Niederhauser moves past the lapped traffic. Robby Foley is not just leading the North American competitors, but he is in fact ahead of the entire field in the Pro-Am class at this moment. He is seventh overall and has a hefty lead of nearly eight seconds to second place Patric Niederhauser, in the #10 Porsche. Mercedes #130 in the pit lane. The top three cars have not yet reset their driver stint length. Of course, the #130 Mercedes is so numbered to celebrate 130 years of Mercedes Benz manufacturing automobiles. Once the engines are hot, it is hard to restart them. But there is no trouble with the Mercedes. We need to see the overlap. No battle. Laurin Heinrich flies past and retains the lead. The BMW also comes through and Maro Engel rejoins the chase in third.
On pace, on paper, the Mercedes can't quite get to the BMW's or the Porsche's. Still trouble with the headlights and the electrics on that #4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes with Luca Stolz taking the car to the finish. I wonder how long the stewards the SRO officials are going to let them run sans headlamps as darkness falls. Bastian Buus runs wide again, and clatters the concrete wall off turn 13, oval turn one. The rules say you must have two headlights, two headlights, two brake lights, or you must come in and fix the problem. Attention, Lone Star Racing. You currently have no headlamps. Please pit and fix them.
They have also had trouble with the LumiRank system. They showed well in the pole shootout, but they have not had the speed in the race compared to the BMW's or to the Wright Motorsports Porsche. They've not had any incentive to push the car, Luca Stolz, Fabian Schiller, and Alex Palou. Inside the final hour of the race. We hear from Amanda Busick, about Alex Palou, packing his helmet up and reflecting on the race. He has had a great weekend to finish out the season. Alex Palou will be back for an Indianapolis 8 Hours in the future. That's good to hear.
The brake lights are indeed working on the #4 Mercedes, but the taillights themselves are surely on the fritz. They dipped into the high 1:23 range in the last ten laps as the track temperatures have cooled off. Lone Star Racing under team boss A.J. Peterson have been doing a wonderful job, supporting Craft Bamboo in their 2022 victory. Lone Star Racing are instant contenders wherever they go but they have not been running full-time programs. They race with Australian driver Scott Andrews, and he is a quick shoe.
Wouldn't it be great to see them race full-time in Fanatec GT World Challenge America with a Mercedes with Scott Andrews and maybe one other fast professional driver behind the wheel. We'll have to wait and see what might happen. Robby Foley chasing Kay van Berlo in the meantime, look. But van Berlo is hitting pit lane for his final stop or what should be his final stop. They are the last car that needs to do the reset. RS1 from Florida, going up against the big boys under team boss Justin Bellinzoni. We might be seeing a driver change here. Kay van Berlo does a short stint. Jake Pedersen, I think, has done his drive time already. All they needed to do was reset stint length.
All they needed to do was reset the stint length. Laurin Heinrich has now taken back the overall lead of the race and leads Dries Vanthoor by three seconds. Maro Engel, Alexander Sims, and Gabby Chaves, complete the top five spots. Laurin Heinrich and Wright Motorsports would love to win the race overall, but they don't need to be overall winners to earn the championship here tonight. On the other hand, Porsche does need to win in order to secure the manufacturers' championship. Even with the #85 RS1 car in a good place, Porsche could still win the title. We'll have to wait and see.
In the BMW camp, the #31 Team WRT car has pulled their weight but the #33 team car has been out of contention especially after the diffuser issues that have put pay to the efforts of Max Hesse, Dan Harper, and Augusto Farfus, in this motor race. Hesse will take the car to the checkered flag, but he is still buried in 15th place. Heinrich's gap over Vanthoor has not grown in any way. Laurin Heinrich is not taking risks and is just driving smart in these final 51 minutes. John Wright must be on the horn saying, "Laurin, you don't need to prove anything. No risk, mate. No risk."
Another 1:24.2 lap for Heinrich but now Dries Vanthoor is matching his lap time. Vanthoor is within striking distance. Heinrich must be keeping his powder dry when push comes to shove. Dries Vanthoor is wringing the neck of that BMW. I don't know if any fuel save has to happen with a 70-minute stint. You should be fine. There are so many variables in racing and especially endurance sports car racing, stuff you'd never think about with refueling and so on. You don't want extra fuel on board for a 50-minute stint or the car will be too heavy. Dries Vanthoor has been aggressively dodging over the curbs with sparks coming off the undertray of the car.
