Augusto Farfus has just pitted and now, so has Martin Fuentes, for full service for the #1 Hublot Ferrari. We also saw a shot of the #82 BMW M4 GT4, James Clay at the wheel of it. Jordan Pepper moves back into the lead. Everyone, including Bentley thought they'd struggle in the wet. This might be a good tune up for the Spa 24 in a couple weeks. Alessandro Balzan has taken over for Martin Fuentes in the #1 Squadra Corsa Hublot Ferrari. He had medical issues that prevented him from driving for a while, but he is also a driver coach. Balzan is a wheel man. He has replaced Rodrigo Baptista for this motor race and he is up on the wheel in a hurry is Senore Balzan. George Kurtz was skating around a little bit on the road, and now, we have trouble for the Hardpoint Audi, the #31 machine with a delaminated left rear tire.
They will do a fuel fill first and then, change all four tires, changing to slick tires on the Audi. Spencer Pumpelly is at the controls. Strategy is what this is all about as we have run 20 minutes into the third hour of the race. It was indeed a cut tire that has now been replaced. In replay, he could feel a vibration and fortunately kept the car under control. The wet weather tire is more effective in one area than the slick tires, but the temperature directly relates to the tire pressure as well, and as we've observed, there is a dry line on the road.
Jordan Pepper has continued to push and he leads this motor race now over the two BMW's and he is nearly a lap up on the two Walkenhorst BMW's as Nick Yelloly almost goes off the road. He won the Nurburgring 24 Hours last weekend. Martin Tomczyk and David Pittard are his co-drivers. Scuffed slick tires for Kenny Habul and the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes. They have 12 sets of tires from Pirelli for this weekend. Left rear tires are getting loaded up and a second left rear blowout, look, for Shelby Blackstoick, and problems for the #7 Bentley as the #3 McLaren 570S GT4 spins,a dn so does Pepper! Pepper has a broken right rear suspension!
This is drama! The Bentley team is gutted! He's stuck. The right rear is broken! Dan Rogers at the wheel of the #3 McLaren. It is a local yellow. Now, the #3 car will have to be rescued from the gravel trap as well. Shelby Blackstock has been turning some very good laps. Now, what happened to pepper? He loses the tire and spins, and the McLaren didn't even realize that Pepper was there! He was putting on the perfect drive! Gosh. The Bentley team is going to be gutted.
Meantime, Augusto Farfus is in the lane for service and he may be jumping out and looking for either Connor De Phillippi or Nicky Catsburg. A ground cable has to be attached to the car during fueling, and it has to be yanked out of the way after the fuel is in and #34 is down and away. One wheel gun and two mechanics for four tire changes as Nicholas Yelloly is in the lane in the sister BMW as well. The two cars in strife are still having to be recovered. The #7 Bentley and the #3 McLaren are both out there, still. Five and a half hours to go.
Poor old Jordan Pepper. In replay, on the outside, he accelerates between turns two and three, and the McLaren didn't even see it. We also have the #93 Acura that has been in trouble. Jordan Pepper, Jules Gounon, and Maxime Soulet, will be devastated. Dan Rogers, meanwhile, is struggling back to the pit lane. Is the car drivable? Samantha Tan has the #438 BMW M4 GT4 in the lane, that's the Van Gogh liveried car. Jules Gounon said the Bentley team wanted to take no risks with the GT4 cars and now, they have had to, and the K-PAX team wants to fix the car, but are no sure they can due to the regulations.
After the highs of Bathurst in February, winning, now totally on the floor, wallowing in disgust. Let's hope they can fix the car. That's a rule in racing. Never give up. Points are scored down to tenth place and there are a dozen GT3 cars entered. The Bentley still has not been retrieved by the marshals yet. The field circulates now behind the Acura NSX safety car. We will be getting a restart soon. James Clay is catching up to Samantha Tan in GT4. When you get the wave around, go quickly to cartch up with the pack.
There are many dry spots on the road. Acura #93 must still be on wet weather Pirelli tires. Martin Fuentes has unofficially been crowned GT World Challenge America champion. Meantiume, David Askew has the #63 DXDT Mercedes AMG GT3 in the lane. Askew sharing with Richard Heistand and Ryan Dalziel. The yellow flag continues and might just end very soon. Tires and a full load of fuel for Askew. Connor De Phillippi is now at the wheel of the #34 BMW M6 GT3 and he was magic in the pole shootout yesterday as we watch the replay of Jordan Pepper's accident with the Dan Rogers McLaren, sharing with Michael McAleenan, and Michael Cooper.
David Askew has a quick spin on slightly warm Pirelli tires, trying to hustle to regroup with the crocodile. The two BMW's are leading this race. Mario Farnbacher is back there someplace in the #30 Team Hopnda Racing Acura NSX GT3 that he shares with Renger van der Zande and Dane Cameron. Here we go. We are back to green and Nick Yelloly is monstering Connor De Phillipi. There's still damp patches on the road as Jan Heylen nearly spins! He runs way wide! He probably had too much rear brake. Shelby Blackstock also makes a huge move on a number of cars and here comes Alessandro Balzan.
The battle rages for the GT4 lead between James Clay, James Sofronas, and Samantha Tan. The lap times will fall into the 1:20 bracket fairly soon. Colin Braun is going for it and goes around James Clay. Mario Farnbacher pits at the end of the yellow and into the green flag stint, going for slick tires. That will cost this team dearly. That was a strategic mistake. The tires, begging for mercy through the double apex turns at four and five. Nick Yelloly is leading and Connor De Philippi ran a wider line. Nick Yelloly is the new leader here at Indianapolis.
Yelloly won the 24 Hours of the Nurburgring for BMW, just a week ago. James Clay leads GT4 over Robin Liddell, the vastly experienced driver. Liddell is from Scotland. He had a scary moment in qualifying being pushed into the wall and you would have seen that in video yesterday. Another rotation for Colin Braun from sixth overall, third in the Pro Am class. In the background, look, it is a battle between Robin Liddell and James Clay, and Liddell is in the lead of the GT4 class now. He puts a tremendous amount of daylight between himself and James Clay. Mario Farnbacher is back on track in the #30 Honda Racing by JAS Motorsports Acura NSX GT3, third overall I believe.
Trying to drive into a closed pit lane is such a killer because of the incredibly long pit lane delta here at Indianapolis. Farnbacher goes around Balzan, but Balzan is leading in Pro Am over David Askew. Nick Yelloly sets fastest lap at 1:24.5. The times are tumbling now that the track is beginning to dry up. The Walkenhorst BMW team are bish bash boshing it right now. Augusto Farfus is a lucky boy having competed at Le Mans, the Nurburgring Nordschleife, and Indianapolis, in the last three weeks. The museum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is also a very, very special place.
The leading BMW's are working through the GT4 traffic as well. The Notlad Aston Martin, car #33 is continuing to lead GT4. Jan Heylen is a grreat driver. He tried Champ Car (now IndyCar), and now is in GT racing, and he builds high end competition bicycles. Heylen was born with wheels, loving cars, and bicycles. Heylen has in his sites, the #31 Hardpoint Team WRT Audi. Three minutes to go befroe points are handed out for GT World Challenge America. Martin Fuentes will see a checkered flag to earn a championship. Yours truly has not had time to write about some of these races from GT America, but there may be time to write about them here in the not too distant future.
This has been a race within a race and it's been fun to track. We have plenty more action coming up. Martin Fuentes is your GTWCA champion! Jan Heylen dives for the pit lane.
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