BMW Team WRT has settled into an early 1-2 in the first hour of the fourth annual Indy 8H race.
The orange #30 WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Philipp Eng made a rapid start from the outside of the second row, and grabbed the lead from polesitter Alfred Renauer as the field of 22 cars made its way down the front stretch and into turn one on the opening lap.
In the sister #31 car, Augusto Farfus went from sixth to fourth on the opening lap, then picked his way past Maximillian Götz and Renauer to take second place.
Farfus, the winner of the inaugural 2020 Indy 8 Hour, has caught up to Eng but it’s the Austrian who leads the Brazilian by less than a second with seven hours of racing left to run.
Götz runs third in the #77 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of defending champion Team Craft-Bamboo Racing.
BimmerWorld Racing leads the FGTWCA Pro class as the ageless Bill Auberlen runs fourth place overall aboard the #94 BMW, holding off Luca Stolz in the #999 Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes in fifth place.
Klaus Bachler is sixth in the #28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R, and second in its class.
Renauer started on pole aboard the #20 Huber Motorsport “Bomb Pop” Porsche but Renauer has made a steady descent down the order, and now it is Philip Ellis in the #91 DXDT Racing Mercedes which leads the Pro-Am class in seventh place, ahead of Renauer in eighth.
Madison Snow is ninth in the #45 Wright Motorsports Porsche, and Christopher Froggatt rounded out the top ten in the #535 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari 488 GT3.
Kyle Marcelli is 11th. The Canadian driver made a strong recovery drive after the #93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 was spun out by Vesko Kozarov in the #85 Rearden Racing Porsche. Marcelli gained 11 places in just a little over 45 minutes, while Kozarov received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
Conquest Racing was the first team to suffer a significant issue on the day. After 12 laps, Alessandro Balzan brought the #21 Ferrari 296 GT3 into the pits with a broken right-front suspension, which team owner Eric Bachelart suspects was the result of a kerb strike.
The #21 Ferrari returned from behind the pit wall after 25 minutes of repairs, and Balzan is now 17 laps down but still running.
The other new Ferrari, the #33 of Triarsi Competizione, also made an unscheduled stop due to a fuel pick-up problem.
Feature image © Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group
