SRO America lead commentator Ryan Myrehn's intro to the broadcast for the Indianapolis 8 Hours, says it all. "A new day has dawned in Indiana, and with it, dreams of racing glory awaken anew. Today, the world's top GT teams and drivers have flocked to America's heartland for the fifth running of the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS. In the first Indy 500 in 1911, Ray Harroun completed the run in 6 hours and 42 minutes, in a car he helped design. Today, the challenge is eight hours, and 69 drivers will try to follow in his footsteps, to write the next chapter in Indy history."
Welcome, everybody, to "The Brickyard" and another sports car race at the most famous speedway on the planet. For this event, we were supposed to have 25 cars entered, all to GT3 specification of course. That being said, a couple of cars did not arrive. They couldn't answer the bell due to not being able to find third drivers for their teams. We will not see the #92 MMG (Montreal Motorsports Group) Porsche 911 GT3R as a third driver could not be sourced to assist Kyle Marcelli and Jean Fredric Laberge. The same is true for the #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Ross Chouest and Aaron Povoledo were also unable to find a third driver to assist. So, cars #50 and #92 had to withdraw. That being said, we still have 23 cars and a high-quality entry. What this field of GT3 cars lacks in quantity, it makes up for in the quality of the field.
Unlike some sports car championships that have their crown jewel events in the beginning or the middle of the year, like SRO GT World Challenge Europe with the 24 Hours of Spa which is also within the realm, the pantheon of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, GT World Challenge America saves the best for last and chooses the Indianapolis 8 Hour, their crown jewel race, to be the capstone, the finishing touch of their championship season. Of course, we have already been through a few dandies within the IGTC. Cast your minds back to Bathurst and the Bathurst 12 Hours in February, the Nurburgring 24 Hours in June, and the 24 Hours of Spa, also in June. Indianapolis is a worthy companion to all of those great events.
This is the season finale for Fanatec GT World Challenge America and Intercontinental GT Challenge. We are ready to race for the final time, racing on the iconic bricks. Two championships are on the line. In the Pro Class it will be a knockdown drag out fight between the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992), and the #63 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. DXDT Racing's Corvette has been on an eight-race winning streak setting a modern-day record and they are only seven points ahead. Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer, and Laurin Heinrich must finish ahead of Alec Udell, Tommy Milner, and Alexander Sims, to claim the title.
In the Pro-Am division we are set for a battle of the BMWs as Turner Motorsports and ST Racing have been going at it hammer and tongs all season. Drama at VIR gave an upper hand to the #38 ST Racing BMW and at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, last time out, Turner Motorsports in the #29 BMW M4 GT3 worked their magic. Now, there are many more contenders. Again, I encourage you to refer to my post covering the starting grid for this race. That will be a wonderful assistance tool and study guide for you as we go along throughout the big race today for the next eight hours.
We are also going to keep a sharp eye out for the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jeff Burton, Philip Ellis, and third co-driver Elias Seppanen, in addition to the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 to be driven by Custodio Toledo, Ricardo Agostini, and Cedric Sbirrazuoli, and the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Elias Sabo, Andy Lee, and Nick Yelloly. We have IndyCar racers on the grid including Alex Palou, Conor Daly, and Zach Veach. Palou, the three-time IndyCar champion from Spain, is sharing the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz. Conor Daly is a part of the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 talent lineup alongside Kenton Koch and BMW factory prototype driver Connor De Philippi.
Zach Veach will be sharing the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo 22 with seasonlong co-driver Luca Mars and with Gabby Chaves. We have heard from Amanda Busick. Now, we get a chance to hear from SRO press officer, Tom Hornsby. We saw the season opener at Mount Panorama in Bathurst, New South Wales, with Porsche taking the overall win and the lion's share of manufacturers' points. Then, we were in for a massive challenge with two back-to-back 24-hour races at two of Europe's best, most historic palaces of motor racing, the Nurburgring in Germany's Eiffel Mountains, and (not too far away), the Circuit de Spa Francorchamps in Spa Francorchamps, Belgium, in the Ardennes Forest.
We have seen all kinds of weather especially at the Nurburgring. Fog, driving rain, lightning, thunder. You name it. We've had it, in IGTC competition this year. Now it is time for Indianapolis. Any one of three German brands can win. Porsche at the top, they have entries, but what they don't have is a Pro class graded car entered in the event here at "The Brickyard" this weekend. You can have as many as three factory drivers in Fanatec GT World Challenge America. Porsche chose not to send a completely factory-backed entry and what they did was disperse some of their best racers into the top American teams who run for Porsche in Fanatec GT World Challenge America. Mercedes and BMW, on the other hand, have five entries between them.
The drivers' championship is being led by Porsche. This is another pickle for them. Laurens Vanthoor had to stand down. Vanthoor of course, is part of Porsche's prototype program with their 963 LMDh in FIA WEC Hypercar and IMSA GTP. Ayhancan Guven of Turkey, he raced with Manthey EMA in the factory backed "Grello" Porsche at both Bathurst and Nurburgring. However, the chances for the Turkish driver to go for an overall victory will be limited because he is racing in a Pro-Am lineup aboard the #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992) alongside Aussie Tom Sargent and American Kyle Washington.
His primary rival, Charles Weerts of Belgium joins Sheldon van der Linde of South Africa and countryman Dries Vanthoor in one of two factory BMW M4 GT3's backed by Team WRT. Vanthoor and van der Linde come in as the defending champions of this event. Now, they have also been racing throughout Europe with Charles Weerts. I don't want to give anything away. But, when time permits, yours truly will have at least two more races and a good number of blog entries in which to tell you the stories of those Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup races. However, we shall save all of that for later on down the road. We've got eight hours of racing at "The Brickyard" to think about first.
