Wayne Taylor Racing survived the often tricky night stint to hold a lead of more than 45 seconds as the sun is just about to start to rising on the 2020 Daytona 24 Hours as an earlier challenge by the #5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac DPI-V.R faded.
DAYTONA 24 HOURS | DPI PREVIEW | LMP2 PREVIEW | GTLM PREVIEW | GTD PREVIEW | CORVETTE C8.R TECH ANALYSIS | INTERVIEW NICK CATSBURG | INTERVIEW DENNIS OLSEN | INTERVIEW RENGER VAN DER ZANDE | PRE-RACE NOTEBOOK | RACE UPDATE 1: SATURDAY AFTERNOON | RACE UPDATE 2: SATURDAY NIGHT | RACE UPDATE 3: SUNDAY NIGHT | RACE UPDATE 4: SUNDAY MORNING | RACE UPDATE 5: SUNDAY FINISH | SATURDAY GALLERY | INTERVIEW KAMUI KOBAYASHI | INTERVIEW JESSE KROHN
The race has been green for more than five hours with just three relatively short caution periods breaking up otherwise uninterrupted running.
7:30 hours to go | 578 laps complete | 06:10 local time
DPI | #10 KONICA MINOLTA CADILLAC DPI-V.R / RENGER VAN DER ZANDE
Clean running through the night allowed Renger van der Zande to slowly open up a sizeable advantage over the #5 Mustang Sampling-branded JDC car despite the latter heading into Sunday in the lead.
That was possible because Loïc Duval was in the right place at the right time as the team pulled off a great pit strategy when the last full course caution was called – due to the GEAR by Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracán GT3 stopping on the back straight. Making up a number of positions to leave the pits in second, Duval then benefitted from the #77 Mazda getting a penalty for overtaking under yellow flags to sweep into the lead.
However, a combination of Van der Zande and Kamui Kobayashi’s speed and the team occasionally being able to extend their stint by a lap over the #5 allowed the Wayne Taylor Cadillac to pull away and hold onto a comfortable lead.
Sébastien Bourdais has taken over the JDC car and is running second, 15 seconds ahead of Tristan Nunez in the #77 Mazda Team Joest DPi.
LMP2 | #52 PR1 MATHIASEN MOTORSPORTS ORECA 07 / GABRIEL AUBRY
Only two cars remain on the lead lap in the LMP2 class, with Aubry ruling the way for the PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports team – untroubled by its rivals behind, which have all run into trouble at various points of the night.
The Frenchman holds more than 30 seconds in hand over Colin Braun in the #81 DragonSpeed Oreca. Braun – and Nick Boulle – have been pulling rapid stints overnight as the teams looks to claw back the time it lost with a puncture on Saturday night.
Both the Era Motorsport and the Tower Motorsport by Starworks Orecas are still running, but are 11 and 17 laps off the class leader respectively.
GTLM | #24 BMW TEAM RLL M8 GTE / JESSE KROHN
After Porsche’s early running at the top of the GTLM class, the #24 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE is still leading as the night comes to its end with Jesse Krohn heading a class that has the top four separated by less than 20 seconds.
Behind him is Laurens Vanthoor in the #912 Porsche GT Team 991 RSR and the Belgian is putting the pressure on Krohn as he continues to close in on the BMW. As 6am local time passed, Vanthoor was less than half-a-second behind and smelling blood, but couldn’t find a way through.
To add to the Porsche dominance, Nick Tandy is third in the #911 and less than five seconds off the squabbling lead pair. He’s ahead of Jordan Taylor in the #3 Corvette Racing C8.R which is still in contention for a podium provided it can keep out of trouble through the final hours of the race.
The sister #4 Corvette is still in the pits with the team working on its oil leak which was discovered in the tenth hour.
GTD | #48 PAUL MILLER RACING LAMBORGHINI HURACÁN GT3 / MADISON SNOW
It’s been all change in the GT Daytona category as the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini has been the absolute class of the field.
Bryan Sellers took the lead just after the third caution period and then handed over to Blancpain GT Series champion Andrea Caldarelli who put in a blistering double stint to move the Huracán into a very comfortable position at the top of the class ahead of the Magnus GRT Lamborghini driven last by Spencer Pumpelly. Madison Snow has taken over the car now to drive into the dawn with Pumpelly also due to stop soon.
The podium positions are rounded out by Mirko Bortolotti in the Team WRT Audi R8 LMS, which is almost one minute off the class leader.
At the bottom of the class, both the Aston Martin Racing Vantages have been forced to retire with damage.
Please consider making a donation so we can keep bringing you our best content from the racetrack.
