AXR Cadillac Crashes Out in Hour 11

Image: IMSA

Action Express Racing has been eliminated from contention in the 63rd Rolex 24 at Daytona after a crash for Frederik Vesti in the eleventh hour.

Vesti, piloting the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R, ran in fifth overall when he appeared to suffer some kind of technical failure that pitched him into the barriers on the oval.

It marks the second time in a matter of hours that one of the Cadillacs has been eliminated in a crash after the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing machine was taken out in a multi-car incident with Louis Deletraz at the wheel.

Philipp Eng led the race at the wheel of the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 at the time of Vesti’s accident, having jumped past Vesti at a safety car restart that came after the No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R spun and stopped on the exit of the Le Mans Chicane.

Vesti was subsequently also overtaken by the No. 10 WTR Cadillac of Filipe Albuquerque and the No. 6 Porsche 963 in the hands of Kevin Estre, while Julien Andlauer’s No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche also got by before the Dane’s crash.

The No. 25 BMW, meanwhile lost two laps as the result of a rear brake change that occurred with Rene Rast at the wheel.

In LMP2, Paul Di Resta stormed to the lead aboard the No. 22 United Autosports Oreca 07 Gibson, fighting his way past both the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR machine of Toby Sowery and Christian Rasmussen’s No. 99 AO Racing Oreca.

A similar scenario unfolded in GTD Pro, where the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg initially took the lead by staying out during the latest round of stops under caution.

However, the Dutchman was overtaken by both Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3s, with the No. 64 of Seb Priaulx and the No. 65 of Dennis Olsen charging past on the oval.

Inception Racing and Heart of Racing Team battled for the lead in GTD, with David Fumanelli initially taking the No. 70 Ferrari 296 GT3 into first before Zach Robichon recaptured the lead aboard the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.