Indianapolis Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams unloaded on Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the penultimate round of the season, the TireRack Battle on the Bricks. After serving as a six-hour Michelin Endurance Cup round the last two years, the race reverts to a standard two-hour and 40-minute race, while retaining all four classes.

***Intersport Racing is the most notable absentee from the 44-car entry list, with the Jon Field-owned team having also skipped the other regular-distance LMP2 race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July.

***Christian Rasmussen was confirmed on Tuesday as Nick Boulle’s co-driver in the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 Gibson, in what will mark the Kyle Tilley-owned team’s first, and only, LMP2 sprint race start of the season after also skipping CTMP.

***Revealed on Thursday, the No. 93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande will be in a special tribute livery this weekend and at Motul Petit Le Mans, paying homage to the teams and drivers that helped lead Acura to success through its decade-run of WeatherTech Championship competition.

***All of the names of the drivers and teams that fielded Acura machinery, from the NSX GT3 to the Acura ARX-05 DPi and ARX-06 LMDh car, are included along with associated artwork and track diagrams where the manufacturer achieved wins at, along with championship/win stats on the shark fin and a thank you to “All the Fans!”

***While newly crowned five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou is expected to be back in the No. 93 Acura for next month’s season finale, Honda factory driver Kaku Ohta will still be making the trip to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to be part of the program’s send-off. The Japanese star was part of the car’s lineup in both the Rolex 24 at Daytona and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen this year, the latter race marking his first-ever GTP podium finish.

***Ohta told Sportscar365: “I’ll be there at Petit Le Mans. It’s the last race for Acura. But I will not be driving. I just want to be there to say goodbye to the team, to my teammates. Scott [Dixon] and Felix [Rosenqvist] are both leaving Honda, and both Tom and Nick are going to Ford. Especially Nick, who was very kind to me since I first arrived in the U.S. and always helping a lot.”

***The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo is also sporting new colors this weekend, with green replacing its signature metallic blue color scheme.

***It was a successful past weekend for WeatherTech Championship drivers and teams, with Laurin Heinrich and Julien Andlauer winning the Suzuka 1000km in their AO by Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo with AO’s Endurance Cup pilot Alessio Picariello.

***Three of Ford Racing’s quartet of GTD Pro drivers: Chris Mies, Fred Vervish and Dennis Olsen finished second in the Japanese leg of the Intercontinental GT Challenge after claiming the Blue Oval’s first-ever IGTC pole.

***Ben Barnicoat, who was a last-minute call-up to Algarve Pro Racing, helped take the Stewart and Samantha Cox-led squad to its first overall European Le Mans Series victory in more than three years, in Sunday’s 4 Hours of Silverstone, while BMW factory ace Marco Wittmann won the first DTM race of the weekend at the Sachsenring.

***Ben Barker, who was the unlucky driver out of the Ford GTD Pro lineup to not be in Japan, said: “Obviously, to get a podium there was fantastic. Of course, that’s going to bring some good energy. I think the Mustang GT3 has been working really well this season. We’ve been developing it and honing it in on the Evo package. Let’s hope that that brings some good luck to us as well.”

***While the highest profile driver change since the last GTP race has been the early return of Laurin Heinrich to Porsche Penske Motorsport, replacing Laurens Vanthoor this weekend in the No. 6 Porsche 963, Porsche Formula E driver Nico Mueller takes Heinrich’s spot in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports entry for the remainder of the season.

***The 34-year-old Swiss driver has been linked to the final seat in Porsche Penske’s lineup next year, for the three long-distance races at Daytona, Sebring and Petit Le Mans, with no clashes with the all-electric championship.

***When asked if Mueller’s placement with the Minnesota-based team is to evaluate an endurance role with Porsche Penske, Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach said “everything is possible” but largely downplayed the potential connetion.

***Laudenbach said: “He’s sitting in the JDC car [because] he knows the team. He’s done a brilliant job there. He knows how to drive these cars. That’s the reason he’s in. As I don’t want to comment on the details of the [PPM] lineup for 2027. I wouldn’t exclude anything but I wouldn’t say it’s very likely.”