Now to the second Team WRT BMW entry. This is the #33 BMW M4 GT3 which is being shared by former Indianapolis 8 Hours winner, Augusto Farfus of Brazil alongside Ulsterman Dan Harper from Ireland, with Ulster being one of the four traditional provinces along with Connacht, Leinster, and Munster. Harper is sharing with Germany's Max Hesse aboard the #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. They are 14 points down on the top spot sharing with Farfus and this trio must finish at least on the podium in third place if they want to take the title away from Ayhancan Guven. Mercedes-AMG can also win the manufacturer's cup. Their best bet lies with Luca Stolz who is teamed with Fabian Schiller and Spaniard, three-time IndyCar champion, Alex Palou in the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. If Stolz is going to take the crown, he cannot finish lower than second spot.
The Independent Cup in IGTC has a trio of entries at Indianapolis that can go for this respective title. Only two drivers are eligible to fight for the title. Antares Au of Turkey and Prince Jeffri Ibrahim from the Johor royal family lineage in Malaysia, they are the two who can possibly win the championship today. Au leads the standings by 25 points ahead of today's final race of the season. Antares Au is the lead driver in the pole sitting #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992) he is sharing with Dutch Porsche racing phenom Loek Hartog, and Swiss driver Patric Niederhauser. This is how we see Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Now, we are going to go on a hot lap around "The Brickyard" with Calvin Fish and Tommy Milner, GM factory driver, taking us for a hot lap in a road legal version of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06. Eight wins on the bounce, going for the title. Over the yard of bricks, brake at the 400-meter board, don't use the curbs. Back to the left, though, you do use all the curbs on the apex and the exit. Set up for turn four, a difficult, well-balanced turn. Across the chicnae and down Hulman Boulevard into second gear not using the big curbs in turn seven.
Balance the car on the curbs through the next sequence of turns, 7-10. Turn ten, cut the corner and squeeze the power on. Turn 12 is the exit of turn one on the speedway. So, you are coming through speedway turn one but in the other direction. Look out for the curbs, squeeze the power on into turn 13, back to power, and floor it onto the frontstretch! What a lap as we cross the yard of bricks. This is Indianapolis! This track has been a crucible of speed for well over a century. We have our cast of characters, all-star racing analysts here to tell the story. Ryan Myrehn and our mate, former sports car driver, Calvin Fish, and Kyle Heyer, in the broadcast booth, with Amanda Busick and D.J. Clark patroling the pit lane.
The grid has assembled and it's time for pre-race ceremonies. Here to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" is recording artist, Denise Stefanie. It is a gorgeous day in central Indiana, 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 21 degrees Celsius, with a nice breeze. Chamber of Commerce weather. This is the last round of Fanatec GT World Challenge America and Intercontinental GT Challenge with North American cars and stars from overseas as well. The yard of bricks is what everyone wants to cross, and the winners want to kiss the bricks tonight. This is the biggest grid we have seen all year. 23 cars need to survive. Porsche still looking for their first Indianapolis 8 Hours. They have the pace.
Have a car that performs during the finish tonight when it cools off. Great to see these drivers race with championships on the line. We are about to hear from a few drivers. Patric Niederhauser says that he has ideas but did go well with a great lap and making it into Super Pole as an amateur entry. The car is a rocket. It is very special to come to Indianapolis to race. Greg Gill, SRO America President is here. No better place to finish the year here, thankful to Roger Penske, to the people of Indiana who have come to race, for Doug Boles, IMS President and all involved.
This is the only night race at Indianapolis. Now to the Pro class. Alexander Sims says that it would be a dream come true to help his teammates, Tommy and Alec and DXDT Racing going for the championship. The car feels great, but they need to have a lot of luck. They just need a pinch more straight-line speed, and they need to keep their noses clean. On the other side of the battle is the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Elliott Skeer knows they can do it. They have every piece of the puzzle, executing for the next eight hours. This race is the only one that matters to Wright Motorsports. Elliott Skeer sharing with Adam Adelson and Laurin Heinrich.
They did some setup changes on the car and are looking to the night towards the end of the race. Now we hear again from Calvin Fish about the Pro-Am class battle and in the pound seats to do well, the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. Robby Foley is being interviewed by Calvin on the grid. If they win, their rival BMW #38 needs to finish well. Turner Motorsports are focusing on their own deal, trying to win with teammates Justin Rothberg and Patrick Gallagher. Play it smart. On the front row is none other than three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou. Palou is ready for this eight-hour race wanting to stay at the front. Conor Daly gets bourbon, Alex Palou gets diapers for his little one at home.
IMS President Doug Boles is here. When the cars were practicing here the other night it was amazing. Doug Boles got to see the GT3 cars at the 24 Hours of Spa earlier this summer. There is a river under the racetrack. The history of Indianapolis Motor Speedway is amazing and check out "Behind The Bricks". Doug Boles is rooting for Conor Daly and Alex Palou. Bill Auberlen at ST Racing, says Philipp Eng is going to start and go for it. Head down, they have the strategy, BMW has won the last four years several times. They know what to do. They need the luck.
Sheldon van der Linde hopes to get the championship for teammate Charles Weerts and everything is a bonus. This is a star-studded grid as the fans are here in force on the viewing mounds. Indianapolis Motor Speedway opened in 1909. 3.2 million ten-pound bricks were used to repave the track. You can find the old bricks in the mud with that river. OK. Thiago Lucchiti from Pershing watches is set to give the command, the most famous words in motorsports. Drivers, start your engines! A wonderful mix of cars. If you have a favorite brand, they are here. American, German, Italian, Japanese supercars, with world class drivers. The sights and sounds of these cars echoing off the grandstands.
We will end in the darkness with the headlights illuminating the way. The final hour and a quarter of this race will be in the darkness. Last year we had just one Full Course Yellow. You have to be perfect. The American championship drivers are used to two 90-minute races. So, execution will be paramount, but it will be very different. We will have onboard cameras in a couple of the BMWs in Pro-Am, the #120 Porsche in the Pro class, the #32 GMG Porsche, the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes, too. Storylines throughout the field. Almost every continent is represented. So many great names in drivers and teams. Team WRT got their car late and had to do an engine change and will start at the tail of the field.
