Action Express in control at Rolex 24 as Acuras hit trouble

Action Express Racing sits in control of the Rolex 24 at Daytona entering the final third of the race after seeing the rival Acura-Penske cars drop out of contention for victory following reliability issues through the night.

Action Express Racing's pair of Cadillac DPi cars sat on the lead lap alongside the Acuras at the halfway point as the two teams pulled clear of the field, only for unrelated issues to force both Penske entries behind the wall as dawn approaches.

The #6 Acura DPi suffered an alternator failure that caused it to drop down the order, with the sister #7 entry dropping back later on following contact with another car.

With eight hours to go, Joao Barbosa leads the race in the #5 Mustang Sampling Racing entry run by Action Express, sitting one lap clear of the sister #31 entry currently being driven by Felipe Nasr.

The Acuras' struggles allowed United Autosports to rise into the podium positions with the #32 Ligier JS P217, currently being driven by Bruno Senna, who sits four laps back from Barbosa in the lead.

Fernando Alonso is back behind the wheel of the #23 United Autosports entry, but is down in 18th place following an earlier puncture and brake problem that scuppered the Formula 1 driver's hopes of a podium alongside Lando Norris and Phil Hanson.

Punctures have been frequent through the race, with main tyre supplier Continental claiming that teams are running their compounds outside of the recommended parameters, causing the problems.

However, there have only been three caution periods thus far, with calculations suggesting that a record race distance is within reach should it continue at its current pace.

In GTLM, Ford Chip Ganassi Racing continues to dominate proceedings, with just one second separating Sebastien Bourdais and Richard Westbrook in the #66 and #67 Ford GTs respectively. Corvette's Antonio Garcia sits one lap behind in the #3 entry.

Andrea Caldarelli currently leads in GTD in the #48 Paul Miller Racing entry, with Alvaro Parente nine seconds back in the #86 Michael Shank Racing car.