Rolex 24 Race Notes - Note 8
LAP 153 (04:58:06) – No. 91 RYAN HUNTER-REAY and No. 76 DARREN TURNER take fourth and fifth as No. 23 JOEY HAND drops off the pace. He later comes to pit road for what looks to be a routine stop. The crew must push start the car.

LAP 154 (04:59:50) – The lead is now 4.186 seconds. The top five GT cars are still on the lead lap.

LAP 155 (05:01:35) – No. 2 LUCAS LUHR brings his car onto pit road for service. GT LEAD CHANGE as No. 70 RAPHAEL MATOS pits and gives the car back to SYLVAIN TREMBLAY.

QUOTE FROM RICARDO ZONTA ON HIS DRIVE – “I had a lot of fun. It’s nice to drive here in Daytona. To say the truth, I learned the circuit really during the race because I did not have much time in the car. I crashed in practice so we lost a few days. The race was really nice. I’m enjoying it a lot. This is my first long endurance race. The other GT drivers were working very well and leaving good lines for me to go. There was no risk. The car is fantastic. It’s really good to drive. I didn’t push too hard. I was just safe and good.”

LAP 156 (05:03:19) – FULL COURSE CAUTION for debris in the west horseshoe.

QUOTE FROM MEMO GIDLEY ON HIS DRIVE – “We changed from rain tires to slicks at the start. It took a lap or two to get through all the GT cars, but we did. I just tried to go easy on the car and be very consistent, because we want to run all day long. The track conditions are OK, but at the start it was real dirty in the Bus Stop. Traffic is pretty decent though. The car was working great when I was in it; the Doran Racing Kodak team does a great job.”

LAP 157 (05:05:07) – There are reports No. 59 JC FRANCE’s car does not have its lights working correctly. No. 03 JOHN ANDRETTI’s car has a flat tire. The team has been granted permission to come in under the yellow to fix the problem. No. 01 JUAN PABLO MONTOYA, No. 61 COLIN BRAUN, No. 16 STEPHANE ORTELLI, No. 03 JOHN ANDRETTI, No. 76 DARREN TURNER, No. 10 MICHAEL VALIANTE, No. 9 KURT BUSCH, No. 99 JIMMY VASSER and No. 58 BUDDY RICE. OVERALL LEAD CHANGE as No. 76 DARREN TURNER beats No. 91 RYAN HUNTER-REAY, No. 99 JIMMY VASSER, No. 61 COLIN BRAUN and No. 9 KURT BUSCH out of pit road. No. 10 MICHAEL VALIANTE has stalled at the end of pit lane and the car cannot restart. No. 01 DARIO FRANCHITTI, No. 59 TERRY BORCHELLER and No. 6 BURT FRISSELLE all now all in their respective cars following pit stops.

LAP 158 (05:09:42) – No. 10 MICHAEL VALIANTE is still not running and has fallen a lap down. He is also in the high speed lane, which is making it difficult for GT cars to pit. The top five in GT are No. 66 ANDY LALLY, No. 86 LEH KEEN, No. 07 PAUL EDWARDS, No. 81 ROBERT DOORNBOS and No. 70 SYLVAIN TREMBLAY.

LAP 159 (05:12:52) – There are reports that No. 2 MIKE ROCKENFELLER’s car is smoking heavily. It also begins to rain lightly on the main straightaway and around portions of the track.

LAP 160 (05:16:13) – Several cars head to pit road, many to change to rain tires. There is predicted 10-15 minutes of rain expected, though it is not raining everywhere. Among those is the No. 75

QUOTE FROM AJ ALLMENDINGER ON HIS DRIVE “We took the lead early. We just ran my own pace. Max was pretty quick so I let him go. I can kind got shuffled back on the pit stops and had to restart in the back and fought our way back up to forth as I handed the car off to Ian. Overall, I think we need to find better grip. The track seems really slippery right now. A lot of guys are going off. Overall, I handed the car off without any marks.”

LAP 161 (05:20:07) – GREEN FLAG flies, and most of the field heads to the pits as the flag waves. No. 91 RYAN HUNTER-REAY assumes the lead when this happens, and pulls away from the field before spinning in Turn 2. OVERALL LEAD CHANGE as RYAN HUNTER-REAY loses the lead to No. 59 TERRY BORCHELLER. Behind is No. 23 JOEY HAND. No. 66 RICHARD WESTBROOK is the new GT leader. No. 01 DARIO FRANCHITTI takes second.

LAP 162 (05:22:17) – OVERALL LEAD CHANGE as No. 23 JOEY HAND gets by No. 59 TERRY BORCHELLER in the kink.