Indianapolis Friday Notebook

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO

***Drivers competing in this weekend’s fourth edition of the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS assembled Friday morning for a group photo with the iconic pagoda at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

***Wright Motorsports has received permission from the stewards to switch from its Type-922 Porsche 911 GT3 R to the previous-generation Type-991.2 model for its Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro-Am championship-leading No. 120 entry of Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson, who are joined by Callum Illot this weekend.

***The team, however, is still unclear if it will make the change as of Friday evening, having qualified the Type-992 model in 13th overall. Skeer and Adelson enter tomorrow’s race with a three-point lead over CrowdStrike by Riley’s Colin Braun and George Kurtz.

***The No. 21 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 lost the majority of Pre Qualifying due to a clutch issue that stemmed from Wednesday evening’s fan festival parade according to team principal Eric Bachelart, who said they “had to do a lot in ten minutes” building up to the qualifying session.

***Bachelart told Sportscar365: “We were forced to go do the parade. We didn’t want to go because we know the clutch is pretty fragile on the car. When we started the session [we found out] the clutch was burned [from the parade]. I’m not happy at all about it. But we would have gotten penalties if we didn’t go [to the parade] and we couldn’t tow the car to go there so we had no choice.”

***The No. 28 RS1 Porsche received a $250 fine for a pit lane infringement in Qualifying 3, as the team utilizes stakes underneath the car after the session.

***An adjustment to the sporting regulations, issued on Wednesday, has clarified the wave-by procedure for Saturday’s race, which could see an additional wave-by granted by the race director should any cars remain between the safety car and the first class leader in the queue, instead of the overall race leader.

***The change is understood to factor in the uniqueness of two Pro classes this weekend, which sees IGTC Pro competitors in their own category compared to Fanatec GT Pro, which enforces a Silver-rated driver in each lineup unlike the rules seen in the globe-trotting series.

***Another change to the full-course caution procedure for this year is that the pit lane will be closed while under the safety car.

***Team WRT has been satisfied with its BMW M4 GT3s straight out of the box on its first time running the car at Indianapolis. “We arrived with a setup which was not far off,” GT program manager Elliot Hoffet told Sportscar365. “We now know better where to start and what to do.”

***The factory-driven BMWs racing at Indy are the same cars that did the Bathurst 12 Hour IGTC season-opener. The Sixt-liveried No. 30 machine also did the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS rounds at Misano and the Nürburgring, replacing a chassis that was damaged in a crash at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

***The chassis that was damaged at Spa was repaired and used in the GTWC Europe events at Hockenheim, Valencia and Barcelona.

***Mikael Grenier will be on-site to support Mercedes-AMG’s strategy despite not driving in the the race after SunEnergy1 Racing withdrew from the event according to the manufacturer’s head of Customer Racing Stefan Wendl.

***Grenier started the IGTC season with GruppeM Racing, teaming up with Raffaele Marciello and Maro Engel in what the team intended to be a consistent lineup. Marciello drove for Akkodis ASP at the 24 Hours of Spa and was replaced at GruppeM by Daniel Juncadella, who is again with the team at Indy alongside Engel and Luca Stolz.

***Explaining the GruppeM lineup selection for Indy, Wendl said: “In this case, Dani Juncadella is the defending IGTC champion and won the race last year. I couldn’t leave him at home. When we made this plan Mik would support Kenny Habul for this one. It didn’t pay out in the end, on short notice, but Mik will be here and I expect him back in the car in Abu Dhabi.”

***Additionally, Stolz has been put in the GruppeM car to split him up from fellow IGTC drivers’ championship contender Jules Gounon.

***Longtime IGTC competitor Kenny Habul is missing his first series race since the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa in 2021. The U.S.-based Australian withdrew from Indy due to his ongoing recovery from back injuries sustained at Spa in June, which required surgery. It’s unclear if the multi-time Pro-Am class champion will be ready for December’s season-ending Gulf 12 Hours.

***Wendl and other key figures from Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing will be driving down to Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for Motul Petit Le Mans next weekend. On the way, they plan to stop by Multimatic’s new dedicated workshop for Mercedes-AMG parts distribution in the U.S. in Mooresville, N.C.

***Wendl said: “They have done a brilliant job since 2017 and are part of our growth and customer success we have here. It’s why we extended the contract with them [this year]. Due to the other commitments they had, they built a new workshop for Mercedes-AMG. It’s why I agreed to come over and have a look and talk about what to improve in the future.”

***Huber Motorsport team principal Reinhard Huber clarified that its No. 20 Porsche that took pole on Friday in the hands of Laurin Heinrich is not the same chassis that took pole at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, as reported yesterday. Alfred Renauer will take the start of the race in the Pro-Am machine after Heinrich beat Jules Gounon and Luca Stolz in the qualifying shootout.

***Herberth Motorsport will run two Porsche 911 GT3 Rs at the Gulf 12 Hours, including one in association with Huber Motorsport and its Bronze-rated Independent Cup driver Antares Au according to Renauer.

***Conquest Racing will stop its GT4 program following this weekend’s races according to Bachelart, who said the team will place its full focus on its Ferrari programs, both in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and Ferrari Challenge, as well as a possible return to Fanatec GT with a new driver lineup.

***The No. 67 Smooge Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO has undergone a last-minute driver change again, with Tony Ave replacing Isabella Robusto. There was also a pre-event change in the team’s sister Toyota with Aaron Telitz subbing for John Geesbreght, who is still recovering from an accident in Race 2 at Sebring International Raceway last month.

***Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske was spotted in the paddock on Friday.

***SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel is missing his first Indy 8 Hour, with the Frenchman at Paul Ricard this weekend for the GT2 European Series and FFSA French GT4 season finales. Ratel is also driving in the GT2 European races, at the wheel of an Audi R8 LMS GT2 car for LP Racing.

***In addition to SRO’s GT America, GT4 America, TC America powered by Skip Barber and Toyota GR Cup North America action this weekend, the USAC-sanctioned Porsche Sprint Challenge North America by Yokohama is holding season-ending races for both its North American championship and the USA West series.

***Several of the support series, including GT America and GT4 America, will hold their final races of the weekend on Sunday morning, prior to the SRO America Gala that evening in downtown Indianapolis.

***Full coverage of the Indianapolis 8 Hour will be available on SRO’s GT World YouTube page, beginning at 12 p.m. EDT on Saturday with the commentary team of Ryan Myrehn, Bob Varsha, Calvin Fish and Amanda Busick.

Daniel Lloyd 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