AF Corse have to be debating their strategy as Illott is hounded by Niederhauser. Dries Vanthoor has a clear road ahead since Raffaele Marciello pitted. Callum Illott leads. Dries Vanthoor now has chopped away half a second and Alessandro Pier Guidi, our polesitter, is reeling in Andrea Caldarelli for fourth spot. If we have a reset, Alessandro Pier Guidi could get back in the game. Hard to say. His qualifying lap was really under control. These drivers are feeling each other out. Will we see a late driver change? Unless Illott is out of drive time, maybe someone will have to take it to the end. Or, maybe we could see the Am class Ferrari as well. It is not a good idea to put someone in for a single stint right at the end of the race.
The leaders lap past the Sebastian Bleekemolen driven erstwhile leader in GT4, the #54 Black Swan Racing Porsche Cayman GT4. The Bleekemolen's are another of those racing families. Michael Bleekemolen drove in Formula 1. Jeroen and Sebastiaan, the sons. Callum Illott is a Formula 1 test driver, and he was plugged into a sports car and has run some IndyCar events this year too. It still could happen where Illott gets to Formula 1. They have a strong lineup in Ferrari Formula 1 with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr. Michael Bleekemolen raced for RAM and ATS and races in the NASCAR Whelen European Series. No one else yet has been to the lane and here comes the Audi from Sainteloc to the lane.
What traffic will Callum Illott get on this lap? AF Corse has to cover the Audi and bring Illott to the lane. Dries Vanthoor is now in the pit lane. He will make is own call. Callum Illott is stopped on the road! Contact with he is on full atrack and the Aston Martin GT4 was literalkly parked! Oh my God! Pit stop time and Andrea Caldarelli gets out of the K-PAX Lamborghini, the #3 car. Put someone else in the car. Antonio Fuoco walks away. K-PAX vaults to the second place spot. We are under Safety Car conditions. Dries Vanthoor brings in the #32 Audi R8. So, the plot thickens. Pier Guidi and Caldarelli now stopped at pit exit. Mirko Bortolotti has taken over from Andrea Caldarelli.
Only 46 minutes to go now. We are coming down to the wire. Ben Barnicoat pits from sixth overall as Crucial Motorsports has a solid debut despite being a lap down. Racer's Edge in the Silver Cup class pits as well. That's Taylor Hagler, Dakota Dickerson, and Jacob Abel. Going into the finale at Kyalami, Audi could be in the pound seats to clinch the manufacturer's cup over Ferrari. The sole remaining Ferrari is now mired down in eighth place. The sister AF Corse Ferrari is trapped and ought to get a wave by.
So, Dries Vanthoor leads Jules Gounon, Patric Niederhauser, and Raffaele Marciello. It will be Audi vs. Mercedes. Dries Vanthoor vs. Jules Gounon. Required pit stops are done. On the #32 pit stop, no fuel was going in. No ground wire down either. That's strange. Fuel only. That is the short stop. Wave by procedure underway before we go back to green with less than 40 minutes to go. We will see a straight up charge to the end of the motor race. WRT and Craft Bamboo will be battling each other. We may go green this time by. We need to watch the safety car lights and yes, the lights are off. #32 did a short stop. #99 did a full stop for fresh Pirelli P Zero tires.
It's go time on the restart. Lights off on the safety car. So, two cars will fight as they are working the wave around. It is such a short lap relative to Spa for instance. Green flag. Weaving the tires to get temperature and here comes Gounon and a lapped Audi goes by! Oh my! That is the car that was hit earlier. Robin Frijns can be a wingman for Dries Vanthoor. Jules Gounon was asleep at the wheel, quite litteraly. Trouble for Gounon and he hits the McLaren! Ben Barnicoat is hit. Safety car. Mama Mia! Gounon was so focused cleaning the tires, that he didn't know what was going on and ran into the #59 McLaren of Ben Barnicoat.
