Indianapolis Friday Notebook

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/SRO

***Robby Foley gave BMW its second Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour pole, coming in the final scheduled edition of the race. The German manufacturer book-ended the Intercontinental GT Challenge and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS in qualifying, as Connor De Phillippi, one of Foley’s co-drivers tomorrow, claimed the event’s inaugural pole in 2020, at the wheel of a Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3.

***Foley and Turner Motorsport co-driver Justin Rothberg are seeking their third consecutive GTWC America class championship, and first Pro category crown tomorrow. A Pro class win for he and Rothberg, or AF Corse’s Matias Perez Companc and current points leaders Michai Stephens and Mikael Grenier of JMF Motorsports would be enough to take the tile for any of the three crews.

***Foley told Sportscar365: “We rolled off the trailer pretty strong. Qualifying is all about that one-lap pace, but for the race, we need to be consistent over a stint. So, we focused on that in practice as well, and I think we got a good mix of both. We have good speed and good long-run pace, so we’re going to focus on that tomorrow.”

***The IGTC champion will also be crowned on Saturday, in what’s likely to be a three-way battle between Mercedes-AMG drivers Luca Stolz and Maxime Martin plus Porsche factory star Laurin Heinrich (pictured above).

***Qualifying and Superpole, as well as the first TC America presented by Skip Barber Racing School race of the weekend, was delayed by approximately 30 minutes after the track encountered timing and scoring issues that led to the abandonment of Qualifying 2 for Pirelli GT4 America, which will now be determined by the best times set by the designated Driver 2 from second practice. A grid for Sunday’s season finale has not yet been published.

***The Pro class champion in McLaren Trophy America has not yet been declared following an internal season-long review of the points following irregularities found immediately following the conclusion of Friday’s season-ending round, which was won by RWE Motorsports’ James Li and Sam Neser. The duo were battling Forte Racing’s Tanner Harvey and Patrick Liddy for the title.

***SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel addressed the controversy surrounding the Maserati MC20 GT2 competing in GT America powered by AWS this weekend, stating that it’s not the car, but the caliber of driver in Peter Dempsey, that’s “not necessary.” FIA Bronze-rated Dempsey, who has already been re-classified to Silver rating for next year, was brought in to give the car its North American race debut.

***Ratel told Sportscar365: “From me, the problem hasn’t come from the car. The problem has come from the driver that came. They first proposed an ex-Formula 1 driver, who was of a certain age, and we said no. It would have created even more problems but then they went to get the driver they took, which is already causing us quite a lot of problems in Europe.”

***The 40-year-old Dempsey, who won the GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup Bronze Cup title last weekend, also competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship in Racing Team Turkey by TF’s Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, after returning to racing after a 13-year break. He holds claim to winning the 2013 Freedom 100 Indy Lights race in what still stands as the closest finish in history on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.

***Ratel explained the Maserati has been placed in the SRO3 class and given so-called ‘GT2+’ performance levels in order to balance it with the GT3 entries, because of no other GT2 cars competing this weekend. The SRO3 class is not strictly reserved for FIA GT3-spec machinery, with out-of-homologation GT3 cars and other GT-based machinery also permitted.

***This means that Mirco Schultis’ Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-R, which sees the car’s homologation lapse at the end of this year, would also be eligible to remain in SRO3 in 2027, after previous reports indicating that the fan-favorite car would be retiring following the end of this weekend.

***SRO confirmed a revised Balance of Performance table for GT America competitors on late Friday, which sees the Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II get a 15 kg weight addition and the Maserati receive a hefty 80 kg weight increase as part of its ‘GT2+’ configuration that’s now grouped the car within the list of eligible SRO3 models.

***Five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou, who is making his second Indy 8 Hour start in the last three years, said he and fellow IndyCar driver Marcus Ericsson have formed a friendly rivalry in the race, despite being in two different classes.

****Palou told SRO pit reporter Jonathan Grace: “We have a battle between us as well. A part of the race that’s going on is between him and me. It’ll be fun. I think both of us are having a blast. We just like to race. I wished our season was a little bit longer or would allow us to do even more races, not every single weekend, but almost every single weekend.”

***Darren Law picked up Am class victory in his McLaren Trophy America race debut, with the Flying Lizard Motorsports program manager having finished second overall in Thursday’s race alongside 20-year-old Michael Suco, in his first-ever GT race. The No. 77 LLH Motorsports McLaren has been run under the Flying Lizard tent this weekend.

***Law told Sportscar365: “This is [Michael’s] first race in GT cars; he’s been a formula car and he’s moving up to the GT ranks. He and I have been working together back at our track doing some testing. It makes sense to walk him through this and I said, ‘Hey, I’ll jump in and hang out with you for the weekend with some driving.'”

***GMG Racing team owner/driver James Sofronas and his 14-year-old son Jenson, meanwhile, claimed up Am class honors in Race 2, finishing fourth overall. It marked the elder Sofronas’ first time back in competition since this year’s Porsche Carrera Cup North America season opener at Sebring International Raceway in March.

***Following Friday’s news of ACI Motorsports mounting a GT World Challenge America powered by AWS program, Law revealed that Flying Lizard is poised to also return to the GT3 ranks next year, in what Sportscar365 believes would be with a BMW M4 GT3 EVO. A deal, however, is understood to not yet have been finalized.