Given the diffuser trouble for the #33 car, we wonder why the #31 is pushing so dang hard. But, then again, there's all to play for. Hesse might be able to give Vanthoor a tow. We saw Dan Harper come from last to sixth in the opening stint. Augusto Farfus just has not done as well at Indianapolis since winning the first Indianapolis 8 Hours I believe in 2020. Robby Foley and co-drivers Justin Rothberg and Patrick Gallagher have been doing everything right in the Pro-Am class for Turner Motorsports in their #29 BMW M4 GT3. They are doing all they know to steal the title from their rivals at ST Racing.
They have had a very quiet day, not setting the world on fire, just keeping their nose clean and methodically going through their race strategy with driver stints, pit stop execution and so on. Foley has great pace at the end of an endurance race. They are praying that none of the other cars as a buffer to the #38 won't drop out. They are aware of what is going on. Ricardo Agostini in 17th place is slowly dropping down the order like a stone and this may not be correct, but it says on the scoring pylon that Agostini and co-drivers Cedric Sbirrazzuoli, and Custodio Toledo are out of the motor race.
I think they are out but they are maintaining places over the #38 BMW. The #88 Ferrari if it gets repaired could be the difference for Verhagen and Tan sharing with John Capestro-Dubets. As it stands now, the #38 car still needs one more place to get into the top five. You cannot control your own destiny forever. Just do the best you possibly can as we see Gabby Chaves now third in class in Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro, saring with Luca Mars and Zach Veach, and fifth overall right behind the #63 DXDT Corvette with Alexander Sims taking that car to the checkered flag.
There are many cars in this particular class. A nervous time for everyone, double checking the math, doing the permutations and the arithmetic. 43 minutes to go and the #38 ST Racing BMW is 17 laps down with Neil Verhagen taking the car to the end of the race, which should allot plenty of time if we stay green for them to catch up more places. #38 has to stay on the track as we are inside the last 45 minutes of the season. Trent Hindman is indeed taking the #85 RS1 Porsche to the end. Kay van Berlo was supposed to drive the final stint.
van Berlo says he would have finished out the race, and he would have been two minutes over maximum drive time and Hindman would have been two minutes underneath it. Hindman in sixth overall is chasing Neil Verhagen on the road. We are keeping an eye on the Pro-Am class battle. The #163 AF Corse Ferrari would have also been able to fight for the championship but there was debate because they switched classes at one stage during the season. So, the team of Jay Schreibman, Oswaldo Negri Jr., and Toni Vilander, I don't think they are eligible for points in this finale. That would be able to give the #38 car another spot. The #38 needs one more place to get into the top five.
All so delicate, just like me! Well, I'll hang together for 41 more minutes before we find out who our winners are going to be tonight. Laurin Heinrich, in control, 4.2 seconds to the good over Dries Vanthoor. Vanthoor just has not been able to reel in Heinrich. Wright Motorsports looking for another victory here at Indianapolis as they also won in GT3 competition here at Indy in the IMSA endurance race a few weekends ago. Heinrich is coasting, sailing into the braking zone, going for fuel save. 41 minutes of racing remaining. The stint length is up at the drop of the checkered flag. Have enough fuel in case you need to do an extra lap after the clock runs out.
Heinrich is doing big time fuel saving and so is Dries Vanthoor in the BMW. This is real skill with lift and coast as well as running engine maps, but short shifting, or sailing into the turn, coasting. It is like a line from a movie I watched in my childhood, "The Mouse & The Motorcycle" where the mouse, when asked by the young boy in the movie, where his toy motorcycle is, says, "I didn't really ride the motorcycle off the nightstand. I was coasting. The phone scared me, and I fell." The track seems to be quicker, not slower. Despite lifting and coasting, Laurin Heinrich remains the fastest bloke on the circuit right now.
