Leg report
IMSA Road Atlanta
Petit Le Mans: Taylor takes command, drama for Corvette
With just two hours to go, Renger van der Zande, Jordan Taylor and Ryan Hunter-Reay have worked the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac into the lead, but GM’s GT Le Mans title hopes took a huge hit with a shunt for Antonio Garcia’s Corvette.
David Malsher-Lopez
Published: Oct 13, 2018, 11:10 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Van Der Zande worked hard to get himself up with the Acura Team Penske ARX-05 of Graham Rahal and Tristan Nunez in the #77 Mazda RT24-P and since Taylor has been in the car he has been able to pull away in the lead.
His closest pursuer was Helio Castroneves who took over from Rahal but passed under a yellow waved for GT car in the sandtrap, and was assessed a drive-through penalty.
That had left the highly impressive Felipe Nasr in second in the #31 Action Express Racing Cadillac [although he was the first of the leaders to stop], with Lucas di Grassi now at the wheel of the #77 Mazda thus promoted to second.
Timo Bernhard lies third, he and Pipo Derani having done a stellar job to keep ESM Nissan in the hunt, whereas Filipe Albuquerque in the #5 Cadillac is currently bottling up the recovered #55 Mazda which Spencer Pigot got back on the lead lap and in which Jonathan Bomarito has set some very strong lap times. He is also having to watch his mirrors as Romain Dumas in the CORE autosport Oreca is pushing hard.
Castroneves has fallen to seventh.
The yellow that flew for the spun Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 sent everyone to the pits, but on exit up the hill, Antonio Garcia spun to the inside wall, striking it hard enough to push the bumper onto his front wheels. That punctured at least one tire, and left him limping back to the pits where he went behind the wall and lost two laps.
That, combined with a drive-through penalty for Porsche’s Earl Bamber who nudged a GTD car off track, has promoted Richard Westbrook/Ryan Briscoe/Scott Dixon Ford GT into second place behind the other 911 of Frederic Makowiecki, and should they hold position, Westie and Briscoe will beat Garcia/Magnussen to the GTLM title.
Pat Long/Christina Nielsen lead GT Daytona ahead of the Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini, with Katherine Legge’s Acura NSX in fourth, splitting the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488s of Daniel Serra’s and Townsend Bell.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Petit Le Mans: Rahal leads for Acura at half-distance
Next article Petit Le Mans: WTR Cadillac snatches win on final lap
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
David Malsher-Lopez
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
IndyCar
IndyCar
Alex Zanardi: The man whose name is a synonym for “hero”
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
Formula 1
Formula 1
Remembering Michele Alboreto: F1 ace, Le Mans winner and a good man
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
IMSA
IMSA
Laguna Seca
IMSA Laguna Seca: Ganassi Cadillac holds off Porsche for victory
Latest news
How Marc Marquez could wrap up the 2026 MotoGP title in Qatar GP
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
44 min
How Marc Marquez could wrap up the 2026 MotoGP title in Qatar GP
Kyle Busch Remembered: Rowdy's top Martinsville moments
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
1 h
Kyle Busch Remembered: Rowdy's top Martinsville moments
MotoGP responds to Yamaha’s Qatar GP withdrawal
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
2 h
MotoGP responds to Yamaha’s Qatar GP withdrawal
Yamaha boycotts Qatar Grand Prix amid ongoing Middle East war
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Malaysian GP
2 h
Yamaha boycotts Qatar Grand Prix amid ongoing Middle East war
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe