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DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A challenging combination of darkness and rain has proven to be the great equalizer throughout the overnight portion of the 55th Rolex 24 At Daytona, with class battles tightening as the race hits the halfway mark.
While a steady rain has proved treacherous for several IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R of Max Angelelli has risen to the top of the leaderboard claiming the maximum five points in the second Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup segment.
Angelelli – joined by co-drivers Jeff Gordon, Ricky Taylor and Jordan Taylor – leads the No. 90 Visit Florida Gibson/Riley of Rene Rast by one minute, 31.646 seconds. The No. 5 Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R co-driven by Christian Fittipaldi, Joao Barbosa and Felipe Albuquerque sits third in Prototype after leading the opening Patrón Endurance Cup segment. The No. 10 and No. 5 Cadillacs sit tied in the Patrón Endurance Cup with eight points apiece after two segments.
Using the rain to its advantage, Porsche holds the top two spots in GT Le Mans (GTLM) at the halfway mark with Kevin Estre in the No. 912 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR leading teammate Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 Porsche GT Team by 10.4 seconds. Despite running second, the No. 911 Porsche entry co-driven by Pilet, Dirk Werner and Frederic Makowiecki leads the Patrón Endurance Cup with nine points, after leading the opening segment.
Four GTLM entries remain on the lead lap with the No. 66 Ford GT of Joey Hand, Dirk Mueller and Sebastian Bourdais rounding out the top three, 21.125 seconds back.
Jeff Segal leads GT Daytona (GTD) in the No. 86 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura NSX GT3 he co-drives with Ozz Negri, Tom Dyer and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Four different OEMs make up the top four spots in the class, with the No. 29 Audi R8 LMS GT3 of Connor De Phillippi, the No. 33 Mercedes AMG GT3 of Adam Christodoulou within striking distance on the lead lap.
The No. 63 Ferrari 488 GT3 of Alessandro Balzan leads five cars one lap down.
Nicholas Boulle holds a comfortable lead in Prototype Challenge in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports ORECA FLM09. Boulle – joined by co-drivers by James French, Patricio O’Ward and Kyle Masson – holds the spot by five laps over Buddy Rice in the No. 8 ORECA FLM09 for Starworks Motorsport. Trent Hindman sits third, eight laps down, in BAR1 Motorsports’ No. 26 ORECA FLM09.