Hour 2

There was some settling during the hour. The report from the Cytosport team was that there may have been water in the tank. Does that cause the car to be placed into yet another unclassified alternative fuel category?

We had two collisions. The first was among a pair of backmarkers, Bryan Sellers punting Seth Neiman. Both cars continued but the No. 17 Falken Porsche was penalized. Of more significance to the race and the points title was similar contact in the same downhill spot at Turn 10 when Jon Field badly hit Gil de Ferran. The Acura lost a half hour rebuilding the rear suspension while the really fast start by the Intersport Lola was negated by a very long penalty.

David Brabham was an unwitting beneficiary of all this, the rebuilt Acura rising to fourth overall. The BMWs have had a somewhat anonymous week and this continued when Bill Auberlen slowly returned with a bad oil leak. A car with a reasonably good start was the brand new Drayson Lola, Jonny Cocker at times being the fastest petrol prototype.

The racing period of hour 2 came to a premature interruption with the first full-course caution. It came from a déjà vu moment when the Robertson Ford lost its rear cover dead center on the racing line. It came at the worst possible moment for Allan McNish. The Audi was about to put a lap on the second place Audi but had to back off.

Another fairly forgotten car at the start was the Fernandez Acura, which had a modest opening stint. However, Luis Diaz recovered well for the team and once the green flag fell they were in the class lead. The un-P2 is actually ahead of them. The second yellow ended the hour when Scott Dixon is into the wall with the No. 66 Acura—two Indy Car drivers, two accidents.

JW