Indianapolis Wednesday Notebook

Photo: Brian Cleary/SRO

***Team Craft-Bamboo Racing set the pace in Wednesday’s second 90-minute test session for this weekend’s Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS, with an unofficial best lap time of 1:22.912 in the car driven by Raffaele Marciello, Dani Juncadella and Daniel Morad. The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing by Akkodis ASP Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Dominik Baumann topped the unofficial time charts in the morning session, meanwhile.

***All 25 cars entered for the joint Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pireilli/GTWC America round turned laps over the course of the day.

***Indy 8 Hour competitors as well as those competing in the season-ending rounds of Pirelli GT4 America, GT America powered by AWS and TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School lined up on the start/finish line for a group photo on Wednesday evening (pictured above). More than 115 cars are in action across the various SRO America series this weekend.

***AF Corse is swapping cars following an accident in the morning test session by the No. 51 Ferrari 488 GT3 Evo 2020 of Pierre Ragues, Davide Rigon and Miguel Molina. The Italian squad has reverted to a previous Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS chassis, which missed the second test session but is expected to be on track in time for the start of Free Practice on Thursday evening.

***GT America powered by AWS competitor Jason Daskalos has been a late addition to the No. 88 Zelus Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo, joining the driver pairing of Jason Harward and Seth Lucas in the Am class entry. It was the final to-be-confirmed driver slot on the entry. Click Here for the official entry list.

***A total of 14 cars are nominated to score IGTC points this weekend, in the penultimate round of the globe-trotting GT3 series. Both the manufacturers’ and drivers’ championships could be decided on Saturday evening based on a number of potential scenarios.

***Mercedes-AMG holds a 51-point lead over Audi Sport, which does not have a car entered for the first time in the series’ seven-year history. Ferrari sits third with 25 points followed by Lamborghini in fourth with 22 points.

***The manufacturers’ title will go to Mercedes-AMG if one of its nominated cars wins the race, while Jules Gounon, who earned maximum points for his wins in the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour and TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa, can also clinch the title with a win.

***Adding to the complexity of the points scenario is IGTC’s new-for-2022 drop-score system, which allows each driver and manufacturer’s worst result from Bathurst, Indy or December’s Gulf 12 Hours to not count towards the end-of-season total.

***SunEnergy1 Racing’s Kenny Habul and Martin Konrad, meanwhile, are poised to clinch the Pro-Am Challenge title, which does not offer a drop-score out of the four rounds in the series this year.

***While each manufacturer can nominate a maximum of four entries, including three from the Pro class, only its two best-placed finishers are eligible to score points. Mercedes-AMG is joined by Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche as nominated manufacturers this weekend.

***Gounon, Marciello and Juncadella are coming off winning the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup title last weekend at Circuit de-Catalunya Barcelona with Akkodis Team ASP. Marciello, meanwhile, won the overall drivers’ championship as well.

***Marciello and Juncadella have been placed with Craft-Bamboo Racing this weekend, with Gounon in Winward Racing’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo alongside Russell Ward and Philip Ellis.

***As has been the case with GTWC America for the majority of the season, all Pro class entires must have at least one Silver-rated driver in the lineup, which has seen several traditionally all-Pro teams employ unique Silvers this weekend.

***It includes Ragues and Ulysse De Pauw at AF Corse, Daniel Morad at Craft-Bamboo and Patrick Assenheimer joining Bryan Sellers and Dirk Mueller in DXDT Racing’s Pro class entry.

***GTWC America competitors are required to run for the full eight-hour duration for the first time. Previously, points were scored at the end of the third hour, with several teams concluding its race at that point last year.

***Double GTWC America points are again on offer this year, although any team that didn’t run prior to the last round will be invisible from the points classification in the domestic championship.

***It includes Conquest Racing’s Ferrari of Alessandro Balzan, Daniel Mancinelli and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli, which debuted in the most recent GTWC America round at Sebring International Raceway, as well as the Pro-Am class Stephen Cameron Racing Mercedes of Guy Cosmo, Shane Lewis and Chris Cagnazzi.

***Indy 8 Hour competitor ST Racing debuts its new sister STR38 Motorsports organization this weekend, a “restructured customer race team and full service motorsports facility” based in California, with entries in Pirelli GT4 America and TC America with its BMW M4 GT4 and BMW M2 CS Racing, respectively.

***A 30-minute Paid Bronze Test is scheduled for Thursday afternoon followed by Free Practice, which will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. ET to simulate the finish of the race, which ends in darkness for the first time in the event’s three-year history.

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