Rolex 24, Hour 21: Five-way fight in LMP2

Jake Galstad/Lumen
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emailBy Richard S. James | January 28, 2024 11:04 AM ET

The fight for LMP2 honors in the 62nd Rolex 24 At Daytona remains a five-way contest at the front. The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA is currently on a different pit sequence, and that has often given the team track position as the others cycle through their stops. With three hours left, though, Malthe Jakobsen in the No. 4 is chasing Connor Zilisch in the No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA (pictured above). The other cars on the same lap are the No. 52 Inter Europol with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports (Pietro Fittipaldi), No. 8 Tower Motorsports (Scott McLaughlin) and No. 74 Riley Motorsports (Felipe Massa).

Matt Campbell in the No. 7 PPM Porsche 963 leads GTP and overall, and has been putting distance between himself and Jack Aitken in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R. Both were due to stop as the hour mark changed from three to four. Colton Herta had just pitted the No. 40 WTRAndretti AcuraARX-06 out of third.

Kevin Estre had another moment in the No. 6 PPM 963, sliding off Turn 3, the International Horseshoe, on his out-lap. The Porsche stopped short of the tire wall, and Estre got the car going again without losing a lap.

Laurin Heinrich is going to need a yellow to get the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R back into the GTD fight, as he’s most of a lap behind the fight for the lead, currently held by Alessandro Pier Guidi in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296. Pier Guidi has a bit of a gap to the pursuing No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 with Sheldon van der Linde at the wheel.

Winward Racing is still at the front of GTD, the No. 57 Mercedes AMG holding about a 10-second lead in the hands of Philip Ellis. Aaron Telitz was second in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, followed by Mike Skeen in the No. 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG.

The entire 21st hour was run under green. Mercy Sakes !