Bastian Buus hits the pit lane and was running a tad slow. Maybe he hit a bump or could have a tire problem. He was just off the Pro-Am class podium. Is Vanthoor in the BMW for WRT doing fuel saving? As they run, Charles Weerts, the Belgian, would be our new drivers' champion in Intercontinental GT Challenge. This will likely be confirmed in another 38 minutes as we get to an interview with the man himself. Weerts is putting all the trust in Dries Vanthoor, his co-driver. They have had a strong race even with some bad luck with the safety cars. They will see what happens in the last 37 and a half minutes. He says "I am here for the championship."
Porsche, as they run, well, things have changed because the #85 have dropped to sixth. Remember though, since they are Fanatec GT World Challenge America competitors, the Corvette of Alexander Sims and the Acura of Gabby Chaves, are not eligible for points within the IGTC and the American and Japanese GT3 cars are invisible to that specific championship being fought out by the German makes. Porsche can still take the manufacturers' crown. We've seen a lot of swapping. Things have come apart though in BMW's efforts for the manufacturer's title with the troubles for the #33 Team WRT car, the Farfus, Hesse, Harper automobile.
In Pro-Am the championship remains with a single point margin between Turner Motorsports BMW and ST Racing BMW. For the Porsche camp, without a car that was registered with a full Pro level driver lineup, they are going to struggle to keep the lead, but it has not turned out that way. If Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen gained one more spot, they could add a handful more points. It isn't over yet. The #88 Ferrari of Agostini off the track being repaired, could be a factor, still, or not. Race Control now tells us the last fuel stop for Laurin Heinrich is under review. This could upset the Wright Motorsports apple cart.
This is for the fuel stop done under the yellow. By virtue of running where they are, Skeer and Adelson would be the champions. Any potential penalty with the #63 Corvette on the same lap would put the #63 ahead. #63 would be a couple positions ahead and Hindman would need to gap Sims. There is a five second post-race time penalty for pit lane protocol. This makes the battle for the win, a battle to stay within five seconds for Dries Vanthoor. Vanthoor is only 4.8 seconds behind Heinrich. So, the gap closes and ye olde plot doth thicken.
Vanthoor is a little faster on the previous lap, so, he is gradually turning it on, turning up the heat, the flame on the Bunsen Burner. Official word from Race Control tells us there will be a five second post-race penalty to the race leading #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche for pit lane protocol violation. Ah! I thought so. My speculation is now indeed true. Right on cue, the gap is 5.2 seconds between Heinrich and Vanthoor. Will Vanthoor continue turning it on? He only has a few tenths in hand, not a few seconds. What if the race ends under yellow? A five second penalty becomes more punitive.
I agree with Ryan Myrehn and will quote our esteemed play by play man. "I am putting it out in the universe to ward it off." Okie dokie then. The field could compress, and five seconds could be several places on the road. Maybe, just maybe the #120 was squeezing the lemon on the pit speed or playing a game of chicken in the lane. Lemon chicken? Oh nuts! I am getting hungry! That was a bad pair of analogies! We saw the #31 BMW playing the same games earlier and so now, the shoe is on the other foot, well and truly.
This all happened under yellow. The gap is closing little by little. Just over five seconds now between Heinrich and Vanthoor, between the German Porsche racer and the Belgian BMW man with half an hour remaining on the board before the checkered flag tonight. At Wright Motorsports, with the penalty announcement, they are pushing, but anxious. He has fuel to manage, Heinrich does, and the gap to Vanthoor. This is getting tight. He is still coasting, saving fuel big style but he pulled half a second on Vanthoor. 1:24.4 with lifting and coasting. If indeed Dries Vanthoor is also saving gasoline, it is about which driver hits their target, hits their fuel number, first. He saved at the gas pump! Well, not yet, we don't know.
Whoever gets the OK to push, makes the difference. Half an hour to go. If the aim is to save fuel, you need to do so early in the stint. You can't start saving with 15 minutes of racing left or you will never make it and the tank will run dry. The sand well and truly running through the hourglass as the sun sets on the horizon, in a peach-colored Indiana sky. Where is the clock? Where do they anticipate? Will they be right on the number? All kinds of permutations. Believe me. In the Pro-Am fight, the #4 Mercedes does now have headlights. The #88 Ferrari is still shown in 17th place with the Brazilian Custodio Toledo at the wheel. Are they on track? No. I swear, I believe that car is officially a retirement.
