Eng Leads BMW 1-2 in Opening Test Session at Indy

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Philipp Eng topped the time charts in the first of two test sessions for Saturday’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, leading a BMW 1-2 in the first track time for Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS competitors this week.

Eng, in the No. 51 Random Vandals BMW M4 GT3 EVO, reeled off a 1:23.636 to go quickest in the 90-minute session, 0.088 seconds quicker than the No. 46 Team WRT BMW of IGTC points leader Kelvin van der Linde.

The Austrian has been drafted in as Random Vandals’ third driver in its GTWC Pro class entry this weekend featuring Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey.

Fellow GTWC America entrant JMF Motorsports was third quickest with its No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo driven by Mikael Grenier, with Chaz Mostert making a late-session improvement to put the No. 75 SunEnergy1-sponsored Mercedes-AMG to fourth, in a car that features Will Power this weekend.

The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner turned his first laps in a GT3 car in the session.

The No. 777 Team WRT entry made it three BMWs in the top-five, while the No. 888 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG of Luca Stolz was sixth quickest, with all the top-six being in the Pro class.

Pro-Am was led by the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG of Colin Braun, thanks to a 1:23.974 lap time.

RS1’s Pro class No. 18 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen was next up and the quickest of the Porsche continent in eighth overall, with Daan Aarow ninth in the Pro-Am Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG.

The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, which won last year’s race in the GTWC Pro class, completed the top-ten in the hands of Laurin Heinrich.

The No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3, meanwhile, edged out the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 to go quickest in the Am class.

There were no red flags during the session, which saw only a handful of penalties.

The No. 21 Herberth Motorsport Porsche was served with a ten-minute stop-and-hold penalty for refueling while in the pit lane, with other cars receiving additional penalties.

A second 90-minute test session is on tap for Thursday at 10:20 a.m. EST, followed by Free Practice from 6:55-8:25 p.m., which will fulfill the pre-race night driving requirement.

RESULTS: Test Session 1

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