There is a massive stack up coming to pit lane as the #93 Acura for Racer's Edge Motorsports very nearly piles into the back of three stopped cars ahead! Now, talk about something that could have been extremely ugly! Extremely precarious! Pit lane entry creates a traffic jam slowing down to 50 kilometers an hour. Something to look into and try to prevent for future editions of this race. Wow! So, there was heavy contact somewhere when we went back for the replay of the pit lane kerfuffle. Potentially, it looks as if Loek Hartog clattered into Jayden Ojeda, as we see Weight Motorsports and Team WRT with the #31 both in the pit lane. #120 of course is the Porsche in second spot, Elliott Skeer at the controls.
Zach Veach thankfully took evasive action. Team WRT has now served their five second penalty and they will potentially drop to fourth overall but retain the class lead in IGTC Pro. This might have implications in the manufacturers' championship. Now, I wonder why the #93 Acura didn't beat them off pit lane unless they had a slow stop. Veach avoided the clatter ahead. There was that bottleneck at pit in. The pit stop times are updating and maybe it was the #61 EBM Porsche that got clattered, not the #10 car. Dries Vanthoor now at the wheel of the #31 Team WRT BMW and with Laurin Heinrich now in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, in the overall lead, this helps Porsche in their quest for the IGTC manufacturers' crown.
These late yellows are playing into the hands of Porsche as we have the wave around underway and those cars a lap down stayed out, cycled to the front, and now they pass by to get their lap back. One of those cars is the #63 DXDT Corvette. They get their lap back, but it is true that Alexander Sims remains behind Laurin Heinrich when it comes to class order. In Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro, the running order shows all entries still in this thing. Laurin Heinrich, Luca Mars, Trent Hindman, Alexander Sims, and Bill Auberlen. So, it the Wright Motorsports Porsche, Racer's Edge Acura, RS1 Porsche, DXDT Corvette, and ST Racing BMW.
Alexander Sims jumping into a car that is in the midst of the championship fight. Heinrich vs. Sims. We are an hour away from sunset and the track is cooling off and will make visibility more of a challenge. Thank goodness the track sweepers are out doing some cleanup as the wave by has brought the top dozen cars onto the lead lap from the perspective of Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes in IGTC manufacturers' points, and they can score points for the manufacturer.
Here's the rundown of the cars on the lead lap.
1. #120 Heinrich/Skeer/Adelson Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
2. #31 Vanthoor/Weerts/van der Linde Team WRT BMW M4 GT3
3. #93 Mars/Veach/Chaves Racer's Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
4. #85 Hindman/Pedersen/van Berlo RS1 Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
5. #130 Engel/Gounon/Grenier Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes
AMG GT3
6. #63 Sims/Milner/Udell DXDT Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
7. #75 Auer/Habul/Ojeda SunEnergy1/75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3
8. #10 Niederhauser/Hartog/Au Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
9. #4 Stolz/Schiller/Palou Mercedes-AMG Team Lone Star Racing
Mercedes-AMG GT3
10. #28 Auberlen/Choksey/Eng ST Racing BMW M4 GT3
11. #88 Sbirrazzuoli/Agostini/Toledo AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
12. #29 Foley/Rothberg/Gallagher Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
Robby Foley is second in Pro-Am and must pass Ricardo Agostini if they want to win the title since the #38 ST Racing BMW will score points. Speaking of ST Racing, the #28 sister car is now back in the pit lane. Their long, fraught race continues. Safety Car lights off. We are setting up to go back to green with Laurin Heinrich being harried by Dries Vanthoor in the Porsche vs. BMW battle for the lead. Luca Mars is third followed by Trent Hindman, Maro Engel, and Alexander Sims. Four North American cars are in the top six places in the running order with less than two hours to go.
The safety car is in pit lane. Into the south end of the speedway. Green flag! Away we go again! Porsche ahead of BMW, Mercedes, and Acura. It is indeed go fast time now if you want the championships, and want to kiss the bricks, you gotta make the moves now! Remember that some of the Pro-Am ranked cars in the race today are not eligible for points within the North American section of SRO racing. Agostini gets his elbows out and places a car between he and the Turner Motorsports BMW of Robby Foley. Foley is attacking immediately.
