As movie producer Jerry Bruckheimer waved the green flag, poleman Pipo Derani (#31 Action Express Cadillac) led from the #7 Penske Porsche of Felipe Nasr, who grabbed second place into Turn 1 from Bourdais’ Chip Ganassi-run Caddy.
Derani pulled over 1s clear almost immediately, Bourdais tracked Nasr and repassed him on lap three, to restore the Caddy 1-2, with Derani now 2s up the road.
Bourdais clawed into Derani’s lead and they ran nose-to-tail for much of the opening hour.
Behind Nasr, Connor De Phillippi’s #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 held fourth, ahead of Ricky Taylor’s #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.
During the opening 20 minutes, Nick Tandy passed Taylor for fifth in the second Penske Porsche.
The first full-course caution of the race was required just before the half-hour mark, as Misha Goikhberg shunted the #78 Forte Racing GTD class Lamborghini Huracan at the Bus Stop (aka: Le Mans) chicane and the damage against the tirewall was such that he couldn’t rejoin.
The prompted wholesale pitstops, with Taylor (who likely short-filled) taking the lead from Derani, Bourdais and Nasr. The #6 Porsche of Tandy required a steering arm check, dropping him from fifth to the tail of the GTP class.
The race went green after 47 minutes, with Bourdais snatching second from Derani, but went back to yellow just moment later following a three-car LMP2 wreck and then a tangle between Mike Conway’s GTD class Vasser Sullivan Lexus and another LMP2 car.
At the hour mark, Taylor led Bourdais, Nasr, Derani and Louis Deletraz (#40 WTRA Acura).
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images
#04 CROWDSTRIKE Racing by APR ORECA LMP2-Gibson: George Kurtz, Colin Braun, Toby Sowery, Malthe Jakobsen
Kurtz leads LMP2 for Crowdstrike
Nick Boulle’s #52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen led the ORECA-dominated LMP2 class on opening lap from George Kurtz (#04 Crowdstrike by APR) and Ben Keating (#2 United Autosports).
Keating passed Kurtz for second but was already over 3s down on Boulle, but then Keating fell back to fourth, as Steven Thomas rocketed up to second from sixth on the grid in the #11 TDS Racing entry.
After the early yellow, Kurtz took the lead as Boulle handed over the #52 to supersub driver Pietro Fittipaldi.
Just after the restart, three P2 cars crashed at the Bus Stop as Thomas got into PJ Hyett (AO Racing) and Dwight Merriman (Era Motorsport) spun in avoidance. Moments later, the #20 of Dennis Andersen got onto the grass exiting Turn 1 and was smitten by Conway.
Kurtz led Nico Pino (in for Keating in the #2 United car) and Fittipaldi.
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
#14 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Jack Hawksworth, Ben Barnicoat, Kyle Kirkwood, Mike Conway, #12 VasserSullivan Lexus RC F GT3: Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson, Aaron Telitz, Ritomo Miyata
Lexus leads but loses its GTD Pro entry to crash
Lexus’s Ben Barnicoat led in the #14 GTD Pro class RC F, which he took at the start from Michael Christensen’s pole-winning #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and Aaron Telitz in the pro-am leading #12 Lexus.
Christensen tumbled back to 10th overall in ‘Rexy’ after 25 minutes, while Daniel Serra moved up to second in the #62 Risi-run Ferrari 296 Pro class entry and chased down Barnicoat.
Following the yellow for Goikhberg’s wreck, there was the briefest of Lexus 1-2s – with Mike Conway taking over the #14 RC F from Barnicoat. But Conway then got caught up the #20 LMP2 at Turn 2, taking him out with severe radiator damage.
“The opening stint was awesome,” said a gutted Barnicoat. “What happened there, there was no avoiding that LMP2 car losing it like that.”
That put Telitz out front, leading the pro-am class, from the GTD Pro cars of Andrea Caldarelli (Iron Lynx Lamborghini), Oliver Jarvis (Pfaff McLaren) and Antonio Garcia (Corvette).