Grenier Quickest in Indianapolis Pre-Qualifying

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

Mikael Grenier led a Mercedes-AMG sweep of the top four overall positions in Pre-Qualifying for Saturday’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.

Grenier, in the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro class championship-contending No. 34 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, reeled off a best lap of 1:23.265 to edge out the No. 75 SunEnergy1-sponsored Mercedes-AMG of Will Power by 0.126 seconds.

The No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG, which led Thursday evening’s Free Practice, was third on the time sheets in the hands of Maxime Martin, ahead of the Pro-Am class pace-setting No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG of Colin Braun in fourth.

Braun’s entry rebounded from gearbox issues in Free Practice, which saw the car complete only five laps in the night-time session.

GTWC America Pro-Am points leaders Turner Motorsport was second quickest in class and fifth overall, with Robby Foley at the wheel, ahead of the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3, which was an impressive sixth on the the time charts in the hands of Eric Powell and comfortably ahead in the Am class.

Seventh overall went to the No. 51 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Philipp Eng, which was ahead of the best-placed Porsche 911 GT3 R from the Pro-Am-entered Wright Motorsports entry in eighth, with the No. 61 Earl Bamber Motorsport Porsche and No. 777 Team WRT BMW completing the top-ten.

The 90-minute session, which ran to its entirety, started 15 minutes late due to barrier repairs from GT America powered by AWS qualifying, which was cut short due to a heavy accident by a GT2 class Lamborghini.

The only notable incident during Pre-Qualifying, which ran without any red flags, was a right-front puncture for the No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis, who limped his Pro-Am class entry back into pit lane.

A number of teams were also seen undergoing brake changes on pit lane.

Qualifying for the Intercontinental GT Challenge and GTWC America season finale is set to get underway at 3:35 p.m. EST, followed by the Pole Shootout at 5:45 p.m. Both sessions will be streamed live on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

RESULTS: Pre-Qualifying

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