DSC is back at Indianapolis once again for the Indianapolis 8 Hour Race, the final weekend of the 2024 Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge America season – and the last race meeting of the year for all SRO Motorsports America series.
It’s also the second of two endurance sports car races at the Speedway this year, hoping to leverage momentum from the six-hour IMSA Battle on the Bricks that was held two weeks ago.
Port strike causes delays for WRT, GruppeM
Along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States, over 45,000 dock workers are striking over insufficient pay and automation projects which threaten the human labour force.
This has had a ripple effect in our insular world of sports car racing, where at Indianapolis, two high-profile teams have suffered delays in receiving their cars and the equipment needed to run and maintain them.
On Wednesday morning, the #33 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 and the #130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 were nowhere to be found.
GruppeM Racing COO Andy Smith told DSC: “The container that was delayed, basically contained everything. Everything we need. The car, all the equipment – everything you see in the pit lane and the garage from GruppeM is in that container.”
The #130 Mercedes did eventually turn up at its garage, undergoing assembly and inspection before completing shakedown laps in the afternoon – even as more of the team’s equipment was still being forklifted in.
Team WRT however has not been as fortunate. The #33 BMW did not arrive today and is only represented through a detached bonnet lying in the garage where the rest of the car should be.
Chouest Povoledo, MMG scratched
Two teams from GT World Challenge America did not turn up at the Brickyard and were scratched from the entry list.
The first was Chouest Povoledo Racing, an unsurprising revelation after their two Mercedes-AMG GT3s were heavily damaged following separate crashes in GT World Challenge America and GT America over the last two race meetings.
MMG (Montreal Motorsport Group) was the other withdrawal, the red #92 Porsche did not turn up as it had in the two previous events.
This was due to the team being unable to find a third driver to partner with Jean-Frederic Laberge and Kyle Marcelli. DSC can confirm that Eric Filgueiras, last year’s GT World Challenge America Pro champion with RS1, was a potential candidate for the seat but a deal could not be reached.
This takes the entry list down to 23 cars for Saturday’s race.
GMG and Herberth Porsches lead Wednesday testing
For the teams that were present and ready to go, Wednesday’s two test sessions afforded them valuable track time.
In Session 1, Sheldon van der Linde set the pace early in the Shell-liveried #31 WRT BMW, with a 1:23.407. But the South African was surpassed in the running order by Intercontinental GT Challenge Drivers’ Championship leader, Ayhancan Güven.
Güven, driving the Pro-Am #32 GMG Porsche 911 GT3 R, set a 1:22.925 to lead Test Session 1 over Van der Linde. Lucas Auer was third in the #75 Mercedes-AMG GT3 now running under the “75 Express” banner versus the more familiar SunEnergy1 Racing.
The Porsches of Brendon Leitch and Elliott Skeer completed the top five from the first session.
Late in Session 2, the blue and purple #10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche leapt to the top of the time sheets. Patric Niederhauser set the fastest time of the day at 1:22.870.
Leitch was second-fastest in the #61 EBM Porsche, followed by Toni Vilander in the #163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, and then Alex Fontana in the #21 Car Collection Motorsports Porsche. Porsches took five out of the top six places in the afternoon session.
RESULTS | TEST SESSION 1 >> | TEST SESSION 2 >>
Mustang Challenge finale
The inaugural season of the IMSA Mustang Challenge concludes this weekend, with a pair of races scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
Jeremy Fletcher led Practice 1 in the #22 McCumbee McAleer Racing car, while championship leader Robert Noaker led Practice 2 in his #13 Mustang, half a second ahead of his title rival Tyler Maxson in the #74 which is also under the Robert Noaker Racing banner.
Noaker and Maxson enter the weekend separated by 70 points in the Dark Horse class championship.
Zachry Lee has all but clinched the Dark Horse Legends class; Lee has been undefeated amongst his fellow 45-and-up Bronze drivers and has a 440-point lead in the standings. He can mathematically clinch the title in Race 1 on Thursday and not even need to start Race 2.
Both races will air live on the official Ford Performance YouTube channel at 1:10 PM Thursday and 1:55 PM Friday (local time/EDT).
Chloe Chambers returns, backed by Red Bull Ford
The other notable entry is Chloe Chambers, who was confirmed as Red Bull Ford F1 Academy’s new driver for the 2025 campaign, her second season in the all-female single-seater championship.
Chambers raced in the inaugural Mustang Challenge event at Mid-Ohio earlier this year and finished seventh in Race 2 of the weekend.
“I am thrilled to be driving for the Red Bull Ford Academy Programme for the upcoming 2025 season,” said Chambers. “As an American driver, it is an honour to team up with an iconic American automotive company like Ford. It is a privilege to be partnering with the Red Bull Ford Academy Programme to continue improving female representation in the sport, and I am grateful for the support to achieve my own career goals in motorsport.
“I am excited to take part in the Ford Mustang Challenge this week and to have more opportunities to race outside of my role in F1 Academy.”
Images © Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports America, RJ O’Connell / Dailysportscar.com, Ford Performance
