Winning WRT Crew “Kept Fighting” After Penalty Setback

Dries Vanthoor said that the No. 30 Team WRT crew “kept fighting” to be in the frame for the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS victory after a drive-through penalty setback.

The BMW M4 GT3 that was also driven by Philipp Eng and Sheldon van der Linde was sanctioned in the fourth hour due to Vanthoor exceeding his maximum 65-minute stint time by 11 seconds.

That dropped the No. 30 BMW from the lead down to fourth, around 50 seconds off the lead, but it rose to second when Eng overtook Mercedes-AMG drivers Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon in the fifth hour.

Eng was then gifted the lead when the sister No. 31 machine incurred suspension damage, caused by Augusto Farfus hitting a Ferrari 296 GT3 at Turn 1. Van der Linde brought the No. 30 car to the line 53 seconds clear of the closest Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo.

“It was a bit of a pity to get the drive-through, but as team and a car and crew, we never gave up and kept fighting always,” Vanthoor told Sportscar365.

“We kept getting the positive radio calls to keep going.

“At the end, we got a bit lucky that the sister car unfortunately had a small issue where we could get the position back, but we just never gave up and kept going, even if there was not a safety car coming for us.

“This would have helped us even more to get back because the gap was quite big. But we just kept going and never gave up.”

The drive-through came after Vanthoor pitted one lap later than Maxime Martin in the No. 31 car, after the two BMWs had come in simultaneously for their two previous stops.

“We should have pitted at the same time,” WRT sporting director Kurt Mollekens told Sportscar365.

“The engineer was talking to the driver and the driver was talking to the engineer.

“He had the channel, but he missed pit entry. Simple as that – a mistake. It could have been a very costly one.”

The No. 30 BMW had a clock that could have displayed Vanthoor’s stint time, however the driver had it switched to the lap time setting.

“You can either have the timer or the lap times [showing] and I had the lap times, so I couldn’t really check,” he said.

“It’s a pity and a setback, but it happens. We don’t do it on purpose. But in the end, we kept fighting and we got it back.”

Mollekens reckoned the BMW that went on to win the Indy 8H, delivering BMW’s third consecutive Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli victory in the process, was the quicker of the WRT cars on balance.

“It had superior pace to any car in the field,” he said.

“It was very quick. We worked a lot. We always work on race setup, with both cars, but I think they just got it a little more accurate.

“The other one wasn’t far off — it was quick as well — but that took care of itself unfortunately.

“[The No. 30] was in a slightly better window; it was more driveable and they found it easier. They could basically put it where they want. They were really happy with the car.”

Vanthoor, meanwhile, felt the WRT crews were on course for a “nice fight” until Farfus’ collision as the No. 30 worked to track down its teammate’s lead of around half a minute.

“It’s always difficult to say when it really comes down to the wire,” he said.

“When it really counts, you go even deeper to get more lap time. I don’t know. It would have been nice because it would have been evenly matched.

“It would have been a nice fight but it didn’t happen.”