Being on the pit lane now is going to put the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche down a lap to the overall race leaders. Again, the #75 75 Express Mercedes is in the lane, too. The leaders have run just over 200 laps in five hours. 40 laps an hour. We continue running the numbers and the permutations. It includes the yellows. At this pace, we predict a race with 320 laps run in total. Now, the #38 ST Racing BMW has completed 161 laps, just over half of the possible distance we could cover. 161 laps, 393 miles. If it stays green, that number could move a bit. One other caveat is that it is relative to the class leader, but the class leader has done the same distance. The safety car is now on track. We will be crunching numbers from here on out.
Now, the #63 Corvette can close up and might have their bacon saved. The #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche got out of pit lane just ahead of the safety car. With the leaders slowing down due to the safety car being released, that saves the #120 Porsche's bacon, just barely! Weerts slowed down with no safety car. Now, has Charles Weerts made a big mistake and given a reprieve to the Wright Motorsports Porsche? That is indeed what it looks like. The #888 Mercedes goes back to Gasoline Alley. The #38 ST Racing BMW is moving again in the meantime. But the movement is very slow. I wonder what WRT will do with the lead car, the #31. They could reset the drive time and drive back onto the track.
We can only approximate where the stints and the fuel loads are. 15-20 minutes into the stint, is a rough guess because we don't have exact data, as the wave by is happening now. DXDT might be getting manna from heaven here. Charles Weerts assumes the overall lead and can be the IGTC champion, ahead of Alex Palou in the lapped #4 Mercedes for Lone Star Racing. He is just a lap down. Is it true? No. He is two laps down. Never mind. Then comes Augusto Farfus followed by Jules Gounon. So, now, the order has changed in the North American Pro class. Kay van Berlo holds the lead in the #85 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R (992) ahead of Gabby Chaves in the #93 Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3.
There were pit stops under review for the BMW's but there has not been any ruling for the #31, #33, or #28. The full field is now coming down pit lane and I believe this is for resetting stint length more than it is for anyone to take on service. Never mind! It is service for the #31 Team WRT BMW. Fuel, tires, and a driver change. Weerts is out and I wonder who will get into the car. Sheldon van der Linde it is. We see GruppeM pitting in and out and more. Maybe WRT will do their stint reset at the end of the stint.
DXDT stays out putting Alec Udell in the overall lead in the #63 Corvette. Now, Elliott Skeer is back up to second overall in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche and right behind their championship rival. Well, well, well. The plot thickens. Points will have swung back in favor of the Corvette for now, but an on-track pass will change everything. Wright Motorsports came into this race a year ago in the Pro-Am class but the 2023 crown slipped through their fingertips. With the wave arounds going on, this cycles Alec Udell to P1 behind the safety car. Udell in the Corvette is the leader in North America Pro with Elliott Skeer, his rival, in the same class, second.
Third is Jayden Ojeda in the #75 Mercedes who is overall a lap down but leading the Pro-Am class at 75 Express. Then, a further lap down is the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 and so on. Somehow or other based on pit strategy, Alex Palou and the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 has ended up in front of both Team WRT BMW's. There is a chance for them to get a lap back if things play out right. Jules Gounon had a short pit stop to do a reset for track position. He just reset the drive time without refueling. They are not sure they can win head-to-head against Team WRT.
Safety Car lights off. Alec Udell leads the motor race in the #63 DXDT Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R. The quick stop for the #130 GruppeM Mercedes leapfrogs Jules Gounon ahead of the two WRT BMW's. OK. This clarifies everything. The deck has been reshuffled. Gounon on old, ratty Pirelli tires relative to the competition. Green flag! Happy Hour at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with the shadows growing long before darkness falls. Alec Udell is the championship leader at this moment with his rival Elliott Skeer in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992) right behind him.
