Rolex 24: Hour 18: Cadillacs still lead at 3/4 mark

Ricky Taylor leads in the #10 Cadillac
Ricky Taylor leads in the #10 Cadillac

The sun may be up but the story is the same – the pace car leads the Rolex 24 again. Ricky Taylor’s No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R reclaimed the lead from the No. 5 Action Express Cadillac in the 18th hour of the Rolex 24 at Daytona on a still wet track.

Taylor had a 55 second lead over Joao Barbosa with six hours to go, prior to the 14th safety car period of the race, due to debris shed from the No. 26 BAR1 Motorsports Oreca FLM09 of David Cheng.

Taylor got around Barbosa for the lead on lap 464, with the Action Express Cadillac briefly dropping behind the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Riley of Renger van der Zande, who served a drive-through penalty for repeatedly straight-lining the Bus Stop chicane.

Scott Sharp’s No. 2 Tequila Patron ESM Nissan Onroak DPi sits fourth, one lap behind, after also serving a penalty for cutting the track.

In GT Le Mans, the lead battle remains finely balanced, with the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR of Patrick Pilet, leading Sebastien Bourdais’ No. 66 Ford GT and the No. 3 Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen.

The two cars run fifth and sixth overall, due to the attrition-filled race in the Prototype class and let's not forget the year the Corvette won overall when all the Daytona Prototypes failed.

Prototype Challenge has continued to be paced by the No. 38 Performance Tech Oreca FLM09 of James French, with Ryan Hunter-Reay leading an Michael Shank Racing Acura 1-2 in GT Daytona with six hours to go.