Excuse me. Toledo is running. He is back on the road. My apologies to the AF Corse boys. That's big for the #38 ST Racing BMW because they might not get the spot they've been anticipating. #38 has gone past the retired #75 75 Express Mercedes. Even if a car dropped out this late in the game, it would need to be a car that is already down the order. The only other car that could drop out and save ST Racing's bacon on this one, would be their fellow BMW team, the #8 Flying Lizard Motorsports car with Andy Lee at the wheel of it sharing with Elias Sabo and Nick Yelloly. Andy Lee sits right between Custodio Toledo and Neil Verhagen in the running order as these three cars are 17th, 18th, and 19th.
Not much lift and coast from Robby Foley as we are onboard with the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW currently. I think with the reset, everyone has to fuel save which is why we are seeing the pace stymied for both Laurin Heinrich and Dries Vanthpor. Whichever car gets in the fuel window first will need to push. We'll have to see what the lap times will be. Heinrich is still running the fastest laps of the race even though he is lifting 200 meters before the braking zone. That's probably not bluffing. It is a strategy to save gasoline. Again, "he saved at the pump!" might be a true scenario here. Don't cut the margin too fine.
This could be the pause before bedlam. We'll see. We ought to speak about some other teams that have been shining stars today. Racer's Edge Acura is one of them, the #93 car of Luca Mars, Zach Veach, and Gabby Chaves. They've had two drive through penalties. Luca Mars started this race very well, and they are running second in class. They were multiple laps down and they have had seven podiums including five in a row. Another story is Regulator Racing, Phillip Ellis, the anchor, in the car now. Jeff Burton has shown very well today and Elias Seppanen, the Finnish rookie driver, we have never seen him race in North America. In fact, it is just his second trip of any kind to the United States. He went to Los Angeles, at age 12 on a family vacation.
Score one for the septuagenarians as well, the oldest lineup on the grid with Jay Schreibman and Oswaldo Negri Jr. in the #163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. Average age 55 years. They seem to intend to come back for next year in 2025. Jay and Oswaldo will do the full-time Fanatec GT World Challenge America season in 2025. With the darkness, hard to see the gravel and clag offline on the side of the road as someone clonked a curb, Ellis, I think. Vilander is still making speed in the Ferrari. We are also watching, through the darkness and the temporary lighting here at Indianapolis, a battle for the lead in the Pro-Am class.
This is the #29 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3, the Robby Foley, Justin Rothberg, Patrick Gallagher car, racing with the #10 Herberth Motorsports Porsche shared by Patric Niederhauser, Loek Hartog, and Antares Au. Ellis is chasing Foley, but Ellis is a lap down. This is Fanatec GT Pro-Am. You don't see pictures of cars screaming by at night here at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The glowing exhausts, the glowing brake rotors, and the speed of these cars. It is very special to be trackside and hear all the different engine notes and the visuals. It is cool for the drivers to be racing here to kiss the bricks and bring home a trophy. Driving at night is very different, and maybe on a little bit of a breather, you can see the fans enjoying themselves.
21 minutes of racing still left. We don't know what is going to happen with the fuel saving. In the Pro-Am class, even though the two cars are registered in two separate SRO championships, this battle is for a class win in Pro-Am now between Robby Foley and Patric Niederhauser. Niederhauser is fast as he did put the car on the overall pole, and he led the race early doors. He was absolutely flying. Niederhauser won here at Indianapolis with Audi. Niederhauser with Loek Hartog, who can win the Porche Carrera Cup North America championship next weekend at Road Atlanta, and Antares Au, the Turkish racer.
Down Hulman Boulevard in the darkness, Foley and Niederhauser are close to each other, even though Phillip Ellis is now between them, the #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. The lap times have been give and take. The gap is still 5.4 seconds between the overall leaders, Laurin Heinrich and Dries Vanthoor. Not much in it at all. Don't forget that Damoclesian sword hanging over the #120 with the five second post-race penalty in their future. It needs to be five seconds, but the two cars are in different classes. When do Wright Motorsports and WRT tell their drivers they have enough fuel and can pull the pin?