It is just past noon. The sun has reached its zenith. Eight hours from now, headlights will show the way. Patric Niederhauser on the pole, leads the field to the yard of bricks. Rutledge Wood waves Old Glory and we are off and racing at Indianapolis! Let's go! Into turn one, Adam Adelson moves to third as it is clean and green thus far. Luca Stolz wrestling with the #130 Mercedes. The Lone Star Racing Mercedes, car #4, has been shuffled down the order. #130 is the Mercede-AMG Team GruppeM Racing car celebrating the 130th anniversary of Mercedes-Benz. This is the car in the hands of Germany's Maro Engel sharing with Jules Gounon of France and French-Canadian Mikael Grenier.
Luca Stolz on the back foot and here comes the Random Vandals BMW #99! Kenton Koch is turning it on, motoring towards the front as they slither through turns seven, eight, and nine for the first time. Everyone single file. Kenton Koch had a fabulous drive in the Pirelli GT4 America race this morning to take the lead of that series with a round to spare. We're going to talk about the finale for GT4 America tomorrow. Right now, we've just begun this eight-hour enduro and are bringing the action in spades. Koch makes a brilliant start. Sheldon van der Linde trying to race with Patric Niederhauser for the lead. So, the Swiss Porsche man has his hands full with the South African BMW driver.
Luca Stolz in the meantime has been clotheslined all the way down to fifth spot. Adam Adelson is now under big pressure from Kenton Koch and lets his rival go, early doors. You really don't want to be making massive, bold moves mere moments into an eight-hour endurance race like this one. Get to the halfway point and score points at the four-hour mark. Dan Harper is now making hay while the sun shines and he has moved up from stone last on the grid in 23rd spot up to 16th. Last year we had just one Full Course Yellow. Execute to perfection. Adelson was passed by Kenton Koch and now Luca Stolz comes calling right on his six.
Consider that Adam Adelson is only in his second GT3 season. He has factory drivers all around his ears right now. Side by side, the Mercedes factory driver rivalry is on! Luca Stolz vs. Maro Engel! Philipp Eng in the BMW too is making his presence known! Eng, the third driver aboard the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 that he is sharing along with Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey. He wanted to make it three deep but decides discretion is the better part of valor. Some hip and shoulder early as Luca Mars also wants a bite of the cherry in the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3. He is right in Eng's shadow, going defensive. Eng slams the door in Mars' face and almost chops his nose off!
Some lofty company for Luca Mars in his first season racing GT3 sports cars. He is a graduate of the HPD Driver Academy, going nose to nose with Philipp Eng, a man who won this race overall last year and who won overall in a BMW GTP prototype in IMSA competition here at Indianapolis a few weeks ago. Niederhauser setting the pace but now we have a spin for Adrien D'Silva, the Malaysian veteran GT3 racer. D'Silva spun and is backing up trying to right the ship. The car looks OK with no damage. He will have to be careful. D'Silva aboard the #61 Earl Bamber Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R sharing with Australian Brendon Leitch and Danish driver Bastian Buus. He is going to drop like a stone down the order.
If you don't get a Full Course Yellow, you will lose time. Into the chicane, a scrap between Eng in the BMW and Stolz in the Mercedes and Luca Stolz has to give it up. Watch out for clattering over the curbs to avoid damaging the front splitter or the rear diffuser on one of these aerodynamically sensitive GT3 race cars. Luca Mars is challenging Stolz for position, too, look. The second place starting car which Alex Palou put there, Lone Star Racing are on the back foot. They have dropped down to eighth place. This team under the Craft Bamboo Racing banner, won the Indianapolis 8 Hours a couple of years ago.
Car #4 is dropping down the order. Engel moves past Adelson for position to fourth place. Adelson performing well but now has the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Philipp Eng right on his back door. We saw Adrien D'Silva spin the EBM Porsche #61. A message from Race Control regarding an incident between car #88 and car #91 has also come up. That is the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. This incident is under review. Custodio Toledo, the Brazilian, at the controls of the Ferrari. Eng moves the #28 BMW M4 GT3 to the class lead in Pro division of Fanatec GT World Challenge America.
Three classes, Intercontinental GT Challenge Pro, North America Pro, and Pro-Am. Luca Mars, i the meantime, continues charging and giving the big names fits. The Acura ran at the top of the timesheets on Thursday and Friday, and they have a good notebook to work from, from Jon Mirachi and the team and a solid driver lineup bolstered by Gabby Chaves. Luca Stolz has now flown Plummet Airways back down to eighth place in the overall. Adam Adelson forcibly playing defense against Luca Mars. With Luca Stolz and Lone Star Racing, no worries, except they began on different tire strategies than other teams. Run some scrubbed sets of Pirelli tires. Maybe that is the drop in performance as most other teams have started on fresh, sticker Pirelli tires.
We check in on Dan Harper's progress and now he has brought the sister #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 up to 11th place. He is knocking on the door of the top ten in hot pursuit of the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the hands of team boss, Australian, Kenny Habul, sharing with countryman Jayden Ojeda, and Austrian Mercedes veteran driver, Lucas Auer, the nephew of ten-time Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, Gerhard Berger. Team WRT are the strategy master's with lots of experience in GT3 racing. Ojeda has a nickname. They call him "The Juice".
Meanwhile, Kenny Habul is being harried by Alec Udell who is starting the #63 DXDT Chevrolet Corvette. In a straight line, they are at a deficit although they lost ten kilograms of weight on the car. Indianapolis is dominated by the straightaways and Kenny Habul roughed up Alec Udell. We need to see a look at the left front of the Corvette as maybe the dive planes broke off. DXDT had to fight for their victories at Barber Motorsports Park last time out and they got a lucky break when the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 ran out of petrol in the waning moments of race two on Sunday.
The Toledo and D'Silva fracas, no action taken. D'Silva is delayed by 25 seconds and at risk of going a lap down in the Pro-Am field with the pace set by the frontrunners currently. The lead is at 1.2 seconds. Adrien D'Silva is now 25 seconds behind and the leaders will catch the Pro-Am class. That 1.2 second lead gap is held currently, by a Pro-Am class car, the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche of Patric Niederhauser, incidentally. The next three cars in line are Pro class cars in Intercontinental GT Challenge itself, so such cars can have three factory drivers in their lineups. However, the Random Vandals entry has Kenton Koch, the only Silver graded driver in any IGTC lineup.