The #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 loses a spot to the #85 RS1 Porsche! Kay van Berlo sweeps past Max Hesse. Hesse was slow. The Porsche's can score points even with their American Pro and Pro-Am class. Bastian Buus barges his way past Cedric Sbirrazzuoli! The Monegasque is roughed up by the Dane. That could have been ugly! Buus is running very well, and now, Luca Stolz is not giving any room to Sheldon van der Linde. The South African passes the German, nonetheless, in another Mercedes vs. BMW battle royale.
Fifth in class and 14th overall is the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 with Finland's Elias Seppanen at the wheel of it sharing with Jeff Burton and Philip Ellis. For the lead, Elliott Skeer trying to find a way around Alec Udell! He's stymied for the time being and couldn't make a pass. Udell is under massive pressure as his championship rival is bearing right down on him and is right on his six. Alec Udell is an engineer by training and idolizes Mark Donohue, the winner of the 1972 Indianapolis 500. Udell is trying to follow in Donohue's footsteps and win at Indianapolis.
Skeer set up the pass, flicked to the inside and Udell was able to outbrake him as he has a big run into turn 12. Udell defending, compromising his line, and now, Skeer sends it down the inside! They barely give each other enough room! Udell maintains the lead! Oh man! Skeer from the single make Porsche ranks. Alec Udell is the only American driver who has ever won a championship in SRO GT4 European Series. DXDT Racing have won eight straight races in the Pro class in 2024 and in possession of the points lead with his championship rival behind.
Udell inside, Skeer, further inside, and gets to his flank, and is going for the pass! Skeer, book it! He is back into the race lead! Skeer is running off like a scalded cat. Jules Gounon passes Sheldon van der Linde but van der Linde is now hot on the heels of the Andorran domiciled Frenchman. Sheldon van der Linde is running down Gounon, for the IGTC Pro lead. van der Linde takes his foot out of it as they have out of class traffic to fiddle with. That is the #88 AF Corse Ferrari again. van der Linde with slightly fresher tires is now all over Jules Gounon like a cheap suit.
Everyone now needs two fuel stops to get home to the finish. I don't believe Sbirrazzuoli saw them. Gounon has breathing room and Sheldon van der Linde needs to be more circumspect. He does not challenge the lapped Ferrari which is going to cost poor old Sheldon van der Linde oodles of time and Max Hesse is also scrapping through the lapped traffic aboard the sister #33 Team WRT BMW as well. Hesse is sixth in the overall. Holy cow! Such a spectacular picture of the cars screaming down the frontstretch and through turn 13 which is oval turn one!
van der Linde clears the traffic. The BMW took full service while the #130 Mercedes just reset the stint time. A short pit stop adds an extra seven and a half seconds to the next pit stop for the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes currently in the hands of Luca Stolz. They are well down the order in 13th place, the car being shared by Stolz, Alex Palou, and Fabian Schiller. Udell due to the strategy will pit sooner than some other cars and ought to hit the lane with two hours and ten minutes remaining. He could be vulnerable to going a lap down. An ill-timed yellow could wreck DXDT's chances.
Poor old Jules Gounon is fighting an evil handling Mercedes right now. On fresh tires, van der Linde is going to nip past Gounon here it seems. Sheldon van der Linde has the pace, Gounon wriggles the car through the turn, and van der Linde crosses him over and gets on the inside line! Gounon slams the door in van der Linde's face. May I play through? Absolutely not, sunbeam. Gounon, one of the world's best in a GT3 car, he is hanging on with everything he has over the leading BMW. 6.2 liter naturally aspirated V8 power in the Mercedes. 3-liter twin turbocharged V6 power in the BMW.
Elliott Skeer now leads Alec Udell to the tune of 3.2 seconds in Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro. Then comes this battle where Gounon barely holds sway over Sheldon van der Linde. Gounon is losing pace though. He is over a second slower than Elliott Skeer because of having to fight the BMW. van der Linde has the faster car but the question is, does he have the patience. That's hard to tell at this stage. Urgency beginning to ramp up. Sheldon van der Linde made a brilliant move and I don't think Jules Gounon has an answer to his riddle right now.