Still under safety car conditions with just over half an hour left on the clock. Last year, we had early rain and the #34 Walkenhorst BMW M6 GT3 won that race going away. No BMW left to defend those honors this year after the Turner Motorsport car was withdrawn before the race even began. We have a final 30 minute sprint left barring another safety car. Ben Barnicoat is stuck in the water, with a dead McLaren. Ben Barnicoat, Rob Bell and Paul Holton, out of the motor race. Where in this train is second place Patric Niederhauser, sandwiched between two GT4 BMW M4's.
Marco Mapelli has pitted. Maybe they have another set of tires and they are back on the lead lap and can roll the dice, but they are losing track position with less time on the board. Lucas Legeret is seventh overall but second in class. Compass Racing and Matt McMurry have leapfrogged in the Silver class. Matt McMurry, fourth overall and leading in Silver Cup. We are back to green now. Buckle up and hold on! Dries Vanthoor with a sizable gap over Patric Niederhauser and Raffaele Marciello. Here they come! Green flag!
Ollie Milroy s second on the road but not in the battle for position. Patric Niederhauser runs second overall. Niederhauser wants to win this race. He is caught behind Devin Jones in the GT4 BMW M4. Fourth overall for Compass Racing. Neiderhauser now through turn seven, wanting to scrap with his team mate, Dries Vanthoor. Drive through penalty for failure to follow instructions! Vanthoor, a drive through penalty from the lead! Just when you think you've seen it all! So, Raffaele Marciello is the new second place man. Ferrari are still in it with Alessandro Pier Guidi behind Matt McMurry.
Raffaele Marciello second place behind Patric Niederhauser. Oh dear! Matt McMurry, the Silver class leader is off the road! He is forced to the oval access road! Who hit him? Alessandro Pier Guidi hits him. That'll be under review. Matt McMurry will now be driving through the red mist. He has no damage on the car that is visible. Alesandro Pier Guidi continues, just behind Raffaele Marciello and losing time. The stewards room has been smoking all day. Alessandro Pier Guidi holds third. Legertet leads Bortolotti. They are fourth and fifth overall.
Alessandro Pier Guidi could be given a penalty. We have to see another replay of that fracas. Did McMurry throw the block? This race has gone nuts! Lucas Legeret has fourth and Mirko Bortolotti wants it. Conrad Grunewald ahead in the #61 Am class AF Corse Ferrari stays ahead without holding the others up. Am, Silver, Pro, running nose to tail in GT3. Niederhauser has six seconds over Raffaele Marciello. In traffic, he can pick and choose his passes. Patric Niederhauser, 20 years old, from Switzerland. Alessandro Pier Guidi gets an incident responsibility penalty and does the drive through. The polesitter will be down the order due to this.
Traffic ahead for Niederrhauser as Raffaele Marciello drops back and Niederhauser nearly gets chopped by Mikael Grenier. Yikes! Corey Lewis and Mikael Grenier both have birthdays today. Maybe those two can share some cake tonight. Grenier is the Pro-Am leader. Raffaele Marciello is second, half a second quicker than the leader. Marciello and company might not have quite the car to make a move on the leader. They had this car in shipping for so long that it didn't get to the circuit until early yesterday morning and the Crowdstrike team allowed them to use a spare car.
For the overall podium, Mirko Bortolotti has passed Lucas Legeret. K-PAX are based right here in Indianapolis, Indiana. Unofficially, the penalty for Alessandro Pier Guidi, puts Audi on the plus side of the ledger for manufacturers points headed for the finale in South Africa at Kyalami in December. Bimmerworld Racing leads GT4 in the #36 BMW M4 GT4. Auberlen sharing with James Clay and Chandler Hull. Guy Cosmo is second for Stephen Cameron Racing in another BMW M4 GT4. Auberlen runs off the road just slightly. Devin Jones next up fourth in class sharing with Nick Galante and James Walker.
He went through a savage accident and is back to racing now. 12 minutes to go. The #66 RG Porsche Cayman GT4 of Spencer Pumpelly, Andy Lally, and Derek DeBoer, have been in the top five for Kevin Buckler's team. Buckler was very successful and a great race car driver in his own right. Guy Cosmo is trying his hardest to catch Sebastiaan Bleekemolen. Patric Niederhauser is going for a win here at Indianapolis and he has a nine second lead over Raffaele Marciello in second place. It is not over yet. Lucas Legeret in the #26 Sainteloc Audi is aead in the Silver Cup. Mikael Grenier leads Pro-Am along with Kenny Habul and Martin Konrad.