Niederhauser and company can fully push because they elected to stay out on track and executed their full-service pit stop under green. Vanthoor is within five seconds of Heinrich as is the Pro-Am lead battle between Niederhauser and Foley. Traffic jam up ahead as one of the Corvette's in the way. With just over 17 minutes of racing remaining, Robby Foley dives for the pit lane. Will this be a splash and a dash? ST Racing could come right back into the points picture? What is the deal with Turner Motorsports? This could drop them out of contention. They are a lap up on Ellis, the next Pro-Am car and Niederhauser in the Porsche can't score points. Maybe Turner Motorsports are resetting their stint length.
They will not lose a spot to Ellis. They are just resetting their stint time now with 16 minutes to go. The dynamic won't change, and Ellis will not get by. Will Turner tells us via text message, everything is fine. Thanks to the teams willing to share information if we need it. All the data is either not readily available, or if it is, it is pretty byzantine to be able to sort through everything. Foley elected to stay on track even without a Full Course Yellow that would have compressed the field. The gap between Heinrich and Vanthoor has now shrunk to 5.3 seconds. Vanthoor flirting with it.
He might have a little bit left in the locker. This will be exciting stuff in the last 14 minutes. When will WRT unleash Dries Vanthoor? Do they attempt to tuck the Porsche up like a kipper? It is incredibly close, and we have less than 14 minutes on the clock. Heinrich takes a major lift, but the gap doesn't change. Heinrich's intentional fuel management is amazing. 44 thousandths of a second is nothing. Wright Motorsports could still win in class. They would still win the overall 2024 Fanatec GT World Challenge America championship. But they could also win this race overall. 12 and a half minutes left. Gap back over five seconds? That can't be.
How much are Wright Motorsports willing to risk the championship for the overall win here at Indianapolis tonight, and a chance to kiss the bricks. Will Heinrich pull the pin? Will WRT use this to their advantage? Of course, Charles Weerts is on the verge of an IGTC championship and there's the manufacturers' cup to keep in mind. Porsche might be in good shape, but the fuel mileage is still the big question mark at this particular moment. The battle also rages on for fifth overall and for third place in Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro. Trent Hindman, in the #85 RS1 Porsche, chasing Alexander Sims in the #63 DXDT Corvette.
With the deeper field, DXDT's streak of eight consecutive race wins will be snapped. DXDT were sure they'd have a shot. They ran very well at the midpoint of the race, but they will come up short unless Heinrich runs out of juice. He just ran a 1:24.9, in fuel save mode, backing it down. Vanthoor is at 1:24.6 and is well within the five second margin he needs to win the race on adjusted time. Heinrich is backing the pace down even more so the team must be letting him know that the fuel numbers in the pit lane they are seeing on their data screens with the computers and so on are telling them a woeful tale at this time.
You can't let the ego get in the way and let the overall win dampen the quest for a title. Vanthoor has backed down but Heinrich even more. Heinrich is still in position for a class win and for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America championship. Regulator Racing do their final reset, and Phillip Ellis will take it to the finish. Hindman chasing Alexander Sims for third in class. Sims has played his part. Milner, Sims, and Udell have all stuck to the plan. They are going to come up short. Wright Motorsports are in their spot now because of the safety car intervention earlier in the race with Charles Weerts electing to slow down.
Adam Adelson, looking on, nervously. Same with the brain trust at WRT. Heinrich goes deeper into turn seven. Will he unleash the beast? He just ran a 1:25.1 last time by. Maybe he is turning it on again because he is 2/10ths quicker than Dries Vanthoor. Heinrich knows he will be home and hosed here. Five and a half minutes left on the board before this one is history. Heinrich on the go button. 1:24.3! 4.4 seconds is the gap. The beast has been unleashed. WRT are still going to be poring over the data to make sure they've got enough left in the locker to fight the Porsche.
Of course, Heinrich, again, has that post-race penalty for speed manipulation on pit exit from their final fuel stop. This could be the first overall victory in the Indianapolis 8 Hours for a Fanatec GT World Challenge America team. So far in this race's history, teams from Europe have always pulled a rabbit out of the hat and had a veni vidi vici, I came, I saw, I conquered, moment. Identical sector times for both the Porsche and the BMW. As soon as WRT saw the stats and saw Heinrich motoring, they got on the horn to Dries Vanthoor and said, "OK, mate. Go for it!"
