Indianapolis Friday Notebook

Photo: Mercedes-AMG

***The No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3, which initially qualified an impressive 12th for Saturday’s Indianapolis 8 Hour, has been moved to the back of the Am class, positioned behind the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 after it was found by the stewards that the drivers did not participate in the nominated order.

***Regulator Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo will also start from the rear due to unauthorized work during the qualifying session.

***A total of ten cars in Saturday’s race will be ineligible for GT World Challenge America powered by AWS driver and team points and will essentially be invisible in the series ranking order, to prevent interference with the championship battles.

***The entries are: Nos. 7 and 21 Herberth Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, Nos. 10 and 120 Wright Motorsports Porsches, Nos. 46 and 77 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVOs, No. 61 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche, as well as the Mercedes-AMGs from 75 Express, Lone Star Racing and GruppeM Racing.

***Conversely, only Intercontinental GT Challenge-registered cars will score IGTC driver and manufacturer points, meaning that teams running the Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, Ford Mustang GT3 and McLaren 720S GT3 Evo will be invisible in the IGTC rankings.

***IGTC competitors will be required to complete 70 percent of the leader’s laps to be classified and score points, while GTWC America teams will only need to only cross the control line after the completion of the scheduled number of formation laps to score series points.

***If Dollahite secures the GTWC America Am class title, it will mark the second championship for the Mustang GT3 in global competition, after Haupt Racing Team earned the driver and team titles in ADAC GT Masters earlier this month.

***A total of 27 Mustang race cars are competing globally this weekend, including a stampede of Mustang Dark Horse Rs in the penultimate Mustang Cup round of the season at Lime Rock Park.

***Riley Dickinson, Curt Swearingin and Jan Heylen could all end up with championships titles by the end of this weekend, in a unique link between the three Porsche drivers.

***Heylen, who heads into the Indy 8 Hour third in the GTWC America Pro standings with RS1, is filling in for Dickinson in the No. 7 ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport in GT4 America action this weekend, alongside team owner/driver Swearingin, who sits a close second in the Pro-Am standings.

***Dickinson is not at Indianapolis because the Porsche Motorsport North America Selected driver is going for his second Porsche Carrera Cup North America title in the last three years in this weekend’s title decider at Circuit of The Americas.

***With GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS closing out its season this weekend on the streets of Beijing, in a historic first event for SRO Motorsports Group, company founder and CEO Stephane Ratel is in China, with Chief Operating Officer Patricia Kiefer holding command at The Brickyard, along with IGTC series manager Abi Hay and British GT Championship series manager Lauren Granville, who has been drafted into assist this weekend.

***John Wright, the namesake behind Wright Motorsports, is on-site this weekend for the first time since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring to support his former team, which was sold to Adam Adelson at the end of last year.

***Longtime Wright technical director Bobby Viglione, who was promoted to the team’s chief operating officer amid the change in team ownership, is calling race strategy on the team’s No. 10 Pro-Am class entry of Antares Au, Loek Hartog and Patric Niederhauser this weekend.

***Viglione said the two-car Indy 8 Hour program came together in the summer. “It was a little bit last minute but then no tire warmers, a new tire for us, without any real experience, so the learning curve is a bit steep,” he told Sportscar365. “It’s good to get everything prepped in that format and understand what we have, with some new people in the mix and training some potential new people.”

***Wright, as revealed by Sportscar365, is set to return to GTWC America with at least one full-season Porsche in the Pro-Am class.

***Sportscar365 understands that Kellymoss is preparing to field least two 911 GT3 Rs, including a possible all-female driver lineup with Ashley Freiberg and Loni Unser, along with a potential multi-car effort from Riley that could result in as many as six new Porsche entries in the championship.

***Turner Motorsport, Random Vandals Racing and JMF Motorsports have also signaled returns to GTWC America next year, with Pro class title contenders Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier understood to have already been internally confirmed in JMF’s No. 34 Mercedes-AMG.

***Conquest Racing, meanwhile, is working on options for a potential series comeback with Ferrari 296 GT3 machinery according to team owner Eric Bachelart. “We have a car in the shop that we could use but at the moment we don’t have a plan,” he told Sportscar365. “If we can, we’d like to do it. If not, we’ll use this car in Competizione GT in Ferrari Challenge.”

***Bachelart’s team runs between 12-20 customers in Ferrari Challenge North America on any given weekend. “It would be really nice to go back [to SRO America] and Greg [Gill, SRO America President] is in regular communication with me. But we don’t have, right now, Ferrari Challenge drivers ready to go into GT3.”

***The future of Archangel Motorsports’ program with Todd Coleman remains unclear according to team owner Mike Johnson. “We’ve kind of looked at everything,” he told Sportscar365. “We’ve looked at a return to [IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge] GS. We’ve looked at a return to GT World Challenge America. He’s also got some opportunities in Europe.”

***Johnson revealed that Coleman had initially looked at a WeatherTech Championship GTD effort, although it didn’t come together. “He was working really hard on it but the budget is out of control,” he said. “If you don’t care how much money you spend, WeatherTech is easy but if you’re really looking for value for dollar, it’s hard to agree that it’s there.”

***Michael Cooper’s Pirelli GT4 America Rae 1 pole marked the first ever pole position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for team manager Ray Sorenson, who had been part of seven Indianapolis 500s, all but two with Newman/Haas, as a mechanic and left-front tire changer. Sorenson was also the chief mechanic for Team xTreme in 1999 before becoming team manager in 2001.

