Daytona 24 Hours: #77 Mazda converts pole into lead after two hours
The polesitting #77 Mazda RT24-P holds a 20-second lead after the opening two hours of the Daytona 24 Hours
Oliver Jarvis immediately pulled out a lead over his Daytona Prototype international opposition from the start, and co-driver Tristan Nunez was continuing that work at the end of the hour.
The Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R of Ryan Briscoe now occupies second, while defending IMSA SportsCar champion Dane Cameron is third in the #6 Penske Acura.
Cameron's team-mate Juan Pablo Montoya had to cede second to the Action Express Racing Cadillac of Felipe Nasr in the opening stint.
However, approaching the two-hour mark, the Cadillac lost time with an extra pitstop after losing power when debris got sucked into its air intake. It now runs eighth overall and last in class - albeit still on the lead lap - in the hands of Pipo Derani.
Fourth is the second Mazda, with Ryan Hunter-Reay having taken over from Jonathan Bomarito, while slick Penske pitstops have helped the #7 Acura - now with three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves at the wheel - vault the two JDC-Miller Cadillacs.
A strong opening pair of stints from LMP2 polesitter Ben Keating gave PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports a comfortable class lead.
His team-mate Simon Trummer is now leading Henrik Hedman of DragonSpeed by half a minute, pursued at a similar distance by David Heinemeier Hansson in the Tower Motorsport by Starworks entry.
Frederic Makowiecki and Earl Bamber run in tandem 10s clear of the GTLM opposition after strong opening stints from their co-drivers Nick Tandy and Laurens Vanthoor.
Vanthoor initially dropped behind the #3 Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia but both Corvettes have now fallen behind the #24 BMW M8 currently driven by Supercars frontrunner Chaz Mostert.
The #25 BMW suffered a slow pitstop due to a sticking wheelnut but Philipp Eng is now sixth in class.
The Risi Competizione Ferrari 488 is last, and James Calado reported to IMSA Radio that he feels the car is lacking power. He also suffered a puncture and required an extra stop.
The GT Daytona action has been close but incident-free, with the Pfaff Porsche 911 GT3 R - started by Zacharie Robichon, now driven by Dennis Olsen - leading, just clear of the Turner Motorsports BMW M6.
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