Sheldon van der Linde and Team WRT are third on the road and in the lead of IGTC Pro with two of the American championship Pro class cars ahead, the #63 DXDT Corvette of Alec Udell and the overall leader Elliott Skeer aboard the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Max Hesse is buried in traffic and has dropped away from the leaders. Many Pro cars have their top factory drivers at the wheel. Wright Motorsports' strategy has stymied them quite a bit as now, Alec Udell passes Sheldon van der Linde for second place in the overall.
He has four seconds to try and gain on race leader Elliott Skeer. A prudent decision by van der Linde to slow the pace under the safety car which allowed the #120 Porsche to remain on the lead lap. This means Porsche is still in the fight for the manufacturer's championship among the three German brands. The SRO stewards have handed a pit lane protocol violation penalty to the #31 Team WRT BMW which comes in the form of a five second time penalty added to their next scheduled pit stop. Oh my! The #33 sister car suffered the same fate earlier. Maybe they are manipulating speed in the fast lane. They were going for track position.
If you leap out of the box early you undercut the minimum stop time of 112 seconds and you are adjusting your stop time and creating a traffic jam because your competition cannot pass you if you back your speed down. Bill Auberlen now in the lane in the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. ST Racing has one car that is way down the order and could be out of the event for all intents and purposes, the Samantha Tan, Neil Verhagen, John Capestro-Dubets car #38 while the sister #28 is in the lane, Bill Auberlen co-driving with Varun Choksey and Philipp Eng.
No penalty posted for the #28 entry. But both ST Racing BMW's, potential championship contenders in their classes, hitting trouble. With the need to take the penalty on their next stop, the #31 BMW of van der Linde will drop behind the #130 GruppeM Mercedes with Jules Gounon at the wheel of it presently. van der Linde doing everything he can to put another lap on the eighth place #75 Mercedes from 75 Express currently driven by Aussie, and Australian Supercars star, Jayden Ojeda. Something is indeed amiss with the #28 BMW M4 GT3 and they have something maybe wrong with the turbo with loss of boost pressure.
Auberlen, Choksey, and Eng have had a lot of trouble even though they have indeed been a contender in North American Pro and have now dropped down to 11th spot. All the other entries in North American Pro run within the top seven save for the #28. Skeer still leading now by 3,2 seconds over Sheldon van der Linde having not taken the pit stop and staying out. Hello again, to Amanda Busick in the pit lane. We are told as the sun begins to set, that the air filter was clogged and replaced on the BMW #28 and they are back on track now but they have lost a chance to fight for a class podium.
John Capestro-Dubets in the sister #38 ST Racing BMW is 21st which is manna from heaven for the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 with Patrick Gallagher driving. Again, Gallagher sharing with Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg. Now, there is another car in the Pro-Am class that they will compete with, but it is an international entry, an IGTC entry, the #10 Herberth Motorsports car in the hands of the birthday boy, Loek Hartog. Hartog and his team though are only eligible for IGTC points and cannot score points within the Fanatec GT World Challenge America championship, so, with the misery and woe for the #38, the #29 BMW might be able to pick up some valuable championship points and move themselves up in the final standings once this race concludes this evening.
Side by side, Hartog racing with Connor De Philippi as Random Vandals Racing wonder what might have been. Cedric Sbirrazzuoli is fighting for something but not for position, I can tell you that. The Monegasque has the #88 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 in 13th overall between Luca Stolz and Elias Seppanen in two of the Mercedes' for Lone Star Racing and Regulator Racing respectively. Two and a half hours to go. Sunset should happen in an hour and a half. So the last hour will be in darkness. This is the only night race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on the pavement. On the dirt track there were nighttime sprint car and midget races.