Varun Choksey at the controls of the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 that has been in and out of the pit lane in just the last few minutes. He is going to be an ice cream headache for these leaders to deal with. Argy bargy between the #33 Team WRT BMW and the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes. There is a new diffuser on the #33 car but with the lengthy pit stop they are running two laps behind down in 13th place with Max Hesse behind the wheel. Brendon Leitch now going side by side aboard the #61 EBM Porsche with the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes in the hands of Phillip Ellis. Now, a drive through penalty has indeed been called for the #93 Racer's Edge Acura!
An incident responsibility penalty has indeed been given to Luca Mars in third place right now. He will have to crawl down the pit lane and continue dropping down the order. Another big penalty too for the #88 Ferrari, the AF Corse car of Riccardo Agostini, for violating the pit lane speed limit! Dear, oh dear. So, this is going to put Turner Motorsports and Robby Foley aboard the #29 BMW in the pound seats for the championship title! Well, well, well. Laurin Heinrich continues motoring away from the best GT3 drivers in the world, especially Dries Vanthoor in the #31 BMW.
1:23.9 for Heinrich, just 2/10ths of a second off the fastest lap of the day! Wow! Heinrich is flying as the frontstretch is fully in shadows with the sun setting behind the massive grandstand. Heinrich is now 8/10ths of a second clear over Dries Vanthoor in chase mode. The sun is setting at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the ST Racing team's championship hopes are setting like the sun is. Trent Hindman aboard the #85 RS1 Porsche is passing by Pro Am cars, as he is now second in Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro. RS1, a relative minnow compared to these massive global GT3 teams.
Luca Stolz is in the pit lane as the #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes and that team's race is continuing to go more and more pear shaped. Sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug. Lone Star Racing with Stolz, Palou, and Schiller, are the bug, today. Maro Engel in fourth spot aboard the #130 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Mercedes-AMG GT3 is giving chase to the lapped #61 Porsche, the EBM automobile with the New Zealander Brendon Leitch at the wheel of it. Leitch is in the way and the door is open for Engel.
The door is slammed in Engel's face for now. Screaming towards turn one, the track is cooling as the headlights come on. They felt these conditions in night practice a couple nights ago. The Pro-Am lead battle is also getting spicy. Austrian Lucas Auer vs. Swiss racer Patric Niederhauser. 75 Express Mercedes vs. Herberth Motorsports Porsche. Let's look at the Pro-Am running order as it stands now.
1. #75 Auer/Habul/Ojeda SunEnergy1/75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3
2. #10 Niederhauser/Hartog/Au Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
3. #88 Agostini/Toledo/Sbirrazzuoli AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
4. #29 Foley/Rothberg/Gallagher Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
5. #61 Leitch/Buus/D'Silva EBM Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
6. #91 Ellis/Burton/Seppanen Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
7. #163 Negri Jr./Vilander/Schreibman AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3
8. #21 Fontana/Mettler/Patel Car Collection Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
9. #64 Liddy/Sellers/McDonald DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R
10. #8 Yelloly/Sabo/Lee Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW M4 GT3
11. #38 Verhagen/Tan/Capestro-Dubets ST Racing BMW M4 GT3
12. #888 Maini/Love/Ibrahim Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG GT3
13. #32 Guven/Sargent/Washington GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
Working through turn 13, Agostini heads for the pit lane, possibly. Turner Motorsports fighting the beleaguered #38 ST Racing BMW. Ferrari #88 in the lane for the drive through penalty which is a real shame because they will fly Plummet Airways down the order with this long, slow pit lane. Lucas Auer just barely ahead of Patric Niederhauser. In North America Pro-Am, Neil Verhagen and the #38 BMW would score sixth place points. The #29 leads ahead of #88, #29, #163, #64, #8, and #38. If the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW wins, they have to be in the top five to clinch the title.
If the #29 car does not win, then, the #38 are champions. Max Hesse passes Varun Choksey for position. The #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 vs. the #28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. ST Racing's Jon Miller has to be telling Varun Choksey not to open the door. That is their only hope. If these two chaps get into a dust up, that will be bad, bad news for BMW. #130 down the inside in traffic with a bold move by Maro Engel! This is through turn 13 and onto the frontstretch. Heinrich now leads by five and a half seconds! Absolutely unbelievable! What a drive!
Everyone using the track limits through the dirt with the sun setting right in the drivers' eyes. Robby Foley all over Varun Choksey like a cheap suit. Foley is a BMW factory driver and a veteran sports car racer. Riccardo Agostini has lost time to Foley by 45-50 seconds. This was after the drive through penalty. Hindman and Engel are in the fight for third as Foley gives it up and lets Varun Choksey by. Trouble continues for the #4 Mercedes. The headlights are not working on the Mercedes right now and Alex Palou now at the controls. The taillights are working but not the headlamps.
