Whelen Engineering has reclaimed the lead of Motul Petit Le Mans from Acura Team Penske with two hours of racing left to go.
The #7 Acura ARX-05 had been leading ever since the multi-car incident involving the #6 Acura and the #77 Mazda near the halfway point of the race, until Helio Castroneves came in to hand the car over to Alexander Rossi.
Shortly thereafter, Filipe Albuquerque pitted to hand the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-VR over to Felipe Nasr and when the Brazilian returned to the track, he kept Rossi behind him to move back into the lead.
Scott Dixon currently sits in third place in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with a podium within reach despite an earlier scare for Ryan Briscoe, when he was pushed into the gravel at turn 10 but was able to continue without consequences.
The #24 BMW M8 GTE, currently in the hands of Jesse Krohn, has moved back into the lead in GTLM. After a round of pitstops under safety car, caused by the #30 Team Hardpoint Audi stopping on track, a slower stop dropped Krohn to third behind the #3 Corvette C8.R of Jordan Taylor and the #911 Porsche 911 RSR-19 of Nick Tandy.
Krohn and Tandy then battled for second until the next round of stops, when Krohn leapfrogged Taylor to retake the lead in class. The BMW now leads ahead of the Corvette, with the #912 Porsche 911 RSR-19 moving into third in the hands of Laurens Vanthoor.
The class lead in GTD is in the hands of the #14 Lexus RC F GT3, driven by Aaron Telitz, but the past hours were marred by two major contenders in class falling away following contact.
The #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo, championship leader in GTD, made contact with the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, damaging both cars. The Aston Martin was retired, while the Acura has returned to the track, although far down on the class lead.
Alessandro Balzan holds second in the #63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo, with Alvaro Parente third in the #57 Acura NSX GT3 Evo in a class that keeps continually evolving.
