Rolex 24 Hour 15: Dalziel has Ford on top

Ryan Dalziel leading at Daybreak in his polesitting No. 8 Ford

As the sun began to rise at the 15 Hour mark of the Rolex 24 the polesitting No. 8 Starworks Ford driven by Ryan Dalziel still led with a 21 second cushion over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi BMW driven by Memo Rojas. Justin Wilson was 3rd in the No. 60 Michael Shank Ford.

In GT class Rene Rast led in his Magnus Racing Porsche GT3 by 14.2 seconds over Marc Lieb in the Brumos Racing Porsche GT3. Then two minutes after the 15 Hour mark a caution flag came out and the field dove into the pits and bunched up behind the pace car.

Every time Dalziel gets in the car, it goes to the front. They dropped to tenth when he got out of the car. He gets back in the car, and puts almost lap on the entire field…the guy might just be the best driver in North America right now. He needs an IndyCar ride.

He is one hell of a driver. He takes an underfunded team, with a driver (McNish) that has won multiple Sebring and LeMans races and outdrives him silly in the same car. He did the same thing on every team he has been on. Nobody has touched this kid in the same car.

Hour 15 Standings

Pos

No. PIC Driver Laps Behind Gap Team
1 8 1 Ryan Dalziel 470 0.000s 0.000s Starworks Motorsport Ford / Riley
2 01 2 Memo Rojas 470 21.058 21.058 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW / Riley
3 60 3 Justin Wilson 470 1:19.577 58.519 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Ford / Riley
4 6 4 Felipe Nasr 467 3 LAPS 3 LAPS Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Ford / Riley
5 5 5 Christian Fittipaldi 466 4 LAPS 1 LAP Action Express Racing Corvette DP
6 02 6 Dario Franchitti 464 6 LAPS 2 LAPS Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW / Riley
7 2 7 Michael Valiante 464 6 LAPS 1.358 Starworks Motorsport Ford / Riley
8 77 8 Burt Frisselle 460 10 LAPS 4 LAPS Doran Racing Ford / Dallara
9 90 9 Antonio Garcia 455 15 LAPS 5 LAPS Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP
10 9 10 Max Papis 451 19 LAPS 4 LAPS Action Express Racing Corvette DP
11 44 1 Rene Rast 449 21 LAPS 2 LAPS Magnus Racing Porsche GT3
12 59 2 Marc Lieb 449 21 LAPS 14.200 Brumos Racing Porsche GT3
13 57 3 Robin Liddell 449 21 LAPS 14.995 Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R
14 67 4 Jeroen Bleekemolen 448 22 LAPS 1 LAP TRG Porsche GT3
15 23 5 Emmanuel Collard 448 22 LAPS 56.430 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3
16 70 6 Jonathan Bomarito 447 23 LAPS 1 LAP SpeedSource Mazda RX-8
17 63 7 Toni Vilander 447 23 LAPS 2.138 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458
18 26 8 Sean Edwards 445 25 LAPS 2 LAPS NGT Motorsport Porsche GT3
19 88 9 Paul Edwards 445 25 LAPS 1:33.890 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R
20 66 10 Dominik Farnbacher 445 25 LAPS 10.962 TRG Porsche GT3
21 32 11 Nicolas Armindo 445 25 LAPS 33.542 Orbit/GMG Porsche GT3
22 45 12 Patrick Long 443 27 LAPS 2 LAPS Flying Lizard Motorsports with Wright Motorsports Porsche GT3
23 69 13 Nick Longhi 443 27 LAPS 0.966 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Racing with Ferrari Ferrari 458
24 68 14 Ben Keating 443 27 LAPS 27.666 TRG Porsche GT3
25 93 15 Dirk Muller 441 29 LAPS 2 LAPS Turner Motorsport BMW M3
26 40 16 Tom Long 441 29 LAPS 18.608 Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8
27 24 17 Bob Faieta 440 30 LAPS 1 LAP Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3
28 42 18 Dane Cameron 439 31 LAPS 1 LAP Team Sahlen Mazda RX-8
29 56 19 Robert Kauffman 438 32 LAPS 1 LAP AF – Waltrip Ferrari 458
30 22 20 Randy Blaylock 434 36 LAPS 4 LAPS Bullet Racing Porsche GT3
31 03 21 Scott Sharp 433 37 LAPS 1 LAP Extreme Speed Motorsports Ferrari 458
32 64 22 Eliseo Salazar 429 41 LAPS 4 LAPS TRG Porsche GT3
33 76 11 Tracy Krohn 428 42 LAPS 1 LAP Krohn Racing Ford / Lola
34 55 23 Tony Kester 424 46 LAPS 4 LAPS Acumen Motorsport Porsche GT3
35 75 24 Eric Curran 420 50 LAPS 4 LAPS Stevenson Motorsports Camaro GT.R
36 65 25 Joe Castellano 409 61 LAPS 11 LAPS TRG Porsche GT3
37 82 26 Owen Trinkler 401 69 LAPS 8 LAPS Dick Greer Racing Porsche GT3
38 20 27 Franz Engstler 396 74 LAPS 5 LAPS Liqui Moly Team Englster/Mitchum Motorsports Porsche Porsche GT3
39 18 28 Davy Jones 396 74 LAPS 14:54.430 Muehlner Motorsports America, LLC Porsche GT3
40 50 12 Carlos de Quesada 396 74 LAPS 24.956 50+Predator/Alegra BMW / Riley
41 99 13 Alex Gurney 390 80 LAPS 6 LAPS GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP
42 19 29 Scott Dollahite 373 97 LAPS 17 LAPS Muehlner Motorsports America, LLC Porsche GT3
43 34 30 Phil Fogg 361 109 LAPS 12 LAPS Orbit/GMG Porsche GT3
44 41 31 Rick Johnson 354 116 LAPS 7 LAPS Dempsey Racing Mazda RX-8
45 12 32 Darryl Shoff 345 125 LAPS 9 LAPS Alliance Autosport Porsche GT3
46 4 33 Ron Yarab Jr 300 170 LAPS 45 LAPS Magnus Racing Porsche GT3
47 36 34 Taylor Hacquard 270 200 LAPS 30 LAPS Yellow Dragon Motorsports Mazda RX-8
48 15 35 Doug Harrington 256 214 LAPS 14 LAPS Rick Ware Racing Ford Mustang
49 51 36 Dion von Moltke 249 221 LAPS 7 LAPS APR Motorsport Audi R8 Grand-Am
50 17 37 Martin Ragginger 226 244 LAPS 23 LAPS Burtin Racing with Goldcrest Motorsports Porsche GT3
51 48 38 Mark Wilkins 224 246 LAPS 2 LAPS Paul Miller Racing Porsche GT3
52 46 39 Ivo Breukers 172 298 LAPS 52 LAPS Michael Baughman Racing Corvette
53 74 40 Humaid Masaood 171 299 LAPS 1 LAP Oryx Racing Audi R8 Grand-Am
54 62 41 Gianmaria Bruni 154 316 LAPS 17 LAPS Risi Competizione Ferrari 458
55 87 42 Emilio Valverde 101 369 LAPS 53 LAPS Racers Edge Motorsports Dodge Viper
56 94 43 Billy Johnson 86 384 LAPS 15 LAPS Turner Motorsport BMW M3
57 43 44 Will Nonnamaker 21 449 LAPS 65 LAPS Team Sahlen Mazda RX-8
58 10 14 Max Angelelli 14 456 LAPS 7 LAPS SunTrust Racing Corvette DP