Porsche looked fast in the deep overnight hours, but was still pressured at times by Meyer Shank Racing for the overall top position.
Colin Braun put the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura GTP out front just past the 12-hour mark, continuing the manufacturer shuffle at the head of the field.
Matt Campbell pulled his #6 Porsche into the lead with a strong braking maneuver into the backstretch chicane, and quickly pulled out a few seconds advantage.
The Acura was able to close the gap a few times, specifically in the first few laps after each restart, but was not able to regain the top spot.
The other Porsche also continued to show pace during the cool overnight hours, with Laurens Vanthoor pulling off a textbook pass on the outside of Turn 1 to make it a Porsche 1-2.
The cool weather seems to suit the Porsche prototypes well, and they currently have a hold on the top two positions with Kevin Estre leading Felipe Nasr.
Felix Rosenqvist acquired some damage on the #60 entry just after taking over driving duties, which dropped him 30 seconds further behind the two Porsche prototypes.
The fan favorite #99 AO Racing LMP2 entry was given a drive through plus 10 second hold penalty for improper service on the car.
The penalty dropped it momentarily out of contention for the lead in class, but Jonny Edgar kept the car on the lead lap and ‘Spike’ still has a chance to make a run for a podium.
Toby Sowery currently leads the LMP2 category in the #04 Crowdstrike Racing Oreca, followed by Sebastien Bourdais driving the Tower Motorsports #8 and Paul-Loup Chatin in the Era Motorsports entry.
Lauren Heinrich currently holds to top GTD Pro spot in AO Racing’s other entry, the #77 Porsche GTD Pro, and Lucas Auer leads GTD in the #57 Winward Racing Mercedes.
A few incidents in the dark
Just a few minutes past the halfway point in the event, a full course yellow was displayed for an incident with the #36 DXDT Racing Corvette GTD.
Charlie Eastwood was able to bring his car to a halt on the apron, where it promptly released plumes of heavy smoke into the air.
Flames were not seen outside the car, but the team will have no further opportunity to make up the three laps it was down to the leaders.
Just one lap after that caution was another, this time for a wayward tire carcass that was deposited on the track by the #22 United Autosport LMP2 entry.
Rasmus Lindh kept control of his car through the flat tire incident and the caution was lifted quickly to get back to action.
A few of the GTD cars took advantage of the caution periods to make a quick brake change on pit lane, including the #13 AWA Corvette, the #45 WTR Lamborghini, and the #20 Proton Porsche.
There was one more caution period a couple hours before the sun was due to rise, the tenth total of the race, for Tom Dillman who brought his #43 LMP2 to a stop with a mechanical problem.
A full third of the race still remains, and stamina will be tested on pit lane as well as behind the wheel.
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