***SRO announced late Friday Balance of Performance changes to three models ahead of tomorrow’s GT4 America Race 1 . The McLaren Artura GT4, which scored pole with Cooper, has been given a 15kg weight increase, while both the BMW M4 GT4 and Mercedes-AMG handed 10kg weight breaks.

***The 75 Express drivers are sporting special white firesuits this weekend sporting the Australian flag, as all three drivers (Kenny Habul, Will Power and Chaz Mostert) are Aussies. It marks the second all-Australian lineup for the Munich-based operation after Habul teamed with Mostert and Jordan Love in last year’s Battle on the Bricks WeatherTech Championship enduro.

***One of Team WRT’s BMWs that was driven by Valentino Rossi in 27 races will go up for auction by RM Sotheby’s on Saturday. The pre-EVO chassis notably finished second in this year’s Megiuar’s Bathurst 12 Hour.

***Sportscar365 understands that SRO America has been in discussions with the Miami International Autodrome for a potential event in the future. A delegation of track representatives were spotted in the paddock this weekend. The facility, originally built as a temporary circuit for Formula 1, can now operate year-round thanks to the creation of an “inner loop” layout that opened last October.

***The SRO America-run McLaren Trophy America will race at the Hard Rock Stadium venue during the F1 Miami Grand Prix weekend next year, it was announced on Wednesday.

***Pirelli’s DHG tire compound, which made its GTWC America debut at Road America, is set for its first outing at Indianapolis this weekend, marking the new-for-2025 tire’s third consecutive IGTC event, following the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa and Suzuka 1000km.

***Pirelli circuit activity manager Matteo Braga said: “Following Suzuka, The Brickyard will provide an ideal proving ground for the new P Zero DHG and Cinturato WHB tires, combining performance, reliability, and a focus on sustainability.”

***The WHB wet-weather tire is new to GTWC America teams this weekend. Per a bulletin by SRO America, teams may continue using the previous-generation WHA specification if they have existing inventory but there will be no performance advantage compared to the WHB, which was first rolled out in DTM and GT Masters in 2024.

***The WHB, however, is prohibited for GT4 and GT America competitors this weekend. While current forecasts call for a chance of rain towards the end of the Indy 8 Hour, showers are likely for Sunday morning, which will see the season-ending rounds for GT4 America, GT America and GR Cup.

***Mirco Schultis took part in this afternoon’s GT America race with a broken left wrist, just four weeks after sustaining the injury in a bike accident when his handlebar broke. Schultis was forced to miss the HSR Prototype Challenge round at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, a series he’s also competing in this year.

***Indianapolis marks the first outing for the Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R since Sebring International Raceway in May, an event which Schultis told Sportscar365 that they had to build their own replacement parts following heavy damage sustained from Long Beach.

***While not yet confirming his 2026 program, Schultis told Sportscar365 that he’s been in discussions with Callaway Cars general manager Pete Callaway for a potential “farewell tour” with the car, which will see its homologation end at the conclusion of the 2026 season.

***Spencer Pumpelly is back in GT4 America action, filling in for Tom Kopczynski, who is currently recovering from an injury sustained in a testing accident at The Brickyard. Kopczynski and his long-time driver coach Eric Filgueiras were due to complete the McLaren Trophy America season this weekend but his recent injury altered plans for Filgueiras, a former Silver class champion, to get a jump start on his 2026 campaign instead.

***Filgueiras said: “It’s a very unfortunate circumstance that I cannot finish the McLaren trophy season with Tom Kopczynski after an injury has sidelined him. The first priority is getting Tom back to his normal health and we are looking forward to his return driving.”

***Pumpelly and Filgueiras are at the wheel of a Riley-run Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport this weekend in the Silver class, with plans in place for Kopczynski and Filgueiras to mount a full-season GT4 America program with the car next year.

***PT Autosport will holding its annual Aspiring Driver Shootout at New Jersey Motorsport Park on Nov. 3-5, with the winner earning financial support of up to $250,000 ($50,000 guaranteed) to pursue their racing career. The team, which runs in GR Cup and also supports GTWC America Pro class title contender Alex Sedgwick, received applications from drivers from three countries, two continents and 32 different American states. Of the eight selected candidates, only one (Liam Crystal) is returning from the 2024 Shootout.

***Valentino Rossi, who is making his four-wheeled debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, has revealed that ambitions of contesting next year’s Suzuka 1000km, in addition to targeted returns to fellow IGTC events at Bathurst and Spa-Francorchamps.

***Rossi said: “I love Bathurst. It was one of our first targets. I’m very happy because I’ve already raced there three times. I want to continue next year. Spa for sure and also I’d love to race in Suzuka next year because it’s a track that I love. It’s one of the best tracks in the world. We will try to organize.”

***Maro Engel confirmed he will miss the Macau Grand Prix for the first time since 2013, excluding the COVID-impacted years, due to Mercedes-AMG’s decision not to take part in the event amid the introduction of torque sensors. The German driver is a four-time GT Cup winner in the event and the reigning FIA GT World Cup champion.

***The sixth annual Indianapolis 8 Hour gets underway Saturday at 12:20 p.m. EST with live coverage on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel. Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish will be joined in the booth by Jonathan Grace, with Amanda Busick and DJ Clark on pit lane.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John