Flying Dutchman
Champ leader B-24 had bounced back from a disastrous qualification. In a late night session the team found a good setup and by morning the old Panoz was back running like clockwork and was ready to challenge the pole setting Porsche.
Willem Kloppenburg was certain that the team could score a hat trick win.

After a trouble free first run it sure looked like it, as the old Panoz was leading the Porsche by 10 laps. Disaster struck in the night, first six laps were lost when the car crashed after a track call. Then it shed a Pignon in the closing stages of the night.

At the beginning of the last run, the team decided (un)unanimously to call the car in the pits for a new one.
An 18 lap pits stop effectively meant that they would no longer be able to catch the now runaway Porsche... ...but this did not stop them from trying.

Angered by the team's "better safe than sorry" decision to make the precautionary pitstop, Willem "Crash and burn" Kloppenburg really put the hammer down and drove the last 2 stints like a bat out off hell.

Armed with a new pignon and tyres he literally send the red car flying over the track.
The results can be seen on the left, but no matter how high he jumped, victory remained out off reach. The Flying Dutchman would not score its hat trick win.