Then, as you go down the order you have Phillip Eng in the #28 ST Racing BMW, Luca Mars in the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura, and Adam Adelson in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. There is a battle for eighth spot right now and Jake Pedersen in the #85 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R has Dan Harper right behind him in the #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 ad following close hehind are the #75 SunEnergy1 Mercedes of Kenny Habul and the #63 DXDT Corvette of Alec Udell. In turn 12, the front end of the car is loaded up. Dan Harper has gained 13 places while Kenton Koch and Luca Mars have gained five each, Blake McDonald in the sister #64 DXDT Corvette has gained four and Maro Engel has gained two.
The #64 Pro-Am class DXDT Chevrolet Corvette has Blake McDonald, the veteran Lamborghini Super Trofeo racer, teamed up with Bryan Sellers, and Patrick Liddy, in an all-American trio. Maro Engel in the #130 GruppeM Mercedes has moved up two spots. There is also the Intercontinental GT Challenge Manufacturer's championship being fought between the three German brands, Mercedes, Porsche, and BMW, and the top two finishers are eligible to earn points for their brand. Udell finally passes Habul as Dan Harper has passed Jake Pedersen for ninth. The 2023 British GT Championship Pro-Am champion is a man on a mission.
WRT had their cars arrive late and had to do an engine change for the #33 car as well. Almost 15 minutes have been run as it's three wide into turn seven! Samantha Tan, Kyle Washington, the meat in the sandwich, and Prince Jeffri Ibrahim! BMW vs. Porsche vs. Mercedes! How about that?! Justin Rothberg has a view of all of this aboard the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. They need a win and if the #38 ST Racing BMW happened to not finish, they could steal the title. But it is going to be a long road this afternoon and evening, perhaps, for Justin Rothberg, Robby Foley, and Patrick Gallagher. In eight hours, anything can and probably will happen.
This scrap is for 13th spot as the #38 of Samantha Tan makes her move to the inside. She and Neil Verhagen have been scoring race wins and podium places alike. Samantha Tan is right at home in a BMW M4 GT3 and she has been nominated as one of the top 30 women in all of sports. Since she and Neil Verhagen connected 1/3rd of the way through the 2023 season, things have been going well, and they are thinking of the big picture. With the stint lengths, Samantha Tan will do a double stint according to ST Racing team manager, Jon Miller. Dan Harper, in the meantime, has moved up to eighth spot. Meanwhile, Prince Jeffri Ibrahim is all over both Justin Rothberg and Kyle Washington like a cheap suit!
Prince Jeffri drops back a wee bit and thankfully, they all survived. It is very dirty and has no grip on the inside of the corner. We have seen a lot of three-wide racing. There is pressure to move up. Next year, Indianapolis will stay on the schedule while Suzuka will return to the schedule for next year. GT World Challenge Asia has been looking very strong. We will need to talk about that a bit more, if I have time. At DXDT, Tommy Milner says the ten-kilo adjustment is not enough, and they are running out of steam vs. the Porsche. It is like being between a rock and a hard place. You don't want to wish ill will on your competitors, but as a team, you want fortune to smile upon you.
The performance adjustments make it harder to race because it helps a lot of things but destroys lap time. BMW too, has had their straightaway advantage taken away through Balance of Performance. It will come in sectors two and three. Dan Harper has really motored ahead and now has caught Luca Stolz and the Northern Irishman will take the fight to Stolz and the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes as the #32 GMG Porsche of Kyle Washington is in the pit lane for service. This seems unscheduled, no penalty listed on the noticeboard. This is big because Ayhancan Guven, the Turkish Porsche driver is a part of the GMG lineup and is going for the IGTC drivers' title. They do reset the driver's stint lengths even though they are a tad off sequence.
The Porsche is fastest in sector one while sectors two and three are being dominated by the #31 Team WRT BMW. There is traffic looming up the road. The Porsche and the BMW are about as different as you can get. The Porsche with the mid mounted 4 liter flat six and the BMW with the front mounted 3 liter turbocharged inline six. Excuse me, the M4 GT3 has V6 power, no inline six as BMW tradition might dictate going back to earlier iterations of the M3 or even the other legendary M cars such as the M1 supercar and the E28 an E34 versions of the M5 sedan from the late '80s and early '90s.
As the fuel burns off and the tires wear, these cars all perform differently. Tune the car for the end of the day because you have limited adjustment opportunities as the night comes. Thursday night during night practice the teams learned a boatload. Some teams are hopeful that track conditions will come to them later in the going. We could be seeing the coming out party for Luca Mars racing with Luca Stolz and Stolz has the race wins and the championships to prove how good he is and he forces his way past Adrien D'Silva in the Porsche! Wow! That is the #61 EBM (Earl Bamber Motorsports) Porsche. Mars and the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura, the only Acura NSX GT3 in the field.
With the world of Balance of Performance, having an older car is not bad because you have a notebook you can draw from whereas with a new car like the Corvette's with DXDT, they are continuing to learn. Luca Mars knows that car, the Acura NSX because he came through the HPD Driver Academy, which was spearheaded by Jon Mirachi, the team owner of Racer's Edge Motorsports. He spearheaded that with HRC. Luca Mars ran in Mazda MX5 Cup and in IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with GT4 cars and in LMP3. This deal was done at the 11th hour. Zach Veach has brought back his career and Luca Mars is proving himself. Racer's Edge does not have a massive budget, and they have not had chances to test the car.
They are elevating their game, testing as they race. It is a small, family team. Their PR rep, Erin, she is also a member of the pit crew. Now we see a battle for third spot in the Pro division. This is for ninth in the overall between Adam Adelson in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche and Alec Udell in the #63 DXDT Corvette. These are the teams and the cars that have been battling each other all year long. These are the two fighting for the championship. Thank heavens Adrien D'Silva, the Malaysian racer aboard the #61 EBM Porsche saw these two coming and now the battle resumes in earnest. Right now, let's look at the Pro class points standings as we are very nearly half an hour into the action.
