Murillo’s Foss Holds Off Hidman for Mid-Ohio Win

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Eric Foss held off a hard-charging Trent Hindman while on a near-empty fuel tank to take victory in Saturday’s Mid-Ohio 120 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

Foss, in the No. 56 Murllo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, crossed the line 0.699 seconds ahead of Hindman’s No. 7 VOLT Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 in the two-hour contest that looked set to come down to a fuel mileage race.

Foss was forced to conserve fuel during his stint after co-driver and pole-sitter Kenton Koch pitted one lap early due to a loose wheel.

He saw the gap from Hindman go from 13 seconds in the final half-hour down to less than one-second, although managed to stay out front to give he and Koch victory in the GS class.

Hindman and co-driver Alan Brynjolffson extended their points lead with the runner-up result, with Andrew Davis and Michael McCann completing the podium in third in their Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS Clubsport.

The No. 60 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 of Nate Stacy came home fourth, despite having made contact with the No. 72 Murillo Mercedes of Christian Szymczak while battling for second at the time.

IMSA deemed no further action on the contact that saw Szymczak’s Mercedes get spun around.

Szymczak rebounded to finish fifth, however.

Multiple cars ran out of fuel on the final lap of the race, which had a long green flag stretch to the finish.

Harry Gottsacker and Parker Chase delivered Hyundai’s first TCR class win of the season in a 1-2 sweep for Bryan Herta Autosport.

The duo in the No. 98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR finished 0.692 seconds ahead of defending class champions Michael Lewis and Taylor Hagler in the No. 1 entry.

It came in a commanding performance by the Hyundais, which ran in the top four positions at one stage.

A late charge by Jon Morley in the No. 61 Road Shagger Audi RS 3 LMS TCR was rewarded with a third place class finish for he and co-driver Gavin Ernstone, meanwhile.

The class pole-sitting No. 37 LA Honda World Racing Honda Civic Type-R TCR of Tiago Monteiro was collected in a multi-car incident that ultimately resulted in a Lap 1 retirement for the open-wheel and TCR ace.

RESULTS: Mid-Ohio 120

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