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      09-10-2018, 10:50 AM   #6
bradleyland
TIM YOYO
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Drives: 2013 M3
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IMSA finally has BoP sorted out for the GTLM class. Every team was competitive out there, although we didn't get to see much from the Fords due to some horrible luck. After two incidents before the damn start/finish line and 30 minutes of yellow to start the race, we were treated to some fantastic racing in every class.

What's really fascinating is that BMW did not win this race on pace. Not even close. This was a brilliant strategy call by RLL, and some heroic fuel saving by De Phillippi. Veteran teammate Alexander Sims was super-complementary in the post-race interview.

The B Pillar's box plot of lap times is really fascinating for this race:



Antonio Garcia, in typical fashion, drove the tires off the C7.R in the closing laps, but it wasn't enough to make up for their additional pit stop. Richard Westbrook was blazing in the Ford GT (the only car I still think could use a BoP hit), but the race-start incident put them too far behind for any chance at the podium. Sims and De Phillippi are 6th and 11th in actual pace, but that fuel savings from Connor sealed the win for them. The #25 car still managed to edge out the #4 Corvette, which was running the same strategy. It was a good day for BMW and RLL!

Turner's day looked like it was going great, with Bill Auberlen climbing from the very back of the GTD field to P2 when the transmission blew up. Turns out that the transmission cooler was damaged in the second race-start incident, which collected Bill, even though he wasn't part of the incident that kicked it off. Really heart breaking, because the #96 M6 GT3 was absolutely in contention.

Also kind of cool is that for the third year running, there is a really talented woman in contention for a championship title in GTD. In 2016 and 2017 it was Christina Nielson driving with Alessandro Balzan in the #63 Ferrari 488 GT3. This year, it's Katherine Legge along with Alvaro Parente in the #86 Acura NSX GT3. The really cool part is that the #86 wasn't even supposed to be a full season car. They're chasing the Sellers/Snow team in the #48 Lamborghini, but they gained a lot of ground on them with a strong finish at Laguna Seca, and have a legitimate shot at the title depending upon how things go at the season finale in Atlanta.

In fact, there are two teams in contention in every single class. PLM is going to be fucking amazing!
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