The gap is four and a half seconds and we are running out of laps with less than four minutes remaining. Use everything you have, now. The time to save your stuff is over. Four and a half seconds is still the gap. This is game on, mano e mano. Threshold braking, the tires, the axles, chirping, trying to find grip. Time to uncork the qualifying laps. Heinrich has multiple poles in the last year or so at Indianapolis, or he has been fastest qualifier at least when sports cars come to Indianapolis. Two and a half minutes to go equals two laps to go. We should see the white flag next time by. He won't outrun Vanthoor. Vanthoor got to within five seconds, six or seven laps ago.
Vanthoor matching him blow for blow here. It's go time! Heinrich has to dig deep and find 4/10ths of a second to outrun Vanthoor. Vanthoor responds and ups the game! Heinrich is losing time! Oh, my heavens! Two top level pro drivers. White flag this time by. One lap to go. This is for the win at Indianapolis, to kiss the yard of bricks! If anyone slips, things might change. Oh, my heavens! Heinrich 4.6 seconds ahead in sector one. He has to find 4/10ths of a second in 2/3rds of a lap! This is going to be a massive challenge!
Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson began the season in 2024 by sweeping the weekend with back-to-back wins at Sonoma Raceway in the California wine country. They have not won a race since then. It has been a six-month dry spell for them. Heinrich has a strong sector time in sector two, but it might not be enough to win overall. But, the hired gun, the Porsche factory ace comes through the 13th and final turn for the last time of asking. Laurin Heinrich, Adam Adelson, and Elliott Skeer cross the finish line first.
Skeer and Adelson are the 2024 SRO Fanatec GT World Challenge America Pro class champions! Vanthoor crosses the line, 4.7 seconds behind the #120 Porsche, but on adjusted time, it is BMW and Team WRT who are the official overall winners of the 2024 Indianapolis 8 Hours! Congratulations to Dries Vanthoor, Charles Weerts, and Sheldon van der Linde! The team celebrates! 2/10ths of a second the difference. Maro Engel is second in IGTC Pro as we wait for the other North American Pro cars. Patric Niederhauser wins Pro-Am. Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg are the 2024 Pro-Am North America champions coming back from a 33-point deficit!
Heartbreak with the technical troubles for ST Racing with Samantha Tan and Neil Verhagen. Dries Vanthoor was so close on fuel, he has run out of gas on the cool down lap. WRT played the fuel management to perfection. Heinrich did everything and anything he could do. Team WRT are elated! They are over the moon! So is Wright Motorsports! Wright Motorsports have also had a veni vidi vici moment.
Adam Adelson has finally won a championship in the Pro class at Indianapolis! He is in tears with joy. The best friends, Adam and Elliott, have won! WRT also celebrating a hard earned overall and IGTC Pro win, with an up and down week with their cars delayed in shipping with the short-lived port strikes. BMW have now won three times at Indianapolis in this 8-hour classic. Porsche has both the Fanatec GT Pro title and the IGTC manufacturers' title. Cue the dance music for the race results. Team WRT also goes back-to-back.
Last year was their first victory ever on American soil, in the 2023 edition of this race. So, they now have consecutive victories. Mercedes did not have what they wanted. Pro-Am, the #10 Porsche wins it.
Overall/IGTC Pro: #31 van der Linde/Weerts/Vanthoor Team WRT BMW M4 GT3
FGTWCA Pro: #120 Adelson/Skeer/Heinrich Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
Pro-Am: #10 Au/Hartog/Niederhauser Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R (992)
A quiet day for Mercedes as GruppeM finishes on the podium in third overall with Jules Gounon, Maro Engel, and Mikael Grenier. That said, they could not answer the riddles posed by BMW or Porsche on this Saturday. Pro-Am winners Herberth Motorsports finish seventh in the overall standings. Antares Au wins the Intercontinental GT Challenge Independent Cup. A championship clinched for Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg in his first year of GT3 racing. He won race one in GT America on Friday. Can he win the finale, in race two tomorrow?
