It is time, for round two, of the 2021 Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli, the middle leg in a Triple Crown championship for 2021, on sacred motorsports ground here at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the most famous automobile racing venue on the planet. A star-studded 39 car field is set to compete today. We have lost two cars from the initial entry list, sadly. Michael Dinan, driver for the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 GT3, fell ill and thus, with no way to find a substitution for a third driver, he and co-drivers Robby Foley and defending race champion, Connor De Philippi, will not race today, very sadly.
Ian Lacy Racing and their Aston Martin Vantage GT3 were also set to compete, but had to withdraw due to crash damage. So, they will not take part in the 8 hours today either. Still, it is a quality field of GT3 and GT4 production-based sports cars ready to do battle at The Brickyard. The grid is stacked. We have to look out for the #51 Ferrari of Alessandro Pier Guidi and company who was one of the winning drivers who won the 24 Hours of Spa. K-PAX Racing in the #3 Lamborghini Huracan GT3, they've won lots of races in GT World Challenge America. In endurance racing, be efficient. 26 GT3 cars and 13 GT4 cars ready to go on this 2.59 mile course.
We ride with Jan Heylen to get a sense of this track at Indianapolus. We cross over the bricks and into turn one at 50 miles an hour, before sweeping through turns two, three, and four, a long right hander. Accelerate through more sweepers and the Carousel down to second gear before going back to power to set up for the backstretch. Use all the road on the exit to the back straight. Dive to turn seven, a good overtaking place. Eight, nine, ten, right, left, right again. Use the curbs as much as possible. Fly onto the back straightaway and into turn 12, lifting and setting up for the final turn and blasting onto the front straight. That's a lap of "The Brickyard".
It is a beautiful venue in the heart of a city that is the heart of North American motorsport. We have Ryan Myrehn, Bob Varsha, and Calvin Fish in the booth to guide us through today's motor race. The weather is great as we saw buckets of rain during the weekend so far. Years ago, endurance racing legend Derek Bell said he would give up one of his Le Mans victories to run the Indianapolis 500. We have seen IndyCar, stock cars, Formula 1, motorcycles, and now, sports cars, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Our winners from the 24 Hours of Spa, are here. Come Ledogar, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Nicklas Nielsen.
Maro Engel in the Mooneyes America livery, and he is thrilled to be racing at ndianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in his career. Craft Bamboo Racing ahve been fast in the buildup to the race. This car was stuck in a container on a dock in Virginia and they finally got the car yesterday morning, prepared it, qualified, and they are ready to go. This is the final race of GT World Challenge America. Typically, the series runs a pair of 90 minute races across the weekend on Saturday and Sunday. Today is an endurance event. The 90 minute races have been combined for points, into a three hour race.
SRO America CEO Greg Gill is extremely happy. They have seen a doubling of the grid in GT3 and GT4. Everyone is glad there is an incredible crowd here for this race. He was in Barcelona, Spain, for the finale of GT World Challenge Endurance Europe as well. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been around since 1909. Since 1994, more and more racing of all sorts have run at Indianapolis. Iconic is an overly used word, but Indianapolis Motor Speedway is massive. We do have some fans here. There were 41 cars on the entry list and we will see 39 of them. Frank Gannett in his crash in the Aston Martin, he crashed, but is fine.
Michael Dinan is ill, as we said, not COVID related. Get well soon, Michael. Charles Weerts is happy to be racing for the first time in the U.S. He and Dries Vanthoor are 2021 GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup champions. Vanthoor and Weerts have Christopher Mies with them. We have boatloads of factory drivers in this race in many competitive cars. Due to the pandemic, IGTC has three events in 2021. Audi can clinch the manufacturer's championship this weekend before the finale in South Africa at Kyalami in December. We should see the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour back next year. Same, hopefully, with the Suzuka 10 Hours in Japan.
It is time for the National Anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. We also need to look at the GT4 race. Pirelli GT4 America has wrapped their season, but, we have a baker's dozen of GT4 cars in the field. There is a time differential between the two. The GT3 cars are more powerful and are 5-6 seconds quicker than the GT4 cars. The GT4 teams want to race the full event. We meet Alessandro Pier Guidi, our polesitter. They've gone session by session and are on pole. The eight hours is a long time. Pier Guidi is the first driver into the car. He is the reigning GT World Challenge Endurance champion, the 24 Hours of Spa winner and a class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Oh boy. The Smooge Racing Toyota Supra has been moved to caboose on the grid due to overboost. So the new polesitter is Andrew Davis in the #2 GMG Racing Aston Martin driving alongside Jason Bell and Trent Hindman. Jordan Pepper, somehow or other, is cracking his knuckles to get ready. Is the man a pianist? Could be. SRO boss Stephane Ratel is happily looking over the field of his series. He is pleased as punch to have a race here in North America. You have to give him credit for putting this global GT3 formula together and you can race these cars all over the world in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
This grid is strong. The energy is electric down on the grid. It will be a long eight hours today. 2/3rds of the field is GT3. 1/3rd is GT4. We have drivers who are the best in the business. It is crisp and chilly at 46 degrees Fahrenheit. The cold temperatures are things teams need to be aware of. The tires will be frigid. No tire temperature in the first corner when they go green. Generate temperature into the tires. We will see a high of 64 degrees. No wind today like there was in qualifying yesterday. Time for the command. Drivers, start your engines! The GT3 and GT4 cars come to life, breaking the stillness here in central Indiana as the safety car moves away.