1. #120 Skeer/Adelson Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992) 237 points
2. #63 Milner/Udell DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 224 points -13
3. #28 Auberlen/Choksey ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 220 points -17
There's only 17 points between the top three teams in the Pro class. If the #63 car wins it is game over in terms of the title. DXDT needs a buffer if they are going to finish ahead of the #120 Porsche, though. There's a long, long way to go yet. More lapped traffic being negotiated by our leader, Patric Niederhaser in the #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R as he works his way past the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Elias Sabo, sharing with Andy Lee and Nick Yelloly. Of course, Flying Lizard has recently switched to the BMW after campaigning the Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 for a while. There are no GT3 spec Aston Martin's in the race today.
They swapped midseason and are very happy with the decision. Yelloly is a BMW factory driver, to steer the team in the right direction. He is running full-time in the GTP prototype ranks and sporadically racing in GT3. This will be a springboard for their team going into 2025. Dan Harper, speaking of BMW drivers, he has really shown his potential. Our colleague at SRO GT World Challenge Europe in the races you have seen here on GTWorld, John Watson, being a fellow Northern Irishman, from Belfast, he has really been bullish about Dan Harper's career as a driver, and we have seen Dan Harper run extremely well on the European side of the GT World Challenge series in GT3.
Two guys from Northern Ireland, John Watson with his F1 and sports car racing career and his broadcasting career that includes F1 and GT3 racing alike. The Mercedes is strong on corner exit out of slow turns and changes direction incredibly well. With that said, the BMW is also gaining. It seems that the Mercedes was not as hooked up with the handling, but they are getting it together as Luca Stolz is still dancing around through the turns. Running used tires right off the bat, is perhaps advantageous. With that being said, in the 2023 edition of this event we ran the whole race, the entire eight hours, with just one yellow.
No sign of a yellow flag incident yet, but you never know. These endurance races are difficult to predict, and it does not matter if the cars entered are prototypes or GT cars. Get your penalties together early and your tire strategy as we continue to watch the battle between Adelson in the Porsche and Udell in the Corvette. What we have in this situation is that DXDT and Wright Motorsports are more freed up to race among themselves because Random Vandals Racing elected to enter their #99 BMW M4 GT3 in the IGTC Pro division for manufacturers' cup points within Intercontinental GT Challenge. So, the green and white BMW is not even relevant to this fight between the Wright Motorsports and DXDT automobiles.
Random Vandals and team boss Paul Sparta elected to not compete against their rivals and switched classes. We saw at Barber Motorsports Park that DXDT were not even looking like they were contenders. Then, there was that fueling issue in race two for the Random Vandals BMW which dropped them like a stone down the order, and DXDT came back and capitalized, sweeping the weekend in Alabama. As I was saying, the decision by Paul Sparta, he did not want to interfere with the championship fight in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro category and hence why the team elected to enter as part of IGTC for manufacturers' points for BMW in Munich instead.
OK. Speaking of BMW, Sheldon van der Linde in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 has just swept past Patric Niederhauser in the #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche for the lead of the motor race. Traffic surely played a part in that deal. They caught and had to negotiate traffic in the form of Custodio Toledo, the Brazilian, at the wheel of the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 he is sharing with Monegasque racer Cedric Sbirrazuoli, and Italian GT racer Riccardo Agostini. We saw the Porsche with great pace. They ran extremely well in GT3 competition a few weeks ago in another championship, in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship, for an endurance race they held at "The Brickyard", too.
The difference is that IMSA includes prototypes along with the GT3 cars and has different rules to run by whereas, in SRO competition, as we are seeing here, it is a contest open to GT3 based production cars only. No prototypes allowed in this series. I think the Corvette Z06 GT3 and the Ferrari 296 GT3 though they are GT cars, they are very much built in similar fashion to a prototype race car. Hold the phone here. While I have been chattering away, we have seen a pass, a significant pass. We are now noticing a lot of strength for the Team WRT BMW's. The significant pass I was about to talk about, before getting sidetrack by following the race via the iPad, let's see. This was a lead change. Niederhauser loses a place to Sheldon van der Linde.
That is when they caught Toledo in the Ferrari. OK. Understood. We are halfway through the stint and the BMWs are flexing their muscle. Harper in BMW #33 passes Stolz in the #4 Mercedes. Team WRT up one over Lone Star Racing with Mercedes-AMG. Harper has passed 15-16 cars! In this replay, van der Linde had an easy job. Niederhauser was balked by the Ferrari, and van der Linde saw that open door and just strolled right through like he was on a leisurely walk outdoors, but of course, this is motor racing, not tiptoeing through the tulips. On these long runs, this is where BMW and Team WRT are coming to the fore.
We did not see in qualifying a marked step up in performance for the boys from Belgium, however, so far today they are working their way up and giving their fellow European and American GT3 rivals a tough run for their money. We are seeing the BMW's get stronger as these long runs progress which is just what a lot of their teams expected to happen whether you spoke to the big guns at WRT or some of the America BMW teams such as ST Racing, Random Vandals, Flying Lizard, or Turner Motorsports. Although, with that said, Justin Rothberg aboard the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 he is down in 14th spot and Elias Sabo in the Flying Lizard car is in 19th place.
So, some of the BMW teams are playing catch up while others are definitely towards or in fact at the top of the shop. Harper in the IGTC Pro BMW vs. Luca Mars in the GT World Challenge North America Pro Acura, this is a great battle, and you have the Mercedes #4 back behind these two with Luca Stolz at the wheel of it. Just ahead of these two chaps is Jay Schreibman at the wheel of the #163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 entered in the Pro-Am class. Luca Mars brings more power in the Acura down the frontstretch and makes the pass on Dan Harper. Schreibman has a couple talented co-drivers sharing the #163 Ferrari with the Brazilian Oswaldo Negri Jr., who earlier in his career was a stalwart prototype racer, and the Finnish Ferrari ace, Toni Vilander.
