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Rolex 24 Hour 15: Alonso schools the IMSA drivers in the rain

Alonso taking all the IMSA drivers to school in the rain
Alonso taking all the IMSA drivers to school in the rain

Heavy rain started to fall on Daytona International Speedway as the Rolex 24 entered its 15th hour.

As we go green again Fernando Alonso leads in the #10 Cadillac and the #31 Cadillac a close 2nd followed by the #6 and #7 Acuras of Team Penske – all on the lead lap.

When the green flag dropped Alonso pulled out a 3.5-sec. lead in just one lap as the former F1 star takes these IMSA drivers to school in the rain. In three laps the margin was over 10-seconds and in 8 laps it was over 20-seconds and growing as Alonso gave them a spanking they won't soon forget. It underscores just how good Alonso really is – one of the best drivers ever without a doubt – and how inferior the IMSA drivers really are.

All teams have now made the switch to wet Michelin tires after an anticipated weather front reached Daytona from the southwest.

The rain began to coat the 3.5-mile circuit at around 4:40 a.m local time before intensifying over the next 20 minutes and is expected to persist through the morning.

Some cars, including the No. 66 Ford GT that was running second in GT Le Mans and the LMP2 podium-contending No. 81 DragonSpeed Oreca 07 Gibson, have had off-track moments in the challenging conditions.

The #912 Porsche leads in GTLM over the #62 Ferrari

Hour 15 Standings

POS PIC DRIVER NO./MFG CLASS LAPS BEHIND BEST LAP STOPS
1 1 Fernando Alonso #10 CADILLAC DPI DPI 485 –.— 1:34.598 8
2 2 Dane Cameron #6 ACURA DPI DPI 485 3.479 1:35.073 8
3 3 Ricky Taylor #7 ACURA DPI DPI 485 7.414 1:34.764 8
4 4 Eric Curran #31 CADILLAC DPI DPI 485 8.467 1:34.504 7
5 5 Colin Braun #54 NISSAN DPI DPI 480 5 LAPS 1:34.830 7
6 6 Rubens Barrichello #85 CADILLAC DPI DPI 478 7 LAPS 1:35.452 8
7 1 Ben Hanley #81 ORECA LMP2 LMP2 477 8 LAPS 1:36.256 7
8 2 Ryan Cullen #18 ORECA LMP2 LMP2 473 12 LAPS 1:36.818 8
9 7 Filipe Albuquerque #5 CADILLAC DPI DPI 471 14 LAPS 1:35.110 7
10 3 Kyle Masson #38 ORECA LMP2 LMP2 470 15 LAPS 1:38.745 7
11 1 Laurens Vanthoor #912 PORSCHE 911 RSR GTLM 463 22 LAPS 1:43.083 5
12 2 James Calado #62 FERRARI 488 GTE GTLM 463 22 LAPS 1:43.104 5
13 3 Connor De Phillippi #25 BMW M8 GTE GTLM 463 22 LAPS 1:42.908 5
14 4 Sebastien Bourdais #66 FORD GT GTLM 463 22 LAPS 1:43.346 5
15 5 Patrick Pilet #911 PORSCHE 911 RSR GTLM 463 22 LAPS 1:42.963 5
16 6 Ryan Briscoe #67 FORD GT GTLM 463 22 LAPS 1:43.355 6
17 7 Tommy Milner #4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R GTLM 461 24 LAPS 1:43.319 7
18 8 Jan Magnussen #3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.R GTLM 454 31 LAPS 1:43.133 6
19 1 Nick Cassidy #14 LEXUS RC F GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.232 4
20 2 Jeff Westphal #63 FERRARI 488 GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.544 5
21 3 Luca Stolz #33 MERCEDES-AMG GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.199 5
22 4 Ricky Feller #29 AUDI R8 LMS GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.523 5
23 5 Justin Marks #86 ACURA NSX GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.534 5
24 6 Corey Lewis #48 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.032 6
25 7 Kelvin Van Der Linde #88 AUDI R8 LMS GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.622 6
26 8 Christina Nielsen #57 ACURA NSX GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.668 5
27 9 Dirk Werner #540 PORSCHE 911 GT3 R GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.712 7
28 10 Christian Engelhart #11 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3 GTD 453 32 LAPS 1:45.033 5
29 11 Jeff Segal #12 LEXUS RC F GT3 GTD 452 33 LAPS 1:45.546 6
30 12 Andy Lally #44 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3 GTD 452 33 LAPS 1:45.539 5
31 13 Matt Campbell #73 PORSCHE 911 GT3 R GTD 452 33 LAPS 1:45.382 6
32 14 Andrea Bertolini #13 FERRARI 488 GT3 GTD 451 34 LAPS 1:44.541 5
33 15 Dillon Machavern #96 BMW M6 GT3 GTD 451 34 LAPS 1:45.714 6
34 8 Kyle Kaiser #50 CADILLAC DPI DPI 448 37 LAPS 1:35.329 6
35 16 Alex Riberas #19 AUDI R8 LMS GT3 GTD 447 38 LAPS 1:45.948 5
36 9 John Edwards #24 BMW M8 GTE GTLM 443 42 LAPS 1:43.104 8
37 17 Ryan Dalziel #8 AUDI R8 LMS GT3 GTD 443 42 LAPS 1:46.019 6
38 9 Olivier Pla #55 MAZDA DPI DPI 440 45 LAPS 1:34.922 4
39 18 Fabio Babini #46 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3 GTD 433 52 LAPS 1:45.818 6
40 19 Lars Kern #9 PORSCHE 911 GT3 R GTD 432 53 LAPS 1:45.763 8
41 20 Fabian Schiller #71 MERCEDES-AMG GT3 GTD 431 54 LAPS 1:46.127 4
42 4 Gabriel Aubry #52 ORECA LMP2 LMP2 405 80 LAPS 1:36.886 7
43 21 Paul Dalla Lana #51 FERRARI 488 GT3 GTD 349 136 LAPS 1:44.880 4
44 22 Steve Dunn #47 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3 GTD 337 148 LAPS 1:45.858 5
45 10 Chris Miller #84 CADILLAC DPI DPI 225 260 LAPS 1:35.796 0
46 11 Timo Bernhard #77 MAZDA DPI DPI 220 265 LAPS 1:35.176 0
47 23 Juergen Haering #99 PORSCHE 911 GT3 R GTD 47 438 LAPS 1:46.063 0