One car will start from pit lane. It should be the Earl Bamber Motorsports Porsche, Nick Boulle the starting driver. These kinds of races are big. You have added responsibility to perform for their brand you drive for and you have to sacrifice your preferences on car setup. You want drivers similar in size, and the balance of the car is important. Some drivers want stability. Other drivers like a loose race car. The troubles for Nick Boulle in the Porsche, they were late to pre-grid. Turn one lap one is a major deal here at Indianapolis when it narrows to turn one on the road course.
GT3 cars have ABS brakes but the cold brakes can still lock them a bit. Ride the brake and the accelerator together as you warm up the tires. We are ready to turn the cars loose. Turn 14 onto the front straight. The green flag is waved by Tom Hansing and Old Glory will start the race and we have a scrap for second alreadyu as they scream towards turn one and Maro Engel wants second but runs wide. Yikes! A bit of contact as Jeff Burton in the #91 Rearden Racing Lamborghini makes contact with a Ferrari. Callum Illott is now third behind Maro Engel as Alessandro Pier Guidi leads the motor race so far.
One of the star spangled Audi's, Christopher Mies, still cleaning or warming his tires. Mies is not in his comfort zone just yet. One lap done and dusted as Aurelien Panis and Fred Poordad. The Zelus Lamborghini has spun! On the outside, the inside of Erin Vogel, that's Jason Harward spinning and poor Brendon Iribe almost lost it as well! Alessandro Pier Guidi leads Maro Engel in the Mooneyes Mercedes. Full Course Yellow, look. We had loads of rain on Thursday and Friday. Safety car scramble while they rescue the Lamborghini. Brendon Iribe almost got into that mess, the Inception Racing McLaren 650S GT3.
Pit lane will stay open. We have the safety car. This is different than how the SRO runs in Europe. Driving down pit lane is a 53 second delta and that allots 27 seconds for service in a total of an 80 second pit delta time. In GT3, there are sub classes set by FIA driver ratings with professional factory drivers and then, Pro-Am and Am drivers. In replay, we can see that Brendan Iribe came back across the track and thank heavens he didn't get tagged. He was in the gravel and now is back on the button, or not. Brendan Iribe locks the brakes and now he's beached it again. Brendan Iribe has become very comfortable with the track, winning both GT America events this weekend.
Kenny Habul leads Pro-Am in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3. That is the #75 car. Bill Auberlen runs well in GT4. Habul is sharing with Martin Konrad of Austria and Mikael Grenier from Canada. Jean Claude Saada leads the Am class. That is the #61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3 he shares with Mark Kvamme and Conrad Grunewald. The start is under review by the stewards. That was a wild one as we saw some bumping and boring, some argy bargy. You cannot pass before the start/finish line on subsequent restarts as Brendon Iribe was rescued. He's fine. The start in replay, looks fairly clean but Christopher Haase got swamped. We see some cars that caught the outside and Jordan Pepper was squeezed to the pit wall.
Inception Racing are going to clean the car out. Co-driver Ollie Millroy says it will be very difficult for them to get back into contention. They have trouble with the antilock braking system. Iribe is in the lane now. Inception has been unlucky at the start of these endurance races. They were hit, also, in the 24 Hours of Spa. They will keep on trucking. But this is a sucker punch for the team. We are back to green flag racing once again as Alessandro Pier Guidi's lead has evaporated. Christopher Haase and Robin Frijns run fourth and fifth as Kenny Habul is pressing on and here comes Ashtyn Harrison. She is making her GT3 debut in the #77 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3.
All cars using all the road and then some. Track limits will be enforced. The grass is very wet, and like driving on ice. Straddle the curbs but don't do it in turns one, seven, and 12. Pier Guidi leads Maro Engel who has Callum Ilott on his six and the Audi boys are liner stern, fighting each other. Christopher Haase, Robin Frijns, and Christopher Mies. The fight now is for third through sixth as we are still on full fuel tanks for a lot of these cars. The conditions are perfect in this thick, cold air. The massive size of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway really shows.