The stewards will notify them that the headlamps are on the fritz. They have been fighting electrical troubles all day. Lucas Auer wriggles through the last turn and this opens the door for Patric Niederhauser to make his move. Niederhauser takes the lead in class in Pro-Am. Niederhauser pushing the Porsche to the absolute limit! Oh dear! Lucas Auer is slowing on track! Trouble in paradise for the SunEnergy!/75 Express Mercedes! The lead is slipping away from the SunEnergy1 entry! He seems to not have any drive!
Maybe the left rear Pirelli is flat. There is dust meaning the undertray is dragging? We'll see. I don't see anything under the car. Is that dust or smoke? Hard to tell. There must be a slow puncture on the left rear tire, a slow leak. Patric Niederhauser looks to be home and hosed for now. Patric Niederhauser and the Herberth Motorsports team are beginning to move to the front. A potential blocking call for Neil Verhagen in the #38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3. #38 is doing all they can to salvage a championship. Trent Hindman is running incredibly well in the #85 RS1 Porsche holding third overall. Kenny Habul from 75 Express tells us, as they look at the left rear corner. He says that the rear axle has melted.
That is the wheel that took the hit from a "wombat" in the BMW. This is an overheating axle bearing with a car that didn't drive straight with a bent steering wheel and steering rack. It is game over for Lucas Auer and company at 75 Express. Bent steering is an awful thing to have to drive through because the car just flat out won't turn no matter how much input the driver uses to steer it. The bearings and all the suspension parts wear out and break. SunEnergy1 and Kenny Habul have been around for a long time but he formed 75 Express so he would not have to go to Mercedes customers to run his team. Again, Neil Verhagen was issued a drive through penalty for blocking, by the stewards.
Trent Hindman runs ahead of Maro Engel in two different classes. Porsche leads BMW in the manufacturer's championship with Mercedes down the order. Porsche and BMW have been battling and there are no full on IGTC entries from Porsche in this race. Porsche shows the strength of the customer program. SRO had in mind, local teams representing manufacturers' globally and not these gigantic teams representing brands globally like WRT with BMW, but things have worked out differently with this championship as it is now, compared to the original SRO vision.
Porsche showing the original philosophy has merit. Heinrich now leads Vanthoor by ten and a half seconds. BMW has Team WRT in the lead but not both cars at the top of the shop. Ellis is down the order from where Hesse is now, but these two blokes are in a battle of their own. Neither of them are contenders for the podium in their classes, neither of them on the podium. But they are professional drivers hired by their manufacturers. They are expected to win races. The die is cast. The Rubicon is crossed. We are within the duration of a normal Fanatec GT World Challenge America race, but this isn't any ordinary race. This is the big kahuna, the Indianapolis 8 Hours, which is one of the crown jewels along with the Bathurst 12 Hours, the Nurburgring 24 Hours, and the 24 Hours of Spa.
This is the only night race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in that magical twilight where the cars look different, sound different, the track and ambient temperatures are cooling off. This is happy hour. A dodge and weave for the #38 ST Racing BMW. Was Neil Verhagen getting out of the way? Or was he playing rear gunner for the sister #28 of Varun Choksey? VIR was a major incident for the ST Racing cars. That was last summer, back in July I believe. DXDT Racing are undefeated and could still go for a title. However, they are not in position for that. They did bring in a ringer with Alexander Sims. Heinrich in the Porsche seems faster than Sims.
This deep into the race few cars are at 100%. Corvette of course lost their dive planes at different points earlier in the motor race. That was pit lane contact, ironically with the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche. Varun Choksey is now hassling Max Hesse for position, with two BMW M4 GT3's for two different teams in two different classes. This is a battle for ninth place in the overall. Choksey makes the move in his first season of GT3 racing. Choksey comes from an open wheel background and is now a GT sports car racer. Philipp Eng has also done yeoman service alongside Choksey and Bill Auberlen.
Last year we had just a single Full Course Yellow and this year, we have had six of them. There are many, many factors with these endurance sports car races. Yikes! Choksey runs wide and Alexander Sims flies past and is being chased by Alex Fontana, not for position, in the Porsche, the #21 Car Collection Motorsports car. Turn four is a very flat corner with little grip. Laurin Heinrich has now built up a 14 second lead to Dries Vanthoor with less than an hour and a half of racing to go. Trent Hindman is third and 16 seconds further behind keeping Maro Engel at bay. RS1 Porsche vs. GruppeM Mercedes. Heinrich is really pushing hard and going fast.