This year's Indianapolis 500 almost ended at night. Sheldon van der Linde chasing Elliott Skeer with a lapped car in between through the twisty section on the road course. We have seen a great fight between the #120 Porsche and the #63 Corvette. Just under two full 90-minute Fanatec GT World Challenge races left to go here in Indy. IGTC manufacturers points, unofficially, but as they run, Porsche would be ahead of BMW and Mercedes. Porsche has cars in the lead with the Wright Motorsports car and in fifth with the RS1 entry. A lot of this can change though before we finish at 8:15 tonight.
Hello again to Kyle Heyer in the broadcast booth joining Calvin Fish. Everyone seems to be back on the same strategy game. In about 17 minutes we should see Alec Udell making a pit stop and the penalty incoming for the #31 BMW. Laurin Heinrich has yet to take his final stint aboard the #120 Porsche but with that said, with him at the wheel, Wright Motorsports are in the pound seats to perhaps win this motor race overall. They got really lucky staying on the lead lap otherwise they would have tumbled down the order. Lots of time left on the board and anything can happen indeed.
We have seen cars with mechanical troubles, fuel pumps, oil pressure. GT3 cars are robust endurance cars but you never know what the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will throw at you. Get the mileage on the car for servicing and lifing the parts. Toni Vilander brings the #163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 to the pit lane. But this isn't for service. Rather it is to serve a drive through penalty issued to him. They exceeded their maximum stint length. That's such a shame. Great to see Toni Vilander in a Ferrari again sharing with Jay Schreibman and Oswaldo Negri Jr.
With the retirement of the #888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes, this means Antares Au, the Turkish driver, is the champion in the IGTC Independent Cup. Au driving the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche alongside the aforementioned Loek Hartog, and Patric Niederhauser. Toni Vilander comes back out right in front of the leadrs, Skeer and van der Linde. Sheldon van der Linde is running down Skeer in a battle for the overall lead. It is game on between Porsche and BMW. Porsche didn't bring an all Pro lineup or all Pro car to the race. Sheldon van der Linde trying to pounce, late under braking!
Skeer saw him, opened his hands, and avoided a collision. BMW, Porsche, Mercedes-AMG. This is mano e mano between Porsche and BMW with less than two and a half hours to go but lots of racing. Elliott Skeer and company are on the verge of a title, and he has really shown his racing skill, racing against the best GT3 drivers in the world. Everyone wants to win and kiss the bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Porsche is yet to win the Indianapolis 8 Hours in what is the fifth running of this event.
Whoa! The #61 Porsche, Bastian Buus, abused, (abuused), the wall! Egad! Drivers have indeed been playing chicken with that wall out of the final turn. Toni Vilander's previous lap was 1:24.722 and van der Linde is at 1:25 flat and the Porsche is at 1:24.7. Toni Vilander continues as a Ferrari ambassador, not driving as often, but when he does, he's quick. Sheldon van der Linde is seeing red chasing Elliott Skeer through turn 13. We have had four Full Course Yellows compared to just one yellow last year. You always have to deviate from expected strategy in endurance racing. DXDT played their cards well to give them track position before the #120 came to the fore.
That being said, I don't think the #63 Corvette of Udell, Milner, and Sims, has what it takes to fight the Porsche for the championship title, the Skeer, Adelson, Heinrich car. We have not seen Alexander Sims in the Corvette for a wee while. Max Hesse will be aboard the #33 Team WRT BMW for a while as well. Sheldon van der Linde has a Captain Cook as that BMW M4 GT3 is far larger in size than the Porsche 911 GT3R (992). It is so great to see the international teams and drivers coming to race with the Fanatec GT World Challenge America contenders.