***Penske Racing President Jonathan Diuguid admitted that keeping Heinrich at JDC-Miller for the rest of the season was “part of the discussion.”

***While it remains unclear if JDC-Miller will be permitted to keep their Porsche in 2025-spec next year, Laudenbach said they’re happy to continue to support the team with the previous-gen bodywork. “The final decision is for sure [with] IMSA,” he said. “Our position is that as long as we have enough parts, we’re happy to provide the 2025 spec to JDC.”

***Laudenbach said there will be “no major update” to the Porsche 963 next year, indicating that the German manufacturer will not utilize its fifth Evo joker, which will expire at the end of the 2027 season.

***Heinrich enters the weekend 118 points behind GTP leader Jack Aitken, who is coming off his and Action Express Racing’s first retirement since the 2024 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring after Aitken and Kevin Estre came to blows while battling for second in the final stages of the Road America race.

***MSR’s Yelloly and van der Zande, who trail Aitken by 185 points, are the only other drivers in with a realistic chance of the GTP title, but only if the top two hit significant trouble.

***Yelloy said he and van der Zande will be taking “calculated risks” in the outside title bid. “We can get maybe our elbows out a little bit more now with the last couple of races of the program coming up,” he said. “I’m keen to finish at least once on the top step of the podium again with everyone at HRC and MSR, so why not?”

***Sportscar365 understands that Alec Udell has could complete Conquest Racing’s lineup for Petit Le Mans, in what would mark the FIA Silver-rated driver’s third different GTD team in as many Endurance Cup races. Udell was drafted into the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo at Watkins Glen and joined DragonSpeed’s lineup at Road America.

***Conquest team owner Eric Bachelart said he’s optimistic of his Indianapolis-based squad returning for a full season campaign next year. Its Silver-rated driver Manny Franco hasn’t driven since Long Beach but has continued to support the operation for the balance of this season, although it’s unclear if Franco is in the frame for a comeback.

***Bachelart told Sportscar365: “It’s looking good for next year but it’s all not confirmed yet. After that, with the driver choices and stuff like that, nothing has been discussed yet because we haven’t received a complete agreement yet.”

***RLL Team McLaren has received a fine and penalty even before cars hit the track, as the factory McLaren GTD Pro outfit was found to have broken “facility restrictions” by having begun graphics installation and garage flooring on Tuesday morning, prior to the prescribed graphics installation time per the event’s supplementary regulations.

***As a result, RLL has been fined $500 and their transporter open time was delayed by 30 minutes this morning as a penalty.

***Longtime engineer turned team manager Walter Preston passed away last week. Preston was most recently associated with the now-defunct Korthoff Motorsports squad, which campaigned a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo in the GTD class from 2021-25.

***A memorial was held on Thursday afternoon at the track for Lee Driggers, the creator of IMSA Pit Notes, who passed away in May after a brief battle with cancer. Driggers produced pit notes from the first American Le Mans Series race in 1999 and continued his service post-merger into the WeatherTech Championship era, marking a 25-plus year run in providing information such as pit stop data, driver and lead changes, quotes and more to the media and public relations representatives.

***Indianapolis Motor Speedway and IMSA will kick off the event weekend with the return of the IMSA Street Festival this evening on Main Street in Speedway, Ind., beginning at 5 p.m., with a parade of cars set for 6-8 p.m., along with a driver Q&A session, autograph session and pit stop demonstrations.

***Additionally, new for this year, street signs of IMSA cars have been put up throughout downtown Indianapolis. Click Here for more details.

***Track action kicks off tomorrow with a 90-minute WeatherTech Championship practice from 3:25-4:55 p.m. EST. Also included will be two rounds of practice for Michelin Pilot Challenge, Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, as well as qualifying in the evening for the Porsche single-make series.

Jamie Klein contributed to this report

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