Vilander has had success aboard Ferrari GT cars globally in several models and championships in sports car racing through the years. Schreibman, short on experience, coming from Ferrari Challenge. Schreibman was joking about the lineup in car #163 being the oldest driver trio in the field. Schreibman is 63, Oswaldo Negri Jr. is now 61, and Toni Vilander is 44 years old. It is an average age of 55 among the three drivers, but when Ozz Negri and Toni Vilander get to their driving stints later today, don't underestimate old age and treachery because these two blokes still have it. They can still drive very well, and they have speed in spades.
Toni Vilander is a Ferrari ambassador, no longer a Ferrari factory driver. This is weird, but Vilander's two teammates are old enough to be his dad, honestly. OK. That's mind boggling. Anyhow, as we were, and now Kyle Washington is being used as a pick for the leaders. Niederhauser has gone by van der Linde. The Swiss racer getting the better of the South African BMW factory ace for now. Niederhauser takes the lead back. van der Linde did not want to fight. Be smart, don't fight it early doors. As we get to the sharp end of the motor race later this evening, that will be a totally different story. Stay tuned.
van der Linde continues and is right on Niederhauser's six. The #10 Porsche 911 GT3R (992) has a Pro-Am ranked lineup of drivers while the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 has a full-fledged professional trio of racers contracted by the BMW factory in Munich. Niederhauser is the top ranked driver at Herberth for the #10 car after qualifying on the pole. Report from Amanda Busick in the pit lane and she tells us that the reason the #32 GMG Porsche was on the back foot and reported to the lane was due to a puncture. It seems like the car ran over some debris and cut down a Pirelli P Zero tire which was rapidly changed but the team has lost time that they are doing everything in their power to claw back.
They have pitted out of sequence.
Dan Harper in the #33 BMW M4 GT3 continues chasing Luca Mars in the #93 Acura. Mysteriously and totally erroneously, the SRO world feed graphics have the picture of the #33 car as a Ferrari GT3 car and not as a BMW. That is odd. This scrap is for sixth place. Harper setting up the turn into turn 13. The Acura has the legs on the straightaway before things even out. Harper is very aggressive into turn one and the gap is closing. Luca Mars went deeper on the brakes as the ABS goes numb and he had to wait for the car to react. Overshooting the corners compromises your line.
Harper is in an awkward spot, and he just needs to send it. Luca Mars and Dan Harper have never raced against each other and do not know each other's tendencies because Mars has been racing in Fanatec GT World Challenge America while Dan Harper has been doing Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Sprint and Endurance Cup. These two chaps are still feeling each other out. Give the driver in front of you confidence. Maybe the driver you are racing against don't quite have the confidence. The BMW M4 GT3's, we have noticed them being very aggressive over the curbs.
Kyle Heyer points out this is especially true in turns one, seven, and 12 with tall, but smooth curbs. We saw Philipp Eng doing the same thing during qualifying when he put in his banker laps aboard the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. Oh, wow! Look at this! Look at this! This is for position, and between the championship contenders! Adam Adelson in the #120 Porsche and Alec Udell in the #63 Corvette! Alec Udell has been working Adam Adelson over trying to get inside his mind for the past 15 minutes and it looks as though 15 minutes of mind games has worked. He moves 'round the outside, head to head between two Silver drivers. Currently, it looks like the Corvette is a much happier race car than the Porsche is.
Eight wins in a row for DXDT thanks to Alec Udell. DXDT had the edge during a good chunk of the sprint races winning eight on the bounce. With that said, they lose their edge with the endurance race requiring a three-driver lineup for the eight-hour format. Of course, Alexander Sims is the third driver in the #63 Corvette while Laurin Heinrich is the third driver in the #120 Porsche. DXDT Racing has not contested too many endurance races. Corvette's, we are used to seeing them in endurance events when it comes to IMSA and to the FIA World Endurance Championship. But, DXDT as a team, this is their first endurance event with the car.
DXDT has a lot they don't know. DXDT has experience in the Indianapolis 8 Hours, but this is the first time they've taken up the challenge with the new Corvette. That said, they are linked in with Pratt & Miller, with the British TF Sport team running the car overseas in FIA WEC, AWA, the Canadian team that runs a Corvette in IMSA, they have data to go off of. However, the tires are different. Pirelli Italian tires here in SRO, French Michelin tires in IMSA, and American Goodyear tires in the FIA WEC. Before we come back to that story, here's a points update in the Pro class.
1. #120 Skeer/Adelson/Heinrich Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992) 231 points
2. #63 Milner/Udell/Sims DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 230 points -1
3. #28 Auberlen/Choksey/Eng ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 220 points -11
It is essentially a single point margin as things run now between the Wright Motorsports Porsche and the DXDT Corvette. There are factors with the tire situation you need to keep in mind. DXDT are newcomers, greenhorns to the world of endurance racing while Wright Motorsports has been doing it for a long, long time, and winning endurance sports car races to boot. Drivers like Bryan Sellers, Tommy Milner, and Alexander Sims know how to win endurance races, and Erin Verhagen, Tommy Milner's sister, is the team manager at DXDT. I don't care how quick a car is or how good your driver lineup is, to win eight races in a row is quite the accomplishment.
Wright Motorsports cleaned up in another endurance race here at Indianapolis, the 6-hour IMSA race. Don't have damage or take yourself out or bury yourself in a gravel trap. Don't throw it away. Wright Motorsports are well aware that they've got a decided advantage with the Porsche compared to the performance show by the Corvette so far this weekend. Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson, for the second year in a row, come into the Indianapolis 8 Hours with a shot at a championship. They were chasing a Pro-Am SRO GTWC America title last year in 2023, and it went away from them despite have a strong car and a strong showing here at "The Brickyard".
Oh, goodness! Things are getting spicy now, look, as Luca Mars and Dan Harper are working their way by Elias Sabo in the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 currently down in 19th spot, and who is behind these two chaps? Well, well, well, Luca Stolz continues keeping a watching brief aboard the #4 Mercedes-AMG Team Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. Harper's car is set up well and he is biding his time. He can set up and carve the corner better than Mars. He gets on the power earlier than Mars does as they move through turn 14. Luca Mars is completely unflappable. He is not cracking as Harper and Stolz are all over him.
