Indianapolis Wednesday Notebook

Photo; Laurie Southern/McLaren

***Track action for the SRO America and Intercontinental GT Challenge season finale kicked off on Wednesday with testing for the Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour, along with test sessions for Pirelli GT4 America, Toyota GR Cup North America, GT America presented by AWS as well as testing, practice and the Miami Makeup Race for McLaren Trophy America.

***Daan Arrow has been a late confirmation in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, alongside season-long driver Jan Heylen and Danny Dyszelski, who has been in the car for the last two GT World Challenge America powered by AWS races.

***Despite DragonSpeed’s withdrawal, the 28-car entry for Saturday’s enduro marks a GT3 entry record for any of IGTC’s ten previous events in North America. This weekend will mark the seventh and final planned outing at Indianapolis for SRO Motorsports Group’s globe-trotting GT3 series, as the U.S. leg of the series moves to Circuit of The Americas next year to what will be known as the Texas 8 Hour.

***Twenty-five of the 28 cars due to take part are eligible to score IGTC manufacturer points between IGTC’s six registered brands: BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Ford, Mercedes-AMG and Porsche. Those entries can also score drivers’ points as well.

***With IGTC points leader Maro Engel again absent this weekend due to a clashing DTM race, fellow Mercedes-AMG factory drivers Luca Stolz (Lone Star Racing) and Maxime Martin (JMF Motorsports) hold the best chance of becoming the 11th different IGTC drivers’ champion in as many years.

***Stolz has a one-point lead over Martin, with Porsche factory star Laurin Heinrich the only other driver mathematically able to win the drivers’ title, with the German, who will be in Wright Motorsport’s Pro-Am class Porsche, sitting 22 points behind Engel and would need to win overall to have any chance.

***Porsche, however, is poised to claim its record-equaling fourth IGTC manufacturers’ championship and second in the last three years, largely based on being the most-represented GT3 brand in the race with 11 entries.

***Kerong Li, meanwhile, has already clinched the IGTC Independent Cup title in last month’s Suzuka 1000km, despite there having been a drop score for the competition involving FIA Bronze-rated drivers.

***Further details on the reason of DragonSpeed’s withdrawal from the event have emerged. Sportscar365 understands that both sponsorship obligations, which required the team to run with an all-professional-rated driver lineup, along with the physical challenges of converting its Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R from IMSA-spec, equipped with torque sensors, to SRO configuration in an extremely quick turnaround from last weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans, were both leading factors.

***The car was originally due to be driven by Alexander Sims, Giacomo Altoe and Ben Green until the team realized the Pro class, per GTWC America regulations, requires a Silver-rated driver in each lineup. Its Silver-rated WeatherTech Championship driver, Casper Stevenson, was understood to have been in line to drive in place of Altoe until the entire effort was called off.

***DragonSpeed’s planned GT America effort for William Hedman, the son of car owner Henrik, also failed to materialized due to Hedman, who was provisionally rated as Silver, not having been eligible for a derogation to Bronze* because of a change in the series’ rules for this year. It’s understood the team’s Ferrari 296 GT3, which finished runner-up in the IMSA GTD Pro championship last year, was already en-route from the team’s Barcelona base.

***Silver-rated drivers lacking significant sports car racing experience, however, will be allowed to race in GT America next year, as part of a new two-class structure for both the SRO3 and GT4 classes. The news was recently communicated to teams.

***It’s understood the Elton Julian-led organization, which is set to pivot to Ferrari Challenge North America next year, could still potentially field Hedman’s Corvette or Ferrari in SRO America competition next year.

***A total of three drivers contesting the Indy 8 Hour have been confirmed as derogated Bronze* this weekend: Dyszelski (RS1 Porsche), Nicolai Elghanayan (Chicago Performance and Tuning Co. Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2) and Brayton Williams (TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo). All three cars will carry 10 kg of additional weight as a result in all sessions.

***Alex Garcia, who along with his brother Michael are in contention for the GT4 America Am class championship, has also continued his season-long derogation to Bronze* and will also have 10 kg of weight in their ACI Motorsports Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

***Several cars are sporting new liveries this weekend, including the GTWC America Pro class championship-leading No. 34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG, which is now in Cielovision colors, as well as the No. 14 Riley Technologies BMW M4 GT3 EVO, which was the subject of a season-long fan livery contest. The winning livery was created by Addilyn, age 5 from Lexington, S.C.

***The GTWC Pro-Am championship-leading No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche, which does not have this season’s standout GT3 driver Tom Sargent at the wheel this weekend, has remained in Buc-ee’s colors from its most recent outing at Barber Motorsports Park. Riccardo Pera has replaced Sargent as the designated Silver-rated driver, alongside Washington and Porsche factory driver Ayhancan Guven.

***Pera is one of a number of drivers to have been provisionally upgraded from Silver to Gold rating by the FIA following the release of the initial 2027 driver ratings classifications earlier this week. Notable SRO America drivers with adjustments include Erika Hoffmann (Silver to Bronze) and Paul Holton (Gold to Silver), while Sargent has remained Silver for 2027.

***Risi Competizione’s Maserati MC20 GT2, which will be making its North America professional race debut in the pair of GT America races this weekend, has been classified in the SRO3 class and not GT2 per the team’s decision. Newly crowned GTWC Europe Sprint Cup Bronze Cup champion Peter Dempsey will be handling driving duties of the car.

***Dempsey is one of several drivers at The Brickyard that are coming off last weekend’s GTWC Europe Sprint Cup season finale, including McLaren factory driver Thomas Fleming, who joins Archangel Motorsports, and Loris Spinelli, who is the third driver in Chicago Performance and Tuning Co.’s Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.

***Kevin Estre, who is in the newly numbered and re-classified Pro class No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, scored overall victory in last weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans, while fellow Porsche factory driver Heinrich, whose No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 crashed out late in the race, in the sister Wright entry.

***Reigning GTWC America Pro class champion Connor De Phillippi claimed a second consecutive major North American GT3 series title, as part of Paul Miller Racing’s BMW GTD Pro lineup, and is serving as the third driver in Turner Motorsport’s Pro class title-seeking entry this weekend.

***Other notable drivers that took part in the ten-hour WeatherTech Championship season finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta include Pera, Alex Palou, Colin Braun, Chris Mies, Alessio Picariello, Aaron Telitz, Lars Kern, Jan Heylen, Ryan Yardley, Zachary Vanier, Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis, Luca Stolz, Lin Hodenius, Morris Schuring, and Morris Schuring.

***AutoTechnic Racing, meanwhile, picked up the Michelin Pilot Challenge GS championship with Stevan McAleer and Austin Krainz. McAleer has been paired up with Austin’s father, Roland, in GT4 America Pro-Am competition with the same team.

***Desder, an ultra-exclusive luxury Italian watchmaker, is serving as the title sponsor for the Indy 8 Hour. The independent haute horlogerie brand was the presenting sponsor of both the GTWC Europe events at Monza and Imola earlier this year as well.

***Company founder Fabrizio Nardini said: “Motorsport has always been a natural world for DESDER because it is driven by many of the same things that inspire us as watchmakers: engineering, precision, performance and, above all, passion. Becoming presenting partner of the Indianapolis 8 Hour is an important moment for us, particularly as we introduce the DESDER 001 to the United States.”

***Thursday’s action will include a second test for GTWC America/IGTC competitors, followed by Free Practice, which runs into the night. The second McLaren Trophy America race of the week is also on tap (5:15 p.m. EST, Live, McLaren Automotive and SRO’s GT World YouTube), along with additional practice sessions for all other series.

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