Trent Hindman has multiple GT3 class championships in both IMSA and SRO, and has won titles in one make championships such as Lamborghini Super Trofeo. It was thought Hindman would be a BMW driver but then was let go. Then, he ran a partial IMSA GT4 season in 2017 and has gone upwards since then racing Porsche's, Aston Martin's, Acura's, BMW's, you name it. Hindman now being monstered by Maro Engel who has been a Mercedes-AMG factory driver for a long time, the 2018 GT World Challenge America champion. He is a Rolex 24 at Daytona class winner, a Petit Le Mans class winner, a winner at the Nurburgring 24 Hours, and a three-time winner in GT3 cars around the very tricky Macau Grand Prix Guia Circuit with a handful of those being races for the FIA GT World Cup.
Engel has done a lot. Any time you find success in Macau at the Guia circuit, you can do anything. Macau is an unbelievable circuit. The tracks in IGTC are so different with Bathurst, Nurburgring, and Spa being in or around or on mountains, while the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is flat, relatively. No mountains in a bustling metropolis like Indianapolis, Indiana. For the #33 Team WRT BMW, the diffuser is loose once again, and this time, on both sides! Oh, criminy! The diffuser is dragging as the 200 mile an hour tape has given way. Brendon Leitch with a late lunge almost plows right into Nick Yelloly in the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW! That was what you call a close shave!
Phillip Ellis is ahead as he passed Brendon Leitch for position. Regulator Racing are on the cusp of a podium. They won a race earlier in the year at Virginia International Raceway using that reverse driver strategy which was patented for them in the sprint races but does not play well for an enduro like the Indianapolis 8 Hours. That was a smart strategy though and it takes the right drivers to do that. Jeff Burton really was able to flex his muscle against professional drivers due to the team's strategy in the earlier sprint races this year.
Uh oh. Problems for the #88 AF Corse Ferrari. Riccardo Agostini, the Italian, is stopped on the road just outside of what would be turn 14 on the road course and oval turn one. He drove over there and stopped. If the Ferrari does not move, we could see another Full Course Yellow. Additionally, the #38 ST Racing BMW could gain places if the #88 Ferrari remains stranded. 40 laps an hour, with the #38 being 43 laps down, they can leapfrog at least one more stop. We do have the safety car on the circuit. OK. The 16 second lead Laurin Heinrich has built over Dries Vanthoor, has evaporated and the pit window ought open soon.
Pit, get the refueling finished, and get back out for the fight to the finish. Meanwhile, it appears the diffuser on the #33 BMW has cried enough and the car is brought back to Gasoline Alley for repairs. With fuel save, you can make it but you'd exceed the stint length of 65 minutes and need to do a reset under green costing only 50 seconds compared to a full stop at 112 seconds and at the back of the pack, go ahead and take a full-service stop. With everyone so charged up trying to go for victory, we could see another Full Course Yellow before this motor race ends here tonight.
The field is bunched up and the #38 BMW only gains a place if the #88 Ferrari doesn't get going and then get repairs done as the sun sets. We'll just have to stick around and enjoy the final hour and 15 minutes of this race. Grab a bite to eat for dinner and join us again when the green flag waves because trust me, you won't want to be sneaking off to the fridge in the waning moments of this race. This is going to be too good to pass up. The tow truck is rescuing the #88 Ferrari which has power but doesn't have drive. No fire in the hole. Electronic issues can be very fiddly, consider the #4 Mercedes. It is like chasing a mouse in your house.
Samantha Tan tells us that they will keep pushing to the end and do everything to make up the laps and finish P5 in class to score points if the #29 car wins. ST Racing had a double win at COTA and had some podiums to be happy about. Samantha Tan still in play for a championship. We've got pit stops right now. The frontrunners are pitting. Execute, execute, execute. This will be a full service, possibly. Fuel and tires for many of the teams. New, sticker Pirelli P Zero tires. RS1 and Wright Motorsports have done their stops and on a lesser fuel fill you will have to sit for a while. Oh boy. More pit lane contact!
