Rolex 24 - Hour 2
Cheever Troubles
© Janos Wimpffen

The second hour starts with the No. 58 Brumos entry being the first of the top cars to make a scheduled stop (Donohue stays aboard). Next is the overall leader, Matt Plumb. He stays aboard the Riley-BMW. Alex Gurney has inherited the lead. The No. 65 Porsche of Russ Oasis has blown through the bus stop and has been assessed a drive-through. The “Italian” Farnbacher entry (No. 89) has had a flat tire. Another TRG Porsche has had problems—the No. 63 car of Duncan Ende has stopped on course. Another one of their cars, No. 68, is back on course after a trip to the garage. The O’Connell team Porsche (No. 27) has lost a door and yet another Farnbacher Loles car with issues—No. 88 is slow.

Alex Gurney was among the last of the leaders to stop. Max Angelelli (No. 10 SunTrust Riley-Pontiac) is now leading, but he also comes in for a stop. Things have become less impressive for Brumos as the No. 58 has made another stop and the engine is being looked at.

Guy Cosmo’s right front wheel has been left rolling down the back stretch. Everyone manages to miss the rolling rubber and the Spirit of Daytona car makes it back to the pits with no damage—lucky man.

Negri-Wilkins-Goossens is the order as more of the leaders have tucked in. Further back, the No. 21 Pontiac GTO.R, that had run so well in the earlier tests days, has gone back to the garage.

Negri is indeed the next to stop, and the orange and black No. 60 Riley is handed over to Justin Wilson. The Hyper Sport Mazda has suffered a front flat and has stopped. Ryan Briscoe has taken over the wheel of the delayed Penske-Taylor entry. Fire in the engine compartment of the No. 51 Coyote. Tommy Erdos has pulled off the course and shut down the engine.

Marc Goossens stops the No. 91 Riley, just as the course goes yellow again—for all the stranded cars. The other Cheever Coyote has stopped on course, as has the No. 77 Doran, which has gone back to the garage. The No. 29 Porsche, which had a problem on the first lap, is running again.

This second caution period has led to a great flurry of stops. After the green, the order re-sorts to: No. 02 Ganassis, Dixon, No. 61, AIM Riley Frisselle, No. 91 works Riley (Matthews). The GT order has Nick Ham back in front with the No. 70 Mazda, then the Racer’s Group Porsche of Emmanuel Collard (No. 67), and Huisman in the Synergy entry. Huisman, Shane Lewis (No. 3 Southard) and the two Ganassi DPs are the only teams not to have switched drivers as of the two-hour mark.

Just past 2 hours the course goes yellow again as the No 56 Ferrari has a huge puncture on the rear straight and deposits debris all around.

Here are the second drivers by car number:
2, Allan Thel Scotsman I’m Only Here for the Watch McNish
03, Ed Carpenter
6, Ian James
7, Paddy Shovlin
9, Ryan Briscoe
09, Michael McDowell
10, Ricky Taylor
11, Harold Primat
12, Justin Bell
16, Antonio Garcia
23, Patrick Long
31, unknown—transponder down
51, Tommy Erdos
58, Darren Law
59, Joao Barbosa
60, Justin Wilson
61, Brian Frisselle
75, Oliver Gavin
76, Ricardo Zonta
77, Fabrizio Gollin
91, Jim Matthews

GT
06, Robert Nearn
07, Kelly Collins
08, Steve Goldin
14, Cory Friedman
15, Tom Nastasi
17, Gary Jensen
21, Karl Reindler
22, Patrick Pillet
26, Bob Michaelian
27, Kris Wilson
29, L-P Dumoulin
30, Drew Staveley
34, Mike Fitzgerald
40, stopped still with Espenlaub
43, back to Wayne Nonnamaker
44, Zach Arnold
50, John Farano, then Carl Jensen
52, Roberto Ragazzi
56, Matthew Marsh
57, Andrew Davis
62, Claudio Burtin
63, Hima Maher
64, Jim Pace
65, Tommy Archer
66, transponder down
67, Emmanuel Collard
68, Michael Auriemma
69, Emil Assentato
70, Nick Ham
72, Max Papis
74, Derek Skea
80, Damien Faulkner
83, Ben McCrackin
84, Chris Pennington
85, Don Kitch
86, Jorg Bergmeister
87, Dominik Farnbacher
88, David Lacey
89, Luca Drudi
90, Joe Varde

Gary Horrocks adds:
Just as the #40 crew was readying for a stop and Patrick Dempsey was due to get into the Hyper Sport Mazda, the car was seen stopped on track with a blown LF tire and damage to the same corner. The tire may have taken the oil cooler off. The team was awaiting the car at the garage to assess the damage.

Tim Bergmeister reported a half shaft issue in the #83 Farnbacher Loles Porsche. “I felt it at the beginning of the race. We were losing power and it felt like there was play in the suspension.”

SAMAX – the #11 was reported to have electrical/coil issues early on, but that issue has been resolved. The #2 had some issues on the refueling hoses. Mike Rockenfeller reported that the car “could be better, but could be worse.”

Stevenson Racing Pontiac GXP – Robin Liddell reported that the car was very slow on the straights, making it difficult to be competitive. Gunnar Jeannette – “We’ll just have to do what we can to stay in the draft on the straights, keep it clean and hang in there.”

The #21 Connolly Pontiac GTO.R was sidelined and being repaired in the garage for issues with the RF upright.