***ACI team principal Curt Swearingin told Sportscar365 that it has purchased two Mercedes-AMG chassis and a “nice support package” from DXDT Racing for its single-car effort next year. Swearingin, meanwhile, also revealed that he’s retired from his Advanced Collision business to place his 100 percent focus on the race operation.

***The team will field cars from three different manufacturers next year, with Swearingin having confirmed that both of its customers running BMW M4 GT4 EVOs, Alex and Michael Garcia, plus Ross Poole and Muzaffar Gafurov, will return next year, along with up to two new Porsche 911 GT4 Rs. “We’re still working on several programs with that car,” he said. “It’s still early.”

***Keelan Harvick, the 14-year-old son of 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kevin, remarkably is not the youngest-ever driver in Toyota GR Cup North America competition, Ethan and Jackson Tovo were both competing at the age of 13, while both Jenson Sofronas and Michael Edwards, the sons of GMG owner/driver James, and now-retired NASCAR star Carl Edwards, were also both 14 when they made their starts.

***Seven of the 27 cars that are set to start tomorrow’s Indy 8 Hour will be invisible from scoring GTWC America driver points. They are: No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG (Pro), as well as the No. 79 Tsunami RT Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo, No. 86 High Class Racing Porsche, No. 91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche, No. 999 GetSpeed Mercedes-AMG (all Pro-Am), plus the No. 11 Mad Joker Racing Mercedes-AMG and No. 67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari (both Am).

***Cars Nos. 79, 80, 86, 91 and 99, all IGTC-specific entries, will not be eligible to score GTWC America team points as well, although the Am class entries from Mad Joker Racing and Scuderia Corsa can earn points.

***This is because of Article 13.2 in the GTWC America sporting regulations, which states that single-event entries in the final two events of the season do not score driver points, but single event competitors score team points only if they have participated in at least one previous event earlier in the season.

***IGTC driver points, meanwhile, will be awarded to the top-ten finishing entries that are brands registered to the manufacturers’ championship. This means only three cars: No. 64 Chicago Performance and Tuning Co. Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, No. 69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo and No. 71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT4 Evo, will be invisible from the IGTC ranking.

***Aside from the IGTC Independent Cup, which has already gone to High Class Racing driver Kerong Li, Jay Schreibman and AF Corse have all but clinched the GTWC America Am class titles but would officially solidify it by starting tomorrow’s race.

***After events at Bathurst (12 hours), Nürburgring (24 hours), Spa-Francorchamps (24 hours) and Suzuka (6.5 hours), the 11th season of SRO Motorsports Group’s globe-trotting GT3 series closes out on Saturday with eight more hours of racing, totaling 74.5 hours between the five venues on four continents.

***Ben Keating, who is stepping back from full-time racing next year, revealed that his drive this weekend in the Lone Star Racing-run Mad Joker Racing Mercedes-AMG, came from fellow Texan gentleman driver Marc Austin. Keating told Sportscar365: “He called and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about doing this. Do you want to come along”‘ I was, ‘Sure, why not?'”

***Despite no longer competing on a full season basis, Keating said he’s likely to be on the grid for several iconic endurance races next year. “I hope to be at Daytona and I hope to be at Le Mans,” he said. “There’s a chance I’m in Sebring with something. My plan is to try and do those things that sound fun and that I have available time to do.”

***Heart of Racing Team is working to return to the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour according to team principal Ian James, who indicated there’s “50/50” chances of it coming together. If it does materialize, it would be similar to this year, with a Mercedes-AMG run in partnership with SPS automotive performance.

***James told Sportscar365: “We’ve got a lot going on so we just have to see how all that pans out. It’s an awesome event. We’re trying to get back there.” It would mark the second North American team to commit to the 2027 IGTC season opener, following news that 13 Autosport will make its debut at Mount Panorama with a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

***While not currently a registered manufacturer, Head of Lamborghini Motorsport Andrea Reggiani said it’s “the goal” to be able to commit to IGTC with the Temerario GT3 in the future, although he did not outline a specific timeframe. “Clearly customer racing means there has to be customers that are following with the same ideas,” he told Sportscar365. “But it is our goal to be able to do it. We need to create the right conditions to make it happen.”

***Operation Motorsport’s season in SRO America comes to an end this weekend, which has seen 15 veterans work side-by-side with series members and crews, hosted by teams this season, or as photographers through Operation Motorsport’s Motorsport Immersion program. Support has come from CrowdStrike and Fisher House, which supplies flights to the veterans participating in the program.

***Designed to last two years, the Motorsport Immersion program allows veterans the chance to regain the “Team, Identity and Purpose” they lost when leaving the military. While that hands-on experience is what veterans say changes their lives, some go on to be hired by their host teams or others in the paddock.

***Coverage of the Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour gets underway Saturday at 12 p.m. EST, with the American flag set to drop 30 minutes later. Ryan Myrehn and Calvin Fish will be joined in the booth by Grace, with Amanda Busick and DJ Clark on pit lane. As usual, the race will be streamed free and without geoblocks on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.

Dylan Spaulding 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