| Oct. 12, 2020 By David Phillips IMSA Wire Service  DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – It took a while for the green flag to wave on the second GT-only race of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. A deluge of biblical proportions, coupled with a NASCAR Xfinity race that went into overtime, saw the 18-car GT Le Mans/GT Daytona field waved off for an hour from the scheduled start time. But the wait proved worth it. The race was nothing if not dynamic throughout as some drivers (and cars) proved more suited to the constantly changing conditions than others, with the finishing order in doubt until the 100th minute of the 100-minute event. Different Horses for Different Courses While the rain eventually abated, the combination of a water-logged track and tropical humidity meant the racing surface never truly dried, negating any thoughts of gambling on a switch from rain tires to slicks. Nevertheless, the ever-evolving conditions clearly favored some cars over others. The No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW of Jesse Krohn showed a clean (if wet) pair of heels to the GTLM field on a flooded track in the opening laps. Similarly, the sister car of Bruno Spengler sliced through the field after an early spin. But when the track dried, the No. 3 Corvette C8.R came into its own as Antonio Garcia dispatched erstwhile leader John Edwards in the No. 24 BMW and loped away to a convincing win. The two BMWs completed the podium after the No. 4 Corvette smote the wall exiting the oval Turn 4 following a suspected suspension failure. Lengthy Pit Stop Fogs up Lexus Chances For want of a nail the horseshoe was lost, for want of a horseshoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the battle was lost … It was widely predicted that clean pit stops would play a crucial role in the outcome of the MOTUL 100% Synthetic Grand Prix. Little could anyone have known, however, that a pair of fogged goggles would not only affect the race but, quite possibly, the overall GTD championship. That’s what happened during the race’s one and only pit stop when the No. 14 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 crew member assigned to re-attach the driver door safety net attempted to perform his duties virtually blind thanks to a pair of foggy goggles. The resulting slow stop dropped the race-leading (and championship-contending) Aaron Telitz and Jack Hawksworth Lexus down to P5. That set the stage for a disastrous sequence of events that saw Hawksworth penalized after inadvertently pitching Mario Farnbacher’s No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 into a spin in the closing laps. The incident dropped Farnbacher to a seventh-place finish with Hawksworth following in his wheel tracks, even as Bill Auberlen took the win for the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 after a “storming” drive. The Wright Motorsports No. 16 Porsche of Patrick Long and Ryan Hardwick came home second ahead of the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin after Roman De Angelis slithered past the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus of Townsend Bell on the back straightaway chicane with a couple laps remaining. Thus, are the GTD manufacturer, driver and team championships very much up for grabs heading into the homestretch of the 2020 season. Porsche’s Hopes Washed Away Spare a thought for the Porsche GTLM team. After missing the Mid-Ohio race when several of its 24 Hours of Le Mans team members tested positive for coronavirus, Porsche was fancied as the team to beat at Charlotte by those who figured the nimble 911 RSRs would take to the ROVAL like ducks to water, if you’ll pardon the expression. Then the rains came, and while Corvette’s Jordan Taylor narrowly edged Fred Makowiecki in the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR-19 for the pole, the No. 912 Porsche gridded last in class after Laurens Vanthoor lost control on the wet track and smacked the wall. Worse – much worse – was to come in the race. First, Vanthoor spun and clouted the wall on Lap 4, with Makowiecki following suit a few laps later. Although the Porsche crews gave it the old college try, both cars were damaged beyond immediate repair and retired. Porsche’s GTLM swansong went from bad to worse, not only having gone winless but having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory on a couple of occasions – and now effectively scoring goose eggs in the past two races. With all due respect to BMW and Corvette, it would take a cold heart indeed not to hope for a Porsche victory in one of the final three races of the season. |