Conrad Grunewald leads in the Am class for Ferrari. Bill Auberlen leads GT4 by 14 seconds over Guy Cosmo and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen. Niederhauser's lead grows over Marciello with just over eight minutes on the clock before this race ends. We have three or four laps, six and a half minutes to go. Markus Winkelhock's dad, Manfred, was racing in Formula 1 but lost his life in a savage crash in a Group C Porsche 962 at Mosport Park in Canada in 1985. Patric Niederhauser should be, in about five minutes, with his team mates, to win at Indianapolis.
Niederhauser and comapny have not had to fight too many people today. It's been a great performance. Ferrari were fastest. Lamborghini got snookered in the pit lane. Mercedes gave everything they had on fresher tires. Niederhauser leads by 12 seconds over Raffaele Marciello who just doesn't have enough to outpace the Audi. Mirko Bortolotti is still ten seconds behind Marciello. Matt McMurry is second in his class. Sainteloc can win overall and the Silver Cup here at Indianapolis. WRT is the more heralded Audi team internationally. But Sainteloc are proving themselves.
Compass Racing have done very well. Jacob Abel holds third in Silver for Racer's Edge Motorsports. We should be on the penultimate lap of the Indianapolis 8 Hours. Audi can lock up the manufacturer's championship. Winning any endurance race is an achievement, but all the extra effort with the pandemic climate, it is exhausting. Patriotic livery on U.S. soil for his car. Many cars are under invesigation for entering a closed pit. One of them is the sister Sainteloc car. Final lap for Patric Niederhauser with a lap remaining.
It's been an unbelievable day today. A dominant performance by Sainteloc Audi. Audi will not have done what they need to do to lock up the mnaufacturer's cup, but they will win! Sainteloc and Audi prevail in the second annual Indianapolis 8 Hours! Raffaele Marciello and AKKA ASP finish on the podium. K-PAX Racing fight through adversity for a third place finish. In GT4 we have a win for BMW and Bill Auberlen, for Bimmerworld, their second straight GT4 win at Indianapolis! For the moment, Sainteloc win the overall and the Silver category. Christopher Haase, Patric Niederhauser, and Markus Winkelhock will be among greats. AF Corse come home fourth in the Pro class, the 24 Hours of Spa winning drivers.
They ended up fifth today.
#25 Haase/Niederhauser/Winkelhock Audi Sport Team Sainteloc Audi R8 LMS GT3
Many things are still provisional. We will have to see what shakes out.
Silver: #26 Panis/Legeret/Baert Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS GT3
Pro Am: #75 Habul/Konrad/Grenier SunEnergy1 Mercedes AMG GT3
Am: #61 Saada/Grunewald/Kvamme AF Corse Ferrari 488 GT3
GT4: #36 Auberlen/Clay/Hull Bimmerworld BMW M4 GT4
Congratulations to Sainteloc Audi. WRT had a drive through penalty for not following instructions. They had a massive advantage. They were told to get behind the safety car. Now to the podium for the trophies and the champagne. Lots of incidents and argy bargy in this motor race are what we saw today. Sainteloc win overall and Silver. Ashton Harrison and Taylor Hagler, two female drivers in the Honda Performance Development GT3 Academy, finish on the podium. All four Honda Academy drivers on the podium. Two wins in a row for Bimmerworld with their M4 GT4 at the Indianapolis 8 Hours.
The second running of the Indianapolis 8 Hours was indeed a memorable one. On a day like today, for some of these teams, it was tough to stay on top with rival drivers, teams, and cars, gunning for you. Matt McMurry and Ashtyn Harrison, they are very happy about their win today. That does it for our coverage for the second annual Indianapolis 8 Hours. We congratulate Sainteloc Audi on their victory. We will see you, in South Africa, first weekend in December, at the Kyalami 9 Hours. Excited for that race. We'll see you in South Africa in December. For now, from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so long, everybody. Take care.
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