Sky Tempesta Racing in the lane in the #555 Ferrari 488 GT3 which has the Brock Yates, Michael Mann Ferrari movie. The late, great Brock Yates, about Ferrari, and Adam Driver will play Enzo Ferrari. Sky Tempesta Racing, Sky the U.K. F1 broadcaster is producing the movie. This is the car of Chris Froggatt, Jonathan Hui, and Eddie Cheever III. The number on the car, #535 is the number Enzo Ferrari used to win the Mille Miglia. Phillip Ellis in the lane in the #91 DXDT Mercedes-AMG GT3 sharing with Corey Lewis and Jeff Burton. Burton and DXDT will be back in 2024 and will have two Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs and the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Meanwhile, Bill Auberlen is in the lane in the #94 BMW M4 GT3. Klaus Bachler will inherit the North American Pro class lead. Robby Foley next up into the #94 car and Chandler Hull will do the third stint.
Scott Smithson and Vesko Kozarov also headed for the pit lane. Luca Stolz and Klaus Bachler both need to come in. More pit action coming. It is a busy place. There is a five-minute reprieve for the 65-minute stint time if there is a Full CourseYellow. It is either Stevan McAleer or Eric Filgueiras taking over from Klaus Bachler in the #28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R. The two WRT BMW's are both in the lane. In classic WRT fashion they are spot on. Both BMW's in unison trundling to the lane. Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus are done with their opening stints. Craft Bamboo Racing Mercedes, the defending champions of this race, are also in the lane.
Both WRT BMW's exit the lane but the #30 will have to give up the place to the sister #31 car. #31 was held up in the lane on the way in and wasn't clear. Augusto Farfus out of the car, the inaugural winner of the Indianapolis 8 Hours in 2020. What will the stewards say about overlapping in the fast lane in the pits. Sheldon van der Linde and Maxime Martin are the new drivers in each car. The South African and the Belgian. Tire warmers are allowed in GTWC America and IGTC. van der Linde leads Martin by just under a second over the yard of bricks. Not many cars ran the wet night practice the other night. Martin has run at Spa a lot and a lot in the rain.
Team WRT are on a run of success including a 1-2 at the Kyalami 9 Hours way back in February. They are also testing the BMW M Hybrid LMDh for entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship next year. For so many years WRT ran with Audi but now they continue their success with the Bavarian brand. Augusto Farfus had a big opening stint of this motor race. Farfus says they have a good race car, the Brazilian is confident even with seven hours of racing left on the board. They are going to do all they can to keep their noses clean.
As long as the car in the fast lane is maintaining pit lane speed, they are OK. But now, van der Linde had to get by. Sheldon van der Linde has put the hammer down, setting fastest lap and succeeded by Maxi Goetz in the #77 Craft Bamboo Mercedes. Watch for the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, as Maro Engel goes off the road! In replay, Engel running wide, out braking himself into turn seven down Hulman Boulevard. Car #007, the TRG Aston Martin of Ben Tuck, serving a penalty for speeding n the pit lane.
This is Ben Tuck's first race outside of Europe and he is a missile behind the wheel for the Aston Martin factory because of the new Hypercar prototype they are going to bring out in 2025. A position change in Pro-Am, Antares Au, over the curbs, passing Jeff Burton. Something flew in the air behind the Porsche, some tire debris, possibly. As long as each driver has done an hour, they can score points. CrowdStrike by Riley Motorsports are double stinting George Kurtz. They have Colin Braun and Nolan Siegel at their disposal. At Wright Motorsports in the #45 Porsche 911 GT3R it is Madison Snow, Jan Heylen, and Trent Hindman, the trio.
Jake Walker, the meat int he sandwich, in the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 between the WRT cars. Jonathan Hui next in the sightlines. He is coming under hreat from the Grove Racing Porsche of Earl Bamber and Ashton Harrison in the #93 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 goes a lap down. Half the field have gone down a lap. Only 11 cars on the lead lap and with the small field we are not guaranteed to see a plethora of Full Course Yellows. We have seen a handful of cars in strife already. Antares Au now in the Pro-Am lead in the #20 Huber Motorsports Porsche. They are keeping their powder dry yet to put their ace up their sleeve, Laurin Heinrich, into the car, as I mix my metaphors.
