Indianapolis Thursday Notebook

Photo: Jonathan Grace

***A total of 56 cars are set for this weekend’s Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, in the newly expanded six-hour race that’s now part of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.

***Both of Team RLL’s BMW M Hybrid V8 GTP cars were on-site Thursday, amid the FBI’s raid of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s headquarters in nearby Zionsville on Wednesday. RLL is “cooperating fully” with investigators according to a team statement. “Given that this is an ongoing investigation, we are limited in what information we can share right now, but we intend to provide additional information as soon as we can,” the statement read.

***In addition to its two-car factory BMW GTP effort, RLL also operates multiple entries in the NTT IndyCar Series.

***Heart of Racing Team’s new second GTD Pro entry has been numbered No. 027 instead of its traditional No. 27 that’s used in GTD, per IMSA rules that prohibits a team to transfer the same car number between classes. GTD debutant DragonSpeed, which used the No. 81 in LMP2, is carrying the No. 56 on its new Ferrari 296 GT3 this weekend.

***The Elton Julian-led team gave its Ferrari its first run during last weekend’s Ferrari Challenge event at Indianapolis with all three of its drivers Henrik Hedman, Rasmus Lindh, Toni Vilander getting seat time plus Hedman’s 18-year-old son William, who turned his first laps in a GT car.

***DragonSpeed, which also maintains entries for Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale in Ferrari Challenge since the start of this year, received the brand-new 296 GT3 chassis in August according to Anthony Megevand, who has come on board as the team’s new sporting director.

***Inception Racing, which has also switched to a 296 GT3 for the remainder of the season, completed a test at Circuit of The Americas, near its U.S. base in Buda, Tex, earlier this month.

***This weekend marks the largest contingent of Ferraris in the WeatherTech Championship in recent memory, at seven, when also counting examples from Risi Competizione, Conquest Racing, Triarsi Competizione, AF Corse and Cetilar Racing. A dedicated Ferrari parts truck, based in Indianapolis, is on-site this weekend as a result.

***Porsche also sees a notable increase in GT entries this weekend, at five 911 GT3 R race cars, thanks to the return of Andretti Motorsports, which makes its first start since the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, as well as the addition of the No. 90 Kellymoss with Riley entry for Porsche Selected Driver Program North America drivers Kay van Berlo and Riley Dickinson plus Jake Pedersen. Both are set to compete in the GTD class.

***SunEnergy1 Racing makes its first WeatherTech SportsCar Championship start since January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, with the same Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo chassis that took part in the season-opener. The Kenny Habul-led squad, known as 75 Express, is based in Munich, where the car was prepped.

***Habul intends to utilize the same chassis for next month’s Intercontinental GT Challenge season-ending Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, although with a revised lineup that will include Mercedes-AMG factory star Lucas Auer.

***It’s understood SunEnergy1 is plotting an expanded WeatherTech Championship campaign next year that would include a return to Daytona and Indianapolis plus a run at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, pending entry confirmation from IMSA.

***A number of teams are fresh off last weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship race at Fuji Speedway, including Porsche Penske Motorsport, Proton Competition, Heart of Racing Team, Chip Ganassi Racing, Iron Lynx, United Autosports and AF Corse.

***Among the drivers that are fresh from Japan include Phil Hanson, Charlie Eastwood, Mikkel Jensen, Paul Di Resta, Nicklas Nielsen, Alex Riberas, Davide Rigon, Harry Tincknell, Michael Christensen, Miguel Molina, Ben Barker, Rahel Frey, Michelle Gatting and Sarah Bovy.

***Porsche LMDh factory director Urs Kuratle and members of Porsche’s technical and engineering team, meanwhile, flew directly from Japan to Indianapolis, amid the busy period for international sports car racing.

***Action Express Racing recently tested at Road America, for what’s understood to have been a driver tryout for next year. Sportscar365 understands that Formula 2 front-runner Frederik Vesti is among the candidates to replace third driver Tom Blomqvist, who is poised to return to Meyer Shank Racing alongside Colin Braun.

***Earl Bamber, meanwhile, was previously rumored to potentially take over Pipo Derani’s seat in the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R, although those prospects appear to have faded in recent weeks. It’s currently unclear who will fill the seat alongside Jack Aitken next year.

***Action Express is one of four GTP entries that is utilizing a three-driver lineup for this weekend. Proton Competition has brought back Alessio Picariello to its No. 5 Porsche, while Hanson is again the third driver in the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche, with Roman Grosjean making his first start in the Iron Lynx-run Lamborghini SC63 since the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***Matt Campbell is serving as Porsche Penske’s reserve driver this weekend. The Australian claimed pole for the Battle on the Bricks last year in the No. 7 Penske Porsche.

***Ford Performance will have all three versions of its Mustang sports car race car (GT3, GT4, Dark Horse R) in action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the next three weeks, with the GT3 and GT4-spec machines in WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge competition this weekend, followed by the Mustang Challenge season finale at the Indy 8 Hour.

***IMSA has updated the WeatherTech Championship sporting regulations, including a line that now mandates that all hybrid-powered GTP cars must have a green cone (or alternative marker) placed on the top of the car whenever a car is powered down from a high-voltage safe condition.

***Occasional Grand-Am driver Chad McQueen, the son of Steve McQueen, passed away last week at the age of 63. Chad took part in several editions of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, including the 2006 event where he sustained serious injuries in an accident during practice. McQueen returned to race in the Florida endurance classic the following year.

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