Indianapolis Friday Notebook

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competitors had a single 90-minute practice session on Friday, in what marked the series’ first track time for Sunday’s Battle on the Bricks six-hour Michelin Endurance Cup round.

***Several cars hit trouble during the session, namely the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 of Ricky Taylor, which stopped on track with a voltage-related issue. A Honda Racing Corporation USA spokesperson confirmed to Sportscar365 that the car has underwent a hybrid system change as a result.

***The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, featuring the all-Australian lineup of Kenny Habul, Chaz Mostert and Jordan Love this weekend, meanwhile, completed only two in-and-out laps in the session due to a fuel-related issue.

***A similar problem took the 75 Express-run GTD Pro class entry out of the race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, its last WeatherTech Championship appearance, ironically with the same chassis.

***Wright Motorsport’s No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R, meanwhile, went behind the wall during the session with damage after contact with the No. 99 AO Racing Oreca 07 Gibson LMP2 machine. The car has been repaired in time for tomorrow’s action.

***Friday’s LMP2 pacesetter Mikkel Jensen said: “I think traffic is playing a big role this weekend. [With] 56 cars on this short lap time is a lot of traffic.” Porsche Penske Motorsport managing director Jonathan Diuguid added: “Traffic is a big impact. We saw it even in practice.”

***Connor Zilisch arrived in Indianapolis late on Thursday after pulling double-duty between ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series action at Bristol Motor Speedway action earlier in the day where the 18-year-old rising star recorded 26th and 19th finishes, respectively after scoring poles for both races.

***Zilisch and Era Motorsport co-drivers Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman currently sit second in the Michelin Endurance Cup LMP2 standings after winning both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring earlier this year.

***Merriman, meanwhile, has returned to the cockpit of the team’s No. 18 Oreca 07 Gibson for the first time since Watkins Glen, with historics racer Stuart Wiltshire having stepped in for the two sprint races at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Road America.

***Meyer Shank Racing team co-owner Mike Shank was spotted in the paddock on Friday. MSR’s full-season Acura GTP lineup is apparently already finalized. Sportscar365 understands that the final two drivers, beyond the widely known Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun, will come from current IMSA GTP teams.

***PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports has “a few scenarios” in the works for its driver lineup next year according to team principal Bobby Oergel, who said they are starting with a “clean sheet” of paper. The California-based team will return to operating its own effort after teaming up with Inter Europol Competition this year.

***Inter Europol, which gained its own LMP2 entry by IMSA, will separate on an amicable basis, with Oergel explaining it was always the Polish squad’s plan to have its own car in the series after only joining forces with PR1/Mathiasen this year after missing out on its own entry for the 2023 season.

***Oergel, meanwhile, told Sportscar365 that PR1/Mathiasen is “actively pursuing” a program in HSR for next year.

***A Cadillac Racing spokesperson clarified that Action Express Racing was testing at Road America earlier this month with proposed Evo joker updates to its Cadillac V-Series.R. Sebastien Bourdais was at the wheel of the car during the test, as Action’s regular driver Jack Aitken was unavailable.

***Chip Ganassi Racing could switch chassis for next month’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans, with the team having recently tested a different Cadillac LMDh car at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta that was decked out in a pink livery, the same car that was on display at the recent Lone Star Le Mans FIA World Endurance Championship event in honor of ‘Pink Cadillac Day.’

***Lamborghini Iron Lynx has altered its testing schedule, with the Italian squad having canceled its scheduled run at Road Atlanta according to Matteo Cairoli.

***Cairoli told Sportscar365: “We were supposed to go testing next week in Atlanta but it has been canceled. First of all I couldn’t come because I had a clash in Mugello [for] ELMS. Anyhow it was not possible. But we have some other days before the end of the year that I’m very much looking forward to.”

***Sean Creech Motorsport, which is missing this weekend’s race after Lance Willsey elected to retire from racing, is understood to have already had several ledes for a replacement Bronze-rated driver that could put the team’s Ligier JS P217 Gibson back in action for Petit Le Mans.

***SCM’s transporter was seen on-site at the track although a team spokesperson told Sportscar365 that it had remained there since its pre-event test earlier this month, prior to Willsey’s decision to stand down from driving.

***Saturday’s action will feature another 90-minute practice session, followed by qualifying beginning at 3:40 p.m. EDT which will be streamed live on Peacock and IMSA.tv.

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