You must coexist on the track with your other competitors as Toni Vilander is matching Elliott Skeer for lap times. Toni Vilander must be really enjoying his stint. Elliott Skeer is still being harried by Sheldon van der Linde, the South African. Even if Skeer loses the lead to van der Linde, Porsche might still lead the manufacturers' cup. Max Hesse aboard the sister #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 drops the left rear tire into the dirt on corner entry in turn one. He tracks out to the other side of the road, but the problem is that the rear diffuser on the car is loose on the right side.
That isn't good and it is going to make the aerodynamics on the rear of that BMW cattywampus. There are three curbs you cannot afford to hit here on the road course at Indianapolis as van der Linde has indeed made the pass on Elliott Skeer that we expected him to. van der Linde passes and Skeer is now second. The math changes because of Hesse being down the order. In the Intercontinental GT Challenge, this race the top two cars score manufacturer points with a possible total of 43. There are no double points on offer for the IGTC contenders. The Fanatec GT World Challenge America contestants are eligible for double points here at Indianapolis.
25 points for a win, 18 points for second spot, so that equals 43 points for your maximum score. Porsche has another car in the top five and that is the #85 RS1 car with the Dutchman Kay van Berlo at the wheel of it. Team WRT feel good about their chances to assist BMW to take the title away from Porsche but it is no walk in the park for the BMW camp. A moment ago, Sheldon van der Linde suck around Skeer in turn nine with a lack of acceleration for Skeer, trying to control the car and Sheldon van der Linde carved the corner. The BMW has a good setup and plenty of grip. So, van der Linde reestablishes himself.
Remember now, that Porsche can take things back their way because of the fact that van der Linde has a five second penalty in his future added to the overall time of his next scheduled pit stop. Therefore, things will be ebbing and flowing back and forth between Munich and Stuttgart and which German brand has the advantage. The best of the Mercedes' is still Jules Gounon in third spot, another Stuttgart brand, with the #130 GruppeM car. In order to do his drive time reset, Alec Udell will need to hit the pit lane soon, aboard the #63 DXDT Corvette.
Loek Hartog in the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche is second in Pro-Am. Antares Au, the urkish racer is next up for an interview with Amanda Busick. Au says "motorsports is always a journry because if it were easy no one would do it. People are people so they make mistakes. "I am sorry for Triple Eight. But we have our own race and our own difficulties. We fell two laps down working our way back, hoping for the win." Antares Au is thankful to Random Vandals Racing and their BMW team, the #99, for letting #10 pass. Antares Au ran into Kenton Koch and said, "I feel we are fighting for a class victory", and thanks them. He owes the Random Vandals boys for a great battle.
Hartog though, he is still chasing after that pesky Mercedes, the #75 car with Jayden Ojeda driving. This is the Pro-Am fight. Wonderful sportsmanship from Antares Au. A great battle for second now in Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro as Kay van Berlo in the #85 RS1 Porsche is chasing Alec Udell in the #63 DXDT Racing Corvette. Kay van Berlo clinched a championship with Curt Swearingin in the Pro-Am division in Pirelli GT4 America this morning. There is one final GT4 race of the season happening tomorrow morning. A programming note. Please join us for that race in the morning if you are up for it. It should be an exciting conclusion to the season.
Alec Udell must be tuned in to what the #85 is doing. These cars run fourth and fifth in the overall completing 232 laps, 566 miles. Kay van Berlo is part of the IGTC manufacturers' battle for Porsche. #85 is steadily climbing up the order. So many championship scenarios. The #38 ST Racing BMW is running again and if the #29 should win and they are leading among eligible cars. One, two, three, four, five, six. Hang on to that thought. The #85 has just blown by Alec Udell for position! Wow! Kay van Berlo taking absolutely no prisoners! He has picked Udell's pocket and moved up to third! Udell in the pit lane to reset the drive time.
The #38 ST Racing BMW, the Tan/Verhagen/Capestro-Dubets car is one place out of the top five which would swing the Pro-Am title fight back in their favor. The trouble being that they are many, many laps down, seven laps down to the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 in the hands of Andy Lee sharing with Elias Sabo and Nick Yelloly. Pit stop time for the Corvette. The #38 ST Racing BMW is back on track, so they are not out of the fight by any means as we see the #33 Team WRT BMW hit pit lane, Max Hesse driving. Can the team do anything to repair the diffuser? Two hours and change remaining.
In the drivers' meeting, it was stated you can change tires and add fuel at the same time but no service can be dpne until the tires and fuel are complete. Now they can go to work trying to reattach the diffuser and they have a spare. They will replace it with the spare and how much time will it cost? The #130 GruppeM Mercedes is also in the lane. A four-tire change happening for the Mercedes as well. Get the pit stops out of the way for two equal stints to the end of the race. Jules Gounon finishes his stint. I am not sure if it is Maro Engel or Mikael Grenier getting into the car as this diffuser replacement is costing precious time for the #33 Team WRT BMW.
The next car in line behind the #33 is down a couple of laps, the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 currently in the hands of Luca Stolz. Maro Engel is at the wheel of the #130 Mercedes. This is a major delay for the second WRT BMW, but this is a siginificant repair of the rear diffuser. Elliott Skeer goes deep under braking in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche and almost has a clatter with the #28 ST Racing BMW going to the inside! Bill Auberlen almost got hit and it could have been a game changer for the #120! Holy cow!
We saw Elliott Skeer race very competitively without a rear diffuser on the Porsche. I recall that was at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, back in May I believe. #120 has had a few narrow escapes. There was also that pit lane contact. They have had three strikes and are not out yet. Hello again, to Ryan Myrehn. Good thing this is a motor race and not a baseball game. Wright Motorsports might be able to actually bookend the season because they have not won a race since the opening races at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, way back in early April. They have the championship lead only because the #63 DXDT Corvette did not do the opening four races of the year because the team was still sorting the car out.
Wright Motorsports have had a drought though and they want a win at Indianapolis. Winning a championship without winning races might be acceptable. A year ago, of course, Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson had Callum Ilott as their third driver in this event. With the diffuser damage for the #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, they had been up on the curb and the BMWs are abusing the bigger curbs and the diffuser was loosened up. Thw BMW's are such robust cars, it is hard to figure why the diffuser would be a problem. The diffuser grabs the car and sticks it to the road with downforce. A loose diffuser makes your downforce very inconsistent.
Trouble for the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 stopping on course. Kenton Koch is suited and booted ready for his stint, but the car is stopped on the circuit. This might be another fuel pump problem for them and result in yet another Full Course Yellow which we have seen many of in the race today. In 2023, we ran this race very nearly incident free with just one yellow. Sheldon van der Linde will be on the horn asking if he needs to pit and he is extending his stint. They safety car is deployed, and WRT will have to wait for the pits to open. I think Skeer stayed out. He is seven seconds behind. This safety car will be manna from heaven for the #63 DXDT Corvette because they pitted off sequence and are on a different strategy to everyone else.
They would have gone down a lap but as I said earlier, I think this will save their bacon for the time being. Alexander Sims is at the wheel of the #63 but is a lap down. The safety car has not picked up the overall leader yet and is released off turn ten as we watch Patric Niederhauser running second in Pro-Am aboard the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche. This is when endurance sports car racing gets truly complicated. The #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW has been moved but it was not moved quickly enough to avoid bringing out the yellow. This is our fifth safety car scramble of the race today. Next time by the pit lane will be open.
The leaders have not pitted but again, Sheldon van der Linde has to serve that five second penalty. So, the Sword of Damocles still hangs over those boys. If you get stacked up in pit lane that will only lose you more and more track position. Serving such a penalty under yellow means the WRT BMW would drop back at least four if not five spots. This is the pass around for the cars trapped between the safety car and their class leader. The good news for van der Linde is that he has a large buffer to the next car in his class. The top four cars in the overall running order I believe are the only cars left on the lead lap.
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