An eight hour endurance race is very mucb like a basketball game. Get through the first three quarters and then be set for the end. Aurelien Panis is chasing Corey Lewis. Sainteloc Audi vs. K-PAX Racing Lamborghini. Corey Lewis in the #6 car and Jordan Pepper in the #3. Lewis dives in on Harrison but Ashtyn Harrison is holding her own as Ben Barnicoat is chasing Aurelien Panis as well. Barnicoat crashed earlier as Jordan Pepper is in the lane for a short stop to change a one tire and a short fuel fill. Not a strategy call, but it could be. Maybe the right front tire was flat spotted in the cold. Ah. Right front tire puncture.
So, now, K-PAX will have to move forward and rework their strategy. Stay on the lead lap. Team manager Thomas Blam calling the strategy. 20 minutes gone and Alessandro Pier Guidi's lead is 2.7 seconds. Callum Illott has the #71 AF Corse sister Ferrari in third. Dan Knox and A.J. Peterson from Lone Star Racing, loaned a chassis to Mercedes-AMG Craft Bamboo Racing. Philip Ellis is another driver who has a lot of pace. That team and car has pace and a good driver lineup. They won in a GT3 race at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in a different championship at the start of 2021. We have Philip Ellis from England sharing with Germany's Marvin Dienst, and Russell Ward.
Eighth place, another Mercedes, the #89 AKKA ASP of Timur Boguslavskiy of Russia, the 2019 GTWC champion. Ashtyn Harrison is tenth overall and second in the Silver class. She is outperforming Corey Lewis at the moment. Lewis is celebrating his birthday today, native of Nazarethl Pennsylvania, same as the Andretti family. Ben Barnicoat wants to make a pass on Aurelien Panis. Barnicoat is pressing it in deep, look. Great rhythm through this sector of the road course here at IMS. Watch out for dropping wheels and into turn 12, Barnicoat wants by Lewis, he can't get there.
Ashtyn Harrison, she will be able to eke out a gap. Lewis and Barnicoat side by side and there's some spicy driving here. This is good stuff. Harrison ahs her hands full with a loose race car in that Acura as well. We have a maximum stint time of 65 mnutes for these drivers. How do you set the tire pressures for new tires you will change. Bill Auberlen leads in GT4 in the #36 followed by #119 Tom Dyer. Two BMW M4 GT4's. Jason Hart is third and Devin Jones Wants it. Porsche Cayman GT4 and another BMW M4 GT4. Devin Jones was out of action after a massive accident last year at Virginia International Raceway.
Jones gives Hart everything he can handle as Ashtyn Harrison is passed again by Aurelien Panis. Connor Daly, son of Formula 1 and sports car driver Derek Daly, he is fifth in the Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT4, car #98. He is sharing with Paul Sparta the team owner and Al Carter. Whoops! Spin there for one of the Audi's. Nope. Nope. That was Brendon Iribe again, and he collects Robin Frijns in one of the Audo's as the GT3 leaders are mixing it up with the GT4's and Audi #37 is in trouble. Robin Frijns has a wounded bird right now. The bodywork is damaged on the right front corner. The Pirelli tire is fine unless it is cut down. This is a car that was running top five. Goodness me! We have seen loads of action in this opening hour.
Frijns almost had that Brendon Iribe driven McLaren squash him. WRT is the only team from Europe from last year's race that is back for the second year. Car #37 is damaged. Refuel the car and do the driver change and then tires can be changed. 41 entries in this year's race after having only 22 last year. Bring out the persuader, the big hammer. Call A.J. Foyt. Where's the 4-time Indianapolis 500 winner when you need him? That car will lose downforce after losing dive planes off the front nose. Use the car as a guinea pig to feed info to it. Alessandro Pier Guidi leads Maro Engel and Callum Illott. Illott cannot get past Engel, the German.
Fourth and fifth place now see two factory Audi's. The Christopher and Christopher show. Christopher Mies and Christopher Haase. Callum Illott will enter the IndyCar championship in 2022. Philip Ellis moves through n his Silver class Mercedes AMG GT3. Timur Boguslavskiy is fending off the challenge of Giacomo Altoe sharing with Dennis Lind. Altoe's family owns a race track in Italy. Boguslavskiy, the Russian, he won't give it up. Altoe in the #10 sharing the TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 with American drivers Bill Sweedler and John Megrue.
Robin Frijns says he got T boned when he wrecked. That McLaren showed up out of the blue and took him by surprise. Iribe couldn't stop. Sebastian Bleekemolen, too, almost got clipped in the Black Swan Porsche. Mattia Drudi has taken the wheel of the #37 Audi. A stop and hold for Brendon Iribe in the #70 for causing a collision. He is racing in many championships around the world. Ollie Milroy explains to Robin Frijns what happened. So, they are hopefully understanding each other to a point. Pit stop time for both K-PAX Lamborghini's. 40 minutes on the board. Getting close to the hour mark. Stop + ten seconds for Inception Racing. Brendan Iribe now continues in the motor race.