Now, we move back to another battle between a couple BMWs for fourth place. Kenton Koch racing with Philipp Eng. The #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 vs. the similar car #28 in the ST Racing colors for Philipp Eng, the Austrian BMW factory driver in prototypes and GT3. Kyle Washington lapped in the middle of this fight. Kenton Koch was called in as a late sub at Random Vandals for the 2023 Indianapolis 8 Hours and ended up finishing third in the Pro-Am class. He is, as I quote Calvin Fish as saying, "Silver-rated but Gold-plated." He is a real talent.
Last year, Koch was a fill-in for TR3 Racing aboard the Mercedes-AMG GT3 that they campaigned in this race last year. Elliott Skeer will be next into the #120 Porsche and Laurin Heinrich is the third driver. He says in his interview with Amanda Busick, "The Corvette picked up some pace and overtook us but it is a long race. We want a championship fight to the last lap and we will see Elliott in the car soon, and then me, at the end." Heinrich sees how tight the margin is and says, "it is a race between the Corvette and us and we will have to beat them on track and push for sure."
Laurin Heinrich is an amazing talent who has come up through the Porsche pipeline in recent years. Heinrich won the 2022 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany championship and in that same year finished third in Porsche Super Cup which is a support series for Formula 1. Then he got promoted by Porsche AG to be one of their factory GT3 drivers and he shines and shows his stuff no matter what series he is in... IMSA, SRO, it doesn't matter. He gets the job done. Heinrich has the enthusiasm and the passion, and he knew exactly what the points standings were, too.
Porsche has quite the situation with cultivating star drivers. Tose Porsche Carrera Cup cars are tough to drive because they find the talent that way. Porsche develop a ladder system to pay you to be there to go into GT4, GT3, and then into prototypes. They promote within their ladder system even though a chap like Gianmaria Bruni, the Italian, was poached from Ferrari. Matt Campbell, the Australian, is a great example. He started in Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia, came up through the ranks of single make Porsche competition, to the point now where he is on their championship contending prototype team and also was given a Formula E test with Porsche in their electric race car earlier in the year in 2024.
The other thing is that now it is far easier for a GT driver to transition into a prototype with the new GTP regulations in IMSA and/or Hypercar in the FIA World Endurance Championship, because the GTP's and Hypercar's they are beefier, they are heavier cars, that handle more like a GT racer. It is not quite like the old LMP1 hybrid cars or even LMP2. Driver like Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell who started in GT competition have really become stars for Porsche at the prototype level with the new LMDh regulations on both sides of the pond. Drivers like Dan Harper at BMW, they know they are on a fast track up the ladder through GT3 before they get a shot at a prototype racing career with a big brand, such as BMW.
We could see Dan Harper at the wheel of the BMW LMDh in the very near future. They also race in these massive GT3 races at places like Indianapolis, Bathurst, Nurburgring, Spa, Le Mans, Daytona, Sebring, Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Sports car racing seems like maybe it is homogenizing more, and some fans may be miffed about that. But what it does is, while emphasizing the 'win on Sunday and sell on Monday" philosophy, it also allows with the crossover, more chances for young drivers to get their names out there and show their stuff. We talk about a golden age of sports car racing at the prototype level, and yes, this is very true.
But do not overlook SRO and what they've built, the foundation, the house they've built with GT3. It is phenomenal. Sports car racing is on an upward trajectory. Mark my words. Formula 1? IndyCar? Are you listening? The IGTC venues are amazing, and Suzuka in Japan will come back to the fold for next year. A global formula and a global championship on continents in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. We have representatives from all across the globe with Fanatec GT World Challenge from all of those continents, in this very race, as we speak now, telling you the story of it.
Before we continue it is worth noting that we are taking a look at the Pro-Am leading and overall leading car, the #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992). Patric Niederhauser sharing with Loek Hartog and Antares Au. A global network has been constructed around the GT3 platform by the SRO. Patric Niederhauser showing the way currently is demonstrating car #10, the Herberth Porsche is hooked up not just in qualifying trim, but clearly in race trip, too as we are closing in on one hour of this race being complete, soon. Hang in there, everybody. We're nearly at the 1/8th mark.
Our IGTC Pro class leader, the professional drivers and teams running with a manufacturer for points in Intercontinental GT Challenge is the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Sheldon van der Linde (the South African, currently driving), alongside Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts, the two Belgian drivers. Tire degradation can happen but it is balanced out with the cars lightening up on their fuel load to gain performance the cars get ligehter. The fuel burn usually offsets the tire degradation, and yet, it is based on the track and the weather.
Oh, criminy. Our conversation has been broken, by an incident. Let me regroup here and see, because Elias Sabo is off the road and into the gravel trap at turn four at the wheel of the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3. We expect to see a Full Course Yellow, and yes, the safety car has been deployed. The marshals will come to Sabo's rescue, of course, sharing the #8 BMW M4 GT3 with Andy Lee and Nick Yelloly. Full Course Yellow. We are under Full Course Yellow. Such a tough break for the Flying Lizard boys. This will cost them a lap or more.
He got nudged wide out into the gravel, out into no man's land by Kenny Habul aboard the #75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3. Habul, the Australian solar energy magnate and the bankroll of this team, sharing with Lucas Auer of Germany, and his fellow Australian GT3 ace, Jayden "The Juice" Ojeda. I think I might get why Jayden Ojeda has the nickname, "The Juice" because OJ are the first two letters of his last name. OJ. Orange juice. I think I see the deal. Then again, maybe not.
The dynamic of these corners, you run out wide, and someone thinks they can set up a pass and then take someone off the road and into the gravel trap. 65 minutes is the maximum stint length and so you are looking at seven pit stops and eight stints to get through the entirety of the Indianapolis 8 Hours on this Saturday in Indiana. If you come to the lane and do refueling, the minimum stop time according to the regulations is 112 seconds. 63 seconds worth of it will be transition in and out of the pit lane and with the service the prediction is 112 seconds total, so the service should be (ideally) to meet the window, no longer than 49 seconds between fueling, changing tires, and doing a driver change.