You will have to tune in with us tomorrow morning for the GT America finale to find out. Grab a cup of coffee and some breakfast and join us for that one. The teams in a true endurance race after sprint race doubleheaders the whole rest of the year, they rise to the occasion as WRT celebrates! Amazingly, each of their cars had a five second penalty to overcome, same fate as Wright Motorsports. Charles Weerts is your 2024 Intercontinental GT Challenge champion! Congratulations! Four years ago, he was just starting his racing career.
Four years ago, he was not sure he could make it in racing. So, he went to school at University of Liege in Belgium, studying business and economics, and now, he definitely has a future ahead of him in racing, where a good business acumen is definitely something to have as well. So, his studies served him well. Indianapolis is the shortest race of the four in IGTC. What a day to conclude both the Fanatec GT World Challenge America and Intercontinental GT Challenge, both, especially the IGTC schedule of Bathurst, Nurburgring, Spa, and Indianapolis.
A lot has happened in the last eight hours. But we have more racing to tell you about tomorrow. Grab the espresso. Next year, all four races are back, and we are going back to Suzuka in Japan as well. Antares Au is proud of his Herberth Motorsports teammates. Patric Niederhauser says it is unfortunate he could not fight Lucas Auer after they went out in the SunEnergy1 Mercedes, but their overall pole and class win are well deserved after a flawless effort. Loek Hartog received a lot of praise this weekend. He says Porsche and team gave him and his co-drivers a good car and is happy for this overall result.
At Lone Star Racing, they made it. Alex Palou says it wasn't the best day honestly, after going two laps down and fighting all day, but he had a good experience and had fun, and he will be back next year. Kudos to Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller as well. They made it onto the IGTC Pro podium but finished only 13th overall. WRT wins overall on adjusted time of course. Racer's Edge and DXDT get on the North America Pro podiim. Herberth, Turner, and Regulator Racing, all on the Pro-Am podium.
Five manufacturers represented in the overall top five places. BMW, Porsche, Mercedes, Acura, and Corvette. Time for the podium ceremonies. Spray a little champagne! A tradition started by the late, great Dan Gurney, celebrating. Champagne not ubiquitous here at Indianapolis at least in the Indianapolis 500, with Louis Meyer and the glass of milk of course. Pro-Am champions, Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley! A lot has changed for Justin Rothberg through his first season racing a GT3 car.
A great run for Robby Foley, Justin Rothberg, and Patrick Gallagher. Robby Foley was also the pupil years ago who has become the master. Now for the North American Pro podium with DXDT Corvette, Racer's Edge Acura, and the winners, the Wright Motorsports Porsche! Elliott Skeer, Adam Adelson, and Laurin Heinrich! DXDT drove a brilliant race. But of course, it is Wright Motorsports who really gave it the whole thing and got a little luck despite the massive run for DXDT Corvette with eight straight race wins. Racer's Edge gets second coming from multiple laps down and several drive through penalties even though they never won a race in 2024. Maybe we will see Veach and Mars back next year as the champagne is sprayed!
Luca Mars was going toe to toe with some of the best factory GT3 drivers on this planet. DXDT Corvette did so much with winning for DXDT on eight occasions with Alec Udell. Bryan Sellers has been promoted into the DXDT team for next year of course. Corvette's customer racing program is blossoming. The final podium, for Pro-Am, we have our class winners, Antares Au, Patric Niederhauser, and Loek Hartog for Herberth Motorsports! Happy 22nd birthday, Loek Hartog! We look ahead to another fabulous grid and season in 2025 in Fanatec GT World Challenge America and Suzuka returns as a fifth round to the 2025 Intercontinental GT Challenge championship.
We've got more titles to decide tomorrow morning with GT America, TC America, and Pirelli GT4 America as well. It will be fun. We will see you tomorrow for more. One more podium. At the top, Loek Hartog, Patric Niederhauser, and Antares Au, for Independent Cup. This rewards the gentleman drivers that make sports car racing what it is. Spray the champagne! Eight hours of racing, done. So long, from Indianapolis and in 2024 in SRO GT World Challenge America. We'll see you next year. Good night, from "The Brickyard", Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in Speedway, Indiana.
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