Jeff Burton has dropped a couple places. He is being pursued for second in Pro-Am by the #27 TR3 Racing Mercedes of Matt Bell, Jon Branam, and Kenton Koch. This car has been in the grass a handful of times. But of course, an altered driver lineup as Sheldon van der Linde resets CrowdStrike Fastest Lap at 1:23.368. The road course inside the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has changed over the year, it originally turned right and has an added length left hand turn. Stevan McAleer leading in Pro in fourth. The original layout of the circuit for Formula 1 in the year 2000 has been changed. This current configuration is a hybrid of Formula 1, MotoGP, and IndyCar layouts.
The founders of Indianapolis Motor Speedway always envisioned a road course here and if it weren't for the golf course, we could have a longer circuit. I digress. Golf can be a fun game although I don't play it and have not for years. So, we are nearing an hour and a half into this race, standard length of an GTWC America event. We have a long, long way to go. MotoGP raced here in the opposite direction. A change for the Pro-Am lead as Philip Ellis passes the Huber Motorsports Porsche, Laurin Heinrich looking on. He out qualified everybody. Is he a doppelganger for football star Tom Brady? It looks like it, kind of.
Maxi Goetz swinging wide towards the Safer Barrier in turn 14 scything his way through the lapped traffic and into turn one it is a mess! Jake Walker following him through around Ashton Harrison. Walker in his first appearance in a GT3 car being taught how to race via Buddy Rice, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 winner. Buddy Rice won in 2004 at the Indianapolis 500, but with a tornado warning in progress. Oh dear. Ashton Harrison and company have to put their heads down and they have done that. Keep going. Don't give up. It's a long, long race.
A change in overall position. McAleer has been passed by Engel. He wants to keep it clean. Get minimum drive times met and get to halfway at the end of four hours. Yikes! We have a spin in the middle of the pack! That's Jake Pedersen in the #85 Porsche and I think he did it all by his lonesome and he found the Racer's Edge Acura again! Jake Pedersen is an avid musician and the Monterey Fender Stratocaster livery. Pedersen is a music student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Are you experienced? Hardy har har. That puts a smile on my face, as a racing fan and a musician as well. Rearden Racing in GT3, we'll find out more for next year.
Now, look, we have a Pro-Am lead battle between Antares Au and Jeff Burton. Drivers have been told they can go beyond track limits through turn six as long as they rejoin the track carefully. Jon Branam right on Jeff Burton's six. Branam only in his second GT3 race trying a lunge at turn 13. No dice there. These cars are eighth, ninth, and tenth overall and first, second, and third in class. Au, Burton, and Branam. Bringing Kenton Koch in will be huge for their performance factor. This car started last ad he takes a huge lunge and makes a apass on Jeff Burton who fortunately gives him enough space! Blimey O'Reilly!
Matt Bell drove from the back fo the pack gaining eight or nine places. Drive through penalty for the #93 Racer's Edge Acura NSX GT3 for incident responsibility. There's some schadenfreude on the pit box at Rearden Racing. The Pro-Am fight rages between Branam and Au. Antares Au from Hong Kong, the Bronze class winner at the 24 Hours of Spa and Jeff Burton has pulled off the road between turns three and four! Holy cow! Could this be the first safety car intervention of the 2023 Indianapolis 8 Hours? We continue under green.
Antares Au running wide. Can he make the pass, Branam? This will be a safety car. Double Yellows waved by flagman Tom Hansing. Well, well, well. Jeff Burton, stuck in the mud, driver's right, between turns three and four. We have seen a WRT 1-2 for much fo the event and the pit stops are about to begin. The drivers are getting suited and booted. No fire in the hole for the #91 Mercedes. You can do six more stints to end this race. Five more stops to cut the cake and get home. We are going to see the wave by as well, if the overall leader has a class leader being waved by the safety car to get back on the lead lap.
