Rolex 24 Hour 20: Three-car fight in LMP2
Richard Dole/IMSA
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Richard S. James | January 30, 2022 10:00 AM ET
LMP2 is a three-car battle with four hours left in the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The defending IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP2 champions are still in it, with Mikkel Jensen running second in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA as the hour ticked over. The No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA
(pictured above) has battled back into contention, Pato O’Ward currently in first, although the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA — now piloted by Louis Deletraz — is in third due to the pit stop cycle, but had been leading.
Up front, the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsport Cadillac and the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura cycled to the front as the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac and the No. 60 Meyer Shank with Curb Agajanian Acura swapped drivers, Pipo Derani entering the No. 31 and Simon Pagenaud taking over the No. 60 from Oliver Jarvis. Derani took over the charge that Mike Conway had been on, overtaking Alexander Rossi in the No. 10 as Rossi tried to go too deep into Turn 1 while trying to defend. Derani then set off for leader Richard Westbrook in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac, taking the lead with seven minutes left in the hour.
GTD has been a battle at the front between the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche and the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren, but just as the hour ticked over, Frederik Schandorff brought the McLaren into the pits, where the crew started checking the brakes or left-front suspension in a long stop. That left Jan Heylen out front in the No. 16 Porsche.
Leaders after 20 hours:
DPi: Pipo Derani, No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac
LMP2: Pato O’Ward, No. 81 DragonSpeed USA ORECA
LMP3: Kay van Berlo, No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier
GTD Pro: Dennis Olsen, No. 2 KCMG Porsche 911 GT3R
GTD: Jan Heylen, No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R
News and notes:
• The No. 99 Team Hardpoint Porsche 911 GT3R received a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility with the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.
• By the numbers: There are 42 IMSA class champions in the 60th Rolex 24 at Daytona, counting class championships in both the overall WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Endurance Cup. Joao Barbosa and Antonio Garcia lead the list with six apiece, followed by Jeroen Bleekemolen and Ben Keating, who won GTD in the Michelin Endurance Cup together three times from 2017-19.