These strategists for the teams are some of the best in the business as Alessandro Pier Guidi still leads, but the Audi's are coming into their own. Traffic ahead as we see Maro Engel being monstered by Callum Illott. Traffic ahead, Jason Harward in the #88 Zelus Motorpsorts Lamborghini and he gets passed by faster GT3 traffic. Callum Illott is pressurizing Maro Engel. Illott has been an open wheel driver through his career and good racing drivers are adaptable to different cars. So, Pier Guidi remains in the lead of the motor race as we watch the star spangled Audi's racing each other. Stay in contention. Stay in the game, and control your own destiny.
The critical deal is to stay on the lead lap. Don't risk it. The two star spangled Audi's are from two different teams. Full Course Yellow now as Jean Claude Saada has spun in the Am class entered #61 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3. Pit stop time now and a long stop. #71 is in the lane and #51 stays out yet. Maybe Alessandro Pier Guidi missed his chance to get to the lane. Ben Barnicoat in the Crucial Motorsports McLaren, AKKA ASP, DXDT Racing, are all in the lane. Erin Vogel started the #19 DXDT Racing Mercedes sharing with Michael Cooper and Thomas Merrill.
AF Corse have a couple pit boxes and they don't have to double stack. Here comes Pier Guidi, Engel, Mies, Haase and so on. 50 kilometers an hour in the pit lane. Driver change at Ferrari. K-PAX could elect to pit for a short stop. Nicklas Nielsen will take over Ferrari #51. It was a last second call to get the #71 into the lane as well. Four tires changed on the #51 Ferrari. The front runners are exiting the lane. Giacomo Altoe is the interim leader. The #04 Crowdstrike Mercedes AMG GT4 of George Kurtz has pitted too. Kurtz sharing with Colin Braun and Ben Keating.
So, with this Full Course Yellow, we see the Ferrari on the back foot. Everything has to cycle through. Jordan Pepper is taking a short stop in the lane but can't change all four Pirelli P Zero's. These pit lane regulations are very byzantine. No Full Course Yellow like they do in Europe. One of the Acura's has pitted and so does the #3 K-PAX Lamborghini of Jordan Pepper. That Acura had to be the Compass Racing car of Ashtyn Harrison. Ah. Were there yellow flags out? Maybe that was just anticipation. Sometimes you can go off sequence. The incident between the #61 Ferrari of Jean Claude Saada, and the #33 Winward Mercedes of Phil Ellis, is under review.
Lamborghini #6 is in to top off the fuel tank. How wil this slice the cake in the eight hours? We have the wave by initiated so that the first class leader will be the first car behind the safety car. It could even be the GT4 leader if they are the first leading class car behind the safety car after the wave by. One of the other Ferrari's is in the lane. Could not see the number. Now, Elias Sabo in the GMG Racing Audi is ahead. Giacomo Altoe leads overall and in Pro-Am. Safety car lights are off. We will highlight more about the GMG Audi later if we see the car. Well, let's see. The #71 Ferrari si now fourth on the road with Alessio Rovera at the wheel of it.
Track position and luck. That's what you want. Giacomo Altoe and TR3 Racing lead the motor race with nearly an hour on the board. Altoe flies away from Kenny Habul, George Kurtz, and Alessio Rovera. Wow! This is sketchy stuff as George Kurtz has Alessio Rovera on the inside. Twists and turns, frequent direction changes. Have a spotter to tell you where you are. So, Maro Engel moves past Nicklas Nielsen and Russell Ward gets chopped by the McLaren while Jeff Burton takes the Rearden Racing Lamborghini off the road! Yikes! These corners are all flat with no camber to help you. Right by the apex is where you want to be. The grip level is high here at Indianapolis 500.
Vesko Kozarov actually is at the controls of the #191 Rearden Racing Lambo. George Kurtz runs wide and now, Patric Niederhauser and Charles Weerts are flying by. Lucas Legeret moves by George Kurtz and so does Kevin Madsen. Audi vs. McLaren vs. Mercedes. The surface at Indianapolis is like a cheese grater, shredding the tires. Dakota Dickerson has now taken over the Racer's Edge Acura. Maro Engel in a double stint has his hands full with Nicklas Nielsen. We look at eight driver stints for this race as Engel slams his way past Nicklas Nielsen! Wow! He will do everything he can to keep the Ferrari behind him.
Man, oh man. We've had a wild hour so far and Engel doesn't see Erin Vogel in the #19 Mercedes. In the three hour part for points for the North America series, there will be points paid.
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