Maximum driver stint length is 65 minutes. Now, if we were in a situation like we have now with a yellow with 65 minutes elapsed (we are almost there, not quite), you get five minutes of stint time added to the maximum to work around doing your pit stop. Several drivers are getting suited and booted for driver changes packing the field behind the safety car. The rules meld together between SRO America and global rules in IGTC. There is nuance that has to be followed on both sides of the equation between the IGTC teams and the teams from here in Fanatec GT World Challenge America. In 2023, the rules combination was agreed upon.
It is far less complex than in the early years here at Indianapolis when we also included GT4 cars in this race. With that said, there was advantages and caveats. The advantages, more variety to the field and more cars participating. The caveats, more cars participating meant drivers of less experience and slower speed with the even more production-based GT4 cars that don't have the power or the aerodynamics of the GT3 cars, and the fact that the traffic situation was absolutely horrendous as a lot of times the GT4 drivers having less experience had no idea that a GT3 car was screaming its way up behind them and whistling past them like a bullet.
It is now less complex and easier to understand having all the GT3 cars in one race with no other divisions. Kenny Habul's incident that we saw is going to be a bit of a no brainer as far as the stewards' decision or so I would think. The pit lane is open and will be a hive of activity in a wee while. Multiple teams are setting up their tires and getting set for servicing their cars. The overall leader has lapped up to 14th overall. Poor old Justin Rothberg has just been put a lap down. So, the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 with Rothberg, Robby Foley, and Patrick Gallagher, they are going to be fighting like mad to try and get back on the lead lap and on sequence with the cars ahead of them.
Oh boy. We see a split strategy. Herberth Motorsports Porsche, the #10 team has elected to keep Patric Niederhauser out for an extra lap, but Team WRT and BMW have called Sheldon van der Linde to the pit lane. "Sheldon, now we box. Box, box, box." Oh, my gracious. Who is all in the lane now? We've got most of the other top running cars. Turner BMW, DXDT Corvette, GruppeM Mercedes, Random Vandals and ST Racing BMW's, EB Porsche, Racer's Edge Acura, Lone Star Racing Mercedes, and more.
AF Corse Ferrari, the other DXDT Corvette, the Wright Motorsports Porsche, the RS1 Porsche, and I think the second ST Racing BMW as the Team 75 Express SunEnergy Mercedes might be stuck on the pit entry road. Watch out for the concertina because it looked like Adam Adelson in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche was actually stopped. Maybe some drivers simply aren't paying attention because they are loosening their seatbelts trying to ready for a driver change. You have to take the belts off, undo your radio connection, undo your drink straw, and prepare to climb out before belting your co-driver into the car for the next stint.
At Random Vandals Kenton Koch climbs out and Connor De Philippi will take the second stint aboard the #99 BMW M4 GT3. No driver change planned at RS1 or at least not yet. Jake Pedersen, the musician, visual artist, and racing driver, he might be doing a double stint unless of course he is handing off to one of his co-drivers, either Trent Hindman or Kay van Berlo. Wright Motorsports electing to change tires and fuel the Porsche #120, but they are keeping Adam Adelson in the car for a double stint. Luca Stolz won't get new tires because he is finished with his first stint.
I expect the next driver into the car will be Fabian Schiller before Alex Palou does the third stint. With troubles for GMG and Ayhancan Guven their pursuers will be able to take advantage. Elias Sabo is back on the road, spewing gravel out of the car, as that might be all the worse for wear the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 is right now. Sabo, I think, just overshot the turn and I agree with Kyle Heyer in the broadcast booth as I don't think anything broke on the car to force him into the gravel trap. Some of the Mercedes teams elected not to pit, hoping for a wave by. But that will not happen.
Lone Star Racing finally will pit after nursing those tires. Prince Jeffri Ibrahim in the #888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes and Jeff Burton in the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes wanted that, but they will not get it. Patric Niederhauser stayed out. Even if we went yellow within the first hour, this does not extend your driving stint. The 65-minute stipulation still stands. The #4 Lone Star Mercedes is still in the pit lane with the pit lane closed and the safety car coming by. I wonder if there was a delay. The minimum stop time of 112 seconds is only half of a safety car lap around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Meanwhile, we will look again at the replay of the Kenny Habul and Elias Sabo shemozzle from earlier on.
That is under review by the stewards as we speak. Then came trouble in the pit lane with everyone bunching together at the pit lane speed limit line. Everybody closes the gaps, and Kenny Habul is the unlucky chap for the second time in a row within mere moments. No contact, but Philipp Eng double stacked everyone. The pit in is very dusty and very dirty. Car #4 spent 2:55 in the pit lane with Fabian Schiller now at the controls of the Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. They are on the back foot, as the first car one lap down. They are in 13th place and now only 12 cars remain on the lead lap coming to the end soon, of the first hour.
We see the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche has the pace and should also keep an eye on the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, in this replay of the pit lane drama. Custodio Toledo stopped at pit in and that led to the logjam. I also have to wonder because it looked like Philipp Eng passed Kenton Koch at pit in. So, that is back to the Random Vandals BMW vs. ST Racing BMW story. That is very quirky because everyone is slowing down. The stewards will have to work that out. At Virginia International Raceway a car that was holding up another car was penalized. Maintain speed and don't play games of jumping out of your box, slowing down. The stewards won't allow that.
There was also a problem at pit out between the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 and the #93 Racer's Edgr Acura NSX GT3. Those cars were reordered due to violation of pit exit protocol per the SRO stewards. We'll have to sort and sift our way through all that rigamarole in a wee while. For now, the safety car has pulled off the circuit and we are back to green flag racing! Patric Niederhauser pulls the pin and we're back underway with an hour already on the board. Niederhauser still owes a pit stop that he shall have to take under green flag conditions.
Meanwhile, it is three-wide between BMW, Mercedes, and Porsche! They might sort this out into the first turn, or, maybe not yet. Fabian Schiller in the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes is scrambling to get back on the lead lap but now he is embroiled in a battle with Charles Weerts, Patrick Gallagher, and Kyle Washington! Fabian Schiller has to chase down Patric Niederhauser and Patric Niederhauser has to pit in five minutes to meet his maximum stint length.
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