Thus Italy's Bortolotti & Co. gave Lamborghini its
first ever 24hr victory ever worldwide!
Originally I was torn between the #11 and the
chasing Michael Shank #86 Acura NSX GT3 for GTD class honours, since the Shank
car featured A.J. Allmendinger and Thy Leggy Juan', nee Katherine Legge.
Yet I decided I wanted the No. 11 instead,
especially since it featured the totally forgotten Monsieur Perera, who I've
mentioned briefly flirted with an IndyCar career a decade ago. As I'm guessing
it's Frank Perera's
career highlight?
With the victory being even sweeter since the
car had been sent to the rear of the grid for a rules violation during Qualie'.
As you may also wish to check out The Pit Window's
photo montage, aptly choosing 24 pictures taken during this year's Rolex 24...