Hour 18 Standings

Pos PiC Current Driver No./Make/Class Laps Behind Gap BLap Stops
1 1 Ricky Taylor #10 CADILLAC DPI P 491 –.— –.— 1:36.394 16
2 2 Joao Barbosa #5 CADILLAC DPI P 491 12.692 12.692 1:36.269 16
3 3 Renger Van Der Zande #90 MULTIMATIC/RILEY P 490 1 Lap 1 Lap 1:39.183 16
4 4 Scott Sharp #2 NISSAN DPI P 489 2 Laps 2 Laps 1:39.235 15
5 1 Patrick Pilet #911 PORSCHE 911 RSRM GTLM 485 6 Laps –.— 1:43.964 14
6 2 Sebastien Bourdais #66 FORD GTM GTLM 485 6 Laps 5.243 1:43.522 11
7 5 Jonathan Bomarito #55 MAZDA DPI P 485 6 Laps 6 Laps 1:39.457 20
8 3 Jan Magnussen #3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.RM GTLM 485 6 Laps 13.242 1:43.979 15
9 4 Laurens Vanthoor #912 PORSCHE 911 RSRM GTLM 484 7 Laps 1 Lap 1:43.979 15
10 5 Giancarlo Fisichella #62 FERRARI 488 GTEM GTLM 484 7 Laps 1 Lap 1:43.654 15
11 6 Andy Priaulx #69 FORD GTM GTLM 484 7 Laps 1 Lap 1:43.453 12
12 7 Bill Auberlen #19 BMW M6 GTLMM GTLM 483 8 Laps 2 Laps 1:44.247 15
13 6 Loic Duval #81 ORECA P 483 8 Laps 8 Laps 1:37.907 17
14 8 Stefan Mucke #68 FORD GTM GTLM 483 8 Laps 2 Laps 1:43.610 14
15 7 Nick Heidfeld #13 ORECA P 482 9 Laps 9 Laps 1:37.440 15
16 8 Misha Goikhberg #85 ORECA P 480 11 Laps 11 Laps 1:38.542 15
17 1 James French #38 ORECA FLM09 PC 476 15 Laps –.— 1:42.716 15
18 1 Ryan Hunter Reay #86 ACURA NSX GT3C GTD 470 21 Laps –.— 1:47.796 15
19 2 Graham Rahal #93 ACURA NSX GT3C GTD 469 22 Laps 1 Lap 1:47.760 15
20 3 Matt Bell #57 AUDI R8 LMS GT3C GTD 469 22 Laps 1 Lap 1:47.932 13
21 4 Jeroen Bleekemolen #33 MERCEDES – AMG GT3C GTD 469 22 Laps 1 Lap 1:47.828 13
22 5 Alessandro Balzan #63 FERRARI 488 GT3C GTD 468 23 Laps 2 Laps 1:47.079 18
23 6 Jeffrey Schmidt #29 AUDI R8 LMS GT3C GTD 468 23 Laps 2 Laps 1:47.313 16
24 7 Jesse Lazare #28 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RC GTD 468 23 Laps 2 Laps 1:47.757 16
25 8 Jens Klingmann #96 BMW M6 GT3C GTD 468 23 Laps 2 Laps 1:47.457 15
26 9 Dane Cameron #31 CADILLAC DPI P 468 23 Laps 23 Laps 1:36.793 18
27 10 Johannes Van Overbeek #22 NISSAN DPI P 466 25 Laps 25 Laps 1:37.832 19
28 9 Tommy Milner #4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE C7.RM GTLM 465 26 Laps 20 Laps 1:44.038 11
29 9 Madison Snow #48 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 464 27 Laps 6 Laps 1:48.355 15
30 10 Townsend Bell #23 AUDI R8 LMS GT3C GTD 464 27 Laps 6 Laps 1:47.298 17
31 2 David Cheng #26 ORECA FLM09 PC 463 28 Laps 13 Laps 1:43.588 19
32 11 Anthony Massari #18 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 462 29 Laps 8 Laps 1:49.077 17
33 12 Mike Hedlund #991 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RC GTD 461 30 Laps 9 Laps 1:47.753 17
34 13 Francois Perrodo #46 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 461 30 Laps 9 Laps 1:47.577 14
35 3 Buddy Rice #20 ORECA FLM09 PC 456 35 Laps 20 Laps 1:43.322 14
36 14 Luca Persiani #27 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 456 35 Laps 14 Laps 1:47.863 18
37 10 Richard Westbrook #67 FORD GTM GTLM 455 36 Laps 30 Laps 1:43.385 12
38 15 Rolf Ineichen #61 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 451 40 Laps 19 Laps 1:47.908 20
39 16 Tristan Vautier #75 MERCEDES – AMG GT3C GTD 443 48 Laps 27 Laps 1:47.714 18
40 17 Christian Engelhart #11 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 440 51 Laps 30 Laps 1:47.095 14
41 18 Paul Dalla Lana #98 ASTON MARTIN VANTAGEC GTD 428 63 Laps 42 Laps 1:47.245 15
42 11 Tom Kimber Smith #52 LIGIER P 421 70 Laps 70 Laps 1:39.391 16
43 19 Jack Hawksworth #15 LEXUS RCF GT3C GTD 420 71 Laps 50 Laps 1:48.412 19
44 20 Marc Basseng #21 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 399 92 Laps 71 Laps 1:48.410 15
45 4 Conor Daly #88 ORECA FLM09 PC 391 100 Laps 85 Laps 1:43.400 13
46 5 Ben Keating #8 ORECA FLM09 PC 375 116 Laps 101 Laps 1:44.298 13
47 21 Cooper Macneil #50 MERCEDES – AMG GT3C GTD 373 118 Laps 97 Laps 1:47.488 11
48 22 Nic Jonsson #54 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RC GTD 340 151 Laps 130 Laps 1:47.705 11
49 12 Tom Long #70 MAZDA DPI P 310 181 Laps 181 Laps 1:39.646 9
50 23 Maurizio Mediani #51 FERRARI 488 GT3C GTD 105 386 Laps 365 Laps 1:46.972 0
51 24 Matthew Mcmurry #73 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RC GTD 102 389 Laps 368 Laps 1:47.347 0
52 25 Brett Sandberg #16 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN GT3C GTD 79 412 Laps 391 Laps 1:48.467 6
53 26 Harald Proczyk #59 PORSCHE 911 GT3 RC GTD 61 430 Laps 409 Laps 1:47.037 0
54 27 Scott Pruett #14 LEXUS RCF GT3C GTD 52 439 Laps 418 Laps 1:48.298 0