That wave around will happen at the beginning of the safety car scramble. Kurtz, Harrison, and Matteo Cairoli. Pit lane open and we have another round of stops. Huber and others stay out. WRT take the opportunity to pit both BMW M4 GT3's. Will we see driver changes? Or just tire changes and double stints? TR3 set to turn Kenton Koch loose. No driver changes at BMW. Wright Motorsports in the lane. They have the #120 Pro-Am Porsche in the lane. The two BMW's have swapped places. Honk! Honk! Or was it, bonk? I don't know. The #32 wanted to go, and #31 couldn't.
So, #31 passes #32 after the stops. It was, honk, honk, because the #31 wanted to move. The stewards are using real time speeds in the lane to measure things, 50 kilometers an hour which is painfully slow. Moe driver changes on scheduled pit stops. CrowdStrike Mercedes get the wave by. They are doing a driver change as well as George Kurtz has done his double stint he needed. Is it Colin Braun or Nolan Siegel in the car? The #007 TRG Aston Martin has gotten the wave by to the tail end of the field. Chandler Hull leads the motor race in the #94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3.
Chandler Hull has not pitted in this sequence. As far as WRT, it is time for a cookie break. Vosse wearing his flat cap. It is a long race. No pint in taking a risk. Safety car lights out. A restart is imminent. BimmerWorld have elected to stay out but they will have an extra stop to make later. Maxime Martin stayed in the #31 while Dries Vanthoor has taken over the #30 entry. We are set now for a restart as Chandler Hull leads the field and we are closing in on another racing hour being completed. Chandler Hull in the lead as we are back to green.
Maxime Martin and Dries Vanthoor are pushing as turn one is a busy spot. Hairy stuff there, look. BMW 1-2-3 at Indianapolis. The battle is heating up for the overall lead. Maxime Martin on hot tires. Martin is through and Vanthoor too. Vanthoor wanted the lead and he took it while Hull passes Martin! Holy moly! That was unbelievable! Maximilian Goetz is lurking, flexing his muscles down the order a wee bit. Vanthoor is whistling off into the distance. Martin passes Chandler Hull for second place, the #94 off sequence.
Kenton Koch is in a hornet's nest with Trent Hindman. Callum Illott in his first laps in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R with Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson. Maxi Goetz is going for third and Maro Engel pushing and probing as well. I just don't know about the #94 and an incident under review with some push and shove between the WRT BMW teammates. Rubbing is racing but Race Control thinks otherwise and the two swap places. Hindman passes Kenton Koch. Trent Hindman has not raced at the Indianapolis 8 Hours since 2021.
Hull should come in sooner rather than later because he is struggling for pace on worn Pirelli P Zero tires, scrapping with Stevan McAleer in class and for the championship. Trent Hindman and Kenton Koch, they are not full-time drivers in SRO America. Bimmerworld, RS1, Wright Motorsports. They use the access road for the oval and into the south short chute and into the infield again back onto the straightaway. The BMW stretching it's legs down the straightaway. Trent Hindman wants by McAleer ASAP. Hindman will be pushing McAleer no matter if he is the championship leader or not. Hindman is looking good so far and a late move now between McAleer and Hindman!
RS1 vs. Wright Motorsports and the TR3 Mercedes of Kenton Koch is right there. Matteo Cairoli driving aggressively in the #53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R. He is also scrapping hard, sharing with Trenton Estep and Seth Lucas. RS1 and Eric Filgueiras might step back to GT4 competition. CBW is Community Beerworks and Tom Kopchinski, the owner of the brewery, a longtime supporter of Eric Filgueiras' racing endeavors. We could see Eric Filgueiras and Tom Kopchinski driving together next year. Filgueiras, from Florida, knocking on doors, pounding the pavement to try and get a drive.
Filgueiras will race soon today. TRG have benefitted from the short yellow we had. Ben Tuck has recovered to 13th overall with smart strategists on the team.
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