At 18-Hour Mark Of Patrón Endurance Cup At Rolex 24
PC-Leading CORE autosport Captures Third Consecutive Segment
Corvette Racing Leads GTLM, Riley Motorsports Takes Narrow GTD Class Lead

Daytona Beach, Florida – Joao Barbosa leapfrogged three competitors shortly before the end of the 18th hour of the 53rd Rolex 24 At Daytona due to quick work by the Action Express pit crew. That enabled the No. 5 Mustang Sampling Corvette DP co-driven by Christian Fittipaldi and Sebastien Bourdais to win the five points for leading the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup at the 18-hour mark.

Jordan Taylor was running second to earn four points for the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP co-driven by Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli. That gave the team 11 points, moving them into a tie with the No. 02 Target Ford EcoBoost/Riley driven by Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Tony Kanaan and Scott Dixon with six hours remaining. Third, with 10 points, was Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates No. 01 entry of Scott Pruett, Joey Hand, Charlie Kimball and Sage Karam.

Points in the four-race Patrón Endurance Cup are awarded at specific intervals throughout each race – every six hours in the Rolex 24 – with the leader at the end of each segment scoring five points, four points for second, three points for third and fourth place on back receiving two points.

Corvette Racing’s pair of Corvette C7.Rs ran 1-2 in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class for the third consecutive segment. Oliver Gavin led the second straight period in the No. 4 entry co-driven by Tommy Milner and Simon Pagenaud to take a one-point lead over the No. 3 driven by Jan Magnussen, Antonio Garcia and Ryan Briscoe, 14-13.

CORE autosport remained perfect in a bid for a second consecutive Patrón Endurance Cup title in Prototype Challenge (PC), with Colin Braun at the wheel of the No. 54 Composite Resources/Flex-Box ORECA FLM09 he shares with Jon Bennett, James Gue and Mark Wilkins. Braun survived a second cut tire to retain the lead and earn the maximum 15 points through three scoring segments. That opens a five-point lead over the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA FLM09 of Mike Guasch, Andrew Novich, Andrew Palmer and Tom Kimber-Smith, which ran second for the second consecutive segment.

The opening segment leader in the GT Daytona (GTD) class won the third segment to regain the class lead. The No. 93 Riley Motorsports Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R driven by Kuno Wittmer, Cameron Lawrence, Dominik Farnbacher and Al Carter now has 14 points, one more than the second-segment leading No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 of Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal and Anthony Lazzaro.

FOX Sports 1 is televising the final stages of the Rolex 24 through the checkered flag and post-race at 2:30 p.m. ET.

NEWS AND NOTES

· The No. 33 TI Automotive Dodge Viper SRT came to a halt early in the 18th hour and would not re-fire for driver Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, who was running fourth in GTD. The competitive class had featured 49 lead changes among 10 cars at that point.

· The PC-leading No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09 dodged another bullet when Colin Braun cut a tire shortly after a caution flag waved. Braun was able to pit and preserve a three-lap lead in class with six hours, 40 minutes remaining. Braun had a similar problem shortly before the 12-hour mark.

· Starworks Motorsport retired the No. 7 Martini Dinan BMW/Riley with overheating problems at 4:35 a.m., shortly after the car came to a stop at the exit of Turn 5 with Brendon Hartley at the wheel.

· Moments later, the No. 1 Tequila Patrón ESM Honda HPD ARX of Scott Sharp, Ryan Dalziel and David Heinemeier Hansson was retired due to gearbox problems.

QUOTEBOARD

AJ Allmendinger, Driver - No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Tire Kingdom Ligier JS P2/Honda:

“The Ganassi guys are quick – no surprise – they’ve got some motor, but our car is good. I was just pacing myself. I was having a good time out there. I think as it gets hotter, our car is only going to get better. This is one of the most fun race cars that I’ve driven. I’ve always wanted to drive a P2 type of car, and when I saw the Ligier run last year at COTA and Petit (Le Mans), I wanted to get into that thing. I’m really happy that Michael Shank Racing switched over to this Ligier.”

Nick Fousekis, Motorsports Marketing Manager – No. 17 Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR

“Our Team Falken Tire Porsche 911 RSR was running really well, and we were pleased with our tire performance as well for our first time at the Rolex 24. While Patrick Long was in second place, he came into the pits for a routine stop, but had reported dropping oil pressure. By the time he got to pit lane, the oil pressure had dropped to zero, and he shut the car off immediately. We have pushed it back to the garage to determine the cause of the pressure drop, and see if we can fix the problem.” (The team retired the car.)

Dirk Werner, Driver – No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4

“I had quite a lot of fun this time and was in a good position out there on the track. We were going through the field, I just could do good lap times and enjoy the night. The car was very consistent and fun to drive. I had a lot of free air, not a lot of cars round me, so I could just circle around, the car is running fine and for now I am happy."

Pierre Kaffer, Driver – No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia

"It was a big shame. At the moment I am very frustrated. I think we did a very good job and made everything perfect before the race. I am so sad for the boys; they really deserved it. For me it was really exciting to drive this race and I think the GTLM class is a very nice class. I lost some power on the straight to the 'bus stop' and there was a strange noise in the engine so I decided to pit straight away. Unfortunately, we cannot fix this problem and so we have to stop.”