This is hip and shoulder in the lane between the #130 Mercedes and the #85 Porsche. Well, the Mercedes must give it up to the Porsche. That's the rules, sunshine. Very similar to what we saw earlier between the #120 and the #63. When do you do the reset? Do it early if you don't have track position. 70 minutes to go. In this replay, the $130 is released and if you are the transition lane, if there is overlap with the fast lane, you must give up the spot. No action taken by Race Control, I don't think. Being concerned about traffic, Laurin Heinrich could afford to do the reset a little later than everyone else or so it seems.
Pitting early helps so that if you have poor track position, you can come in and get right back towards the front, right after the restart. You won't lose a lap. Again, you'll only lose 50 seconds and be 30 seconds ahead of the leaders. In the Pro-Am championship, we are seeing that cars debuting in the championship this weekend or in the previous race at Barber Motorsports Park, they are ineligible for class points. The #10 IGTC class Pro-Am Porsche from Herberth, is invisible. Again, if the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW should win in class, the #38 ST Racing BMW must finish fifth or better to claim the title.
There are cars in between in Pro-Am invisible for points. One of the BMW's peeled off to the pit lane. The rest of the field hasn't caught up, as we immediately go green. One hour and eight minutes to go. Laurin Heinrich continues to lead but is shuffled into the middle of the pack. Patric Niederhauser in the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche is the first class leading car on the road so he assumes the erstwhile race lead. On the scoreboard, he is listed in seventh. Now we watch the fight for third pick up again. Maro Engel harrying Kay van Berlo. In the fight for the IGTC Pro class it is still Dries Vanthoor leading Maro Engel and Engel wants to clear van Berlo to get back to the top of the shop and go mano e mano with the BMW.
Pit stop time for drive time resets is very close as Adam Adelson could win a Pro class title. Adelson tells us, knowing of his accolades and successes, Adelson knows how trustworthy Laurin Heinrich is and everyone knows what he can do at the wheel of a Porsche 911. Right in the middle of the interview with Adam Adelson, Laurin Heinrich resets fastest lap of the race in the #120 with a 1:23.689! Oh boy! Heinrich is in the pit lane now. So, he is doing a reverse Michael Schumacher here where he goes out, uncorks the fastest lap of the motor race, and then, dives to the lane.
We're right in the butter zone for the 65-minute maximum stint length with exactly that time remaining on the board. In five minutes, we will see the final hour of the Indianapolis 8 Hours commence. Everyone peels off into the lane. DXDT Corvette #63 is also in. Heinrich, with the compression of the pack, ought to have clear road ahead of him. Heinrich went purple, fastest of all, on his first flying lap, his pit in lap. This is a dash to the checkers. Open the pay window, now. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Laurin Heinrich Show!
Dries Vanthoor now hits the lane in the #31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. He might just stop and go to set the drive time again. Same thing, a few seconds in the box and then he goes. Full service for Niederhauser in the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche, for fuel and tires. They will be stationary far longer than the BMW. Wright Motorsports and the Porsche #120 are going to retain the de facto lead of the motor race for now. Laurin Heinrich has lit the afterburners. The green and yellow Porsche has been fabulous around "The Brickyard" all day.
Side by side action through turn four between Bastian Buus and Phillip Ellis! Whoa! Buus launches over the curb! Bastian "Air Buus"! Tee hee! Apologies to the French airplane company, Airbus, "Buusing" the Mercedes! Oh man! It's that time of the evening, folks. Tee hee. Note from the stewards. You do need to turn the engine off when you pit. The gap is now 15-20 seconds. In theory, the pit stops are finished. We are seeing, on a cooler track, a battle, mano e mano between Porsche #120 and BMW #31. What do BMW have left in the locker? What about the Porsche for Wright Motorsports?
Now, this kerfuffle, this biff and barge between Buus and Ellis is not over. Ellis in the crosshairs of Buus. Kay van Berlo, Gabby Chaves, and Maro Engel all must pit, not so much for service, but to do a reset on drive time as required. We continue watching the Pro-Am battle for third, for a podium place here at Indianapolis. Buus under pressure from behind as the sun sets making visibility harder for the drivers. The television cameras, the iris of the camera, makes it look brighter in the October Indiana sky than it really is. Nice for a driver to be in the car and go through the transition from daylight to darkness. Buus runs wide again onto the grass! This is out of turn 13 and back onto the banking on the speedway! Niederhauser makes a pass for position on the inside! No. Excuse me. That pass isn't for position. I stand corrected.
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