Van der Zande Out Front At Halfway on Drying Track

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Renger van der Zande led the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway at the halfway mark, amid a drying track.

Van der Zande had the advantage while under the race’s fourth full-course caution for the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 of Onofrio Triarsi, which was hit and spun into the gravel trap.

The No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Nick Yelloly, which pitted just as the yellow came out, had been leading but drove through the pit lane due to the pits being closed.

A nearly one-hour full-course caution, initially triggered by the crashed No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Frankie Montevalvo, was extended due to track conditions due to heavy rain, leading to a lengthy spell behind the safety car.

While Sebastien Bourdais took the eventual restart in the lead, Bourdais was quickly passed by the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet, who later came under attack from Romain Grosjean in the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 as Bourdais dropped back to fourth.

Grosjean made contact with the rear of Jaminet’s Porsche before taking the overall lead, a first for the Italian manufacturer’s LMDh car, although it later dropped down the running order due to a drive-through for having too many crew working on the car.

The GTP championship-leading No. 7 Penske Porsche of Felipe Nasr, meanwhile, received a drive-through penalty for passing under yellow, which was then compounded by an off-course excursion in the third hour after the Brazilian got back into the top-ten.

Co-driver Dane Cameron ran fifth at the halfway mark, behind the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche and Matteo Cairoli’s Iron Lynx Lamborghini in third and fourth, respectively.

The No. 6 Porsche, which had just pitted for slick Michelins, was classified eighth in the hands of Nick Tandy amid split strategies amongst the leading contenders.

Trouble hit the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac of Pipo Derani, which stopped on track with a loss of oil pressure in the third hour, with the car having been taken behind the wall with suspected terminal issues.

LMP2 was led by the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson of Hunter McElrea, ahead of Nico Pino’s No. 2 Untied Autosports machine in second.

It came after nine LMP2 cars, including the TDS and United entries, received drive-through penalties in the third hour for completing an unauthorized class split while under the third yellow.

Neil Verhagen was out front of GTD Pro in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, although the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Michael Christensen ran second.

Drama, however, ensued between Christensen and the title-contending No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Alex Riberas, which left the Aston with left-rear damage after contact.

Wright Motorsport’s No. 120 Porsche of Elliott Skeer paced GTD with three hours in the books, meanwhile.

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